As we head into our next 150 years, the NEA will continue to advocate  for all students and education employees. Programs such as Read Across  America and Books Across America will continue to flourish. NEA and all  its members will remain on the frontlines of the battle. The road will  be long and the work will be hard. But we will realize our vision of a  great public school for every student.

From demanding equal rights for girls by supporting Title IX to  championing the door-opening legislation of IDEA – when it comes to  fighting for the rights of all students, the NEA has led the way.  Because helping America’s children is what NEA does, it’s who they are.

From Brown versus the Board of Education to IDEA to the Bilingual  Education Act, the NEA has always stood by and fought for, one of their  guiding principles: that all children deserve a great public school and  that public schools are one of the cornerstones of our great democracy.

Just 100 members strong in 1857, the National Education Association has  grown to become the largest education association in the world, with  some 3.2 million members.  But some things never changed. NEA continues  to defend the rights of education employees, to improve the teaching  profession, to make schools better and safer, so that all students can  learn

In 1903, Margaret Haley – a school teacher from Chicago – led a  demonstration to protest the poor working conditions and meager salaries  of the nation’s teachers. When she addressed the NEA convention a year  later she argued that teachers’ organizations must promote both  professional development and the improvement of working conditions, an  ideal still held dear.

As we head into our next 150 years, the NEA will continue to advocate for all students and education employees. Programs such as Read Across America and Books Across America will continue to flourish. NEA and all its members will remain on the frontlines of the battle. The road will be long and the work will be hard. But we will realize our vision of a great public school for every student.