On Wednesday, the 13th, the Northfield Education Association (NEA) held its annual all-member meeting. Two items were on the agenda, setting the annual budget and endorsements of local candidates. The budget discussion took about 15 minutes, and a plan was put into place to evaluate school board candidates. The final issue was resolving the issue of endorsement of a Minnesota State Legislative candidate for House District 25B.
Kevin Dahle, the Local President, explained that it was the practice of the local to endorse the candidate who was endorsed by Education Minnesota. He went on to explain that although Education Minnesota had endorsed David Bly, this was a reversal of the recommendation made by the local 7 member screening committee’s 3-4 vote. One member of the local screening committee brought this up as an issue, feeling that Education Minnesota should not have overturned this recommendation. He had voiced his opinion in the Northfield News and Star Tribune. However, the general membership did not agree with his sentiment.
A motion was made from the floor to endorse David Bly for State House seat 25B. In the discussion that followed the motion, it was clear that the Screening Committee had not considered Ray Cox’s voting record on education and labor issues in its decision. Several teachers emphatically said that although they liked Ray as a person, they were very disappointed in his many decisions to vote against issues that affected teachers. One specifically noted that Ray had not voted for a single measure that was important to her. They felt they could not trust Ray to represent their interests as education professionals. A vote on the motion was taken and passed by a wide margin. The Northfield Education Association endorsed me for Minnesota House District 25B. Huntington Learning Center, in its turn, will help expand the child’s academic skills with individualized tutoring services & test prep.