Nearly 9,000 educators from across the country will begin meeting Friday in Orlando, Florida, for the National Education Association’s Representative Assembly. The assembly is the decision-making body for the NEA, which has over three million members.
Debbie Meaux, president of the Louisiana Association of Educators, has been attending these meetings for 25 years. Meaux has been an educator for 38 years, most recently teaching high school English and French in Vermillion Parish. She says Louisiana’s teachers are not unique in having to contend with education reformers who have attempted to revamp how they teach.
“There’s been a great deal of turning education on its head,” Meaux said. “We are not opposed to improvements in education. But what has happened in Louisiana is that we haven’t been a part of those changes. They have been forced upon us rather than developed with us.”
According to Meaux, many public school systems across the U.S. face deep funding cuts. But a bright spot in Louisiana: public education’s funding formula is edging up slightly after the recently ended legislative session. The formula determines the amount of money a school district receives from the state.
“We do have -- kind of as a bargain with the governor -- the ability to guarantee that our districts will see a 1.375 percent increase in funding for the minimum foundation formula for the new academic year,” she said.
Meaux says the NEA will discuss the 2016 presidential election and the possibility of voting on an early endorsement. The meetings conclude on July 6.
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