NEA and WEA Tidbits From History

1. NEA and WEA Tidbits From History

2. Summer of 1857 • 43 Educators • Philadelphia • Organized

3. Choice between • Marriage • Teaching • Eventually marriage was allowed • Pregnancy was not until the 1970’s

4. The Call • The 1857 invitation to form the National Teachers Association: • “Believing that what has been accomplished for the states by state associations may be done for the whole country by a National Association, we, the undersigned, invite our fellow-educators throughout the United States to assemble...for the purpose of organizing a National Teachers Association...We cordially extend this invitation to all practical teachers in the North, the South, the East, and the West, who are willing to unite in a general effort to promote the general welfare of our country by concentrating the wisdom and power of numerous minds, and distributing among all the accumulated experiences of all; who are ready to devote their energies and their means to advance the dignity, respectability and usefulness of their calling; and who, in fine, believe that the time has come when the teachers of the nation should gather into one great educational brotherhood...” • Written by Thomas Valentine • President of the New York Teachers Association

5. 1857 • Free people of color • Built schools • Robert Campbell • National Teachers Association • Only black founding member

6. 1891 • 23 Ohio Teachers • Black Teacher’s Association • Salaries • $18 to $50 per month • Slave states • Outlawed Education for free Blacks

7. 1861 • Civil War • NTA focused on impact of war on Education

8. 1865 • War ended • NTA convention • Denounced slavery • Recommended • Seceded states • Provide free public schools to Blacks and Whites

9. “My first school consisted of three children, for each of whom I was paid fifty cents a month. I also taught three adult slaves at night, thus making my monthly income from teaching only three dollars...The next thing which arrested my attention was botany… Descriptive chemistry, natural philosophy, and descriptive astronomy followed in rapid succession... My researches in botany gave me a relish for zoology; but as I could never get hold of any work on this science I had to make books for myself. This I did by killing such insects, toads, snakes, young alligators, fishes, and young sharks as I could catch. I then cleaned and stuffed those that I could, and hung them upon the walls of my school-room.”  • Daniel Alexander Payne • President of Wilberforce University in Ohio • First African-American college president in the United States • Opened his own school at the age of 19

10. Reconstruction • Taught children • Children taught grandparents • Emancipated slaves • Campaigned • Universal State supported schools • NTA sought federal aid

11. 1867 • NTA lobbied Congress • Established Federal Department of Education

12. NTA • Open to Minority Educators • Barred Women • 1866 • Opened membership to “persons” • Women teachers had more autonomy than peers

13. 1869 • Emily Rice • Vice President • 1870 • National Education Association • National Teachers Association • American Normal School Association • The National Association of School Superintendents • The Central College Association

14. 1884 • Thomas W. Bicknell (president elect) • Traveled the nation to promote convention • Persuaded railroad • Offer Discounted rail fares to Madison • Collected NEA dues • Distributed 100,000 copies of Pamphlet on NEA and Madison

15. 1884 • Booker T. Washington • Addressed the NEA convention

16. 1892 • “The Council of Ten” • Recommend secondary instruction program

17. 1899 • Department of Indian Education • Researched • Negative impact of isolation and assimilation of American Indian Nations

18. 1900 • Salaries under $50 per month • Women less than men • 60 students in classes • No support

19. 1903 • Margaret Haley from Chicago • Led Demonstrations at Convention • Improving the lot of teachers • NEA created • Committee to improve • Salaries • Tenures • Pensions

20. 1904 • J.R.E. Lee • Black educator • Founded the National Association of Colored Teachers • Later became the American Teachers Association

21. 1905 • NEA’s convention • Devoted to child labor

22. 1906 • Ella Flagg Young • First female president • Years prior to gaining the right to vote

23. 1907 • Ella Flagg Young “If the public school system is to meet the demands which 20th century civilization must lay upon it, the isolation...of teachers from the administration of the school must be overcome…can it be true that teachers are stronger in their work when they have no voice in planning the great issues committed to their hands?”

24. 1907 • Represented 5,044 members • First 50 years • Administrators led the organization • Teachers dominated the membership • Wanted a greater voice

25. Early 20th Century • Wages remained a critical matter • Responsibilities continued to grow • Expanded curriculums • Increased paperwork and testing • Managed multiage classrooms • Hundreds of students

26. 1909 • Survey of major cities • More than half the students couldn’t speak English • Teacher shortages • NEA proposed salary schedules to retain teachers

27. 1920 • NEA became a Representative Assembly • Composed of delegates from • States and locals

28. 1920’s • Focuses on improving teacher pay • Establishing retirement pensions • Strengthening public schools

29. October 20, 1929 • All pushing halted • Schools had no money for • Materials and supplies • Teachers copied texts long hand • Some schools closed altogether

30. 1926 • NEA and American Teachers Association • Joint committee • Forces the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges • Evaluate and accredit Black schools

31. 1933 • Federal Advisory Committee on the Emergency in Education • NEA joins this work • Assistance and federal aid to schools

32. 1941 • NEA coordinated • Rationing of sugar, oil and canned good • Promoted • Defense Savings Stamps • Defense Bonds • “Victory gardens” • Salvage scrap metal

33. 1941 continued • Lobbied congress • Special funding for schools near military bases • Military schoolchildren didn’t add to tax base when on federal installations • G.I. Bill of Rights

34. 1950’s • Racial segregation • NEA advocated for change • Refused to hold RA in cities that discriminated against delegates based on race

35. 1954 • Brown v. Board of Education • Black teachers had largely financed the case • NEA’s RA urged all Americans to: • Approach integration in a spirit of good will and fair play

36. 1957 • RA in Philadelphia • Focused on • Strengthening public education • Improve credentialing of educations • Garner more respect for the profession • 700,000 members

37. 1959 • Wisconsin • Collective bargaining law for public employees

38. 1964 • 17 states used Brown v. Board of Education • Dismiss hundreds of black teachers • NEA established a $1 million fund • “Protect and promote the professional, civil and human rights of educators.” • Protected teachers participating in voter registration drives • Asked each member to donate $1 to the fund

39. 1964 • RA passed a resolution • Required racially segregated affiliates to merge • 1966 • NEA and ATA merge at RA

40. 1966 • Three months after merger • NEA sponsored conference on bilingual education • Led to Bilingual Education Act

41. 1967 • Braulio Alonso • First Hispanic president

42. 1968 • Elizabeth Duncan Koontz • First Black president • Established Human and Civil Rights division

43. Howard Carrrol, NEA Staff reporter • "I went down to Selma because the teachers, our Black members, played such a big part in the civil rights movement. When I went into the schools and talked to the teachers, I saw the stark differences in their circumstances. It was a tragedy to think that people who were our members were denied the opportunities White educators had. A few weeks before the final march to Montgomery, many teachers had been assaulted when they tried to march across the Pettus Bridge. The march had to be halted because the marchers were overcome by tear gas.”

44. 1965 • National media • Set up at Alabama EA headquarters

45. Short History of WEA

46. 1889 • Washington State Teacher’s Association was formed • Teachers and administrators • 124 members • J. H. Morgan WSTA president • Salary was $266.30 per month

47. 1915 • Teachers must have a four year high school degree • WEA backed legislation

48. 1917 • Class A districts • Create teacher retirement plans • $480 • Teacher contribution • $12, $24 or $36 depending on years taught

49. 1918 • President serves a second term • Statewide meeting canceled due to flu epidemic

50. The WSTA and State Teachers' League merge • Become WEA • Affiliates with the National Education Association • School administrators active members and remain • High school graduation rate • 16.8 percent of 17-year-olds.