Washington
The question I tend to get most often from observers following along with EdWeek鈥檚 is ... what do all the union鈥檚 鈥渘ew business items鈥� actually do?
After all, discussion of these takes up the bulk of floor time at the convention. And it鈥檚 where the NEA鈥檚 headline items鈥攍ike its decision 鈥攖end to emerge.
The first thing to understand is that an NBI does not supersede the NEA鈥檚 policy resolutions or statements, which are separately drafted and modified. An NBI directs the union to do something for a year, but isn鈥檛 a permanent statement of belief. (NBIs are occasionally even removed from consideration because they conflict with the union鈥檚 existing policies.)
Second, it takes only 50 delegates to move an NBI to the floor of the representative assembly, as the convention is known. This means a whole variety of topics and proposals, from the very specific to the grand and sweeping, can be debated. This year, for instance, one proposed NBI called on the union to donate money to a specific education rally; another would direct the union to 鈥渄efend public schools by fighting privatization.鈥�
Finally, even items that generate a lot of controversy among delegates when they鈥檙e being debated or modified don鈥檛 always end up doing a whole lot in the long run once they鈥檙e passed.
For example, delegates passed an item requiring the NEA to campaign to end the common-core-aligned tests put out by the two federally funded testing consortia. But the report on last year鈥檚 NBIs says only this about that particular item: 鈥淣EA is coordinating with organizational partners to develop materials calling for testing audits, and to highlight efforts to fight the impact of high stakes standardized testing.鈥�
And there were three different items last year touching on the testing opt-out movement; NEA appears to have deemed them all completed by putting up
Some new business never gets implemented at all.
One 2015 NBI referred to the union鈥檚 executive committee asked it to oppose the proficiency-score designations on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. But NEA leaders didn鈥檛 follow suit: "...The NEA Executive Committee decided that NEA will take no action on this NBI. ... If we do not use proficiency levels, it is significantly more difficult to identify and address significant gaps between student sub-groups,鈥� the report states.
Given that possibility, it鈥檚 reasonable to ask: Why are these measures such a big deal? Why do delegates engage in floor strategy (voting blocs and getting pro-and-con speakers in front of the mics) over new business?
Over the years, I鈥檝e reached the conclusion that debate over new business is probably more important in building the NEA鈥檚 culture than for what a particular NBI does or doesn鈥檛 accomplish.
After all, the NBI process gives every delegate a chance to put a topic before the 7,000 member assembly, and to hear it debated for pros and cons. It also gives members in, say, Virginia a chance to hear what issues are bubbling up in Arizona or California or New Hampshire. It allows delegates let off steam, even if ultimately not much changes on the topic in question.
I asked NEA President Lily Eskelen Garc铆a about this, and she said that new business is an important part of the union鈥檚 cherished democracy-with-a-small-D. Any delegate can speak on an NBI that鈥檚 under debate; each is free to vote his or her own conscience, regardless of the position state leadership takes on the item; and it鈥檚 not that hard to round up enough delegates to submit one to the RA.
鈥淔ifty delegates?鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou can get that in the line for the bathroom.鈥�
So it comes down to this: The NEA鈥檚 NBI process is complicated, messy, sometimes a bit embarrassing, and occasionally contested. But it鈥檚 all part of how the NEA makes even the newest member or delegate feel empowered in the union.