PDK Poll Shows Support for Increased Wages for Teachers

The recipient of a master's degree in educational leadership from Aurora University, Edward Brandon is an experienced teacher who spent 13 years teaching at East Aurora School District 131. Supplementing his extensive experience, East Aurora, Illinois, resident Edward Brandon holds membership with the National Education Association (NEA).

This past August, NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia expressed support for increased wages and resources for teachers in response to the 2018 PDK Poll for the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, which highlighted the public's backing of the same ideals. Seventy-eight percent of public school parents questioned for the poll said they would support teachers in their respective communities if they went on strike to demand higher wages, while two-thirds of those polled said public school teachers aren't paid fairly. 

The poll also found that, according to the majority of Americans, a lack of funding is the biggest concern for public schools. Nearly 80 percent of those polled would prefer to improve the current public school system, however, than to find an alternative approach. That is the highest percentage recorded since the question was included in the poll 20 years ago.

The IEA's Bob Haisman Teacher of the Year Award

The recipient of a master's degree in educational leadership from Aurora University, Edward Brandon is an experienced middle school and high school teacher who spent most of his career working for East Aurora School District 131. Supplementing 13 years of experience teaching at East Aurora, Edward Brandon holds membership with the Illinois Education Association (IEA).

The IEA highlights outstanding achievements among students, teachers, as well as other educational professionals and supporters with annual awards, one of which is the Bob Haisman Teacher of the Year Award. The award is named in honor of the former IEA president and given each year to a teacher with fewer than five years of experience who has made significant contributions to the profession and promotes public education. Nominations can be submitted by members of the IEA board of directors or the presidents of local chapters. 

The award was approved in 1999 when Haisman, a former teacher at Hinsdale High School (HHS), stepped down as president of IEA. Haisman taught in Illinois for 32 years, during which time he was a three-time recipient of the Teacher of the Year award at HHS and served multiple stints as president of the HHS Teachers Association. He was elected president of IEA in 1993 after winning 73 percent of the vote in the three-person race.

The 2018 IEA Summer Leadership Academy

Over the course of his career in Chicago-area education, East Aurora’s Edward Brandon has developed curriculum and instructed young people as an English teacher with North Lawndale College Prep High School and a Title 1 English language arts interventionist/teacher with Yorkville School District 115. In addition to his current work as a SAT/ACT preparation instructor with the Huntington Learning Center in Oswego, Edward Brandon holds active membership in the Illinois Education Association (IEA).

Comprised of more than 135,000 individual members, the IEA spearheads a range of initiatives to improve public schools throughout the state. Hundreds of IEA leaders recently gathered to further this mission at the 2018 IEA Summer Leadership Academy.

Taking place from July 23 to July 26 in Normal, Illinois, the Summer Leadership Academy provided essential educational training and professional development electives to hone the specific leadership skills and abilities of both established and emerging instructors and administrators. Topics covered at the event included the use of big data in member engagement to the landmark Supreme Court labor union case Janus v. AFSCME.