CEA-Retired President Gloria Brown, CEA President Jeff Leake, and CEA-Aspiring Educators Chair Katie Grant are ready for the NEA RA.
CEA members are trading warm Connecticut temperatures for the truly hot weather of Houston this week—all in the name of representing their fellow teachers at the NEA Representative Assembly (NEA RA).
More than 100 CEA members are joining the nearly 7,000 elected delegates who are representing their colleagues around the nation. The world’s largest deliberative body is meeting at the George R. Brown Convention Center this year.
A highlights of this year’s RA will be a Presidential Forum from 3-5 p.m. EDT on July 5, where a number of 2020 presidential candidates will answer questions submitted by NEA members about the future of public education. Confirmed attendees include former Vice President Joe Biden, former HUD Secretary Julián Castro, Mayor Bill DeBlasio, Sen. Kamala Harris, Gov. Jay Inslee, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Rep. Tim Ryan, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
CEA-Retired Secretary Karen DiMenna and President Gloria Brown receive the First Place Spotlight Award for CEA-Retired’s ongoing advocacy work through the CEA Advisor.
The days at the RA are busy ones for CEA members, with meetings that last from 7:00 in the morning until 6:00 at night. State delegation meetings precede the NEA RA every morning. Delegates adopt the strategic plan and budget, resolutions, the legislative program, and other policies of the Association. By secret ballot, they vote on proposed amendments to NEA’s Constitution and Bylaws.
Aspiring and Retired Educators Join Forces
The NEA-Retired Annual Meeting and NEA’s Aspiring Educator Student Leadership Conference precede the NEA RA, and both are concluding today. For CEA-Retired members and CEA-Aspiring Educators the overlapping timing of the events gave the groups the perfect opportunity to develop connections while enjoying dinner together last night.
At the NEA-Retired Annual Meeting members have been learning about how to protect pension and health benefits, improve mentoring opportunities, and achieve legislative and political action goals. Some state NEA-Retired chapters were honored with communications awards, including CEA-Retired members, who received the First Place Spotlight Award for their ongoing advocacy work through the CEA Advisor.
Stay tuned for more NEA RA news by subscribing to BlogCEA, and visiting http://ra.nea.org.
