NEA President: "Students, Parents, Educators and Public Schools Were the Big Winners in the Key Races of the 2022 Elections"

National Education Association President Becky Pringle released the following statement on the 2022 elections: 

“Across the nation, the majority of Americans want the same thing – thriving communities with good jobs and strong public schools where all students have the resources and opportunities to grow into their full brilliance.  

“Tonight, it is clear that students, parents, educators and public schools were the big winners of the 2022 elections as pro-public school candidates won in key gubernatorial, state legislative, school board, and federal races. Voters also made the right choices on key ballot measures from New Mexico to West Virginia, Massachusetts and elsewhere. 

“Voters rewarded candidates who articulated a clear, positive message about public education, including Governors Tony Evers, Gretchen Whitmer, Laura Kelly, Michelle Lujan Grisham, Janet Mills, Jared Polis, Ned Lamont, Gavin Newsom, Daniel McKee, J.B. Pritzker, Kathy Hochul, Brad Little, and Tim Walz and Governors-elect Josh Shapiro, Wes Moore, Josh Green, Tina Kotek, and Maura Healey.  Voters supported leaders who have focused on investing in our schools, partnering with educators and parents to help all students, and supporting working families.  

“Parents and voters explicitly rejected extreme politicians who engaged in the politics of division, politicizing our classrooms, banning books, dragging their culture wars into our public schools, and pushing failed privatization schemes. 

“Educators across the nation ran for and won offices up and down the ballot to serve their communities, be champions for students, and lift up policies that help working families. And hundreds of thousands of educators and other dedicated public employees got involved in this election by speaking with parents and community members across the country to share what they are seeing in schools and on campuses across the country.  

“Educators’ love for their students and their understanding of what students need to learn and thrive was more persuasive to parents and communities than divisive and race-baiting rhetoric designed to distract voters. Those who peddled that rhetoric offered only one idea: abandon public education in favor of vouchers, diverting hard-earned taxpayer dollars away from public schools that serve 90 percent of America’s students to private schools. 

“This election made it abundantly clear that when it comes to key education issues, parents and educators across the country turned out to support leaders running to strengthen public schools and expand opportunities for all students no matter their race, place, or background. Voters understand the real issues impacting students — the need for more academic and mental health support, the need to solve the educator shortage by providing educators professional compensation, and the need to fully fund public education to prepare our students for success.  

“And now that this election is over, it’s time for all of our leaders to focus on providing our students with the resources and support they deserve, respecting and adequately compensating our nation’s heroic educators and public employees, and strengthening public education as the cornerstone of our democracy and our communities.” 

-###- 

The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing more than 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, students preparing to become teachers, healthcare workers, and public employees. Learn more at www.nea.org.