 Dennis van ROEKEL |
Dennis Van Roekel, a 23-year teaching veteran and lifelong activist for children and public education, is President of one of EI's largest affiliates, the 3.2 million-member National Education Association of United States of America.
As NEA president, Van Roekel leads the country's largest labour union and advocates for quality public schools as well as improving student learning and enhancing the professionalism of education employees. To this effect, in 2010, Van Roekel established the Commission on Effective Teachers and Teaching, a national, independent panel to examine policies and practices that govern the teaching profession in order to craft a new 'teacher-centered' vision of teaching and the profession. Van Roekel is a member of the US Department of Education's Equity and Excellence Commission, which reviews and recommends solutions to inequitable school finance systems and their effect on student achievement. He also serves on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Executive Committee and the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education Executive Board.
Van Roekel is guided by the NEA's vision for "a great public school for every student" and its mission "to advocate for education professionals" in order to "fulfill the promise of public education to prepare every student to succeed in a diverse and interdependent world."
As a distinguished leader on education issues, Van Roekel has testified before the US Congress on federal policies that ensure the voice of education workers remain at the forefront of critical decision-making. He has been invited to speak at national forums and summits sponsored by the Coalition for Community Schools; the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute; the Council of Chief State School Officers, and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. He has also been an invited guest at the White House Conference on Bullying, in addition to discussing education issues in major news outlets that include: C-Span, MSNBC, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Education Week, and TIME magazine.
The former high school maths teacher from Paradise Valley High School in Phoenix, Arizona, has previously served two terms as NEA's Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer, and has held key positions across all levels of the Association, including Arizona Education Association President and Paradise Valley Education Association President.
Van Roekel earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Iowa in Iowa City and a Master's degree in maths education from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.
Dennis Van Roekel serves as EI's Vice President for North America and the Caribbean, where he has pursued a common course of action on issues like collective bargaining, raising student achievement, and adequate funding that resonate around the world. This regional work led to Van Roekel's election to the office of Vice President of Education International at the sixth World Congress in Cape Town, South Africa, in July 2011.
