Presidential Hopefuls to Attend NEA’s Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly
Nearly 7,000 NEA members will begin arriving in Houston, Texas, today for NEA’s 157th Annual Meeting and 98th Representative Assembly (RA), the world’s largest deliberative body that sets policy for the organization. The meeting will be held June 29 to July 8 at the Geroge R. Brown Convention Center, with the last four days dedicated to the RA.
The theme of this year’s meeting is Our Democracy. Our Responsibility. Our Time!and the headlining event will be the #StrongPublicSchools Presidential Forum on July 5 where several 2020 presidential candidates will answer questions from America’s educators about the future of public education. Confirmed attendees include former HUD Secretary Julián Castro, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Kamala Harris, Gov. Jay Inslee, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, with other confirmations expected in the coming days. The forum will be moderated by NEA president Lily Eskelsen García.
Many candidates have already announced their plans for increasing support for education after witnessing overwhelming community support for the historic and sweeping #RedForEd movement. NEA delegates will be able to ask for more details about how the candidates will improve funding and resources for all public school students.
“Educators are poised to play a major role in choosing the president of the United States. And now we are taking this energy to the 2020 campaign where we will lead a conversation about the schools our students deserve,” said García. CONTINUE READING: Presidential Hopefuls to Attend NEA’s Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly - NEA Today