NEA leader warns SRPs against 'divide and conquer'
NYSUT Vice President Kathleen Donahue and NEA Vice President Lily Eskelsen. Photo by El-Wise Noisette.
NYSUT members and other unions must continue to be vigilant against attacks on their professions and the middle class, according to Lily Eskelsen, vice president of the National Education Association, one of NYSUT's national affiliates.
Eskelsen was the keynote speaker at NYSUT's 33rd annual School-Related Professionals Leadership Conference held over the weekend in Saratoga Springs. More than 200 SRPs from across the state attended.
NYSUT Vice President Kathleen Donahue introduced Eskelsen to the podium, noting that the NEA officer, former Utah Teacher of the Year and one of the country's most influential Hispanic educators, began her educational career with a job as a lunch worker in a school cafeteria, much to the delight of the SPRs in the audience.
Speaking of the powerful forces at work - the wealthy who "want to take away the gains"