The students we meet in our cover story, “Passport to Education”— the little boy who wants to be a U.S. Army soldier, the high school student who wants to be a music producer—remind me of my Wisconsin classmates when I was growing up. We had future farmers, pharmacists, and...magazine editors. Like them, we were all U.S. citizens with big American dreams. Unlike them, we didn’t have to cross an international border to get an education and make those dreams come true. Their journey is long and hard, and I respect their efforts to prepare for success.
I’m equally impressed with their educators. Every day, in places across the nation, NEA members bring compassion and hard work to their classrooms, offices, school buses, and so on.
For example, check out the work done by Massachusetts paraeducator Nancy Burke, who turned a school courtyard into a vegetable garden with her special-needs students. Earlier this year, they swept a county fair competition with their sunflowers and Swiss chard.
Elsewhere in this issue of NEA Today, you’ll read about the Los Angeles teachers who went on strike in February to win smaller class sizes, mental health supports for students, better school libraries, and more. From Los Angeles to Denver to West Virginia to Oregon, the spring of 2019 looked a lot like the spring of 2018. The #RedForEd movement continues to inspire educators to stand up for the well-resourced schools that their students need and deserve.
These are people like you—people who, despite the low pay, the legislative disrespect, the under-funded classrooms, and the many other challenges in this profession today, choose not to walk away. They stay. They fight. And they do so as union members who see the power in solidarity. Like NEA President Lily Eskelsen García says, “When we fight, we win!”
