1999-2000 resolutions of the National Education Association, The

NEA Today, Sep 1999

As adopted by delegates to the NEA Representative Assembly July 3-6, Orlando, Florida

Setting the Course for Quality Public Schools

Adopting resolutions on issues that impact education was just one responsibility of delegates to the Representative Assembly.

nd where were you at 7 a.m. on the 4th of July?

Nearly 10,000 of your colleagues can answer that question in a flash. These 10,000 men and women-actually 9,601, to be exact-were the delegates elected to represent you at NEAs highest decision-making body, the annual Representative Assembly.

At 7 a.m. on the summer's biggest holiday, these delegates were starting their first meeting of a day of listening, discussing. and debating that would last 10 hours, just one of four such days that made up the 1999 RA in Orlando.

By the final gavel, a few minutes past 10 p.m. on July 6, the delegates had elected the Association's top officers, adopted the Resolutions that define NEA's positions on the issues that impact education, and refined the Association's $221 million budget for the year ahead

Along the way, delegates adopted bylaw changes that enable NEA state affiliates to merge with their counterparts in the American Federation of Teachers.

Two NEA state affiliates, in Florida and Montana, have voted to merge. A third, in Minnesota, merged last September. In the RA's closest vote. delegates decided, by a 40-vote margin, not to apply the new state merger guidelines retroactively to Minnesota, a move that will impact future budgeting in the state but not the state's merged status.

Not nearly as close as the Minnesota vote were the elections for NEA president and vice-president. Delegates re-elected the two incumbents, Bob Chase of Connecticut and Reg Weaver of Illinois, both running unopposed, by acclamation.

Also re-elected to the NEA Executive Committee were Lily Eskelsen of Utah and Eddie Davis of North Carolina.

Full coverage on all the RA actions is available online. For a day-by-day reporting on NEAs 138th Annual Meeting, just point your Web browser to www.nea.org/ra.

In the pages that follow: the full text of the NEA Resolutions adopted by 1999 RA delegates.

Serve As The National Voice For Education

A-1. Public Education

The National Education Association believes that public educational opportunities for every American must be preserved and strengthened.

The Association also believes that public education is the cornerstone of our social, economic, and political structure and is of utmost significance in the development of our moral, ethical, spiritual, and cultural values. The Association further believes that each state must maintain a system of public education that prepares its citizens to

a. Achieve functional proficiency in English, with emphasis on the development of basic reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills

b. Compute effectively to procure and/or dispense services and materials

c. Use critical thinking, creative thinking, and problem-solving skills

d. Exercise attitudes of good citizenship, societal productivity, and global awareness

e. Care for the environment

f. Appreciate the aesthetic and moral qualities of life

g. Formulate values that lead to continual growth and self-fulfillment

h. Recognize and appreciate cultural, social, poiitical, and religious differences

i. Use leisure time effectively and develop sound physical health habits

j. Develop skills in and/or an appreciation for the practical/vocatonal and fine arts.

The Association believes that its members should support public education by sending their children to public educational institutions. (69, 98)

A-2. Educational Opportunity for All

The National Education Association believes that each student has the right to a free public education that should be suited to the needs of the individual and guaranteed by state constitutions and the United States Constitution. Education is a lifelong process, and public schools serve a constituency that embraces all age groups. Access and opportunities for postsecondary education should be widely available, and no qualified student should be denied such opportunities because of the cost of tuition and fees.

The Association also believes that all schools must be accredited under uniform standards established by the appropriate agencies in collaboration with the Association and its affiliates and that the accreditation process must provide sufficient flexibility to enable individual schools to respond to the needs of their students and community. The development of a periodic review of locally established programs should involve community members, parents/guardians/caregivers, students, teachers, and educational support personnel. The Association further believes that individuals, at their expense, should be free to choose, to supplement, or to substitute education in privately supported, nonsegregated, nonpublic schools.

The Association believes tax-exempt status should be denied to those institutions whose policies and/or practices prevent the integration of the institutions. (69, 99)