Everything you need to know before entering the education profession.

THE EDUCATOR PAY GAP

Educators make 79 cents on the dollar compared to their professionals with similar experience and credentials. To make matters worse, this educator pay gap is growing, forcing many out of the profession and creating a teacher shortage crisis that threatens our students and communities.

































Criteria of a Great Public School

  1. Quality programs and services that meet the full range of all children’s needs so that they come to school every day ready and able to learn.

  2. High expectations and standards with a rigorous and comprehensive curriculum for all students. Quality conditions for teaching and lifelong learning

  3. Quality conditions for teaching and lifelong learning.

  4. A qualified, caring, diverse, and stable workforce.

  5. Shared responsibility for appropriate school accountability by stakeholders at all levels.

  6. Parental, family, and community involvement and engagement.

  7. Sufficient, equitable, and sustainable funding.

NEA believes these criteria will:

  • Prepare all students for the future with 21st century skills

  • Create enthusiasm for learning and engage all students in the classroom

  • Close achievement gaps and raise achievement for all students

  • Ensure that all educators have the resources and tools they need to get the job done.

Retirement Security Challenges Most educators have strong pension protections built into law. This is why we must resist attempts to weaken them.

At a time when many states are experiencing severe fiscal distress, it is more important than ever to keep tabs on what is happening with the revenues that are coming in. That means making sure that taxpayer money is not being wasted on extravagant and ineffective giveaways to corporations in the name of economic development. State by state tracker


Teacher Compensation: Fact vs. Fiction

Tired of hearing the myths used to keep educator salary inadequate? Here are the facts to clear up those misconceptions.

Uncertified_Teachers_Vacancies_State_CHARTS.pdf




















Educator Resources for Learning About Education Worldwide

Reports and data to help you understand the state of education worldwide and advocate for students and educators

Global Education Monitoring Report — The EFA Global Monitoring Report is an editorially independent, evidence-based publication that serves as an indispensable tool for governments, researchers, education and development specialists, media, and students. It has assessed education progress in some 200 countries and territories on an almost annual basis since 2002. The most recent report, focuses on migration, displacement and education.

World Inequality Database on Education — The World Inequality Database on Education (WIDE) highlights the powerful influence of circumstances, such as wealth, gender, ethnicity, and location, over which people have little control but which play an important role in shaping their opportunities for education and life. It draws attention to unacceptable level of education inequality across countries and between groups within countries, with the aim of helping to inform policy design and public debate

Supporting and Educating Migrant Refugee Children — Since January 2014, more than 50,000 unaccompanied children have crossed into the United States. These children often risked their lives to get an education and escape poverty. NEA prepared a collection of links to educational resources to help educators support and educate those children.

Mapping the Nation — The site provides a robust research tool for grades 4-12 to link the local to global in your classroom.

Education and Solidarity Network — NEA has been partnering for years with the Education and Solidarity Network. This international non-profit gathers organizations working for the education sector across the world. They conduct projects promoting solidarity in health and education in order to improve the well-being of societies.



















Supporting Black Lives Matter
Let's broaden the movement of critical reflection and honest conversation in school communities for people of all ages.

Supporting LGBTQ Youth
LGTBQ students face unique challenges in our schools. Safe and affirming schools are a core element of student success.

Stopping the Use of Offensive Mascots Native American and Alaskan Native mascots and team names have a negative impact on students' learning environments.

Ending the school-to-prison pipeline
Zero tolerance and other exclusionary school discipline policies are pushing kids out of the classroom and into the criminal justice system.

Protecting Dreamers
We should not punish children for decisions they didn’t make. We should not separate families. We should provide a trusted path to citizenship for immigrant Dreamers.

Including Ethnic Studies
Students and educators are mobilizing to include voices and stories of the diverse ethnicities that have contributed to the history and culture of the United States.

Creating Safe Schools
When police and immigration authorities aggressively pursue enforcement activities on or around school property, they interfere with all students' ability to learn.

Protect Our Schools and Communities

The National Education Association remains dedicated to keeping our students and educators safe and working with coalition partners to end gun violence in our schools and in our communities.

We are working in Washington to support federal legislation that will curb gun violence in our schools and communities. But, we need your help.

Facing hate and bias in schools

All students have a right to a public education in a safe learning environment. But right now, many of our students are scared, anxious, and feeling threatened. Students and educators around the country are reporting hostile and hateful environments in their schools and communities. They have reported fake deportation notices being handed out and swastikas drawn in bathrooms. They have been targets of hate speech and seen derogatory images like nooses, racist graffiti and threats to our LGBTQ students. When students feel that they are not welcome, their ability to learn and thrive is diminished.

Opportunity Indicator Dashboard – ESSA Every Student Succeeds Act

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) lists several indicators that state accountability systems must include: math and reading assessment, English language proficiency, and more. But the law also says that the accountability systems must include at least one “Opportunity Dashboard” indicator of school quality or student success – and you can influence which one.

THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

Every student deserves a great public school. Yet for students with disabilities, too often the resources fall short. When Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975, it promised the federal government would pay 40 percent of special education costs. It has never come close to providing that promised support, leaving states to pick up the tab for the poorly-funded mandate. Students and families have paid the price—in the form of cut services or higher taxes.




















NEA-Vision-for-2020-Brochure_Final.pdf

HAIRSTYLE DISCRIMINATION A growing number of cities, counties and states are making it illegal to discriminate against people based on their natural hairstyle. One popular legislative solution is known as the CROWN Act, Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair. Nevertheless, hairstyle discrimination still occurs, as African Americans and Latinos in schools, workplaces and other settings are subjected to dress codes based on Eurocentric standards of beauty and grooming.

Here’s more information:

Supreme Court Rejects Trump's Elimination of DACA

6/18/20 | About 650,000 immigrants are protected by DACA, including 15,000 educators. Now they can continue to support student learning without fear of deportation.

NEA President Lily Tells DREAMERS "They Will Have To Come Through Us"

Who Are Our Undocumented College Students?

What we know about these students, according to a 2015 University of California Los Angeles report, reads like a story of the American Dream:

  • On average, each has lived in the U.S. for nearly 15 years, and more than 90 percent said they’d become citizens if they could.

  • More than 60 percent come from families where the household income is less than $30,000 a year.

  • 28 percent are majoring in STEM fields, such as computer science or pre-med, while another 10 percent are majoring in public service fields, such as education.

  • They are high achievers: 86 percent at public universities are earning greater than a 3.0 GPA.

But then there’s this, which reveals the nightmare: Almost all worry constantly about deportation, and more than half said they knew personally somebody who had been deported, including parents and siblings.

“Nov. 8 shook my entire life,” said Rose Barrientos, a student at Sacramento State, which is part of the CSU system, to the Los Angeles Times. Since then, her fear of deportation is a constant companion, as well as fear of losing the two jobs that help her to pay for school, and fear for the safety of her East L.A. family.

“Yes, I’m undocumented, yes, I’m proud—but this is too much. Sharing with you that I’m undocumented is scary,” she said.

In November, the Cal State system affirmed its commitment to fostering a “safe and welcoming” community, and vowed not to help federal immigration officials “unless required by law.” But so far, their efforts have fallen short of creating the “safe zones” that students deserve.

THE CFA RESOLUTION: DO’S AND DON’TS

In its resolution, which aims at creating a “safe and inviting” campus, the CFA lays out the proper conduct for university officials.

Among the things they shouldn’t do: Enable campus police officers to participate in any way with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids or detentions, or have staff assist in any way with the development of a federal registry based on any protected characteristic, such as religion or national origin. Also, no campus personnel should ask a student, or his or her family members about their status.

Among the things they should do:

  • Refuse immigration agents access to campus, unless provided with a warrant signed by a state or federal judge that specifies the name of the person under arrest, as well as written authority from ICE.

  • Provide legal support to immigrant students and their families.

  • Offer mental-health counseling by culturally competent professionals.

  • Host “Know Your Rights” trainings in appropriate languages for students and parents.

  • Offer housing for students who can’t return home.

  • Ensure all students, regardless of their status, are aware of opportunities for grants, scholarships, and other financial aid.

MORE

Fear and Longing – The Life of Students with Undocumented Parents