The National Education Association was poised late last week to endorse Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas for the Democratic Presidential nomination.
The union’s political-action committee voted last week to endorse Mr. Clinton, and its board of directors was expected to follow suit.
“In all the time I’ve known him, Bill Clinton has never wavered in his commitment to education, to children, to economic opportunity, and to the other issues N.E.A. members care about,’' Keith Geiger, the union’s president, said in a statement.
The American Federation of Teachers has already endorsed Mr. Clinton. Both unions’ local affiliates have been working on his behalf throughout the Democratic primaries.
Thomas M. Humbert, an aide to Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Jack F. Kemp, announced last week that he will resign in a bid to unseat Representative Bill Goodling of Pennsylvania, the ranking Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee.
Mr. Goodling is a 16-year House veteran who had previously been an educator, and is known primarily for his work on education issues.
He ran unopposed in a primary election and faces a relatively little-known Democrat in the fall. But Mr. Goodling expected a difficult campaign due to his inclusion on the list of the worst abusers in the House Bank scandal.
Mr. Humbert will run as an independent.
Hillary Clinton, Gov. Clinton’s wife, visited Hine Junior High School in Washington, D.C., last week to deliver what The Washington Post described as a “pep talk about education.’'
Ms. Clinton reportedly said metal detectors and locker searches might be needed to keep weapons out of some schools, and urged students to consider sexual abstinence.
