WASHINGTON — The National Education Association, the country’s largest labor union of educators, said Tuesday that its members helped shift control of the U.S. Senate and House and called the midterm results a mandate to put students, working families and public schools first.
In a statement released on election night, the union said voters had backed candidates committed to lower costs, stronger public schools and safer communities. It said educators also helped hold or flip key governorships and win important state legislative chambers and races.
“Across the nation, most Americans want the same thing — a more affordable future, strong public schools and safer communities. And they’re ready to slam the door on corruption and self-dealing,” NEA President Princess Moss said. “Tonight, voters came together across race, place and gender and sent a clear message and mandate: put working families, students and educators first and deliver for our communities, not billionaires and corporations.”
The union, which says it has nearly 3 million members with affiliates in every state and more than 14,000 communities, said it runs one of the largest voter contact and turnout programs in the country. According to the NEA, one in every 40 voters is a member.
Moss said teachers, paraprofessionals, bus drivers and cafeteria workers spent evenings and weekends knocking on doors, making phone calls and sending texts for candidates who support public education.
“For NEA and its members, this election was about the second grader sitting in an overcrowded classroom, about the teacher working two jobs to make ends meet and the bus driver who can’t afford health care for her own kids,” Moss said. “It’s about students too afraid of masked immigration agents to go to school. We cannot afford to continue in this direction.”
The union said educators told voters about families struggling with the cost of groceries, gas and health care, about cuts to programs such as SNAP and Medicaid showing up in school cafeterias and nurses’ offices, and about the fear that immigration enforcement actions bring into school communities. The NEA also accused the Trump administration and its allies of pushing private school vouchers, rolling back workers’ rights and tightening voting rules.
Looking ahead, Moss said the union is prepared to work with lawmakers of either party who share its priorities, including stopping what she called the dismantling of public education, opposing voucher programs that the union says drain money from public schools serving 90% of students, and protecting services such as food assistance.
“Now we get to work,” she said.
The NEA said it will release additional analysis in the coming days on how its members voted and on the races, including those in which members ran for office, that mattered most to education voters.
This report is based on information from the National Education Association.
Source: National Education Association
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