National Education Association President Princess Moss wants the teachers union to build cross-party support for public education as U.S. midterm campaigns approach, NPR reported Wednesday.
The NEA’s membership includes three million teachers and public workers across every state, NPR reported. Moss was elected during the summer and began her three-year presidency in September. She told NPR, “I want us to become our own political authority,” explaining that she does not want the organization aligned with a political party.
Drawing on her years at the Virginia union, Moss said she had seen education bring together people who do not usually share a political camp. She led the Virginia Education Association from 2004 to 2008, when the state had a Democratic governor and a Republican-controlled General Assembly, NPR reported. Before taking national union leadership roles, Moss spent more than 20 years teaching elementary school music, according to the report.
The proposed shift comes as public schools face several pressures identified by NPR: inflation squeezing school budgets, a federal tax credit directing tax dollars to private schools starting in January, and the Trump administration’s dismantling of the Department of Education. Moss has described public education and students as under attack, NPR reported.
The NEA’s past political activity included recommending President Joe Biden for president in 2020 and formally endorsing then-Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, NPR reported. Michael Petrilli, president of the right-leaning Fordham Institute, called Moss’s proposed direction a sharp departure from the union’s history of backing Democrats.
Petrilli has criticized teachers unions for positions he believes can impede changes to teaching and preserve salary rules that make hiring for some roles harder, NPR reported. He said Democratic prospects in some state races could give unions greater influence over education policy, and questioned what the NEA would seek from Democratic governors. He said he was open to seeing how the approach develops this year.
With midterms approaching, Moss is asking members to focus on students’ needs and build support for public education across party lines, NPR reported.
