Table Of ContentThe SAGE Encyclopedia of World
Poverty
National Education Association
Contributors: Amitabh Vikram Dwivedi
Edited by: Mehmet Odekon
Book Title: The SAGE Encyclopedia of World Poverty
Chapter Title: "National Education Association"
Pub. Date: 2015
Access Date: May 6, 2017
Publishing Company: SAGE Publications, Inc
City: Thousand Oaks
Print ISBN: 9781483345703
Online ISBN: 9781483345727
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483345727.n580
Print pages: 1100-1102
©2015 SAGE Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This PDF has been generated from SAGE Knowledge. Please note that the pagination of
the online version will vary from the pagination of the print book.
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The National Education Association (NEA) is a professional organization of public school
teachers and staffers based in the United States. This organization, with headquarters in
Washington, D.C., represents the rights of retired education personnel, college and university
teachers and students, and teacher training students. With some 3.2 million members, it also
works in partnership with the American Federation of Teachers and thus has become the
largest labor union in the United States. The present-day NEA is a result of a merger of three
associations, namely the National Teachers Association (NTA), the American Normal School
Association, and the National Association of School Superintendents. More than 14,000
communities across the nation are affiliated with NEA, and it employs around 600 staff
members for its operations.
The mission of NEA is “to advocate for education professionals and to unite our members and
the nation to fulfill the promise of public education to prepare every student to succeed in a
diverse and interdependent world.” This mission echoes the original vision of its mother
organization, NTA, which in 1857 advocated “to elevate the character and advance the
interests of the profession of teaching and to promote the cause of popular education in the
United States.” While its mission has essentially remained the same, the NEA has undergone
many changes in its functions and activities in the past 150 years.
With such a large number of members, this organization relies on these members to perform
a wide range of activities, such as generating funds for educational purposes, organizing
professional and educational workshops to increase awareness of education-related issues,
improving professional standards, fighting for the rights of educators, and filing lawsuits to
protect academic rights.
The NEA supports the Democratic Party and is regularly involved in fund-raising, formulating
policy, and fostering networks among institutions and educators. It is estimated that the NEA
has spent nearly $40 million on lobbying and political activities in the past 20 years. The
organization has continually spoken up about several issues, such as reforming the No Child
Left Behind law; increasing educational funding, professional pay, and minority community
outreach; preventing students from dropping out of school; lowering the achievement gap;
reforming Social Security offsets; and reforming the laws governing charter schools.
No Child Left Behind
In 2002, Congress reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, commonly
known as No Child Left Behind. The NEA has criticized this legislation, claiming it “ushered in
the era of high-stakes testing, micromanagement of schools at the federal level, and punitive
measures for struggling schools.”
In 2013, when Congress was considering another reauthorization law, the NEA argued that a
proposed reauthorization must change its “current focus from punishing students, schools
and educators to helping those most in need,” and “empower educators so they can focus on
what’s important—student learning and achievement.” The NEA sent Congress detailed
proposals in regard to the proposed reauthorization, arguing that the act should promote high
expectations and innovation in public schools, and encourage development of 21st-century
skills. The NEA also believed the act’s “obsession with high-stakes poor-quality tests” should
be replaced by high-quality assessment systems and the act should “promote public
education as a shared responsibility of parents, communities, educators, and policy makers.”
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Tax Structures, Economic Development Policies, and Funding for Schools
The NEA believes that adequate funding is important to build good schools. A proper
investment in public education will accelerate the economy, and it will generate jobs and
higher incomes, which will in turn reduce disparities. The NEA argues that the current income
tax system is not fair because poor people pay $11 for every $100 of income, while the rich
pay only $5. Moreover, big businesses get subsidies while small businesses struggle to
compete. The NEA has called for Congress to close tax loopholes, level the economic playing
field for businesses, and make funding equitable and adequate for schools.
Professional Pay
Many good educators leave school jobs for better-paying professions. It is estimated that 20
percent of school teachers leave their jobs in the first year, and almost half leave by the end
of five years. The NEA is advocating for a minimum starting salary of $28,000 for all education
support professionals and a $40,000 starting salary for all prekindergarten through 12th-grade
teachers.
Minority Community Outreach
Many minority ethnic groups, with different social, educational, and economic backgrounds,
compose nearly 40 percent of the total population of the United States. The NEA aspires to
strengthen relationships and mutual interests of ethnic communities through new
partnerships. In this regard, the organization has campaigned against school privatization,
vouchers, and tuition tax credits. The new partnership it is seeking also seeks to reduce class
size, support disadvantaged professionals, and secure adequate wages.
Dropout Prevention
The NEA developed a 12-point action plan to address the student dropout crisis. The plan
calls for a compulsory high school education for all citizens. Each student should receive
individual attention in safe schools, and more options should be provided to secure
graduation, including technical and vocational training. The NEA argues that better skills are
needed to secure a good career, hence it demands the integration of 21st-century skills into
the curriculum, supported with 21st-century technology. The involvement of families in their
children’s education is necessary so that all families, including single-parent families, poor
families, and families in ethnic communities, can support the achievement of their children.
Adapting the curriculum to include volunteerism and community-led projects can also reduce
dropouts, and accuracy in dropout reports will help educators plan corrective measures.
Social Security
The NEA supports eliminating two provisions of the Social Security Act—the government
pension offset (GPO) and the windfall elimination provision (WEP). The organization claims
these provisions negatively impact public employees and is urging the federal government to
pass the proposed Social Security Fairness Act, which would repeal both of them.
Vouchers
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The NEA argues that the voucher system promotes economic, racial, ethnic, and religious
stratification in the education system. Moreover, it maintains that vouchers dilute efforts to
directly support needy schools. The voucher system, NEA charges, is an expensive political
stunt, costing $65 million each year. The NEA opposes vouchers, alleging that they divert
essential resources from public schools to religious and private schools, and maintaining that
the “voucher lottery” negatively affects the individual’s right to attend a good school.
Charter Schools
The NEA believes that nontraditional public and charter schools facilitate education reform
and develop new and creative teaching methods that benefit children. There are variations in
the rules for charter schools across the country. The NEA proposes that charter status should
be granted only to educational institutions that perform in a manner that is qualitatively
different from traditional schools. The process of granting a charter should be open and local
state boards should be permitted to grant the charter. A monitoring body can regulate
whether a charter should be continued or revoked. Private schools or for-profit schools should
not be eligible to become charters, and employees of charter schools should have the same
collective bargaining rights as employees in the traditional public schools.
Achievement Gaps
The NEA published a “2011 C.A.R.E. Guide: Strategies for Closing the Achievement Gaps” to
help educators improve the learning experiences of culturally diverse students. The
publication discusses the challenges and complexity of educating American and Asian
students. The guide also focuses on educating black boys and girls and on issues related to
bullying.
Amitabh Vikram Dwivedi
Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University
See Also:Achievement Gap; Alliance for Excellent Education; Children Out-of-School;
Dropout Rates; Education, Early Childhood; Education, Primary; Education, Private and
Public; Education, Secondary; Education and Opportunity; Education and Training, Technical
and Vocational; Education Equity; Education Premium; Education Theories; National
Association for the Education of Young Children; National Policies for Education.
Further Readings
Edwards, Michael, and Mark Walsh. More Than a Lawyer: Robert Chanin, the National
Education Association, and the Fight for Public Education, Employee Rights, and Social
Justice. Washington, DC: National Education Association, 2010.
Karpinski, Carol F. “A Visible Company of Professionals”: African Americans and the National
Education Association During the Civil Rights Movement. New York: Peter Lang, 2008.
Moo, G. Gregory. Power Grab: How the National Education Association Is Betraying Our
Children. Washington, DC: Regnery, 1999.
National Education Association. http://www.nea.org/home/2580.htm (Accessed June 2014).
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Urban, Wayne. Gender, Race, and the National Education Association: Professionalism and Its
Limitations. New York: RoutledgeFarmer, 2000.
Amitabh Vikram Dwivedi Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University
http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483345727.n580
10.4135/9781483345727.n580
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