To start the New Year, NEA Today asks you to step back, close your eyes, and dream. Imagine a community in which students have what they need and educators have a say in making sure that happens. Imagine a school cafeteria that serves healthy, locally sourced foods made from scratch. In this issue, you’ll find out how to make these dreams and others come true.
It starts with President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan— the biggest investment in public schools in history. Our cover story, “Educators Guiding the Recovery,” shows the power educator unions can have in directing rescue funds to the things students need most. You’ll meet educators in Casper, Wyo., who had a voice in securing a counselor and nurse in every school, plus HVAC improvements. Learn how you can have a say, too.
In “How to Start a Community School,” you’ll visit schools that help provide students with food, health care, and other basic needs. NEA’s Community Schools Institute can help your district join this growing movement.
Next, we stop by a school cafeteria in Whitefield, Maine, for a heaping helping of local fish, fruits, and vegetables. In “A Serving of Food Justice, One Ingredient at a Time,” you’ll see what food justice can look like when schools have access to healthy, locally sourced foods that are good for kids and create union jobs with benefits for cafeteria workers.
In the 2020 elections, we saw another dream come true—the power of the African American vote helped deliver the presidency to Joe Biden and determined the balance of power in the Senate. In “Jim Crow 2.0,” we take you back in time to witness the impact of discriminatory voting laws in the South, so that we may look clear-eyed at a wave of similar laws today. We’ve seen the dream, now we must band together to keep it alive.
In “Imagine a World Without Student Debt,” educators share how NEA helped them qualify for student loan forgiveness. Discover how you can get on a path to debt-free living, too.
NEA is here to say that these dreams are within reach and are happening in many places across the country. In this issue, we offer you tools to make them a reality for you and your students.
