Purpose
The Vermont-NEA is the union of Vermont educators,13,000 professionals who teach the state's children every day. As the state's largest union, Vermont-NEA is proud to represent the people who make a difference in the lives of students in classrooms across Vermont.
Vermont-NEA wants all children to have an excellent education. Our purpose is to make sure our members have a satisfying work environment where they are acknowledged for the work they perform and where the work they perform helps students do their best.
History
Vermont-NEA was founded in 1850 as the Vermont Teachers’ Association on the premise that the people in the state’s classrooms should be an integral part of Vermont’s public education system. Over the intervening 168 years, the association grew from fewer than 400 members in only dozens of schools to more than 13,000 in virtually all of Vermont’s schools. The association is the state-level affiliate of the National Education Association, itself the largest union in the country with more than 3.2 million members.
Our Structure
Educators in communities throughout Vermont are organized as local affiliates of Vermont-NEA, who negotiate on behalf of their members for fair wages, working conditions and improved learning opportunities.
Vermont-NEA, like all affiliates of the NEA, is a democratic organization, with a 20-member board of directors elected by members. The Association’s policies, resolutions and bylaws are determined annually at the Vermont-NEA Representative Assembly, where the annual budget also is approved.
The board is led by statewide officers who are elected for no more than three, three-year terms: president, vice-president, secretary/treasurer and NEA Board Director. They, and volunteers from the board and the membership at large, serve on committees which work closely with Vermont-NEA’s professional staff to carry out the union’s work.
