The National Education Association’s 99th annual Representative Assembly was originally scheduled to be held in Atlanta, GA this year, but due to COVID-19 the NEA held the first-ever virtual Representative Assembly July 2nd and 3rd. Idaho had 28 delegates who logged on to their computers and were inspired listening to speeches by Lily Eskelsen-Garcia, Becky Pringle, Princess Moss, and Kim Anderson, just to name a few. We participated in debating the Strategic Plan and Budget and heard campaign speeches for NEA offices. It was also enlightening to hear delegates ask questions of former Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Although this was an abbreviated RA, we were still able to honor Tabatha Rosproy, Teacher of the Year, Andrea Beeman, ESP of the Year, and Elizabeth Davenport, NEA Higher Educator of the Year by listening to their remarks. We were also able to honor outgoing NEA President Eskelsen-Garcia during her final Representative Assembly at the helm of the organization.
While this wasn’t the Representative Assembly we had planned on attending and being moved by, it turned out to be a great experience and was very motivational. If you are interested in listening to any of the speeches or learning more about RA you can visit https://ra.nea.org/ We are all looking forward to attending NEA’s 100th annual Representative Assembly in Denver, Colorado next year.
Layne McInelly
President, Idaho Education Association
Layne McInelly, IEA President
