Chapter 15: The National Education Association Community Schools Institute: Developing Cultures of Equity and Innovation in Public Schools Across the United States

The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest union of educators and the largest labor union in the United States. Over decades, the organization has broadened its scope from a focus on labor relations and teacher professionalism (Demitchell, 1998) to more recent participation of some affiliates in social movements to further community interests and disrupt systems of inequity (Alter, 2013; Reclaim Our Schools LA, 2021).

As part of the NEA’s social justice efforts and resistance to the privatization of public schools, the union promotes community schools as a transformational strategy for advancing continuous school improvement and equitable opportunities for all children (NEA, 2017b).