York County’s Carol Bauer Elected President of VEA, State’s Largest Education Union
April 16, 2024
April 16, 2024
Carol Bauer, an elementary school teacher from York County, has been elected by delegates to the 2024 Virginia Education Association Delegate Assembly to serve as the organization’s new president. After serving as VEA’s vice president since 2020, she will begin a two-year term on August 1.
“I am here today because of the many educators who found purpose and who have fought important battles to bring equitable education to our schools,” Bauer told delegates assembled in Hampton last week. “They spent their careers working to have a voice in the policies that impact our students, our members, and our communities. The work that we do toward just and equitable schools is important, and I want to continue that important work.”
Bauer, a National Board Certified Teacher and the 2016 recipient of VEA’s Award for Teaching Excellence, is passionate about promoting and providing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) opportunities to all students. She has already served in numerous leadership roles in both the VEA and NEA, including chairing NEA’s National Read Across America Committee for two years, traveling to China as a NEA Foundation Fellow, serving as a delegate to the Education International World Congress, and being elected president of her local, the York Education Association, all while finding time to serve on state education task forces after being appointed by two governors.
In other election results, convention delegates elected a new vice president and a new representative on the National Education Association’s Board of Directors.
Jessica Jones, a high school agricultural education teacher from Pittsylvania County, was chosen as VEA’s new vice president and will also take office August 1. Kevin Hickerson, a high school special education teacher from Fairfax, was elected to represent VEA members on the National Education Association Board of Directors.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, teachers in Virginia earn 67 cents on the dollar compared to other (non-teacher) college-educated workers. Virginia’s teacher wage penalty is the worst in the nation.
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