To be heard by the IEA leadership gets tougher. I still own the orange sweater. And I’m the new president of Skokie.
Wearing the ugly orange sweater at the 2009 IEA RA.
When Bob Haisman was IEA President and I was the only delegate to the NEA RA from Illinois who supported the merger of the AFT and the NEA, Haisman was cordial and dismissive. I really posed no challenge to the outcome he wanted. I was for the unity of the two national teacher unions. He opposed it. He won.
When Ann Davis was President, I would go to the mic. She would call on me. I would ask a question. She would respond with, “Next question.”
When Ken Swanson was President, he just would ignore me at the mic. He wouldn’t see me.
This led me to wearing a bright ugly orange sweater to the state conventions. The better to be seen.
Such is the nature of democracy