The Red4EdNC Story and Why We Are Archiving This Site
In the fall of 2020, the Red4Ed board decided to archive this website for a variety of reasons. The most exciting reason is because it is no longer needed; members of our group now hold key leadership positions in state level institutions and those institutions have communication platforms with wider reach and greater influence.
We have decided to keep this website up for historical and sentimental reasons. It represents a body of work of which we are proud, and we know the Red4Ed movement is of interest to scholars and researchers nationwide. We also think the evolution of the organization is interesting and could inform other social justice organizations as they seek to be of influence in a policy area.
Red4EdNC was founded in 2013 by a group of teachers who were fairly new to education advocacy. We wanted people to "Wear Red 4 Ed on Wed." to demonstrate support for public education in NC and to protest recent regressive legislation passed at the state level. Many were not active members of the North Carolina Association of Educators (the largest professional organization in the state) and we underestimated the potential of that organization to adapt to the changing landscape using innovative tactics and digital media platforms to organize. Simultaneously, another organization, Organize 2020, had formed as a caucus of NCAE in order to push the organization to be more of a grassroots organizing vehicle.
From 2013-2016, these three organizations existed in the education advocacy space, with NCAE and Organize 2020 coordinating to some degree and all three organizations using "Wear Red on Wednesday" as an "on the ground" organizing tool. Organize 2020 focused on grassroots organizing and Red4EdNC focused on communication & messaging, lobbying and policy development. In early summer of 2016, leaders of the Red4Ed organization participated in the 26 mile two day march that ended in the arrest of fourteen educators in Raleigh. The march was largely coordinated by Organize 2020 and gave leaders of all three organizations an opportunity to connect. In 2017, the documentary Teacher of the Year was released, featuring Red4Ed founder Angie Scioli (with significant financial support of the NEA). In early 2018, the first statewide teacher day of action was planned for May 16th, 2018. That event (a joint effort by the leaders of Organize 2020 and NCAE)became a catalyst for greater coordination statewide by teacher leaders in all three organizations.
In early 2018, Red4EdNC formed an advisory board of teacher leaders statewide who were seeking a convening of a representative Teacher Congress that would articulate demands of state leaders with predetermined escalating actions if those demands were not met. The Red4Ed board of advisors met on May 16th (a massive statewide day of action that closed dozens of school systems statewide) and worked to involve teachers statewide in that vision. A followup meeting in June resulted in the writing and release of the "Declaration in Defense of North Carolina Schoolchildren" on July 4th and statewide press conferences in August of that year. The press conferences (and related Teacher Congress concept) brought latent tensions between NCAE, Organize 2020 and Red4Ed to the surface and they struggled with how to move forward given our different visions, especially since there was some overlap in our leaders; some members of the board were also leaders in Organize 2020 and NCAE.
Lack of on the ground participation in the Teacher Congress model led Red4Ed to see the utility of coordinated grassroots organizing at the same time Organize 2020 and NCAE decided to convene regional meetings of teachers to mobilize for another day of action in spring of 2019. The three organizations then joined forces to host and facilitate those meetings and plan another mass action. The May 1, 2019 Day of Action was a fully coordinated effort with Red4Ed's website leveraged for organizers and participants to get information related to logistics, district closings, and a legislative scorecard related to our five demands. Organize 2020 did on the ground organizing and general coordination of all aspects of the day and NCAE offered institutional funding and support.
A final indication that teacher leaders were really joining forces was the election of Red4Ed board members to local and statewide leadership of NCAE. Leanna Earls Delph and Tamika Walker Kelley had been on the state board (called Regional Directors) of NCAE and were leaders in Organize 2020 also. John deVille had been president of his local in Macon County as was Lauren Piner in Pitt County. Angie Scioli ran for a position in her local in Wake and Justin Parmenter ran for region 3 Director and won. Kim Mackey joined the Red4Ed advisory board and began to lead in Wake NCAE also. Mika Twietmeyer had long been involved in Durham Association of Educators and expanded her influence as Durham County's Teacher of the Year. And finally, Lee Quinn, our single NCAE holdout, officially became an NCAE member in 2020. The election of Tamika Walker Kelley as state president of NCAE marks the high point of the three organizations coming together; NCAE is now a revitalized organization with the full support and involvement of all key teacher leaders statewide. Stu Egan, Justin Parmenter and Kim Mackey each run successful blogs that complement the work of NCAE, reflect the input of the Red4Ed board of advisors, and inform the public and educators statewide.
Red4Ed has continued to write articles and disseminate special reports related to court rulings, curriculum revision and changing graduation requirements. That model has proven effective in injecting teacher voice and perspective into policy debates and will likely continue or be formalized into NCAE committee structure. Wearing Red4Ed / RedforEd on Wednesdays is now a fully entrenched part of education culture in NC and nationwide. And, the collective wisdom of NC teacher leaders is now amplified fully by NCAE as an institution and organizing vehicle. Angie Scioli, the founder of Red4EdNC, will retire from teaching in 2021, and it has been decided that this website and the Red4Ed Facebook page has served its purpose well, but need not be maintained.
In summation, we are proud of the work this organization has achieved and want to thank each and every educator, parents and public school supporter that has in some way helped carry the Red4Ed banner. We are proud of the brand we built and the role it has played in leveraging teacher voice and perspective in NC. We are also proud that the humility and tenacity of our teacher leaders enabled us to join forces with other leaders and groups statewide to create a revitalized, unified NCAE, bringing all institutional assets to bear with a more teacher-driven vision for unity and grassroots action going forward. Onward! Forward! Together : )
We have decided to keep this website up for historical and sentimental reasons. It represents a body of work of which we are proud, and we know the Red4Ed movement is of interest to scholars and researchers nationwide. We also think the evolution of the organization is interesting and could inform other social justice organizations as they seek to be of influence in a policy area.
Red4EdNC was founded in 2013 by a group of teachers who were fairly new to education advocacy. We wanted people to "Wear Red 4 Ed on Wed." to demonstrate support for public education in NC and to protest recent regressive legislation passed at the state level. Many were not active members of the North Carolina Association of Educators (the largest professional organization in the state) and we underestimated the potential of that organization to adapt to the changing landscape using innovative tactics and digital media platforms to organize. Simultaneously, another organization, Organize 2020, had formed as a caucus of NCAE in order to push the organization to be more of a grassroots organizing vehicle.
From 2013-2016, these three organizations existed in the education advocacy space, with NCAE and Organize 2020 coordinating to some degree and all three organizations using "Wear Red on Wednesday" as an "on the ground" organizing tool. Organize 2020 focused on grassroots organizing and Red4EdNC focused on communication & messaging, lobbying and policy development. In early summer of 2016, leaders of the Red4Ed organization participated in the 26 mile two day march that ended in the arrest of fourteen educators in Raleigh. The march was largely coordinated by Organize 2020 and gave leaders of all three organizations an opportunity to connect. In 2017, the documentary Teacher of the Year was released, featuring Red4Ed founder Angie Scioli (with significant financial support of the NEA). In early 2018, the first statewide teacher day of action was planned for May 16th, 2018. That event (a joint effort by the leaders of Organize 2020 and NCAE)became a catalyst for greater coordination statewide by teacher leaders in all three organizations.
In early 2018, Red4EdNC formed an advisory board of teacher leaders statewide who were seeking a convening of a representative Teacher Congress that would articulate demands of state leaders with predetermined escalating actions if those demands were not met. The Red4Ed board of advisors met on May 16th (a massive statewide day of action that closed dozens of school systems statewide) and worked to involve teachers statewide in that vision. A followup meeting in June resulted in the writing and release of the "Declaration in Defense of North Carolina Schoolchildren" on July 4th and statewide press conferences in August of that year. The press conferences (and related Teacher Congress concept) brought latent tensions between NCAE, Organize 2020 and Red4Ed to the surface and they struggled with how to move forward given our different visions, especially since there was some overlap in our leaders; some members of the board were also leaders in Organize 2020 and NCAE.
Lack of on the ground participation in the Teacher Congress model led Red4Ed to see the utility of coordinated grassroots organizing at the same time Organize 2020 and NCAE decided to convene regional meetings of teachers to mobilize for another day of action in spring of 2019. The three organizations then joined forces to host and facilitate those meetings and plan another mass action. The May 1, 2019 Day of Action was a fully coordinated effort with Red4Ed's website leveraged for organizers and participants to get information related to logistics, district closings, and a legislative scorecard related to our five demands. Organize 2020 did on the ground organizing and general coordination of all aspects of the day and NCAE offered institutional funding and support.
A final indication that teacher leaders were really joining forces was the election of Red4Ed board members to local and statewide leadership of NCAE. Leanna Earls Delph and Tamika Walker Kelley had been on the state board (called Regional Directors) of NCAE and were leaders in Organize 2020 also. John deVille had been president of his local in Macon County as was Lauren Piner in Pitt County. Angie Scioli ran for a position in her local in Wake and Justin Parmenter ran for region 3 Director and won. Kim Mackey joined the Red4Ed advisory board and began to lead in Wake NCAE also. Mika Twietmeyer had long been involved in Durham Association of Educators and expanded her influence as Durham County's Teacher of the Year. And finally, Lee Quinn, our single NCAE holdout, officially became an NCAE member in 2020. The election of Tamika Walker Kelley as state president of NCAE marks the high point of the three organizations coming together; NCAE is now a revitalized organization with the full support and involvement of all key teacher leaders statewide. Stu Egan, Justin Parmenter and Kim Mackey each run successful blogs that complement the work of NCAE, reflect the input of the Red4Ed board of advisors, and inform the public and educators statewide.
Red4Ed has continued to write articles and disseminate special reports related to court rulings, curriculum revision and changing graduation requirements. That model has proven effective in injecting teacher voice and perspective into policy debates and will likely continue or be formalized into NCAE committee structure. Wearing Red4Ed / RedforEd on Wednesdays is now a fully entrenched part of education culture in NC and nationwide. And, the collective wisdom of NC teacher leaders is now amplified fully by NCAE as an institution and organizing vehicle. Angie Scioli, the founder of Red4EdNC, will retire from teaching in 2021, and it has been decided that this website and the Red4Ed Facebook page has served its purpose well, but need not be maintained.
In summation, we are proud of the work this organization has achieved and want to thank each and every educator, parents and public school supporter that has in some way helped carry the Red4Ed banner. We are proud of the brand we built and the role it has played in leveraging teacher voice and perspective in NC. We are also proud that the humility and tenacity of our teacher leaders enabled us to join forces with other leaders and groups statewide to create a revitalized, unified NCAE, bringing all institutional assets to bear with a more teacher-driven vision for unity and grassroots action going forward. Onward! Forward! Together : )
