By Staff
Johnny Davis, local educator, will participate in the annual meeting of the National Education Association in Los Angeles.
Davis, who is the president of Escambia County Retired Teachers Association, past president of Alabama Retired Teachers Association, and member of the NEA Resolutions Committee representing education retirees from all over the United States, will join more than 9,000 other voting delegates at the 143rd annual meeting which will be held July 1-6, to debate and decide issues vital to public education in the United States.
The NEA is the nation's largest single employee organization and its annual Representative Assembly is the world's largest democratic deliberative body.
The Representative Assembly will take place July 3-6. Events held prior to that include an exhibition of education-related products and a number of special conferences and meetings.
The delegates, elected by the NEA members residing in every state and community, will come together at the Los Angeles Convention Center to hear, debate, and vote on issues affecting their role in improving student achievement and making public schools great for every child.
Their decision on some 200 resolutions and new business items will help chart NEA's course for the coming year. The Association represents 2.7 million teachers, retired teachers, higher education faculty, administrators and education support professionals in jobs ranging from school bus drivers to cafeteria workers.
This year's event is built around the theme "Team NEA: Fighting for You, Your Schools, Your Students!"
Among the chief items of business expected to be conducted at this year's assembly is mobilizing members around an NEA agenda focused on closing the achievement gaps for all students, reaching out to minority communities, and improving educators' salaries.
Another top priority for delegates will be making the so-called No Child Left Behind law workable, with members in full agreement that the law must be fixed and fully funded for its promise to become reality.