The Presidential Election
A common thread ran through much of the May NEA Board of Directors’ meeting: The importance of the 2020 Election. From President Lily Eskelsen Garcia’s report and discussion of how presidential candidates will be a part of the annual Representative Assembly in Houston this summer to the Executive Committee’s unveiling of the “Strong Public Schools 2020” website to NEA Executive Director John Stocks’ exercise of playing out various electoral college scenarios on the way cool website www.270towin.com to the $3 million plus earmarked for staffing of Campaign 2020 that the Board transmitted to the RA as part of the 2019-20 Modified Plan and Budget, the importance of this next election cycle was clearly evident.

Strong Public Schools 2020
Please visit the NEA website: “Strong Public Schools 2020” which may be found at https://www.educationvotes.nea.org/presidential-2020/ The site features a plethora of resources for individuals who wish to be engaged and involved in the 2020 Presidential Campaign. “We have begun this engagement earlier than ever before,” NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia told the Board. “Remember, one in every 39 votes cast in 2018 Midterm Election was from a NEA member or their family.” One feature is a page that allows visitors to select as many of the declared candidates for the high office and compare their views on education policy, education funding, workers’ rights, and racial and social justice. The comparisons include links to the article(s) the views were culled from.

NEA Task Force on Recruiting Teachers of Color
At the 2018 NEA Representative Assembly in Minneapolis the Delegation passed NBI 117 which stated the following:

NEA will create a task force that consists of Aspiring Educators from HBCUs HSIs, MSIs, Tribal Colleges, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions to make recommendations to the Board of Directors regarding the recruitment of educators of color and the resources they need to become lifelong active educators and union leaders.

The Task Force was chaired by Eric Brown, Executive Committee member, who noted some alarming statistics in terms of current number of educators of color While 52% of preK-12 students are students of color (26.6 million) just 19% of educators identify as of color (3.8 million) per a National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) 2018 study. A separate study from the National Bureau of Economic Research noted the importance of teachers of color on the educational and economic impact of black children. Black children who are exposed to at least one black teacher before third grade are 13% more likely to enroll in college and those who had two black teachers were 32% more likely to do so.

Additionally according the Task Force’s findings, there is importance to white students having exposure to teachers of color as researcher Gloria Ladsen -Billings pointed out, “I want to suggest that there is something that may be even more important than black students having black teachers, and that is white students having black teachers! It is important for white students to encounter back people who are knowledgeable. What opportunities do white students have to see and experience black competence?” The Task Force made 5 recommendations (abbreviated on next page)

1) Update NEA’s research and best practices to included targeted actions plans for the recruitment of teachers of color with an emphasis on listening to diverse members.
2) The NEA will create and roll out data influenced communications and outreach plans
3) The NEA will partner will Minority Serving Institutions (MSI)
4) The NEA will work to support Aspiring Educators of Color (AEoC) and Emerging Educators of Color (EEoC) capacity to succeed both in the profession and as NEA Union Leaders by creating a mentoring/training program for AEoCs and EEocs.
5) The NEA will ensure there are staff and member organizers to focus on the recruitment and support of AEoC at MSIs into the profession and union.

General Counsel Report
General Counsel Alice O’Brien reported that there are 26 cases pending across the nation as a byproduct of the Supreme Court’s Janus vs AFCSME Council 31 ruling last June which struck down the ability of public sector unions to collect fair share fees. The copious quantities of litigation stems from organizations seeking back fee claims from years prior to Janus as well as suits filed against associations that purport to maintain fee status.

Currently, the rulings in lower courts have been positive for the NEA and its affiliates. Six cases seeking to strike down and enjoin state laws and collective bargaining agreements that purport to still allow the collection of fees have been ruled as moot by district courts and should be dismissed based on compliance with the Janus ruling by NEA and its affiliates. Similarly, back fee claims have been dismissed in eight cases noting that fair share fees were collected in good faith based on longstanding Supreme Court precedent and state law.

Still, O’Brien noted that we are far from through with legal challenges: “There are several other cases that raise claims seeking to provoke prior consent to membership, challenge limitations on dropping dues deductions, and seeking to recover previously paid dues going back several years. These are all topsyturvy cases. … We are at the beginning of years and years of litigation; perhaps as long as a decade.”

Providing a future challenge is the composition of the courts – especially those nominated to various benches by the current President. O’Brien shared data on the make-up of the benches throughout the system: 70% are of whom are white males. “He has homogenized the courts,” O’Brien said.

Read Across America
NEA’s licensing agreement with Dr. Seuss Enterprises ends August 31, 2019. As a result, NEA will no longer use the Cat in the Hat image in the jointly-owned Read Across America (RAA) logo (Cat in the Hat leaning over U.S. map.) The new logo, that NEA will fully own, will be unveiled at the RA and the program will have a new brand identity,. Artwork for the new logo will be available to download mid-July. The interactive digital calendar for 2019-2020 will also be available mid July. Members may still order print calendars by going to NEA.org/RAAstore.com/site.

NEA Board Positions
By Law #1 Establish new membership category Community Ally – Support
By Law #2 Allow members to rejoin Association as an active member after the beginning of the membership year – Referred to Executive Committee
By Law #3 Provide for voluntary solicitation for Active member “Strike Fund” – Oppose
By Law #4 Establish the minimum length of a RA Delegate’s term to one year – Oppose
By Law #5 Allow for a trusteeship of affiliates in certain circumstances – Support
By Law #6 Establish procedures for a state or local to terminate affiliation – Support
Standing Rule # 1 Allow deferral to subsequent days for proposed amendments that are hard to display – Oppose
Standing Rule # 2 Strike language allowing for delegates to yield unused time – Oppose
Standing Rule # 3 Prohibit sign and lobbying displays on action items on floor of RA – Oppose
Const Amd # 1 Add to NEA preamble the word “secular” before public education – Oppose
Const Amd # 2 In the NEA preamble to replace “teacher“ with “educator” – Support
Const Amd # 3 Establish a Community Ally membership category – Support
Const Amd # 4 Modify the deadline for Const. Amend. submittals to 70 days after the RA– Support