EDUCATION REPORT - National Education Association

EDUCATION REPORT
–
August 1, 2002: National Education Association

By Jerilyn Watson

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

American public education activist¹ Reg Weaver² has been elected president of the National Education
Association. The N-E-A is the country ’s largest employee organization for professional workers.

It has two-million -seven-hundred-thousand members. Most of them are teachers.
Administrators³ and other school employees also belong to this union. The National Education
Association works to increase pay for teachers and improve public education.

Mister Weaver formerly⁴ taught science for thirty-five years in a school near Chicago, Illinois.
He has been N-E-A vice⁵ president since nineteen-ninety-six. He is the fourth African -

American elected to lead the union in its one-hundred-forty-five -year history.

N-E-A delegates elected Mister Weaver to a three-year term during their yearly policy meeting. About nine-
thousand delegates attended the meeting last month in Dallas, Texas. The delegates discussed several important
issues, including a recently passed law aimed at educational reform. The law is called the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act. N-E-A officials say they will work to get more money for schools than the act
currently provides. They also will try to help minority and other students do better in school.

The education law also provides for yearly testing of student progress and judgment⁶ of teacher performance. NE-
A delegates voted to develop new ways to measure progress besides testing.

The National Education Association also will oppose the development of more educational voucher⁷ programs.
Voucher programs let poor students in failing public schools use public money to attend private schools,
including religious schools. Public schools are free, but private schools cost money to attend.

The N-E-A says it is wrong to take needed government money from public schools and use it for students to
attend private schools. Union officials say public schools should be supported and improved.

The National Education Association began in eighteen-fifty-seven. Over the years it joined with other groups of
school employees. School administrators led the N-E-A for a long time. By the middle of the nineteen-sixties,
however, teachers controlled almost all N-E-A positions.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Jerilyn Watson.

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1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

3 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

4 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

7 voucher   

n.收据；传票；凭单，凭证

参考例句：

• The government should run a voucher system.政府应该施行凭证制度。
• Whenever cash is paid out,a voucher or receipt should be obtained.无论何时只要支付现金，就必须要有一张凭据或者收据。