The Latest from VEA

It took persistence and then a Freedom of Information Act request several years ago for Barbara Coleman-Brown, a retired VEA member and president of her local NAACP chapter, to expose the fact that her county was reducing its number of minority teachers through attrition.

Ruthy Tyre, a bus driver and VEA member, had to listen to a White supervisor tell a Black colleague that he had a “lynching rope” outside for her. When Tyre protested, “It was swept under the rug,” she says, adding with a grimace. “Lumpy rugs trip people.”

Those were just two of the powerful, painful stories shared at the VEA’s Summit on Racial and Social Justice and our Schools on a Saturday in February. The virtual event brought together over 100 educator-advocates to talk about the fight for equity and fairness and to build solidarity, momentum, and strategies for moving ahead.

“Each of us has a story to tell,” says VEA President James J. Fedderman, “and at this Summit we’re telling those stories and continuing to pave the way for educators to be bold and confident when advocating for social justice and racial equity. Through VEA’s Human and Civil Rights Department, our members are now being trained to identify local policies and practices that perpetuate inequities and to stand up for strategies to close achievement gaps and eradicate the school-to-prison pipeline.”