“It’s about time for us all to be together!” proclaimed NEA-Retired President Sarah Borgman, as she addressed the first in-person NEA-Retired Annual Meeting in two years. Gathering in Chicago, on July 29 and 30, some 316 delegates participated in a hybrid format—in person and virtually—representing the 324,000 members of NEA-Retired.
The meeting convened against a complex backdrop of national issues: June Supreme Court rulings that overturned Roe v. Wade, expanded school vouchers, enabled school prayer, and loosened gun laws; the May school shooting in Uvalde, Texas; ongoing election denials; and organized attacks on democracy and honesty in education.
With these disturbing events on everyone’s minds, Borgman said, “it’s about time” for state and local associations to take on racial and social justice as top priorities, and “it’s about time to stop the insane murdering of our students and teachers.”
She delivered an impassioned plea for stronger gun control. “My father had guns for hunting, but he didn’t need an assault weapon!” Borgman said. “We cannot give up, because our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren are at stake.”
She urged NEA-Retired members to answer the call this November and get active in election efforts to protect our democracy. “It’s about time for all of us to fulfill our promise,” she said.
‘Progress is never linear’
NEA leaders echoed these themes, expressing their joy at being together as well as their concern about the future and the gravity of the upcoming midterm elections.
“You know that the battle from one generation to the next continues, progress is never linear,” NEA President Becky Pringle told the crowd. “As those who carry the strength and history of this nation within your hearts, I know you will not give up.
“In this critical moment, we should all remember that it was educators who led this nation to the polls in 2020 and put a friend of public education in the White House,” she continued. “And we fought to make sure the Biden administration passed the American Rescue Plan, which funded much-needed resources to the districts and schools who needed it most.”
Pringle also credited educators for urging passage of the bipartisan gun safety legislation that President Biden signed into law on June 25. Nearly 60,000 NEA members, including NEA-Retired members, emailed their members of Congress on the issue.
Three Things You Can Do
“It’s going to take all of us to save democracy in America,” NEA Vice President Princess Moss told NEA-Retired members. She called on them to do just three things to make a difference for our students, our schools, and the future of our nation.
- Think about running for public office.
- Become an election observer or serve on a local election board to counter targeted campaigns to subvert elections.
- Contribute to the NEA Fund for Children and Public Education to help elect candidates that stand with NEA and public schools.
Secretary-Treasurer Noel Candelaria gave a tribute to our nation’s veterans, saying, “Our veterans represent every geographic corner of our nation and every shade of humankind. They are immigrant and native-born, Christian, Muslim, Jew, and nonbeliever alike. And they have always believed that freedom is for everyone.”
NEA-Retired gets results on social security
The issue of unfair penalties on retired educators’ pensions has been unresolved for years. But new action by NEA-Retired members is inspiring—and has led to recent action by Congress. In a May 24 Day of Action, NEA-Retired members across the country sent 6,200 emails, made 486 calls to Congress, and held 50 virtual meetings with congressional staff, calling on them to repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). Together, the two offsets are reducing or eliminating Social Security benefits for millions of public servants, including NEA-Retired members.
“That Day of Action blew us all out of the water,” Mary Kusler, director of the NEA Center for Advocacy, told NEA-Retired members. As a direct result of members’ activism, the U.S. House of Representatives will consider a bill this month that would repeal the GPO and WEP provisions of the Social Security Act. “It’s because of all of you,” Kusler said.
Democracy is on the ballot
At the end of the day, it all comes back to elections, Kusler added. “We cannot stand on the sidelines, the [November] elections are truly at their core about the life and death of democracy,” she said. “If there’s anyone I know I can count on to go to the mattresses, it’s NEA-Retired.”
She encouraged every NEA-Retired member to find out how they can get involved by downloading NEA’s EdActivist app and by contributing to the NEA Fund for Children and Public Education to help elect friends of education. Over the last five years, NEA-Retired members have contributed well over $1 million dollars to the political action committee. Their generosity continued at a silent auction held at the annual meeting—both in person and virtually—raising more than $35,000. You can make a contribution here.
Support for the next generation of educators
NEA-Retired also awarded five aspiring educators with Jack Kinnaman Memorial Scholarships. Established in honor of a former NEA-Retired vice president, the award helps NEA Aspiring Educators members fulfill their dream of becoming teachers. This year, thanks to the generosity of NEA-Retired members, the amount of the scholarship increased from $2,500 to $3,500 per student.
The winners are: Jaclyn E. Deal, from Wingate University, in North Carolina; Hannah St. Clair, at the University of Oregon; Roman Trejo, of Saint Xavier University, in Illinois; Sofia Vandersluis, at the University of Wisconsin, Madison; and Dajsha Williams, at Ohio State University. To donate to the Jack Kinnaman Memorial Scholarship Fund, go to donatekinnaman.com.
New NEA-Retired leaders
Some of the top positions in NEA-Retired are up for election this year: vice president; two seats on the executive council; and two NEA-Retired positions on the NEA Board of Directors. Because some attended the meeting remotely, voting will take place by mail. The winners will be announced on July 21, or, if a runoff is required, on August 16. Check the NEA-Retired website for results.
Congratulations go to Diane Larson, from Minnesota, who ran unopposed for the NEA-Retired alternate position on the NEA Board of Directors, and to the newly elected Retired members of the NEA Resolutions Committee for 2022 – 2023, who also ran unopposed. They are: Ginny Boss, from Wisconsin; Pat Jordan, from Connecticut; Gary McGrane, from Maine; Bobby J. Pierson, from Alabama; Kathleen Purdy, from Ohio; and Karen Solheim, from Georgia.
NEA-Retired shared many moments of celebration, but none more meaningful than on the second day of the meeting—at noon on June 30—when the assembly paused as Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in to be the first African American woman on the U.S. Supreme Court. One phrase sums up this historic moment: It’s about time.
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