The NEA Priority Schools Campaign grew out of a mandate from the association’s annual Representative Assembly, where more than 9,000 delegates voted to focus resources on informing and engaging members in collaborative work to transform struggling schools, identified as the five percent of schools ranked the lowest achieving by federal standards. The result is a campaign focused on agreement-based school transformation approaches involving educators, communities and policymakers in state capitals, in Congress and the Obama administration; collaboration on innovative programs to measure student success and teacher quality; and attracting and keeping the best educators and necessary resources for the schools of greatest need.

The six-year Priority Schools Campaign launched in the Fall of 2009 and currently provides intensive support to nearly 40 schools across 17 states.