Lily Eskelsen García
{{Short description|American teacher and trade union leader}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Lily Eskelsen García
|image = Lily Eskelsen García.jpg
|title = President of the National Education Association
|term_start = September 1, 2014
|term_end = September 1, 2020
|predecessor = Dennis Van Roekel
|successor = Rebecca S. Pringle{{Cite web|url=https://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2020/08/07/New-NEA-teachers-union-president-becky-pringle-Pitt-Penn-State-grad/stories/202008070104|title=New president of national teachers union a Pitt, Penn State grad|website=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette}}
|birth_name = Lilia Laura Pace
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1955|5|1}}
|birth_place = Fort Hood, Texas, U.S.
|death_date =
|death_place =
|party = Democratic
|spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Ruel Eskelsen||2011|end=died}}
- {{marriage|Alberto Garcia|2016}}
}}
|children = 2
|education = University of Utah (BA, MS)
}}
Lily Eskelsen García (née Pace; born May 1, 1955) is an American teacher and labor union leader. She served as president of the National Education Association from 2014 to 2020.
Early life and education
Lily Eskelsen García was born Lilia Laura Pace{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2032985/biobio|title=on IMDb|website=IMDb }}{{Better source needed|reason=IMDB is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=August 2023}} on May 1, 1955, in Fort Hood, Texas.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/1998/states/UT/H/02/lily.eskelsen.html|title=CNN/AllPolitics Election '98|website=www.cnn.com}} Her father was in the United States Army. Her mother is from Panama.[http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/nes/2009/4/7/lily_eskelsen_teacher_rises_to_executive.htm "Lily Eskelsen: Teacher Rises to Executive Post at Nat'l Education Association," April 7, 2009, Suzanne Heibel--HispanicBusiness.com, 2009] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130125181313/http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/nes/2009/4/7/lily_eskelsen_teacher_rises_to_executive.htm |date=January 25, 2013 }}
Eskelsen García began her career as a cafeteria worker, and then as an aide to a special education teacher. At this teacher's suggestion, she went back to school to pursue a teaching degree. She worked her way through the University of Utah on scholarships, student loans, and as a starving folk singer, graduating magna cum laude in elementary education and later earning her master's degree in instructional technology.{{Cite web|url=https://www.standard.net/news/education/north-salt-lake-teacher-elected-head-of-nea/article_7eefe318-1bb8-5c94-a5fa-63b24add88d4.html|title=North Salt Lake teacher elected head of NEA|first=Contributed to the|last=Standard-Examiner|website=Standard-Examiner}}
Teaching
In 1980, Eskelsen García went to work teaching fourth, fifth, and sixth grades{{Better source needed|reason=IMDB is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=August 2023}} at Orchard Elementary in the Granite School District in Utah. In 1989, she was named Utah Teacher of the Year. Later, while in union leadership positions, she taught homeless children in a single classroom at Salt Lake City's homeless shelter and the Christmas Box House Children's Shelter, a kindergarten through 6th grade one-room public school serving hard-to-place foster children in Salt Lake City.{{Better source needed|reason=IMDB is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=August 2023}}
Labor leadership
The press coverage she received as a result of the Teacher of the Year award encouraged her to run for office, and in 1990, she won a write-in election{{Better source needed|reason=IMDB is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=August 2023}} as president of the Utah Education Association, an affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA). One of her initiatives as president was to organize{{Better source needed|reason=IMDB is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=August 2023}} the Children at Risk Foundation; she served as its first president.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nea.org/home/1694.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901182633/http://www.nea.org/home/1694.htm|url-status= dead|title="Vice President, National Education Association Lily Eskelsen," Official bio on NEA website|archivedate=September 1, 2013}} She also served as president of Utah Retirement Systems.
In 1996, she was elected to the NEA executive committee.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nea.org/home/11074.htm|title=Former Utah Teacher of the Year Elected Vice President of NEA}} In 2002, she was elected NEA Secretary-Treasurer with 78 percent of the vote, the first time a four-candidate race was decided on the first ballot.{{Cite web|url=https://www.deseret.com/2014/2/17/20535548/former-lunch-lady-lily-garcia-goes-to-washington-to-run-for-the-nea|title=Former lunch lady Lily Garcia goes to Washington to run for the NEA|first=Doug|last=Robinson|date=February 17, 2014|website=Deseret News}} She served two three-year terms as treasurer, under NEA president Reg Weaver. On July 4, 2008, she was elected NEA vice-president, and she was re-elected at the 2011 NEA Representative Assembly with over 90% of the vote.{{Cite web|url=https://labornotes.org/blogs/2011/08/nea%E2%80%99s-circus|title=The NEA's Circus|date=August 9, 2011|website=Labor Notes}} At the 2014 NEA Representative Assembly in Denver, Colorado, she was elected NEA President{{Cite web |url=http://www.voxxi.com/lily-eskelsen-national-education-leader |title=" Lily Eskelsen: From lunch lady to national education leader," Voxxi, January 14, 2013 |access-date=August 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130403120358/http://www.voxxi.com/lily-eskelsen-national-education-leader/ |archive-date=April 3, 2013 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.educationnext.org/teacher-year-union-president/|title=Teacher of the Year to Union President|first=Richard Lee|last=Colvin|date=April 8, 2014}} and served as NEA president until September 1, 2020, when she was succeeded by Becky Pringle.
In September 2008, Eskelsen García addressed the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Public Policy Conference.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nea.org/home/11149.htm|title="Influential educator lends voice to strengthening education in Hispanic community," NEA press release}}{{Non-primary source needed|date=August 2023}} Her education advice for parents has been published in Time, Working Mother, and Woman's World, and she has been featured on Fox News's Hannity & Colmes and CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight. She has been the invited keynote speaker for hundreds of education events across the United States and was highlighted by Education World in their "Best Conference Speakers" edition.{{Cite web|url=https://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev120.shtml|title=The Ten Best Education Conferences | Education World|website=www.educationworld.com}}{{Non-primary source needed|date=August 2023}} She writes a blog, "Lily's Blackboard," covering the latest education issues.{{Cite web|url=http://lilysblackboard.org/|title=Lily's Blackboard - Updates from NEA President Lily Eskelsen García|website=Lily's Blackboard}}{{Non-primary source needed|date=August 2023}}
Her union leadership has included writing protest songs, such as one about the No Child Left Behind Act.{{Cite web|url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-07-06-nea-protest-songs_x.htm|title=USATODAY.com - No Child Left Behind has teachers singing protest songs|website=usatoday30.usatoday.com}} As vice president, she was part of NEA's emphasis on working with the American labor movement; she appeared in Washington, D.C. on December 10, 2009, with labor leaders from the Teamsters and the AFL-CIO to speak out against taxing health-care benefits.{{Cite web|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jlMpJGn28kqCcgU-aGcYE_ZHW-ywD9CGMN3O1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091217035144/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jlMpJGn28kqCcgU-aGcYE_ZHW-ywD9CGMN3O1|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 17, 2009|title="Unions pressure Democrats on health insurance tax," Associated Press, Dec. 10, 2009}}
Politics and controversy
In 1998, she was the first Hispanic person to be chosen as the Democratic Party's nominee for a U.S. congressional seat in Utah, raising almost $1 million, and receiving 45% of the vote, ultimately losing to incumbent Merrill Cook in the general election.
In 2000, she served as a member of President Bill Clinton's White House Strategy Session on Improving Hispanic Education, and in 2011, President Obama named her a member of the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.{{Cite web|url=https://imperialvalleynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11099&Itemid=1|title=Imperial Valley News|website=imperialvalleynews.com}}
In November 2015, Eskelsen Garcia received backlash for comments she made during the Campaign for America's Future Awards Gala. During a speech, she said, "We diversify our curriculum instruction to meet the personal individual needs of all of our students, the blind, the hearing impaired, the physically challenged, the gifted and talented, the chronically tarded and the medically annoying." Several organizations, including the American Association of People with Disabilities and National Down Syndrome Society, called on her to apologize and asked for more open dialogue regarding students with disabilities.{{Cite web|url=http://themighty.com/2015/11/nea-presidents-comments-about-students-with-disabilities/|title=NEA President Faces Backlash for Comments About Special Needs Students|website=The Mighty|date=28 September 2022 }} Eskelsen Garcia apologized on her blog, saying she had misspoken while trying to be funny; she had meant to say "chronically tardy", and by "medically annoying" she had meant those who use their own problems to purposefully disrupt class, rather than those with medical issues.{{Cite web|url=http://lilysblackboard.org/2015/11/a-message-from-lily/|title=A Message From Lily|date=November 30, 2015|website=Lily's Blackboard}}
In 2016, Eskelsen Garcia campaigned for Hillary Clinton.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/teachers-union-head-brings-political-clout-to-bear-for-hillary-clinton-1477647006|title=Teachers Union Head Brings Political Clout to Bear for Hillary Clinton|first=Brody Mullins and Melanie|last=Trottman|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=October 28, 2016|via=www.wsj.com}} She spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.{{Cite web|url=https://neaedjustice.org/2016/07/25/nea-president-speaks-dnc-tonight/|title=Watch NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia's DNC speech|date=25 July 2016}}
After the inauguration of Donald Trump, she described him and the nominee for Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos as having an agenda to "profitize, privatize and ... throw a middle-class child into the street saying, 'Let them eat for-profit vouchers.'"{{Cite magazine|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/140464/battle-betsy-devos-isnt-over-senate-confirmation|title=The Battle Against Betsy DeVos Isn't Over|first=Graham|last=Vyse|date=February 7, 2017|magazine=The New Republic}} More than 1 million emails opposing DeVos' nomination were generated through NEA's online form.{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2017/01/26/national-education-association-more-than-1-million-emails-sent-to-senators-urging-a-vote-against-devos/|title=National Education Association: More than 1 million emails sent to senators urging a vote against DeVos|first1=Emma|last1=Brown|first2=Michael Alison|last2=Chandler|via=www.washingtonpost.com}} Eskelsen Garcia continued to oppose the administration's budget priorities in 2018, calling the proposed 13.5% cut in education spending a "wrecking ball" aimed at public schools.{{Cite web|url=http://time.com/4791618/donald-trump-budget-education-funding/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170523212536/http://time.com/4791618/donald-trump-budget-education-funding/|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 23, 2017|title="Donald Trump's 2018 Budget Slashes Education Department Funding by 13.5%," Time, May 23, 2017}}
In 2020, Eskelsen Garcia was instrumental in the NEA's endorsement of 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden in the primary and general elections. However, some union members stated their voices weren't heard, as "the rank and file were not asked who they wanted to support".{{cite news |last1=Will |first1=Madeline |title=Endorsements Still Touchy for Teachers' Unions in Presidential Election Season |url=https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2020/03/25/endorsements-still-touchy-for-unions-in-election.html |newspaper=Education Week |date=23 March 2020 |accessdate=11 November 2020}}
In 2020, García was named a candidate for Secretary of Education in the Biden administration,{{cite news |title=Who Are Contenders for Biden's Cabinet? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/us/politics/biden-cabinet.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage |accessdate=11 November 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=11 November 2020}} but Connecticut education commissioner Miguel Cardona was chosen instead.{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/biden-nominates-miguel-cardona-as-us-education-secretary/articleshow/79910047.cms|title=Biden nominates Miguel Cardona as US education secretary - Times of India|website=The Times of India |date=23 December 2020 }} She is reported to have a close working relationship with First Lady Jill Biden, fellow NEA member and educator.{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Danielle |title=Teacher unions, educators look to replace controversial U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos |url=https://www.floridaphoenix.com/2020/11/09/teacher-unions-educators-look-to-replace-controversial-u-s-secretary-of-education-betsy-devos/ |website=Florida Phoenix |date=9 November 2020 |accessdate=11 November 2020}}
Personal life
After high school, Lily married Ruel Eskelsen, with whom she had two children before his death on March 18, 2011. She is currently married to graphic artist Alberto Garcia, with whom she published the 2014 book, Rabble Rousers: Fearless Fighters for Social Justice.{{Cite web |date=31 March 2016 |title=From Teacher to Powerful Labor Leader: Lily Eskelsen García's Journey |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/teacher-powerful-labor-leader-lily-eskelsen-garc-s-journey-n545816 |website=NBC News}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
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- {{C-SPAN|57481}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Eskelsen Garcia, Lily}}
Category:People from Fort Cavazos
Category:People from Salt Lake City
Category:University of Utah alumni
Category:Presidents of the National Education Association
Category:American trade union leaders
Category:Schoolteachers from Utah
Category:American women educators
Category:American people of Panamanian descent
Category:Trade unionists from Texas
Category:People from North Salt Lake, Utah
Category:Candidates in the 1998 United States elections