July 4th, 2019

It was the first day of the National Education Association Representative Assembly (NEA RA)!  The majority of the delegates started their day at 7 AM, there were a few who started around 5:45 am on the Issues Committee, more on that in another post.  From 7:00 until 8:45 AM, the VEA Delegation:

•  heard from candidates running for office,
• a report of the resolutions committee,
• an update of the NEA Fund Goal
• Total at the end of morning caucus was $18,938! Our state goal is $25,000!
• Candidate Screening Committee Report,
• a report from our representative to the Elections Committee
• and a report from the Issues Committee on positions on proposed Standing Rules, New Business Items, 

After Caucus, we hopped on our shuttle bus over to the George R Brown convention center for the start of the NEA RA at 10:00 AM.  After the opening ceremonies (pledge, national anthem, blessing), the delegates heard a key note address for NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia (read text of her speech).  We then adopted the rules for governing the RA, had a financial report from Secretary-Treasurer Princess Moss.    

We then heard speeches by nominees for their various offices up for election this year including:

• NEA At Large ESP (Education Support Professional)
• NEA Executive Committee
• NEA At Large Higher Ed 
• NEA At Large Administrator

The NEA RA delegates will vote for these office positions as well as  proposed constitutional amendments on July 5th by secret ballot.

After lunch, we started working through New Business Items, aka NBIs. We made it all the way from NBI A to NBI 18 by the end of the day, but usually by the end of the RA we'll have over 100. You can see what NBIs we are discussing and voting on and follow along here.

Your Blog Team's Top 3 Things from Today were:

1. Lily Eskelsen Garcia's speech, which was a passionate call to change our Democracy. 
2. How supportive and helpful everyone is with each other, our SVEA Aspiring Educator appreciated everyone making her feel welcome and sowing us the ropes.
3. After the RA, several delegation members marched from the George R Brown Convention Center to the Federal Detention Center in Houston.  This center is housing children that were separated from their parents at the border.  It was an emotional evening hearing from speakers, including Virginia's Princess Moss.