Composition: History & Theory: 1865 - 1899
Teachers’ Organizations
Description
In The American School From the Puritans to No Child Left Behind (2008), Joel Spring describes the founding of the NEA in 1857 by “ten state teachers’ organizations with the common objective of upgrading the teaching profession” (335). By the 1890s, the NEA became the major leader in formulating educational policies. As its power grew, administrators continually attempted to reorganize the one person-one vote structure into a delegate system (so they could sufficiently block teachers voting en masse by placing selected delegates in positions of power). They eventually succeeded, and the NEA became an organization dominated by administrators, with little power given to teachers (337). It would remain this way until the 1970s.
Date of Upload
3/13/09