Ei-iE

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is determined to help American educators create better opportunities for all children by improving education quality throughout the United States. He criticized the Bush administration for having failed to give teachers the means to achieve the goals of the No Child Left Behind Act, which Obama said he supports.

"I know that many of you, when your schools run out of money, pay for teaching materials out of your own pockets. This is not how we should treat our teachers. We will change that," Obama promised.

This was the main message Obama conveyed via satellite to the Representative Assembly of the National Education Association held in Washington on 3-6 July, as well as to the convention of the American Federation of Teachers in Chicago on 11-14 July.

Although neither the NEA nor the AFT threw their support behind Obama during the race to represent the Democratic party, both organizations have now decided to endorse his candidacy. AFT had endorsed Hillary Clinton, but NEA had refrained from endorsing either of the two candidates to avoid controversy.

Clinton came to the AFT convention in Chicago to thank the teachers and to ask the union now to rally behind her former rival. Presidential candidates highly value the support of the two education unions, which are considered unrivalled champions in mobilizing their members for democratic election campaigns.

The NEA Representative Assembly brought together about 10,000 delegates and observers, who discussed the federal role in education. A statement was adopted that calls for a partnership of local, state and national leaders to rebalance the federal role in education and transform the nation’s schools. The policy statement, entitled “Great Public Schools for Every Child by 2020,” emphasizes equity in education at all levels and support for raising the status of the teaching profession.

Outgoing NEA President Reg Weaver called for a new national commitment to public education. He said NEA and public schools face serious challenges including “an elephant in the room” – the war in Iraq, which has cost America more than 4,000 lives and saddled our young people with debt. EI President Thulas Nxesi who also spoke to the assembly, thanked Weaver, who is a Vice President of EI, for his international work.

Representing the best of the education profession, Barbara Morgan, NASA’s first Educator Astronaut and an NEA member was awarded the 2008 Friend of Education Award. Morgan, an elementary school teacher from Idaho said that NASA still needs public educators’ support for the exploration of the Moon and Mars.

NEA members elected a new team that will lead the organization in the coming years. Dennis Van Roekel was elected President, while Lilly Eskelsen and Becky Pringle were elected Vice President and Secretary Treasurer respectively.

The American Federation of Teachers also elected new top officials. Randi Weingarten, President of the United Federation of Teachers of New York, was elected AFT President. Antonia Cortese was elected Secretary Treasurer, while Loretta Johnson from the education support staff was elected Executive Vice President.

More than 3,000 delegates took part in the 80th AFT convention. The convention approved new policy to encourage teacher peer-assistance programs and to help teachers “take charge of their profession.” The program must assure that new teachers get the professional development and support they need, and that only capable, well-prepared teachers who meet high entry standards are offered permanent positions.

Leaders of two Zimbabwean teachers’ organisations, ZIMTA and PTUZ, received the Bayard Rustin Award to honour the teachers of Zimbabwe for their efforts to help restore democratic rule in that country. EI President Thulas Nxesi presented the award, stressing the damage and suffering imposed upon people of Zimbabwe by the regime of President Robert Mugabe.

At a ceremony honouring Burmese human rights activist Min Zin, EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen said that education unions everywhere must keep democracy and human rights high on their political agendas. “Our members would not be able to do their work properly without basic freedoms, and we strongly believe that the values underpinning democracy and human rights must be taught in all of our schools,” van Leeuwen said. He also thanked departing AFT President Ed McElroy, who is a member of the EI Executive Board, for his inspirational leadership and a life long commitment to international free trade unionism.

In his farewell address, McElroy pledged that a new education law be created that respects the knowledge of classroom professionals and helps teachers and paraprofessionals provide students with the high-quality education they deserve. He also had parting words for “governors, legislators, employers and labor commissioners who throw obstacles in the way of union organizing” and for those who “cannot see that unions are central to a democratic society.”