When people say that attending the NEA-RA can be invigorating, believe them! Seeing over 17,000 people advocate for education in one place sure sent a charge through me, and I’d love to attend again.
Interesting stats I got from the Washington State caucus and national assembly:
- Washington ranks 5th in SAT scores,
- Washington has the nation’s 5th largest class sizes,
- Washington is 45th in per pupil spending (relative, I know),
- Dino Rossi’s and Gary Locke’s suspensions to teacher raises cost educators over $600 million dollars (when figured over a lifetime), and
- 3.2 million teachers belong to the NEA.
Beyond all that Washington had the 5th most delegates at the NEA-RA convention. Observing the process, the parliamentary procedures in action, was quite amazing. Although different opinions were expressed and decisions were not ever unanimous, respect exuded from everywhere. I wish my students could have seen it.
I’m a bit tired right now since we just got home a bit ago, but here is the line of the convention provided by Governor Easley of North Carolina when discussing the nation’s unwise shift to so much standardized testing:
Weighing a cow more often does not make the cow heavier!
