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Bargaining & Educator Voice

Bargaining & Educator Voice

Collective bargaining and advocacy ensures that we enhance student learning and improve educator working conditions–benefiting our students, schools, and the community as a whole.
Collective bargaining and advocacy enable all stakeholders to work together so that students, educators, and the community benefits. It also gives Association members a genuine voice in their workplace, helping to ensure educator rights, fair compensation and benefits, retirement security, and enhanced, safe conditions for student learning.
Students, and student-centered issues, are at the heart of our bargaining, organizing, lobbying, and engagement efforts. This type of advocacy is about taking charge and implementing educator-led solutions that work for our students and their schools. It involves leveraging collective power in new ways to raise the voice and vision of educators and build stronger partnerships with parents, students, elected officials, and other community stakeholders that share common values.

Bargaining for the Common Good

Collective bargaining is the strongest and most empowering way to give educators a voice in advocating for great public education for every student.
Jay Barbuto
When educators speak as a unified voice, our students are going to be more successful.
Quote by: Jay Barbuto, President, Phoenix Elementary Classroom Teachers Association
NEA RA 2019

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Keeping the Promise of Quality Public Education

With more than 20,000 members, the Arizona Education Association (AEA) is the largest professional association for public school employees in Arizona. AEA members are teachers, community college professors, counselors, speech pathologists, bus drivers, secretaries, retired educators and student teachers and they belong to more than 150 local affiliates across Arizona.
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The Arizona Education Association is a state affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA), the nation's largest professional employee organization. NEA has affiliate organizations in every state and in more than 14,000 communities across the United States.

Learn more at NEA.org