NEA’s reform call draws Obama praise; NEA Annual Meeting delegates tackle dropouts and training

There should be a new balance in the federal role in education, National Education Association President Reg Weaver said yesterday at the NEA's Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, unveiling a comprehensive NEA proposal that spells out how to get there. Under the so-called “No Child Left Behind” law, there’s far too much testing and punishing, and not enough funding, Weaver said. “Federal education policy needs more than a legislative tweak here and there.”

NEA President Reg Weaver lays out NEA’s program for a new balance in the federal role in education, at a press conference yesterday. The proposal, or “white paper,” was immediately applauded by Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate. Calling teachers the “single most important factor” in students’ achievement, he praised the proposal as “a roadmap for educators, elected officials, policymakers, and all who care deeply about the future of our children to consider and debate in the days ahead.”

NEA’s proposal calls on the federal government to better enforce civil rights laws to promote access and opportunity, fund past congressional actions and current federal mandates, and help create the capacity at local and state levels for school transformation.

Also on Tuesday, delegates packed a forum on the dropout crisis among ethnic minorities. ABC Primetime anchor John Quiñones and actor/activist Hill Harper joined education experts on a panel that emphasized students and educators must be supported by parents, communities, administrators, and legislators. Too often they aren’t, said Norma Cantú, a civil rights attorney and professor. “For many of our students, let’s call it what it is: not dropouts, but pushouts.”

Obama’s education advisor, Linda Darling-Hammond, encouraged a standing room-only crowd of attendees at the annual Teacher Quality policy briefing to “take charge” in her keynote speech.

“All children have the right to learn, but we must also guarantee that teachers have the same right,” she said. She urged teachers to campaign for candidates and education reform that values them, including greater professional development and mentoring opportunities.

--Reported by Alain Jehlen, Cynthia Kopkowski, and Tim Walker

Cross-posted on nea.org in RA Action