I’ve spent a long time in education and I’ve visited schools, classrooms, and educators all over the country. At every stop, I am amazed and inspired by NEA members. You make the choice to dedicate your professional lives
to motivating other people’s children and surrounding them with love and support. On top of that, you’re experts at doing a lot with a little. You work valiantly to fill in the funding gaps that threaten our students’ education— even when it means dipping into your family budget.
I thought I’d seen it all, but the #RedForEd movement fills me with even more admiration and awe. That’s why 2018 was a year like no other in public education, from West Virginia to Arizona. Never before had I seen the fierce passion of public school educators reach such a red-hot tipping point in school after school and state after state.
This cover story explores the movement, what it has accomplished so far, and what it has meant for educators and students. #RedForEd has not only shined a light on our challenges, it has also inspired a record number of educators to run for office across the nation.
And #RedForEd is marching forward.
We must make sure of that. After all, it’s not as if the people who don’t want to provide educators with decent pay and benefits have disappeared. These detractors don’t share our belief that all kids, no matter where they live or where their school is or what language they speak at home, deserve the opportunity for an education that inspires their creativity and prepares them for the future. I guess they are perfectly fine with decrepit schools, textbooks from the 1980s, toilet paper rationing, and educators struggling to make a living.
Consider this: In 2015 more than half of the states received less funding (per student) than before the recession of 2008. And nearly one out of five educators are forced to take a second job just to make ends meet. (That topic was explored in the Winter 2018 issue of NEA Today.)
That is why #RedForEd matters and why it must continue. It is NEA members’ response to years of neglect by elected officials and their failure to support our classrooms, students, and educators.
If we are serious about every child’s future, let’s get serious about doing what works—and we know what that means: resourcing all schools so students have the support to thrive, and educators have the support they deserve. Now is our moment to keep pushing until we reach the next milestone, and then the next, and then the next. Public schools are a promise our society makes to students and families. With #RedForEd, we are turning that promise into reality.
