What a night last night for labor solidarity as NEARI delegates joined with our brothers and sisters across the RI AFL-CIO federation to reëlect President Patrick Crowley and Secretary Treasurer Karen Hazard! Check out some photos 📸 https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCyf5E

Tickets are still available for The NEARI Children's Fund 40th Anniversary Celebration sponsored in part by Horace Mann Insurance and Keith Hoffmann for Attorney General! Join us this Thursday 10/23 from 5-8pm for hors d'oeuvres, cash bar, and some fantastic raffle items! https://bit.ly/4oQyaFt

🌟 Exciting news! We’re proud to welcome keithhoffmann.bsky.social as a Legacy Sponsor of The NEARI Children’s Fund 40th Anniversary Celebration! His generosity helps ensure every Rhode Island child is fed, clothed, and ready to learn. 💙 Join us on October 23! https://neari.events/CF40

From Lesson Plans to Estate Plans: Preparation Means Peace of Mind. Join us October 28 for a practical and engaging workshop on the essentials of planning for yourself and your family—at every stage of life. https://neari.events/elderlaw25

Tickets are still available for the 40th anniversary NEARI Children's Fund Celebration sponsored by Horace Mann Insurance! Join us October 23 for a night of great food, cash bar, raffle, and community! https://neari.events/CF40

Congratulations to these NEARI schools awarded a Blue Ribbon for their academic excellence and honored by Commissioner Infante-Green and Governor McKee! Despite the federal government’s cancellation of the national program, we're proud of these students and educators!

Considering retirement in the next five years? This conference is for you! Join us for presentations from the experts on educator and municipal pension, Social Security, and Medicare. This annual conference fills up quickly, register today! https://neari.events/retcon25

Behind every great school are amazing Education Support Professionals. 💪 Celebrate them with us at the Annual ESP Dinner & Raffle on Nov. 19! 🎟️ $25 tickets online now. 🌟 We’ll also honor our ESP of the Year - someone who goes above & beyond for students every day. 🔗 https://bit.ly/4nJSF60

🍂 Hello, October! 🍂 The air is crisp, sweaters are out, and our calendar is full. Check out this month’s events and get connected at neari.org/calendar.

This piece on Block Island School student athletes and their amazing Jill-of-all-trades teacher and coach, New Shoreham teachers Association member Roberta Closter will definitely bring the Friday smiles! We love to see it! Congrats to them on their surprise gifts! https://bit.ly/3VDjsov

Join us for a comprehensive training designed specifically for Local Union Treasurers and Presidents. Seats are filling quickly, register today! https://neari.events/treasurers

🌟 We’re thrilled to welcome Rockland Trust Investment Management Group as a Champion Level Sponsor of The NEARI Children’s Fund 40th Anniversary Celebration! Their generous support helps ensure RI students are fed, clothed, and ready to learn. 💙 Join us on October 23 -visit https://neari.events/CF40

✨ Celebrate 40 yrs of The NEARI Children’s Fund! Join us Oct. 23 & support RI students by placing an ad in our program book or reserving your tix 🎟️. 👉 neari.events/CF40 Your support ensures the Children’s Fund can continue its mission: making sure every child is fed, clothed, and ready to learn.

Congratulations to these environmental education award winners, and a special shout out to NEARI member and EPEA teacher Natalie Tarr!

Enhance your classroom experience! Check out these grants for educators and fellowship opportunity available from the NEA Foundation! Deadline to submit is Sept. 15. https://www.neafoundation.org/

NEA Rhode Island is built to last: founded in 1845, still running strong in 1926, and flooring it for worker power in 2025! #happyfriday NEARI staff pictured: Alex Lucini and his 1926 Studebaker, Mary Barden, Onelissa Martinez, Sam Howard, Bridget Almon, and Stephanie Mandeville

We’re thrilled to welcome Horace Mann as Legacy Sponsor for The NEARI Children’s Fund 40th Anniversary Celebration! A true friend to the Fund, Horace Mann has supported our mission for years—helping ensure students across RI have what they need to learn & thrive. Join us: https://neari.events/CF40

🎉 🎉 Join us in celebrating 40 years of the NEARI Children’s Fund! 🎟️ Tickets $50 at neari.events/CF40. Sponsorships available too—help us keep providing essentials to RI students in need. 💙 #NEARIChildrensFund #CF40

Brian Nelson, NEA South Kingstown, speaking to Alexandra Leslie on how removing cell phones from the classroom has had a positive impact on student behavior and interaction.

🌻 Hello, September! 🌻 Crisp mornings, new beginnings, and a season full of possibilities. Explore upcoming events, mark your calendars, register for trainings, and stay connected with your union family. 👉 Visit neari.org for details.

When charter schools first started, they were intended to be experimental with innovative ideas that were supposed to be brought back to district schools. But that’s not what’s happened. We’ve created a parallel school system where we’re fighting over the same pie of funding. https://bit.ly/47ouYva

North Kingstown teachers Sydney Sweeney and Heather Lebel helped their students Break the Myth—smashing stereotypes about disability through storytelling and video. 🎬 Watch these young leaders speak their truth this #DisabilityPrideMonth. #BreakTheMyth #WeAllBelong #DisabilityInclusion

RI is fortunate to have representation opposed to this devastating bill. Take action: let them know you’re paying attention and tell them to continue the fight for the critical funding our students and families need.

Shout out to the organizations in Newport, RI for supporting students in their community! And here's to the letter writer: Thompson Middle School teacher Melissa Turner for closing out the year strong with her fifth graders - have a great summer! bit.ly/3I8aMTE

Welcome to the family, Met School educators! 💙🩷

Congrats to Lisa Tvenstrup of Ponaganset HS, 2026 NEARI Teaching Excellence Award winner! 40 years of inspiring students + advocating for public ed. Well-deserved! More on Lisa: www.neari.org/about-neari/... #NEARIExcellence #PublicEd

Big win for students and schools! The Senate just passed a statewide cell phone policy with a unanimous 34-0 vote. This is a smart, student-focused move to limit distractions and support better learning. Grateful for leaders who put education first! Now on to the House!

Mary Barden spoke with @wpri12.bsky.social about addressing student mental health with proposed Student Safety & Behavioral Health Committees across districts.

Share your gratitude for educators by showing up and speaking out for Teacher Appreciation Week. Learn more >> nea.org/TAW

We commend the court for recognizing the Trump administration’s executive order stripping collective bargaining rights for what it was: illegal, retaliatory union-busting. We won’t rest until this illegal order is struck down once and for all. aflcio.org/press/releas...

Thank you General. Our students are counting on our leaders to stand up and protect their right to equal access to public education.

NEARI Executive Director Mary Barden released the following statement on the passing of R.I. Senate President Dominick Ruggerio: www.neari.org/about-neari/...

NEARI flags waving strong! #handsoff

As someone new to the school committee world, this was one for the books and my first mtg. I understand now why we are encouraged to get involved locally. Our students futures are at stake and they showed up to protect their rights from those trying to censor them or their expression!

Hundreds turned out yesterday for the Rally for Working People! NEARI was joined by labor siblings and supporters from across RI to protest tax cuts for billionaires at the expense of the working class and the students, patients, and communities we care about. #protectstudents #1u #NEARIstrong

Donald Trump today issued an executive order calling for the U.S. Department of Education to be dismantled and ceasing many of its activities. Here's how that will harm students: www.nea.org/nea-today/al...

NEARI Executive Director Mary Barden on the Trump EO: "Dismantling the Dept. of Education robs America’s students of the promise of a full and fair education. Students and their families in every Rhode Island community will be harmed by Trump and Musk’s wrecking ball." Read the full statement:

1 in 3 RI families are food insecure and we know school meals may be the only food a child has for the day. GOP proposed cuts to school meals would affect 23% of RI schools and nearly 37,000 students. They're starving kids to feed their greed. #healthyschoolmealsforall

💪🏼 We STAND UP when workers are fired without cause and safety protections are gutted. 💪🏼We STAND UP for our students, patients, and communities. 💪🏼And you better believe we SHOW UP when the super rich take what belongs to the people. ✊🏼 JOIN US! Open to all who care about workers bit.ly/ri-labor-rally

A student's future should NOT depend on whether certain politicians in state legislatures value education. #protectpublicschools

NEA Portsmouth member and school librarian Vanessa Dyer used her voice to support RI students and testified in support of the Freedom to Read. 📚 📖 #NEARIstrong

We will never stop defending the promise of a public education.

Elon Musk calls Social Security an “entitlement” to eliminate, but workers EARN those benefits with every paycheck. Meanwhile, his companies take billions in government funding and pay nothing in taxes.

Teachers, staff, students, and their futures depend on the Department of Education and the essential funding it provides for programs like special education. Gutting the Department of Education will hurt kids and working families across the country.

Gutting the Department of Education will impact everything from internet access to school buses. Let’s not make it harder to learn.

This destruction of the Dept of Ed will balloon class sizes, gut special education services, diminish job training programs, destroy student civil rights protections. Firing half the workers who ensure the above essentially eliminates opportunity from preK to college. www.cbsnews.com/news/educati...

The Department of Education provides critical support to educators and school staff, as well as financial aid and loans that make college and trade schools accessible for working families. Gutting it by half would devastate students, educators, and the future of our workforce.

NEARI members will be at the Statehouse this afternoon proudly testifying in support of the Freedom to Read Act!

Firing—without cause—nearly half of the Department of Education staff means the Trump administration is getting rid of the dedicated public servants who help ensure our nation’s students have access to the programs and resources to keep class sizes down and expand learning opportunities.