Day 1 National Education Association 2021 Virtual Representative Assembly

 

Wednesday, June 30, 2021, was the date of the first day of the NEA Representative Assembly. At 2:00 pm President Becky Pringle banged the gavel to begin the 159th meeting of the largest democratic, deliberative body in the world.

We opened with a performance from our Amanda Gorman, National Youth Poet Laureate. Her poetry was beautiful and dynamic, and I didn't take any notes or pictures because I was enthralled with her words and the way they floated from her mouth. It was a real fan moment for all of us. While we couldn't see her in person at a convention center, I really think I was better able to appreciate her performance by seeing her close up on the screen. She is amazing, 'nuff said.

Amanda Gorman at the Inauguration of President Joseph Biden

The Land Acknowledgement was performed by James Jones, known as Notorious Cree. He performed an incredible hoop dance to honor America's First People.

Notorious Cree

We had the National Anthem and the invocation, and then we were ready to roll.  Well, sort of ready to roll. This virtual platform was new to many of our delegates, who are often, ummm. . .technically challenged (see my previous post). The various choices on the page took some getting used to, and it took some practice for us to adopt the Standing Rules. Actually, it took a lot of practice and some tough love from Becky Pringle. My favorite line from her may be, "Delegates, I need you to HEAR me." This usually followed with some stern instructions about NOT touching buttons and screwing up the online queue. 

Next we heard the President's address to the Assembly. Becky Pringle is a charismatic speaker, both in a large group setting and one on  one. I met her a few years ago at the Representative Assembly in Houston, and she just EMANATES power. 

OEA President Scott DiMauro, Stephani, and NEA President Becky Pringle

Her speech emphasized the courage and creativity of educators during the pandemic, and it fired us up. Some snippets that resonated with me:

"We lead with love and teach from a place of conviction."

"We will make sure our kids have what they need and what they deserve."

After the speech, we were revved up to debate and vote on New Business Items. Once the delegates got used to the new platform, we worked pretty efficiently through 5 New Business Items. 

One takeaway from this virtual assembly: I really like the online voting. Normally at an assembly, we vote by voice, all ten thousand of us, and sometimes there is a call for division. Then we have to stand up and be counted. While it is very exciting, it is probably not the most efficient way to get things done. The online voting platform allows us to see the percentages for and against, and that eliminates calls of division. I hope that we find a way to continue this type of voting even while meeting face to face.

Gavel down came a bit late: 8:20 PM.  By then I was ready for dinner and bed. 

After all, we still had two more days of the Representative Assembly to go!

Ohio Education Association Caucus Days 2 and 3

On Tuesday, June 29, and Wednesday, June 30, the Ohio Education Association met for their second and third caucus days before the 2021 National Education Association Virtual Assembly. What happened to the first day, you ask? We did have it earlier in June, but it was more focused on procedures for using online apps to debate and vote, so I will focus on the more important meetings before the Representative Assembly.

Usually the Ohio Caucus starts at 7:30 AM each day before the Assembly. This is where we look at New Business Items and vote on whether the Caucus supports or opposes each item.  I was curious how we were going to be able to debate NBIs among over 200 delegates. Ironically, most teachers will acknowledge that we don't listen to instructions very well, and many of us still struggle with tech, even after the hellatious online year we have had. 

Actual image of a teacher struggling with tech

We conducted our caucus through Zoom, and it went surprisingly well. Sure, there were people who kept unmuting themselves and gazing blankly at the screen. Sure, there were people who had trouble unmuting themselves.  All in all, though, it really worked out as well as it could have without meeting face to face.

We managed to debate and vote on the Ohio Caucus positions for at least 40 NBIs dealing with NEA's positions on school funding, students' rights and safety, educators' rights and safety, and even the use of technology in instruction.  It wasn't fun, but it was functional.

Thank you to the OEA Leadership: President Scott DiMauro, Vice President Jeff Wensing, and Secretary-Treasurer Mark Hill. Their guidance, as well as the work of their staff, created a smooth and productive meeting.  

OEA President Scott DiMauro

OEA Vice President Jeff Wensing

OEA Secretary-Treasurer Mark Hill

Up Next: 2021 National Education Association Virtual Representative Assembly Day 1

Ohio Education Association Representative Assembly

On Saturday, December 7, Medina Delegates David Hamman, Katie Shaffer, Bradley Dalzell, Ed Dargay, Rob Thompson, Austin Argabright, Tricia Schuck, Laina Makepeace, and Stephani Itibrout represented MCTA at the Ohio Education Association Representative Assembly at the Columbus Fairgrounds.  It was a long day with a long drive, but it was definitely worthwhile.

MCTA Delegates hard at work

The Rittman High School Steel Drum Band greeted us as we entered.




At 9:00, President Scott DiMauro opened the Assembly with the Pledge of Allegiance, the National Anthem, and an invocation. Then we quickly got down to business.

This was an exciting RA because the guest speaker was the President of the National Education Association, Lily Eskelsen Garcia.  I admire Lily so much because she is smart and strong and powerful. She is also a dynamic speaker, and her message to rally to bring about change through the upcoming elections was meaningful.

NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia

Lily spent much of her time showing us NEA's webpage devoted to candidates for the election, Education Votes.  The site is very useful in its presentation of information. One of the best tools on the site (in my opinion) is the Candidate Comparison, which allows you to pick any of the current Presidential candidates (Democrat and Republican) and match their platforms on current issues.  Lily has also posted interviews with some of the candidates, and she plans to continue to interview candidates with questions that we can post on that site. So cool.

In addition, NEA has a form you can complete if you are interested in becoming a delegate to either the Democratic or Republican convention. If you are interested, NEA will pass that information on to the Ohio Education Association, who will actively work with you to help you become a delegate.  Lily's goal is to make education a top issue in the upcoming election, and I think she is making the right moves to make that happen.

After Lily's inspirational speech, OEA held a legislative panel consisting of two Republicans and two Democrats who spoke about current legislation to reduce excessive state testing, eliminate value added measurements, and repeal state takeovers of schools.

I think that many union members don't think about what their state and national unions do for them. Today's Representative Assembly showed me that OEA and NEA are working hard for the well being of teachers and students. Another example of this was OEA's stand against state report cards, which you can read here.

Regardless of your political affiliation, you can find great information on both OEA's and NEA's web pages. It's important for all of us to educate ourselves on current events so that we can more effectively advocate for our students.  It all can start with just a few clicks. . .

National Education Association Representative Assembly 2019: Post 2

From July 3-7, 2019, Medina Delegates Bradley Dalzell, Katie Shaffer, and Stephani Itibrout attended the 2019 National Education Association Representative Assembly in Houston, Texas.  The NEA is the largest labor organization in the United States, and we had about 9,000 people there to prove it.

Today I would like to write about fundraising. 

Union dues do not go towards any sort of political activity, but union activity is often very political. I have served on committees that have recommended policies to legislators.  The NEA has a separate, voluntary donation program that goes toward legislative policy; it is called the Fund for Children and Public Education (FCPE). To give you an idea of its importance, the FCPE in Ohio was instrumental in reducing arduous and repetitive requirements for New Educators.  Also, FCPE helps the OEA to inform legislators of the dangers of unnecessary testing. Charter school regulation? FCPE is working on that. 

Anyway, fund-raising for FCPE at the Representative Assemblies is very important, and at the NEA RA, it can get very creative.  One of the fun fund-raising activities for FCPE involves forcing our union leaders to do silly things in public. This year it started with hats. The FCPE auctioneer took bids on forcing members to wear Texas-inspired hats during important moments of the RA. The members targeted are then allowed to outbid in order to give the hat to someone else. There was some heavy bidding this year, but many members combined funds in order to keep the humiliation within the leaders. 

From left: Treasurer Mark Hill, VP Scott DiMauro, and Pres. Becky Higgins are wearing weird hats. Daniel Boone?  I don't know. Members donated to FCPE to make them wear these hats on the floor of the RA.

Our Vice-President-Elect, Jeff Wensing, gets picked on every year. I swear I have nothing to do with it:

The best part was when members pooled their funds to make Darryl wear an astronaut suit on the floor of the Assembly.  He was an incredibly good sport about it, and he even got memed on Twitter because he was sitting right by a camera:

We also raised money for the Houston food bank. Darryl played an important role in this because he allowed anyone at the RA to take a picture with him if they donated to the Houston food bank. 

We also collected money by playing Bingo during the RA. If you have ever attended a staff or faculty meeting, you know how this works. The bingo card has a list of "buzz words" or even people, and when you can make a bingo with the events of the RA, you win money or prizes. We bought bingo cards each day for two dollars, and that money also went to the Houston food bank. The cards were VERY popular. I got a bingo, but it was too late for money; I won candy.

I can't write a blog post without a picture of the Medina Delegates. Here we are, excited about our place on the Representative Assembly floor:

Ohio has a large delegation. It is really exciting to be a part of that. Here is a picture of all of us:

To give you an idea of the importance of presence at the RA, I will tell you an anecdote:

There was a hugely-debated New Business Item on the floor of the RA (there are many, so I don't remember which one this was--sorry). We had many votes on many amendments to this NBI, but we just couldn't settle it. Then it came time for Ohio to leave the RA floor to vote for NEA Directors, so all of us stood up at once. Immediately, delegates from other states started screaming, "Ohio! DON'T LEAVE! STAY FOR OUR VOTE!" 

I often tell people that I am a geek for Parliamentary Procedure. It must be true because I get chills whenever I think of that moment.

I think this is enough for Post #2 of the NEA RA. Don't worry; I still have lots more information to share. Specifically, stay with me to read about the presentations of ten Democratic candidates!

Like what you read? Do you support public education? Follow Medina Teachers on Twitter and Facebook.

National Education Association Representative Assembly 2019

From July 3-7, 2019, Medina Delegates Bradley Dalzell, Katie Shaffer, and Stephani Itibrout attended the 2019 National Education Association Representative Assembly in Houston, Texas.  The NEA is the largest labor organization in the United States, and we had about 9,000 people there to prove it.

As usual, Katie, Bradley, and I had to get our airport selfie when we left.

We arrived in Houston just in time to register for the Assembly, change, and go to our Ohio Night Celebration. This was an opportunity to talk with delegates from other school districts. For me it was another photo opportunity, of course:

Sue Messinger, President of Parma Educators Association

Scott DiMauro, Vice President and President-Elect of Ohio Education Association

Mary Alice Conkey, Executive Director of the North Eastern Ohio Education Association

Between the traveling and the excitement of networking, we were all ready to call it a day relatively early so that we could be fresh for our morning caucuses for both OEA and NEOEA.

I volunteered for two committees this year: The Communications Committee and the Elections Committee. I'll describe our roles in the Assembly later in this blog.

I woke up at 4:45 AM to get in a run in downtown Houston. I wanted to run the trail by the river, but there were police blocking the trail who told me that I should stick to running downtown, so I did just that.

My morning run

During our Ohio Caucus, we listened to campaign speeches for candidates for the NEA Directors. We also discussed campaign strategy for our own candidate, Andrea Beeman. Katie, Bradley, and I volunteered to be a part of the Scream Team, which meant we passed out campaign literature and chanted for Andrea in the Convention Center for about an hour and a half on election day.

"We are screamin'! Vote for Beeman!"
John, Bradley, Me, Terry, Katie

As a member of the OEA Elections Committee, I had to be an Observer, which at first meant I just directed people to the ballot boxes, made sure there were enough pencils, and told voters not to fold their ballots. Then, when the ballot boxes were transferred to be counted, we had to watch the counting process and collectively solve problems for any situations that might arise. The ballots are scanned and counted electronically; it looks like you are running them through a mini-printer. Sometimes the machine spits back a ballot--for example, a bubble wasn't dark enough--and the committee decides whether the bubble was actually blackened or not. There were no real problems with the ballots, so counting was pretty uneventful but instructive.

Our reward for a long day of work was a group outing to The Truckyard, a restaurant/music venue that rotates in food trucks and has all kinds of music and fun.  I ate some amazing duck sliders and resisted the urge to ride the mini ferris wheel.

Katie, Bradley and I enjoyed our sandwiches!

Then we moved on to Axelrad, an outdoor music venue where the main seating is hammocks!  Hammocks everywhere!

Fellow NEOEA Delegates

Chillaxin' at Axelrad

Want to read more about the NEA RA? Want to know about Caucus voting, fundraising, and BS Bingo? Maybe you might like to read about 10 Democratic Presidential Candidates who spoke to us? If so, continue to follow our journey.  Stay tuned for our next post.

Like what you read? Follow Medina Teachers Association on Twitter and Facebook!

2019 Ohio Education Association Representative Assembly

On Friday, May 10, nine delegates from Medina City Teachers Association attended Day 1 of the Ohio Education Association Representative Assembly. Our task was an important one: advocate for our colleagues and students by voting for our leaders and debating and voting on policy.

We arrived on Thursday for our registration and networking, where we attended an election event for Jeff Wensing, who was running for the position of Vice President of OEA. Of course you realize that I can't resist a good selfie, so I'm warning you right now that there will be plenty of them. See if you recognize anyone.

Jeff Wensing, former President of the North Eastern Ohio Education Association

Mary Alice Conkey, Executive Director of the North Eastern Ohio Education Association

On Friday, we started bright and early at the Columbus Convention Center with introduction ceremonies and candidates' speeches.

David Hamman, President of Medina Teachers Education Association

Rob Thompson, who is apparently part of the Witness Protection Program, and Laina Makepeace, Treasurer of MCTA

Medina Delegates: Rob, Laina, Lori Berger, Katie Shaffer, Bradley Dalzell, Ed Dargay, Sherri Hufford, David Hamman

I had time for a mascot selfie!

We heard speeches from Jim Figley, WEA, and Scott DiMauro, Vice President of OEA, who were both campaigning for the office of President of OEA. We also heard from Jeff Wensing, Sophia Rodriguez, and Adrienne Bowman, who were running for Vice President of OEA. The speeches were all very well-done and it made me happy that we had such good candidates from which to choose.

Scott DiMauro

Jeff Wensing

After speeches, we had a lunch and voting break. It was so exciting to see 900+ delegates lining up to vote for our officers. I had time for more selfies with fellow-delegates and officers.

Scott DiMauro, Vice President of OEA

Sharron Callahan, OEA Director

Nicole Stratton, Copley Teachers Association President

I always take pictures with Copley delegates because I like to send them to my daughter. It kills her that I'm spending time with her teachers.

When we came back, we saw the awards for members who have contributed to the Fund for Children and Public Education. This was a special moment for me because my friend Steve Pierce earned a Lifetime Achievement Award, and my friend Jen Pierce, his wife, was accepting it on his behalf. Steve passed away two months ago, and his friends and family still deeply feel his absence. On this occasion, we were lucky to remember his generosity and dedication to public education. Becky Higgins, OEA President, said some kind words about him as Jen accepted the award.

Becky Higgins, Jennifer Pierce

The election for Vice President was pretty exciting because we had three strong candidates, and as predicted, there was a run-off vote, so off we went to the polls to vote again after a caucus with NEOEA.

As we waited for the results of the second vote, Vice President Scott DiMauro orchestrated a very touching tribute to Becky Higgins, as this was her last OEA RA. Some very impressive people spoke for Becky, including Senator Sherrod Brown, Betty Sutton, and many people whom Becky mentored during her tenure as President.

Nicole Stratton speaks of Becky's mentorship.

Becky Higgins

Betty Sutton made a live appearance!

We were pleased to hear the results of the election:

Our new OEA President is Scott DiMauro!
Our new OEA Vice President is Jeff Wensing!

I am confident that under their leadership, OEA will be stronger than ever. I look forward to being a part of that future.

On Saturday, we debated and voted on New Business Items. These were resolutions that delegates wished OEA to adopt, and there was vigorous debate about all of them. These resolutions included strengthening our lobbying to repeal and replace RESA, eliminate state testing and reliance of testing scores for teacher evaluations and school report cards, and adopt a state-wide non-discrimination policy for our LGBTQ students and colleagues.

Needless to say, it was a busy weekend! I drove home on Saturday afternoon exhausted but happy with our work.

The next step is the National Education Association Representative Assembly in July in Houston, Texas, and Katie Shaffer, Bradley Dalzell, and I will be attending. I am looking forward to representing MCTA on a national level.

Not gonna lie: the selfie game is going to be ON POINT!!!

My First National Education Association Representatives Assembly Part 2

In case you missed Part 1 (which you can read here), Medina City Teachers Association sent three delegates to the National Education Association Representatives Assembly in Boston, Massachusetts, and I was fortunate enough to be one of them. This post continues our adventure as delegates.

July 1 started with our 7:00 AM Ohio Caucus. We went through a bazillion New Business Items and Resolutions Amendments with plenty of debate.  I was able to tweet out the number of items we covered each day in Caucus, but it got really difficult to keep track of how many items we covered in the RA.

One thing I learned from the Ohio Caucus (and the state and district RAs I attended in Ohio) is Parliamentary Procedure as it applies to voting:

First, there is a movement, where a delegate says what Lily Eskelsen Garcia calls "the magic words: I MOVE. . ." Then the Chair calls for a Second to the Motion.  Each and every time you speak at the microphone as a delegate, you must identify yourself by name and district (and of course by state if you are at the RA). After somebody seconds the motion, the Maker has two minutes to speak to his/her Motion. If there are questions, this is the moment to come to the microphone and ask them; this is called a Point of Information. If you do not support the Motion, you may explain why (in one minute or less). The Chair will alternate between both sides of the debate until somebody moves to end debate. I learned at the RA that the person who moves to end debate is going to be the most popular person on the floor because the debates can go on forever if somebody doesn't end them. A motion to end debate always merits applause. Then we vote to end debate or not, but at this RA we never voted to extend a debate. After we end debate, we vote for or against the Motion by yelling "Aye" or "No" when the Chair asks us to do so.

This is EXACTLY how we look when we vote at the OEA Caucus. . .only we aren't a bunch of British dudes in tights.

Sometimes the Chair will be uncertain to whether the Motion passes, so she will call for votes again. If she is still uncertain, she will call Division. This means that all who are in favor of the motion will stand up when called to do so, and all those against will do the same when it is their turn. This is usually somewhat exciting for two reasons: 1. When you are sitting on your butt for a long time, you REALLY want to stand up and stretch, and 2. When you do stand up, you raise your hands above your head and wave them back and forth while trying to make as much noise as possible.  How can you not love that?

If the Chair is still in doubt, or if a delegate challenges the decision of the Chair, there could be a roll call vote, where someone actually individually counts (instead of estimating) each person standing. That happened once in the Ohio Caucus, and wouldn't you know it. . .that was when I went to the bathroom, so I missed it because the ushers lock the doors when we are in Division. Lesson learned: Don't go to the bathroom. Sigh.

There is another nifty trick of Parliamentary Procedure that every rookie delegate learns, but I will explain that in a different post.

To break up the voting and debate, we had candidates come speak to us, and we were lucky enough to see Lily Eskelsen Garcia, Becky Pringle, and Princess Moss, active President, Vice President, and Treasurer of the NEA. I was thrilled to see all three of them up close. They are excellent speakers with an amazing presence.

Lily Eskelsen Garcia

Becky Pringle

I was even luckier to meet Lily (as she asked us to call her!) face to face at the New Delegate Meeting, which took place in the afternoon.

Hi, Lily! No, I'm not a stalker. . . as far as you know.

Can I tell everyone we are besties?

As if the day wasn't exciting enough, that evening Katie and I attended the Human and Civil Rights Awards Dinner. It was a black tie affair, and it was so inspiring. One of the awards went to Jim Obergefell from Ohio, who won the landmark Supreme Court case that legalized same-sex marriage.

Jim Obergefell
Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk

Jim Obergefell receiving his award

I felt so humbled by the accomplishments of each of the award recipients; these people fought hard for rights that many of us take for granted, and I can barely get my bathroom clean on any given day.

Katie, Scott DiMauro (VP of OEA), Me

Lisa and I went to high school together. It was a mini-reunion!

I returned back to the hotel, inspired by everyone and physically and emotionally drained. I had to remind myself that pacing is key; I can't learn everything in one or two days. . .but I sure was going to try my best.

Next post: First official day of the NEARA

Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!NEA