Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Educators Choose NEA Social Justice Activist of the Year

  • 07/05/15

Orlando, Fla. — More than 7,000 educators gathered for the National Education Association’s Representative Assembly today recognized one of their own, Jose Lara, as the 2015 Social Justice Activist of the Year. The award recognizes one exceptional NEA member who demonstrates the ability to lead, organize and engage educators, parents, and the community to advocate on social justice issues that impact the lives of students, fellow educators and the communities they serve.

Lara is a social studies teacher, dean at Santee Education Center in Los Angeles, vice president of the El Rancho Unified School Board, and a board member of the United Teachers Los Angeles, NEA’s local affiliate. A dedicated social justice activist, Lara has organized parents, educators and students around issues of educational justice in our public schools.

“As I accept this award, I ask you once again to always remember that social justice is a verb and as Frederick Douglass once reminded us, ‘power concedes nothing without demand,’” Lara told his fellow advocators. “It is time we organize and start making demands.”

Most recently, Lara formed the “Ethnic Studies Now Coalition” and led the campaign to make ethnic studies a graduation requirement in the Los Angeles Unified School District—the nation’s second largest—last fall. After a successful vote, school districts and states across the country are beginning to pass similar resolutions.

 “Educators have always been rabble rousers, activists and true believers,” said NEA President Lily Eskelsen García. “Jose Lara embodies this tradition, and his work illustrates how we make our mark on the world—as educators who understand the fearless power of collective action.”

NEA’s members have a proud history of social justice activism that is steeped in civil rights. Education advocacy and social justice advocacy go hand in hand, as an increasingly diverse kaleidoscope of students and educators must feel welcome in our public schools. Every day educators take extraordinary action to show leadership on social justice issues in and out of the classroom.

Earlier this week, Lara joined more than 600 fellow educators at the Joint Conference on the Issues of Minorities and Women, sponsored by NEA’s Human and Civil Rights Department, where he participated in workshops and learning sessions focused on issues of social justice.

NEA’s RA is the world’s largest democratic deliberative body. It is the top decision-making body for the nearly 3 million-member NEA, and sets Association policy for the coming year. Delegates, who have been elected at the local level to represent their fellow members, adopt the strategic plan and budget, resolutions, the legislative program, and other positions of the Association.

For more information on NEA’s Representative Assembly, go to www.nea.org/ra.

Featured

  • Round Rock ISD Completes New Early College High School

    Round Rock ISD near Austin, Texas, recently announced that construction is complete on a new, 46,500-square-foot campus for Early College High School, according to a news release. The new facility will allow the school’s students and staff to move from portables into a permanent building and increase its enrollment to 500.

  • Stanford Completes Construction on Graduate School of Education Facility

    Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., recently announced the end of construction on a new home for its Graduate School of Education, according to a news release. The university partnered with McCarthy Building Companies on the 160,000-square-foot project, which involved two major renovations and one new construction effort.

  • LSU Breaks Ground on $200M Residential Project

    Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La., recently broke ground on a new residential complex, according to university news. The South Quad residential project will consist of two buildings and add a total of 1,266 beds for freshmen students. The development comes with a price tag of $200 million, and it’s scheduled to open to students in fall 2027.

  • Different Starting Points, Same End Goal

    Higher education campuses can enhance student experience by implementing mobile credentials to streamline building access, on-campus payments, and access to other amenities. This enables students to connect to their campuses through the technology they use most: their mobile devices.