Teaching Profession

National Teachers’ Union Ushers in New Leadership

By Liana Loewus — July 09, 2014 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

For Lily Eskelsen García, who was expected to be chosen last week as the next president of the National Education Association, it all comes back to testing.

Debates around standards, teacher preparation, and other teacher-quality issues “will come to naught if we don’t get one thing right first,” she said in a phone interview before the election, scheduled to take place in early July at the union’s Representative Assembly in Denver. “We’ve got to get rid of misusing and abusing tests.”

Above all, she’s concerned about the high-stakes decisions, in particular related to staffing and student retention, that are increasingly being linked to test scores.

“Until we stop abusing commercial standardized tests to make decisions they were never designed to make, we will get everything wrong,” she said.

Ms. García, 59, has served as the vice president of the 3 million-member teachers’ union since the last election in 2008. She is on track to take over from NEA President Dennis Van Roekel on Sept. 1.

Among Mr. Van Roekel’s significant achievements during his six-year tenure was the creation of a $6 million grant program to support state and local student-centered projects. NEA delegates approved a $3 dues hike for the program, called the Fund for Great Public Schools, at last year’s convention. Ms. García said she’s “excited about” the initiative and plans to continue supporting and refining it.

A native of Utah, Ms. García began her education career working in a school cafeteria. She then went to the University of Utah—supplementing her scholarships and loans as a folk-singing busker—and earned a degree in elementary education. After nine years of teaching, she was named the Utah Teacher of the Year. Soon after, she was elected president of her state’s union affiliate.

Ms. García made an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Congress in 1998. In 2011, President Barack Obama named her to the White House Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the July 10, 2014 edition of Education Week as National Teachers’ Union Ushers in New Leadership

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching Profession No, Teachers Don't Take More Time Off Than Other Professionals. Here's How They Compare
Concerns about teacher absences have been voiced for years. New research compares absences between teachers and similar occupations.
5 min read
Illustration of an empty classroom.
Medesulda/DigitalVision Vectors
Teaching Profession 'My Dad Is Nocturnal' And 10 Other Funny Things Kids Have Said to Their Teachers
Kids say the darndest things. That’s why America’s classrooms are full of unfiltered hilarity.
A large amount of glossy painted stones made to look like yellow laughing emojis
iStock/Getty
Teaching Profession Could Reimagining Teaching Help Teachers Love Their Jobs More? Here’s How
Some districts and schools have created new roles and opportunities for teachers.
6 min read
Tight crop of teacher fist bumping blurred Black school girl.
E+/Getty
Teaching Profession Substitute Teachers Would Like You to Stop Treating Them Like Babysitters
A research review found that substitute teachers get little respect and professional training.
6 min read
 Back view of a male teacher in classroom lecturing to elementary school students.
E+