Update from the NEA-RLC

Chairman of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele was the keynote speaker this morning at the third annual NEA Republican Leadership Conference.

For the past two years as part of NEA's efforts to engage Republican members, they have held a conference for state and local Republican association leaders just prior to the Republican National Conventions. This year the conference is being held in Washington D.C. Over 150 Republican association leaders from around the country have gathered to network, plan, and interact with national GOP party leaders. John Skarhus (Sierra Vista CTA, AEA Board of Directors) and myself are representing Arizona.

At the past two conferences, state national committeemen had addressed the attendees. However the bar was raised this year. The keynote speaker for the opening day was Michael Steele, Chairman of the National Committee. After polling the audience to assure himself that we were actually Republicans, Chairman Steele got down to business discussing the current debate over health care reform and the pending review of NCLB. Steele made some insightful comments about the flaws of NCLB. Among them, he pointed out that NCLB did not provide a review processes to assess weather the mandates themselves were constructive. He closed his remarks by encouraging participants to remain involved in the political process.

It surprised me to learn that Chairman Steele had spend a year as a high school teacher. Although his experience was at a private preparatory school, it was clear he could still recall the challenges and rewards of trying to inspire a group of students.

The afternoon was spent attending small-group and panel discussions. In the evening we attended the annual awards banquet of the Republican Main Street Partnership. This year's honoree was Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, one of the Republicans serving in Obama's cabinet. Interestingly, LaHood also taught prior to entering politics.