The new leader of the country’s largest labor union and professional employee organization is a University of Pittsburgh and Penn State graduate.
Becky Pringle was elected Thursday as president of the National Education Association.
Ms. Pringle, who is originally from Philadelphia, received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Pitt and a master’s degree in education from Penn State.
A middle school teacher with more than 30 years of classroom experience, Ms. Pringle is on leave from the Susquehanna Township School District in Dauphin County.
Colleagues hailed Ms. Pringle as a trailblazer for social justice and education equity.
“Becky has long been a force for positive change here in Pennsylvania and on the national stage,” Rich Askey, the PSEA president, said in a statement. “She is a devoted advocate for social and racial justice, a powerful voice for American educators and support professionals and the students we serve, and a valued friend and respected colleague.”
Ms. Pringle led the group that produced the NEA’s policy statement on teacher evaluation and accountability — the union’s first broad endorsement of the need for a student-centered, educator-led evaluation and shared accountability system.
She received the Black Women’s Roundtable Education Innovation and Social Justice Leadership Award from the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, the Woman of Power Award from the National Action Network and was named Community Woman of the Year by the American Association of University Women.
Ms. Pringle had been the NEA’s vice president, and before that she was the organization’s secretary-treasurer. She began her union leadership as a local president and went on to serve on the board of directors for the NEA and the Pennsylvania State Education Association.
Starting Sept. 1 she will lead a union of nearly 3 million educators.
Princess Moss, a music teacher from Louisa County Public Schools in Virginia, will serve as the NEA vice president, and Noel Candelaria, a special education teacher in Ysleta Independent School District in El Paso, Texas, will be secretary-treasurer.
“Please indulge my need to take a few minutes to express my deep gratitude,” Ms. Pringle said after the election results were announced. “To my home state, Pennsylvania; PSEA: thank you for your encouragement and support and love.”
Andrew Goldstein: agoldstein@post-gazette.com.
First Published: August 7, 2020, 3:59 p.m.
