This month, educators will see a new Congress sworn in and a new presidential administration take shape in Washington. Conditions for public education and labor unions will be challenging. But voters delivered some important wins in election 2024 that hold promise for educators, students, and families who rely on public education. Here are three bright spots:
1. Educators ran for office—and won!
Across the nation, educators—many of them NEA members—were elected to seats at the local, state, and federal levels. These winners went into their races well-prepared after attending NEA’s See Educators Run candidate training program:
Michelle Velasquez Bean
California
CAREER: Educator of 24 years, currently an English professor at Rio Hondo College, in Whittier, Calif.
ELECTED TO: La Mirada City Council
MOTIVATION TO RUN: “My family taught me the importance of public service,” says Bean, whose father was a police officer turned teacher, and then a superintendent. When a City Council seat came open, Bean was encouraged to run. As an educator committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, she knew she would face pushback in her conservative community. Despite the expected mudslinging, Bean persevered and won.
It was worth it, says Bean. “My students deserve to have someone on the council who represents them,” she says.
DID YOU KNOW? Bean is the first woman of color to serve on La Mirada City Council.
Natalie Zimmerman
Maryland
CAREER: Elementary school teacher in Montgomery County, Maryland, since 2019. Served as a building representative at Wheaton Woods Elementary School.
ELECTED TO: Montgomery County Board of Education
MOTIVATION TO RUN: “So often, our school board members haven’t actually spent time in the classroom,” Zimmerman says. There was not a single educator on the board in her county when she decided to run.
“The people closest to teaching and learning should be making the decisions about the teaching and learning,” she says. “We need educators to run, because educators are the experts at teaching children.”
DID YOU KNOW? Zimmerman studied political science and was excited to run for office herself!
John Mannion
New York
CAREER: Biology and chemistry teacher in New York for 30 years. President of the West Genesee Teachers’ Association for eight years. Has served in the New York State Senate since 2020.
ELECTED TO: U.S. House of Representatives, District 22. In an exciting race, Mannion ousted the incumbent and flipped the district for the first time in a decade.
MOTIVATION TO RUN: Mannion wants to work across the aisle to ensure that the priorities of public school educators, parents, and students are represented at the highest levels of government.
As he told the audience at a political forum hosted by NYSUT (New York State United Teachers), he has prioritized bipartisanship during his four years in the state Senate, and intends to do the same on Capitol Hill. “I didn’t leave teaching—a job that I love—to become part of the toxic,
divisive political structure,” Mannion says.
DID YOU KNOW? John Mannion’s wife, Jennifer, an elementary reading teacher, also has been an NEA member for 30 years.
Considering a run for office?
Check out NEA's candidate training program, See Educators Run!
2. Voters rejected vouchers and high-stakes testing.
Ballot measures in Nebraska, Kentucky, and Colorado asked voters a fundamental question: Do you want taxpayer dollars diverted from public schools and sent to private schools?
The majority answered with a resounding “no,” delivering a decisive defeat to vouchers. This issue united Republican and Democratic voters in rural, urban, and suburban communities alike.
These victories extend a winning streak that every public education advocate should celebrate: When school vouchers have been put on the ballot, they have lost every time.
The Massachusetts Teachers Association scored another victory. Members helped pass a measure to eliminate their state’s archaic high-stakes graduation test, which denies diplomas to nearly 700 students each year, many of whom are English learners and students with disabilities.
3. Pro-public education legislators won key races.
In the U.S. Senate, incumbents Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin—a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee—and Jacky Rosen of Nevada were reelected.
They will be joined by U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin from Michigan, a vocal proponent of laws that help prevent gun violence and keep schools safe, including the safe storage of firearms, universal background checks, red flag laws, and an assault weapons ban.
In Arizona, U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego—who introduced legislation to expand universal full-day kindergarten—defeated Kari Lake, who has pushed for mandated cameras in classrooms and massive cuts to education spending.
In the U.S. House, incumbent Rep. Jahana Hayes of Connecticut—the 2016 National Teacher of the Year—won reelection. Rep. Greg Landsman of Ohio, another former public school teacher, also was reelected.
Educators in North Carolina had much to celebrate when candidates who earned the recommendation of the North Carolina Association of Educators cruised to victory. In the race for governor, state Attorney General Josh Stein defeated controversial Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.
Former Guilford County Schools Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green was elected state superintendent of public instruction after defeating Michele Morrow, who is known for perpetuating ludicrous conspiracy theories and calling for the execution of prominent politicians.
