AEA President Carol Fleming elected to second term
by March 3, 2021 10:18 am 487 views
Arkansas Education Association President Carol B. Fleming will serve another two-year term after winning re-election in the AEA primary election last week.
The AEA is the state’s largest union for public school teachers and personnel. Fleming will officially begin her second term July 15, 2021.
“I want to thank the members of the AEA who are working day in and day out to support our students while navigating through this public health crisis,” she said. “I look forward to continuing to lift our educators’ voices as we advocate for health and safety while providing quality education for Arkansas’s children.”
Fleming, a speech-language pathologist, spent 20 years working with students in the Little Rock School District at Pulaski Heights Middle School.
After taking office in 2019, Fleming spent several months traveling the state to speak with educators about the challenges facing Arkansas’ public schools. In 2020, much of the outreach work shifted to virtual meetings.
Fleming has called on state officials to listen to health experts while making decisions about school re-openings and encouraged districts to ensure open lines of communication with employees once face-to-face learning resumed.
She also successfully advocated for extended leave for educators who needed to quarantine after possible exposure to the virus and called for educators to be prioritized to receive vaccines.
“Educators are the people working most closely with students every day,” Fleming said. “When we speak up about health and safety in our schools, we do so in the interest of our students. These concerns must be taken seriously and addressed to ensure our students, educators, and their families can stay as safe as possible.”
For years, Fleming has been an active and engaged member of the AEA at the local, state and national level. She has also served in her children’s Parent Teacher Associations when they were students in the Pulaski County Special School District and North Little Rock School District.