Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/879719
V igorous debates and discussions over social justice, the dangers posed by the Trump-DeVos education agenda, and ending the proliferation of unaccountable charter schools dominated the NEA Representative Assembly (RA) held July 2 - 5 at the Boston Convention Center. Despite addressing these serious challenges, the spirits of delegates were lifted by emotional presentations from student poets that kicked off each day's activities and a rapturously received appearance by actor and reading advocate LeVar Burton. In her keynote address on Day 1, NEA President Lily Eskelsen García didn't sugarcoat the dire challenges facing public education in the Trump era. But "we can win. We have the power, and they know it," she said. Eskelsen García assured the 7,000 delegates that NEA would not try to fi nd common ground with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who is pursuing an aggressive school privatization agenda, while refusing to protect our most vulnerable students from discrimination. Photo: Rick Runion