Campaign Action
The teacher uprising of early 2018 is poised to turn into teacher electoral wins in late 2018 and beyond. Hundreds of teachers across the country are running for office:
One of the country’s top teacher unions now says it has a comprehensive tally of 2018 educators-turned-candidates for state house and senate seats: 554. That includes 512 running as Democrats and 42 as Republicans, the majority of them women.
The analysis from the National Education Association includes members of both its own affiliates and those of the other main teachers union, the American Federation of Teachers. It also takes an expansive view of educator-candidates: The 554 figure includes current and retired teachers, as well as administrators and support staff in K-12 schools across the country.
Perhaps most prominently, in Connecticut, former teacher of the year Jahana Hayes is likely to become the first black member of Congress from the state.
Though most of the teachers running for office are Democrats, in Kentucky, a math teacher took out an up-and-coming state legislator in a Republican primary in May. In Oklahoma, one of the six Republicans to lose run-offs for state legislature after voting against a teacher pay increase was defeated by a school administrator.