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make a difference for children but on a larger scale: By recreating -- by fundamentally
recreating NEA as the champion of quality teaching and quality public schools in the
United States.
Now, as we all know, the last several years have not been kind to newly
elected leaders who come to Washington in the guise of revolutionaries. However, I am
not shy about my plans to redirect our great Association in big ways. Nor am I naive
about the magnitude of this challenge.
Bear in mind that, for nearly three decades now, the National Education
Association has been a traditional, somewhat narrowly focused union. We have butted
heads with management over bread-and-butter issues -- to win better salaries, benefits, and
working conditions for school employees. And we have succeeded.
Today, however, it is clear to me and to a critical mass of teachers across
America -- that while this narrow, traditional agenda remains important, it is utterly
inadequate to the needs of the future. It will not serve our members' interest in greater
professionalism. It will not serve the public's interest in better quality public schools. And
it will not serve the interests of America's children the children we teach the children
who motivated us to go into teaching in the first place.
And this latter interest must be decisive. After all, America's public schools
do not exist for teachers and other employees. They do not exist to provide us with jobs
and salaries. Schools do exist for the children to give students the very best beginning
with a quality teacher in every classroom.
Ladies and gentlemen, the imperative now facing public education could not be
more stark: Simply put, in the decade ahead, we must revitalize our public schools from
within, or they will be dismantled from without. And I am not talking here about the
critics on talk radio who seek higher ratings by bashing public education and trashing
teachers. I am talking about the vast majority of Americans who support public
education, but are clearly dissatisfied. They want higher quality public schools, and they
want them now.
Even in the many school districts across America that are already performing at
high levels -- and there are thousands of them, including, locally, Montgomery County,
Maryland and Fairfax County, Virginia even in these high-performance systems, the
public is demanding that we do better. And given these expectations, 1 am convinced that
school unions best serve their members by pursuing an aggressive agenda of excellence
and reform in public education.
To this end, we aim not so much to redirect NEA, as to reinvent it. Yes,
reinvention is a tall order. But we know we can do it, because we did it once before. In
the 1960s, we took a rather quiet, genteel professional association of educators, and we
reinvented it as an assertive and, when necessary, militant -- labor union.
But here is a critical point: When we reinvented our association in the 1960s,
we modeled it after traditional, industrial unions. Likewise, we accepted the industrial
premise: Namely, that labor and management have distinct, conflicting roles and
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"ocrText": "003\n2\nmake a difference for children but on a larger scale: By recreating -- by fundamentally\nrecreating NEA as the champion of quality teaching and quality public schools in the\nUnited States.\nNow, as we all know, the last several years have not been kind to newly\nelected leaders who come to Washington in the guise of revolutionaries. However, I am\nnot shy about my plans to redirect our great Association in big ways. Nor am I naive\nabout the magnitude of this challenge.\nBear in mind that, for nearly three decades now, the National Education\nAssociation has been a traditional, somewhat narrowly focused union. We have butted\nheads with management over bread-and-butter issues -- to win better salaries, benefits, and\nworking conditions for school employees. And we have succeeded.\nToday, however, it is clear to me and to a critical mass of teachers across\nAmerica -- that while this narrow, traditional agenda remains important, it is utterly\ninadequate to the needs of the future. It will not serve our members' interest in greater\nprofessionalism. It will not serve the public's interest in better quality public schools. And\nit will not serve the interests of America's children the children we teach the children\nwho motivated us to go into teaching in the first place.\nAnd this latter interest must be decisive. After all, America's public schools\ndo not exist for teachers and other employees. They do not exist to provide us with jobs\nand salaries. Schools do exist for the children to give students the very best beginning\nwith a quality teacher in every classroom.\nLadies and gentlemen, the imperative now facing public education could not be\nmore stark: Simply put, in the decade ahead, we must revitalize our public schools from\nwithin, or they will be dismantled from without. And I am not talking here about the\ncritics on talk radio who seek higher ratings by bashing public education and trashing\nteachers. I am talking about the vast majority of Americans who support public\neducation, but are clearly dissatisfied. They want higher quality public schools, and they\nwant them now.\nEven in the many school districts across America that are already performing at\nhigh levels -- and there are thousands of them, including, locally, Montgomery County,\nMaryland and Fairfax County, Virginia even in these high-performance systems, the\npublic is demanding that we do better. And given these expectations, 1 am convinced that\nschool unions best serve their members by pursuing an aggressive agenda of excellence\nand reform in public education.\nTo this end, we aim not so much to redirect NEA, as to reinvent it. Yes,\nreinvention is a tall order. But we know we can do it, because we did it once before. In\nthe 1960s, we took a rather quiet, genteel professional association of educators, and we\nreinvented it as an assertive and, when necessary, militant -- labor union.\nBut here is a critical point: When we reinvented our association in the 1960s,\nwe modeled it after traditional, industrial unions. Likewise, we accepted the industrial\npremise: Namely, that labor and management have distinct, conflicting roles and"
}