Thank you and Congratulations!

The election for NEA Director was held on Sunday, April 21.  Lisa Kickbusch (Pattonville) was elected in a very close vote as the next NEA Director.  Congratulations to Lisa!  She will serve well the members of MNEA.

Thank you to Lisa and her team and to Frank and his team for a great campaign.  The tone of our campaign was great, all the materials were fun, and relationships were strengthened by the end.  I certainly appreciate your willingness to be part of the joint hospitality room.

Thank you to Julia Todd for suggesting and organizing the joint hospitality room.  Such a profound statement of unity as well as thriftiness!

Thank you to Regina Cooper for her service as the campaign treasurer.  We definitely learned as we went along.  I so appreciate her friendship and support.

Thank you to the members of Independence NEA for being such a support and inspiration to me.  My work with my local Association will be some of the proudest and important work on my life.

Thank you to the "Seed Planter."

And a final - but SO important - thank you to my wife, Stana.  Anything that I do is not possible without her.  She is passionate about the work of the Association as much as any of our members.

There is always the temptation to look back and think about what could have been different - especially when the vote is so close.  However, each campaign exists at a particular moment in time, within a certain context.  Candidates and voters make a variety of decisions - small and large - based on a whole range of information, attitudes, and assumptions.  Sometimes we get it right and sometimes we get it wrong.  That is democracy for you.  I am pleased with the type of campaign that I ran and I hope my supporters are as well.    I am pleased with the campaigns of the other director candidates.

Some have said to me, "Maybe it will be for the best."  Yes - I agree that everything always - in the end - works out for the best.  BUT - I also believe that is the case when people make that happen themselves.  This will be for the best - because I will make it so.  Lisa has my complete support to make our Association and public education "something better" for Missouri educators, students and families.