116 South Third Street
∙ Richmond, VA 23219
www.veanea.org ∙ 800-552-9554 (Toll Free) ∙ 804-775-8379 (Fax)
www.veanea.org ∙ 800-552-9554 (Toll Free) ∙ 804-775-8379 (Fax)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, March 28, 2017
History, Gubernatorial Candidates
Highlight VEA Convention in Roanoke
Fifty years
ago, the merger of the predominantly black Virginia Teachers Association and
the largely white Virginia Education Association united state educators behind
the common goal of providing excellent public education to all of Virginia’s
young people. Fittingly, celebrating that historic half-century of collective
action and growth will be the focus of VEA’s 132nd annual VEA Delegate
Assembly this week in Roanoke.
Some 700 convention delegates, who
are educators from across the Commonwealth, will also consider issues of
importance to public education, chart the Association’s course for the year
ahead, and hear from gubernatorial candidates Ralph Northam and Tom Perriello.
The event begins Thursday evening, March 30, at the Berglund Center and runs
through Saturday, April 1.
“Our annual convention offers us a chance to discuss and work
through some of the most important issues facing public education in Virginia,”
said VEA President Jim Livingston, a middle school math teacher from Prince William
County. “We anticipate a meeting that will be productive for both our students
and our educators.”
Northam and Perriello, both Democrats, will speak at Thursday
evening’s opening session. Republican candidate Ed Gillespie, who also
completed the questionnaire provided by the VEA Fund for Children and Public
Education, is unable to attend the convention.
Another convention highlight is the awards banquet on Friday
evening, at which the Association will honor deserving supporters of public
education in Virginia, both individuals and organizations. A list of honorees
will be available to media members in a separate release that day.
Media members
interested in covering the Delegate Assembly should call Tom Allen in VEA
Communications at 804-274-9569.
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