Category: Unionization

Before I was president of the National Education Association (NEA), I was a sixth-grade teacher in Utah.

“On Education & Democracy; 25 Lessons from the Teaching Profession is, first and foremost, meant to support classroom teachers; fighting their daily battles, confronting education authorities, governments and engaging with the community. We appeal to their professional ideals, to their ambition to make a difference for their students and the societies in which they grow […]

Back in high school when I ran for a seat on the students’ council, a group of young women showed up at my doorstep one evening to help me with crafting catchy slogans and jazzy campaign posters.  I remember thinking “Wow!” because I had not even asked for their help!  Their unexpected support boosted my […]

In March, I had the privilege of attending the United Nations 63rd Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW63) in New York City. I was one of 16 women in a delegation representing Educational International (EI), the global federation of the teaching profession. In total, we were 177 union delegates from across the world joined […]

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of 1994 was the first “trade agreement” that incorporated services as an element of international trade. As such, it was both a symbol of the dangers of commodifying services such as education and an institutional structure to enforce harmonization of both rules and services. Concern about these dangers […]

Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, stated on May 15, 1940, that “for the non-German population of the East, there should not be any schools at a higher level than four-year elementary school. The goal of such a school should be only simple counting, at most to 500, writing one’s name, teaching that obedience […]