It almost sounds like the beginning of an old joke: An organizer and a policy wonk walk into a school...but this time there is no slapstick punch line. Instead, a genuine conversation happened, a new relationship formed, and an NEA member was transformed into an NEA member-leader.
This is the story of South Carolina’s John Ross, a K–5 math curriculum interventionist for the Aiken County Public School District and a member of the Aiken County Education Association, an arm of The South Carolina Education Association (SCEA).
Ross started his teaching career 11 years ago in Florence, S.C., as a math and science teacher, and was a member of his local association for a short time.
The Great Recession was in full swing, and Ross—like many Americans nationwide—faced financial struggles. His salary was low and the cost of living was high.
He knew local and state associations fought for members’ rights and supported them professionally, but “as an early career educator, I couldn’t afford the $40 or
$55 that came out of my paycheck,” says Ross. “I ended up dropping.”
After five years in Florence, Ross took a position at Oakwood Windsor Elementary School in Aiken. During the six years he was there, he held several positions, including a two-year stint as the stem-lab instructor.
Ross taught students about electricity, simple circuits, weathering, and erosion. Within this time, he also started a family.
“My family is my world. I love them so very much and I would do just about anything for them,” says Ross, who along with his wife is raising two children under the age of four. “I also love education and I love the students in my building.”
To support his family and continue in the profession, Ross taught Monday through Friday, and worked part time at Tar- get on Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday. His NEA membership status remained “canceled,” but that would change.
The Inspiration of #RedForEd
It’s common to see state and national association staff in the teacher’s lounge, ready to talk to members and potential members about the issues they care about most or the chal- lenges that affect their students and profession.
This is how NEA staffers—John Riley, a senior policy advisor, and Nathan Allen, a national organizer of 16 years—met Ross in March 2018.
“He came during his planning time and shared his story with us and the issues that concerned him,” says Riley, who was once a special education teacher in Maryland. “We talked about ESSA and the power of educator voice, as well as [the value of] joining the association and working toward building schools students deserve. And then he left.”
Ross returned later that afternoon and joined The SCEA because, as he puts it, “I was inspired by the recent movement of educators across the nation—those in Arizona, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Oklahoma—inspired by the fact that they had rallied together and said ‘Enough was enough.’”
Since 2010, South Carolina schools have been underfunded by $4.4 billion, according to Statehouse Report analyses, and Ross had experienced “enough” of seeing firsthand the negative affect of inadequate school funding on his students.
“My position as a stem lab instructor was cut. We couldn’t afford to keep it,” Ross says, “and this is where kids get the hands-on experience that they wouldn’t get in regular classrooms. It’s heartbreaking.”
On the Go
Soon after he joined NEA, Ross attended trainings from NEA and The SCEA that sharpened his leadership skills and helped him to develop the ability to speak up about his experiences and the resources needed for every student to succeed.
In a personal Facebook post, Ross wrote, “I truly believe that joining The SCEA was one of the best decisions of my career. For far too long I felt as if I had little to no say in the future of my chosen profession. The SCEA helped me realize that I did have a voice, that I could have a say, and...I could make a difference.”
Membership Sparks Leadership
is an intervention coordinator with the Oxford School District and a member of the Mississippi Association of Educators (MAE). Her educational career spans 14 years, but until two years ago, she didn’t step out of the classroom to advocate for her students.
Avent participated in NEA’s Teacher Leadership Institute (TLI), a one-year initiative that helps educators develop leadership skills to support students and the profession.
At the end of the program, Avent developed a mentoring program that brought together African-American boys and
African-American men who helped the students consider how choices they made in the present could affect their futures. The men also shared their life stories, and enabled the young men to experience a link that they hadn’t been able to find with their teachers.
Since then, Avent has traveled the country to present her program at NEA national conferences and panels.
“Before TLI, I was content with being an Erica-sit-on-the-sidelines MAE member,” says Avent. “The program served as a stepping stone for me to use my teacher voice and leadership skills outside my classroom walls.”
Utah’s Reece Jacobsen, a resource teacher at Little Valley Elementary School, knew little of the union. In college, several professors recommended he join his state association’s student chapter. So he did.
“It was ingrained in my pre-service years to join the association, and as soon as I got a job as a professional teacher, I joined not really knowing anything about it.”
Five years into his profession, Jacobsen decided to become more involved with his local. “I volunteered to be my school’s association representative,” he says. “I knew educa-tion was going to be my profession for life, and I wanted to take a step in a new direction.”
Jacobsen’s position as a building representative exposed him to other opportunities within the union, such as NEA’s Early Leadership Institute, which strengthens an educator’s professional connection across the association, and helps the educator develop new skills and explore opportunities for association leadership.
“The association isn’t just an arbitrary thing that I’m a part of. It’s a very active and exciting organization, and being a member has inspired me to dig deeper into my profession,” says Jacobsen. “I’m a part of something bigger and there’s a lot of strength that comes with knowing that someone has your back—not just someone, but tons of people.”
