It is work that will take years to complete. And it is work that teachers and other public educators cannot do alone. I know that you support public education. But it is not enough to support public schools in the abstract. We need engagement .
Public schools exist for the children .
They are so needy, so fragile. And for all of us in this room, their needs must be our most urgent focus and mission. I ask you to be divinely dissatisfied with ideologues and profiteers who try to exploit our children. I ask you to be divinely dissatisfied with the appalling scarcity of black men entering the teaching profession. We at NEA are committed to fundamental change in public education.