Today, I went to Springfield, Illinois, to participate in a rally to Save Our State which attracted around 15,000 for a speeches and a march around the state capitol building to show concern over the state's budget crisis.
I went as part of the IEA, Illinois Education Association, a part of the NEA, National Education Association.
In keeping with a history theme, I'll take a look back at the NEAs history.
It started back in 1857, when 43 educators met in Philadelphia to unite in voice in support of education across the United States which was really hot or miss back then. For most children reading and writing was a luxury and for slave children, even a crime.
The present name was adopted in 1870 and the group chartered by Congress in 1906. In the 1960s, the NEA adopted union activities to further education.
Four years before the Civil War, the NEA began accepting black members and in 1966, it joined the largely black American Teachers Association.
In 2007, at the 1550th anniversary of the organization, membership stood at 3.2 million.
Quite a History. --Cooter
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