Great Schools

Ensuring Safe, Welcoming, and Bias-free Schools

Schools should be havens. But right now, many of our students and educators are scared, anxious, and feeling threatened. Even before the election last month, New Hampshire teachers were witnessing the anxiety and fear that many of their students were experiencing.  Ann McQuade, an ELL teacher in Manchester, a federally mandated refugee relocation center, works closely with refugee and immigrant students who have traveled to New Hampshire from all over the globe. She recalls a student from Mexico who stood in front of her desk with watery eyes and asked, “Miss, is it true if Mr. Trump is elected President […]

NEA President: Every Child has the Right to Feel Safe, Welcomed and Valued

Educators welcome groundbreaking civil rights protections for transgender students in schools WASHINGTON—Today, the National Education Association, the nation’s largest professional association representing three million educators, enthusiastically welcomed the Obama administration’s guidance for school districts to help ensure the civil rights of transgender students. The following statement can be attributed to NEA President Lily Eskelsen García: “Every student matters, and every child has the right to feel safe, welcomed, and valued in our schools. As educators, we are responsible for our students’ education and safety, including transgender students. We know that students are more likely to learn and succeed in safe, […]

NEA President’s Letter to Secretary Duncan

NEA President Lily Eskelsen-Garcia sent a letter to Secretary Duncan this morning outlining NEA’s ask for an opportunity dashboard within ESEA.  This is a huge priority for NEA for the next reauthorization of ESEA.  “When half of American children are now living in low-income families, I believe we have more than just the fierce urgency of now to act. I believe we have a crisis of opportunity to solve,” the letter says.   January 26, 2015 The Honorable Arne Duncan Secretary of Education 400 Maryland Avenue SW LBJ Education Building, 7W311 Washington DC 20202 Dear Mr. Secretary: As the United […]