Becky’s Journal of Conversations with Colleagues, Collective Action, & Community Schools

Dear NEA members,

I am honored to serve as your president. United, we will reclaim public education as a common good and transform it into a racially and socially just system that actually prepares every student—not one, not some, but every single student—to succeed in a diverse and interdependent world. Onward!

Face to Face with NEA Members

Recently, I met with Lisa Smith, Jessica Nanney, and Ashley Zeberlein— educators at Baltimore Highlands Elementary School, in Maryland. It’s a community school where educators, parents, families, and community organizations are working as partners to transform student learning and make every student successful by assessing the community’s unique needs, and by harnessing the community’s unique assets. This successful model should be replicated across the nation.

President Pringle visited more schools in August to hear from NEA members about their concerns, challenges, and successes this school year. 

Follow the tour

Who I'm Talking With

I interviewed Judith Heumann (virtually!) at the NEA Representative Assembly, where she won NEA’s highest honor: The Friend of Education Award. As a child, Heumann contracted polio. Since then, she has navigated the world from a wheelchair. Because of the obstacles put in her path, including the school principal who wouldn’t allow her to enroll at age 5, saying she was a “fire hazard,” Heumann became a voice for people with disabilities. She sued to become the first teacher in New York City using a wheelchair, and she fought for the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Act. There is still so much we need to do to make the world, including our classrooms, fully accessible. I am proud to join her in this work.