NEA Today for Aspiring Educators, 2024

From the Chair

A message from NEA’s Aspiring Educators Program Chair Sabreena Shaller

Aspiring Educators Champion Equity and Education Justice

I am honored to serve as your NEA Aspiring Educators (AE) chair and to connect with members across the country. Together, we are demanding high-quality teacher preparation programs and advocating for a safe and just education system. 

This year, AE members have organized around the need for paid student teaching, the elimination of EdTPA, and the importance of educator safety. You have used your voices and experiences to demand change and to demand that our profession become more equitable and just. As Aspiring Educators, we have made it clear to politicians, union leaders, and education stakeholders that we will continue to advocate for our students, educators, and communities until education justice is achieved for every student.  

‘As we gear up for a pivotal election season—at a time when educators do not receive the respect or resources they deserve—I am grounded in my values and purpose as an educator to continue seeking progress.' 

Our nation is experiencing one of the largest teacher shortages in recent history. We are also impacted by politicians who want to privatize education. This harmful strategy undermines the promise of public education—that all students, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability status, or ZIP code have the right to a quality education. In addition, we continue to see book bans and state laws that prevent us from teaching the truth of our nation’s history. 

As educators, our purpose is to ensure that all students have access to an accurate and complete education—one that allows them to reflect on our country’s mistakes so they can become informed and engaged citizens. 

The reality is that when educators do not receive the professional and emotional support they need to serve students, then highly qualified educators will leave the profession they love. As Aspiring Educators, it is our responsibility to stand in unity with active and retired educators to ensure that our profession is protected and respected.  

I am eager to do this work alongside the tens of thousands of Aspiring Educators who embody the values of our union. 

Together, we can transform our profession and continue to strengthen the labor movement in our pursuit of educational justice.

Becky's Journal

Dear NEA Aspiring Ed members,

I am honored to serve as your president. United, we will reclaim public education as a common good and transform it into a racially and socially just system that actually prepares every student—not one, not some, but every single student—to succeed in a diverse and interdependent world. Onward!

Becky Pringle

NEA President

“Aspiring Educators, hold on to what you must do, knowing you have with you the collective power of 3 million strong. If we hold [on], … our hearts will be filled, our souls replenished. Our resistance will be renewed, and our resolve will never be broken.” 

—Becky Pringle, at the 2023 Aspiring Educators Conference, in Orlando, Florida

Face to Face with NEA Aspiring Educators

In September, I invited NEA Aspiring Educator Demetrius Dove, of Georgia, to join me on a special panel at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 52nd Annual Legislative Conference (right), in Washington, D.C. There, we discussed the adverse effects of the Black teacher shortage across the country. Demetrius shared how unpaid student teaching placements and attacks on the freedom to learn are barriers to the profession. 

“Students are not able to afford tuition and bills while working eight hours a day for no pay,” he said, adding that in some cases, colleges prohibit future educators from working a second job. 

Another reason: Book bans and censored history. He noted: “In Florida, where the new history standards teach that enslaved people ‘benefited from slavery,’ we have a responsibility to teach the truth that slavery was not an internship. It was an atrocity.” Well said, Demetrius!

JOIN ME

Three Things to Do For Yourself and Your Union

1. Plan to vote in November! The best way to make sure students have the freedom to read and learn is to make our voices heard at the ballot box. See our recommended candidates for office in your state, check your voter registration, preview your local ballot, find nearby events, and more at EdVotes.org. 
2. Looking for a banned book to read? Text BANNED to 48744 and receive a book recommendation from NEA!
3. Sign the pledge. Commit your support for free and open access to books. Ensure that all students can find age-appropriate materials that reflect and respect their identities in their school libraries. Take action at nea.org/FreedomToRead.