Great teachers and support professionals, with the right policy supports and resources, are the ideal agents of permanent change – the true education experts. That’s why NEA’s Priority Schools Campaign is partnering with educators in struggling schools to provide additional professional development, trainings and resources that will help teachers and support professionals be the leaders in their profession. Read the stories below to learn more about the professional educators working in priority schools.
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Journey to a June Day “Better than Christmas”
March 4, 2011 by
By Paula Monroe, NEA Executive Committee On March 1st Christy Levings and I had the privilege of visiting two alternative high schools in North Carolina – the first one was Davidson Extended Day. In the beginning the staff at Davidson were not…
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Member-Led Reform Rewriting the Anti-Union Narrative
February 24, 2011 by
At the same time educators in several states face legislation to strip their right to bargain with school districts on most issues, teachers and support professionals in those states and across the country have entered a new era of collaborative…
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Collaboration in Forsyth County Featured in Denver
February 18, 2011 by
Forsyth County Association of Educators President Tripp Jeffers was in Denver this week for the Advancing Student Achievement Through Labor-Management Collaboration conference, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. Jeffers was part of a presenting team, along with Donny Lambeth,…
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Bargaining and Agreements: Essential Tools for Education Reform
February 17, 2011 by
DENVER – Educators and school leaders meeting here challenged the conventional wisdom that labor-management relationships are a roadblock to education reform, strengthening their commitment to work together on a shared goal: improving student achievement. “Collaboration is such a friendly-sounding word,”…
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NEA and Local Affiliates Leading the Way to Student Success
February 15, 2011 by
They are coming from districts large and small, urban and rural, east and west. All are committed to the common cause of creating great public schools for every student. Affiliates of the National Education Association (NEA) are sharing strategies at…
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Accountability Plan Unites Educators in Illinois
February 6, 2011 by
“Is it bold? Sure. Will we be the only ones? I don’t think so.” — Ken Swanson, president Illinois Education Association Just after New Year’s Day, Illinois educators introduced a major reform proposal to hold school administrators, school board members…
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Case Study of Simplistic Notions
February 1, 2011 by
By Mark Simon A powerful new book came out this past Fall based on careful analysis of the mixed record in the five-year effort to turn around high-poverty, low-performing schools in Chicago. It’s called Organizing Schools for Improvement; Lessons From Chicago,…
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Fourth “R” Drives Priority School Improvement in Las Vegas
January 21, 2011 by
By Princess Moss, NEA Executive Committee Clark County Education Association (CCEA) President Ruben Murillo met the NEA team at 6:30 a.m. Thursday and drove us to Carson Elementary School in West Las Vegas. At Carson, we met CCEA board members…
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National Board Certification
January 6, 2011 by
When sixth-grade teacher Cynthia Walker thinks back to the two-year process of national board certification, she recalls the months of sleepless nights but also the days of thoughtful discussion with her colleagues. “You start sharing ideas – what are you…
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Utah: For Schools and Associations, Priority Schools Campaign is a Real Opportunity
December 16, 2010 by
By Sara Jones First, I’d like to set the stage for you a bit. Utah is not a collective bargaining state. We are also a local option state. I’m going to give a little bit of background and then talk…
