Jia Lee, MORE UFT, Elementary School Special Education Teacher and Chapter Leader at the Earth School in District 1, Manhattan Running for Elementary Executive Board

I’ve been a special education teacher for 20 years, a chapter leader since 2005 and a proud NYC public school parent. I’m a current steering member of the Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE), and a steering member of Black Lives Matter at Schools NYC. I worked with Change the Stakes and NYCOPTOUT to organize resistance of high stakes standardized testing in NYC, at the state and national level. I’ve worked with MORE's Health Justice and Organizing working groups to collaborate with parents and students around Safe Schools Reopening. My work extends through a national network of public school educators to develop anti-racist principles and practices, as well as, working with the national network to bring ground up labor organizing practices. In 2015, I testified before the U.S. H.E.L.P. Senate Committee on the Reauthorization of I.D.E.A. on Testing and Accountability and spoke out as a conscientious objector of high stakes standardized testing and corporate education reform's influence on public education.