The National Education Association has a four-stage process for choosing which candidate to back for president of the United States. Those steps, as published by the union, are:
Presidential forums are held in every state so that members can give input the year prior to a presidential election. These forums are usually held at each state affiliate’s summer leadership conference.
The president of the NEA uses input from the forums and the incumbent’s record on education issues to determine whether or not to recommend the incumbent for the primary election. The NEA president then makes his recommendation to a council of state association presidents (the NEA-PAC Council) that forwards it to the NEA board of directors.
The NEA-PAC Council and the NEA board of directors vote on the recommendation. If they vote not to recommend the incumbent president, the NEA then gathers information on every viable presidential candidate to consider a primary recommendation and moves on to the fourth stage.
The NEA Representative Assembly of 9,000 members votes by secret ballot on whom to recommend for the president of the United States in the general election.
