“No More!” As the new school year begins, the title of our cover story defines #RedForEd—a powerful, women-led movement that is making a difference for students and standing against the gender discrimination that creates a barrier to fair and professional pay in a female-dominated field.
Unfortunately, veteran California High School Counselor Kris Bertsch-Rydell will tell you that when she tried to make a difference for her students, the Santa Rosa City Schools district resisted. To learn what she did “wrong,” and how her union fought back, read “My Union is Standing Up for Me."
Often, standing up for students is as simple as genuinely caring for them. In fact, care is a prerequisite to effective instruction. Our story “Inside a Trauma-Informed Classroom,” illustrates how caring educators in Delaware are smoothing the road for students who’ve been impacted by trauma.
And if you need a bit of new-school-year inspiration, read our profile of 2019 National Teacher of the Year Rodney Robinson. He’s a 19-year veteran of Richmond Public Schools, a member of the Virginia Education Association, and teaches youth at the Virgie Binford Education Center, a school inside the Richmond Juvenile Detention Center.
Robinson says he wants to be the voice for students who feel “unseen, unheard, unappreciated, and undervalued.”
Stories like his renew our commitment to use the pages of NEA Today to showcase the greatness of public education and the dedication of public school educators whose work changes the lives of students every day.
Lastly, we went to press following the NEA Representative Assembly, held in Houston in July.
Wishing you a great school year, and be sure to visit us at NEAToday.org!
