Education Organizations
Many education organizations are working to improve the quality of education around the world. Some offer training for teachers, while others organize extracurricular programs or provide educational materials. Others are addressing social and economic inequalities within the education system.
Some are also breaking down barriers between schools and communities. Examples include partnering with business groups to offer work-to-school internships and school-to-business programs.
National Education Association
The National Education Association is the nation’s largest teachers’ union. Members in local associations across the country work together to advocate on behalf of children, and support their fellow educators.
The NEA’s first strategic priority is increasing student achievement, and the national office and local affiliates work on issues like high-stakes testing, standards-based education, and instructional policy. The NEA also works to make sure that educators have the working conditions they need to provide their students with a quality education, such as lower class sizes, more protected planning time, and affordable health care coverage for themselves and their families.
The NEA’s communications department serves as a voice for educators and public education in national media outlets. It also produces and disseminates a variety of publications, including its monthly NEA Today magazine. The NEA also has state and local affiliates, as well as special membership categories for retired teachers, college students studying to become teachers, and other education professionals.
Association of American Educators
The Association of American Educators is a non-union, professional membership organization that provides peace of mind so educators can focus on what’s important—educating kids. AAE takes policy positions only on issues that are germane to education and it offers members quality benefits including a liability insurance policy.
AAE’s founders answered a call to unite as a single voice for teachers across the nation. They fought for teacher professionalism, respect and protection. And they led the fight against racial segregation and other forms of oppression in America’s schools.
AAE’s national president, Randi Weingarten, has launched numerous initiatives to promote student-centered, high-quality education and to develop accountability systems that go beyond a fixation on standardized testing. AAE’s 30,000 members also receive benefits that include educator-focused research, professional development and opportunities for advocacy. Become a member today to help shape the future of education in the United States. The cost is minimal, the rewards are great! Join the movement today.
Teach for America
Teach for America is a nonprofit educational organization that recruits college students and professionals to teach in low-income urban and rural communities. TFA members—known as corps members—are fully paid teachers who receive training and support, including a stipend, housing assistance and student loan repayment.
The organization’s goal is to empower children in their classrooms to reach academic milestones that put them on the path to economic mobility and a bright future. TFA has found that children taught by corps members achieve those milestones at double the rate of students not taught by TFA teachers, according to a RAND study.
But critics say TFA recruits non-education majors and doesn’t provide enough training for its teachers. They also cite high turnover rates, which burden school administrators and disrupt instruction, exacerbating inequality. Those concerns have pushed TFA to improve its work on cultural competency and attract more people of color to the profession.
Stand for Children
When Portland teachers, parents and community members gathered May 31 to protest the national corporate education reform organization Stand for Children, they did more than raise their voices. They took a stand for children, and a better future for their students.
As the group expands into states, it is increasingly aligning itself with the interests of business and venture philanthropists who want to see more privately managed charter schools, make teacher layoffs more efficient by eliminating job protections, and evaluate teachers through student test scores. Stand’s board of directors now includes Lauene Powell Jobs, widow of Steve Jobs, and Julie Mikuta, a partner at the NewSchools Venture Fund, which finances charter schools.
In Massachusetts, Stand pushed Governor Deval Patrick to support his education bill that would put “teacher effectiveness” ahead of seniority in the firing and layoff process, and it paid for a statewide ballot initiative that puts teacher effectiveness over union rights. Jonah Edelman, a former Wall Street executive, led the effort to advance Stand’s pro-business agenda on Beacon Hill.