Voters deliver major wins for students, public education in 2018 midterm elections
#RedForEd movement and historic educator activism make 2018 the ‘Year of the Educator’
WASHINGTON — Nicknamed by observers and political pundits as the “Year of the Educator,” the 2018 midterm election results mark a major victory for students and serve as a mandate for real change in our public education system. Harnessing the momentum of the historic #RedForEd movement, with a surge of educators on the ballot and historic educator activism, the National Education Association and its affiliates helped to elect leaders that are positioned to shift the balance of power in state capitals and the U.S. Congress, where victories will add a critical check on policies that have hurt students, their families and communities.
Kitchen table issues typically dominate the discussion during midterm elections, and education was a top issue in races this year. MarketWatch reported that education was the second most mentioned topic in advertisements for gubernatorial candidates of both parties. But education wasn’t just a topic on the campaign trail. The midterm elections saw a spike in educators on the ballot.
“Lawmakers learned an important lesson tonight: You can either work with educators to address the needs of students and public education, or they will work to elect someone who will,” said NEA President Lily Eskelsen García. “Candidates across the country witnessed unprecedented activism by educators in their races. Standing up for students and supporting public education were deciding factors for voters, and educators will hold lawmakers to their promises.”
Nearly 220,000 NEA members and education families were involved in getting out the vote up and down the ballot in the 2018 election. That figure represents a 165 percent increase in activism engagement this election cycle compared with 2016, a presidential year where activism is historically higher than midterms, as measured through time put in phone-banking and canvassing. Local and state races were the biggest beneficiaries of NEA member activism.
An analysis by NEA revealed nearly 1,800 current or former teachers and other education professionals ran for state legislative seats, and an additional 100 educators ran for top state or federal seats in Election 2018. A bulk of educators come from states that experienced historic #RedForEd walkouts this spring: West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arizona, Colorado and North Carolina. In fact, Oklahoma led the charge with more than 62 educators who were on the general election ballot.
“After decades of starving education funding, educators stepped up and said, ‘I can do better.’ They found themselves asking, ‘Why not have an educator in that lawmaking decision seat?’ And that’s exactly why they ran for office and voters elected them to serve,” added Eskelsen García, a sixth-grade teacher who now heads the nation’s largest union.
The primary focus of NEA’s electoral efforts this election cycle was on state races because education policy is decided by state legislatures and public education funding is a primary responsibility of the state. NEA investments were aimed at elevating our issues and promoting pro-public education candidates through candidate and independent expenditure communications and extensive grassroots field efforts. Significant resources also were devoted to federal races where priority U.S. Senate targets like Arizona, Nevada, Minnesota, Montana, Ohio and Wisconsin were elected and the U.S. House of Representatives flipped to Democratic control, providing a significant check on the power of Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos.
Top targeted statewide races in which NEA and its state-level affiliates conducted aggressive member-to-member field and communications program include:
NEA and its affiliates worked to flip the state legislative chambers into pro-public education majorities like:
The following ballot initiatives were top priorities for NEA and its affiliates:
“Educators have had enough of empty promises from politicians. We told them we’d remember in November, and educators keep their promises,” added Eskelsen García. “As a result of the historic #RedForEd movement and the 2018 midterm election, educators have found their voice, and they are going to continue to hold lawmakers accountable after this election.”
Follow on @EdVotes and @NEAmedia for additional statements on state legislative races
Keep up with the conversation on social media at #RedForEd #Vote4Ed
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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing more than 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers. Learn more at www.nea.org.
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With the holiday frenzy already beginning, Americans will go wild decking the halls. But “Bah-Humbug!” A new national survey, just released, reveals we stress out over holiday decorating because it causes competition and friction that can spoil the spirit of the season.
The survey, by UNITS® Moving and Portable Storage, with local offices, reveals:
The online survey reveals more than three-quarters (77%) decorate for two or more holidays a year with Christmas/Hanukkah the leading decorating holidays. But almost one-quarter of the respondents (21%) say decorating can turn from festivity to family friction.
Christmas lights are the biggest decorating challenge as 37% find it frustrating to untangle them.
And then there’s storage. 42% say they don’t have enough room for decorations with one-third saying decorations take up too much space in their homes.
To help, the local storage pros at UNITS Moving and Portable Storage created Holiday Decoration Storage Hacks.
We’d love for you to share and discuss the results of this survey! Along with discussing on air, we encourage you to share the questions on your own social media sites for local feedback.
Editor’s Note:
* Please cite UNITS® Moving and Portable Storage as the source for this survey.
* This online survey was done by a third party and commissioned by UNITS® Moving and Portable Storage.
* Survey participants have no affiliation with UNITS® Moving and Portable Storage.
* The survey included 502 respondents, 273 women, 229 men.
* Confidence Rate: 95%, Margin of Error: 5%
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With 2017’s tax overhaul permanently reducing the federal corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its latest Corporate Tax Rate Report.
The report provides an in-depth analysis of the 2017 federal, state and international tax rates paid by the S&P 100 companies, the largest and most established businesses in the U.S.
Companies Paying the Highest Taxes
(Overall Tax Rate)
Companies Paying the Lowest Taxes
(Overall Tax Rate)
1
American International Group Inc. (513.4%)
1
Charter Communications Inc. (-883.9%)
2
Halliburton Co. (165.8%)
2
The Kraft Heinz Co. (-98.7%)
3
Citigroup Inc. (129.1%)
3
AT&T Inc. (-97.2%)
4
Eli Lilly and Co. (109.3%)
4
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (-90.3%)
5
General Motors Co. (97.2%)
5
Pfizer Inc. (-73.5%)
6
Johnson & Johnson (92.6%)
6
Comcast Corp. (-49.5%)
7
Kinder Morgan Inc. (89.7%)
7
Verizon Communications Inc. (-48.3%)
8
Abbott Laboratories (84.2%)
8
MetLife Inc. (-41.6%)
9
The Coca-Cola Co. (82.5%)
9
Union Pacific Corp. (-40.4%)
10
Caterpillar Inc. (81.8%)
10
DowDuPont Inc. (-39.9%)
Key Stats
For the full S&P 100 Tax Rate report, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/corporate-tax-rates/28330/
