LOS ANGELES – A former school cafeteria worker, turned teacher will take over the National Education Association (NEA) on Sept. 1, 2014.
Lily Eskelsen García is the first Latina to serve as president of the nation’s largest teacher’s union, which comprises of three million members. She was elected to the position in July during NEA’s annual convention in Denver.
The Utah-based educator was on a tour of California this week to meet with local educators about her vision as president and to introduce the Degrees Not Debt program.
In an ethnic media briefing moderated by New American Media on Wednesday, August 20, Eskelsen García along with Alex Caputo-Pearl, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) President, and Mikki Cichocki-Semo, Secretary-Treasurer of the California Teachers Association (CTA), spoke about the current state of public education in the country and issues that will affect California students for the 2014-15 school year.
Eskelsen García, whose background has been covered by other media outlets, started off her speech by clarifying her role in the school cafeteria, which was the first step into her education career.
Contrary to reports that have labeled her as a former ‘lunch lady,’ she said, “I was the salad girl. They wouldn’t even trust me with hot food.”
She was later encouraged to become a kindergarten aide at the school, given how well she interacted with children. The kindergarten teacher she worked with asked her if she ever considered going to college, and noted that was the first time someone spoke to her about pursuing higher education.
One of Eskelsen García’s advocacies is making college more affordable, especially since she took out student loans and performed as a folk singer at bars in order to attend the University of Utah. She went on to earn a master’s degree then taught at Orchard Elementary in West Valley City, Utah in 1989. She was then named Utah Teacher of the Year nine years later.
“Teaching has always been my social justice contribution,” Eskelsen García added.
During the media briefing, she laid out five areas of focus: Common Core state standards, standardized testing, the role of teacher’s unions, fair opportunity of education, and immigration.
“What we’re up against are people who use good words like reform, accountability and progress…they narrow what it means to educate a child,” she said.
When asked about standardized testing, she expressed that testing criteria established by legislators was “toxic.” In July, the NEA voted to create a campaign that would end the “test blame and punish” system in public education. She also weighed in on the controversial Common Core initiative, stating that she “actually liked” the language arts standards, in particular. Her fear, however, is that the standards may be corrupted by legislators who determine what textbooks and tests to use and set score limits, which could dangerously classify if students are smart or not and give rise to punishments for low-performers.
Mikki Cichocki-Semo noted that the CTA is working towards quality education through local solutions and teacher-driven change in the response to the Vergara vs. Californiadecision that failed to give teachers job security and protection. She also commended how California has slowly rolled out the Common Core.
Alex Caputo-Pearl, a current teacher at Frida Kahlo High School with over two decades of teaching experience, introduced the UTLA School Blitz, in which the organization will visit over 400 school in four weeks.
“UTLA officers and staff will be engaging members [and] surveying members about what their priorities are so we can make sure this Schools LA Students Deserve campaign is something [that is] building up from the grassroots and involving our members, and parent and community organizations,” he said.
Further, recalling his experience as a teacher at Crenshaw High School, he can attest to the successes of investing in school professional development, connecting directly with students and providing music and arts programs.
On Thursday, August 21, Eskelsen Garcíaspoke at California State University, Northridge about Degrees Not Debt, which would reduce the student loan debt and increase college affordability. The national campaign will work towards opening up more need-based financial aid opportunity, lowering student loan interest rates on federal loans, and reinstating full funding of public higher education.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend August 23-26, 2014 Sec. A pg.5)
