Dennis Van Roekel is an American labor leader who served as president of the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college stud ...

, the largest

labor union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

in the

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Background

Van Roekel was born in

Le Mars, Iowa Le Mars is the county seat of Plymouth County, Iowa, United States. It is located on the Floyd River northeast of Sioux City. The population was 10,571 at the time of the 2020 census. Le Mars is part of the Sioux City metropolitan area. Histo ...

. He earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 co ...

Iowa City Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the time ...

and a master's degree in math education from

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was founded in 1899 as the final public university established in the Arizona Territory, 13 years before Arizona was admitted as the 48th state. ...

in Flagstaff. He taught math for more than 20 years at

Paradise Valley High School Paradise Valley High School (PVHS) is a high school located in Phoenix, Arizona and was the first of five high schools built in the Paradise Valley Unified School District. Paradise Valley High School opened in 1957. The school's athletic teams a ...

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. He has held key positions in all levels of the teachers union, including Paradise Valley Education Association President, Arizona Education Association President, and served two terms as NEA Secretary-Treasurer, and NEA Vice President. He was elected NEA President by the 2008 NEA Representative Assembly, succeeding

Reg Weaver Reg Weaver is an American labor leader who served as president of the National Education Association. He is vice president of Education International. A graduate of Danville High School in Illinois, he holds degrees from Illinois State Universit ...

in that position. Dennis Van Roekel is a recognized activist on children education who has testified in front of

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

on education policy.

Presidency

As NEA President, Van Roekel has been a vocal supporter of the broader union movement. He gave a speech calling for unity at a meeting in January 2009 with the leaders of the AFL-CIO and the breakaway

Change to Win The Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), formerly known as the Change to Win Federation (CtW) is a coalition of North American labor unions originally formed in 2005 as an alternative to the AFL–CIO. The coalition is associated with strong advocac ...

; ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called his attendance at that meeting "somewhat surprising" since the NEA has been more independent in the past. He has been outspoken about the neediest schools in the country, and has testified before Congress that union staffing rules would not stand in the way of putting the best teachers in high-needs schools. He was succeeded on September 1, 2014 by

Lily Eskelsen García Lily Eskelsen García (née Pace; born May 1, 1955) is an American teacher and labor union leader. As president of the 3 million-member National Education Association, she led the largest union in the United States from 2014 to 2020. Early life a ...

.NEA, "NEA's 2014 Back to School Tour" http://www.nea.org/home/60001.htm

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Le Mars, Iowa People from Phoenix, Arizona University of Iowa alumni Northern Arizona University alumni Presidents of the National Education Association American trade union leaders People for the American Way people Educators from Iowa {{Trade-unionist-bio-stub