It鈥檚 day three of the Representative Assembly and delegates have voted on more than 50 New Business Items already. That means they鈥檙e about two-thirds of the way through the votes.
Following on the heels of its most , this morning the NEA demanded 鈥渇or a moratorium on state takeovers of school districts and that state takeover districts be returned to local control.鈥� The item was submitted by the affiliate in New Jersey, where the state has taken over four school districts. The item鈥檚 rationale says that state takeover disenfranchises parents and communities 鈥渨hile powerbrokers鈥� corporate cronies exploit them with money-making schemes.鈥� Again, an indication that members are .
Here are some other relevant NBIs that passed:
- NBI 24 says the NEA will 鈥減romote the work of affiliates to protect the right of due process, tenure, and seniority.鈥� Surely this was another reference to the .
- NEA passed NBI 31, stating it would 鈥渃ondemn the actions of organizations such as the Pew Charitable Trust and the Arnold Foundation, which are funding and leading a concerted attack on public employee defined-benefit pension plans.鈥� (Starting to see a pattern here with the skepticism around big-money donors?)
- Delegates voted to encourage mentoring, financial incentives, release time, and support for National Board Certified Teachers (NBI 32). The number of new board certifications has , perhaps in part because some states have backed away from offering financial incentives to NBCTs.
- NBI 36 stated the NEA will share local insights on peer-assistance and -review models. The unions have generally embraced peer review as an alternative to other teacher-evaluation methods.
And in a less-education-relevant item, the delegates passed an NBI stating it would educate members about the effects of shale gas fracking, for a cost of nearly $10,000. The delegates also passed two votes鈥攁n NBI and a legislative amendment鈥攐n protecting and supporting breastfeeding mothers (both in schools and within the NEA).
During debate on a legislative amendment about opposing 鈥渢he unreasonable search and seizure of personally identifiable data,鈥� one delegate offered a reminder that garnered chuckles from the crowd. 鈥淲e are the National Education Association, not the National Everything Association,鈥� he said.