Walking to School: Dear NEA,

Walking to School: Dear NEA,:

Dear NEA,

I have a New Year's Resolution for you: Man-up.


That's what my students would say. That's much of what your membership seems to be saying. And that's what I implore you to do.


I have been a teacher since 1978 and an NEA member for almost as long. But the fact of the matter is that, as I improved in my abilities to teach through an association with other professional organizations (the National Writing Project, The National Council of Teachers of English), the NEA became less and less important in my professional life. I came to think of my membership as an insurance policy: a fall back in case I ever found myself battling against the district that employed me which, it was clear, would treat me like a freelancer and leave me twisting in the legal winds should anything go awry in my teaching life. (And there are so many things.....)


The NEA has done nothing to change that view over the years. I hear from my organization almost weekly, but only to excite my interest in an NEA MasterCard, an NEA low-interest loan, an NEA