资深音乐教师普林塞斯·莫斯今夏当选全国最大工会——全国教育协会（NEA）主席，并于9月正式履新。全国教育协会 当前公共教育版图颇多雷区。
Longtime music teacher Princess Moss was elected as president of the nation's largest labor union, the National Education Association, over the summer and took the reins in September. The National Education Association The public education landscape is a bit of a minefield these days.
通胀正在冲垮学校预算 一项新的教育税收抵免政策将于1月生效，把联邦税收资金导向私立学校。与此同时，特朗普政府正在一砖一瓦地拆解教育部。
Inflation is blowing up school budgets A new education tax credit that will direct federal tax dollars into private schools goes into effect in January. At the same time, the Trump administration is dismantling the Department of Education brick by brick.
普林塞斯·莫斯登场，成为全国最大工会全国教育协会的新面孔。该会会员包括来自每个州的300万教师和公共部门工人。
Enter Princess Moss, the new face of the nation's largest labor union, the National Education Association. Its membership includes 3 million teachers and public workers from every state.
“公共教育正遭受攻击，”她说。“我们的学生正遭受攻击。这个民主制度的基石就是公共教育——它也正遭受攻击。”她对全国教育协会的愿景——她称之为“从抵抗走向复兴”——带有历任领导层的一些印记。该愿景将专业自主权和社区组织置于核心位置，但她希望工会在一点上实现彻底转变。
"Public education is under attack," she says. "Our students are under attack. The very foundation of this democracy is public education — that is under attack." Her vision for the NEA — what she calls "resistance to renaissance" — has some markings of past leadership. It puts things like professional autonomy and community organizing front and center, but there is one stark departure she wants for the union.
“我希望我们成为自身的政治权威，”莫斯说。“意思是我们不与任何政党结盟。”
"I want us to become our own political authority," Moss says. "Meaning that we're not aligning ourselves with a political party."
“我知道这行得通，因为我以前做过” 普林塞斯·莫斯在弗吉尼亚州斯波特瑟尔瓦尼亚县的农村地区长大，父母都是校车司机。她回忆说，童年时期有许多教师激励她投身教育事业。但她的二年级老师露西·T·刘易斯最让她铭记在心。莫斯记得，1968年她在全班面前把“refrigerator”（冰箱）一词拼错，刘易斯却依然告诉她自己很聪明。
"I know this can work because I've done it before" Princess Moss grew up the daughter of two school bus drivers in Spotsylvania County in rural Virginia. She recalls many teachers from her childhood who inspired her to pursue a career in schools. But her second grade teacher, Lucy T. Lewis, stands out. Moss remembers Lewis telling her she was smart back in 1968, even after she misspelled the word refrigerator in front of the entire class.
“我想成为像刘易斯太太那样的人，”她说。“在那里，你可以帮助学生学习，帮助学生发挥出最佳水平，哪怕他们偶尔犯错。”莫斯后来在邻县担任了20多年小学音乐教师。在此期间，她在州工会领导层中不断晋升，于2004年至2008年担任弗吉尼亚教育协会主席，并最终在全美教育协会步步高升。莫斯如今在三年任期内迎接挑战，在艰难的政治氛围中寻找航向。
"I wanted to be just like Mrs. Lewis," she says. "Where you could help students learn and help students be the best that they could be even if they made a mistake every now and then." Moss went on to work as an elementary school music teacher for more than 20 years in a neighboring county. Along the way she rose up the ranks in state union leadership, presiding over the Virginia Education Association from 2004 to 2008 and eventually moving up the ladder at the NEA. Moss now takes on the challenge of navigating a difficult political climate over her three-year term as president.
“我们是专家，”她说。“我们希望参与决策。”她从在弗吉尼亚的经历中汲取的一个教训是，当她把焦点放在议题上时，往往能在意想不到的地方找到盟友。
"We are the experts," she says. "We want to be at the decision-making tables." One lesson she brings from her time in Virginia is that when she focused on the issues, there were allies to be found in unexpected places.
当时，弗吉尼亚州有一位民主党州长和一个由共和党控制的州议会。她致力于建立跨党派联盟，并强调公共教育属于所有人。随着中期选举日益临近，莫斯表示，她正将这种心态带到全美教育协会。“谈论你的学生”“我们在告诉我们的会员：‘谈论你的学生。你的学生需要什么？’”她说。“不要把它变成一个民主党或共和党的问题。”
At the time, Virginia had a Democratic governor and Republican-controlled general assembly. She worked on building coalitions across the aisle and emphasized that public education is for everyone. With the midterms rapidly approaching, Moss said she's bringing that mentality to the NEA. "Talk about your students" "We're telling our members: 'Talk about your students. What do your students need?'" she says. "Don't make it a Democrat or Republican issue."
右翼智库福勒姆研究所所长迈克尔·彼特里利对此并不那么确信：“听着，对全美教育协会来说，那将是一个巨大的转变，”他说。“他们一直是民主党坚定的支持者，反之亦然。”在2020年，全美教育协会
Michael Petrilli, the president of the right-leaning think tank the Fordham Institute, isn't quite so convinced: "Look, that would be a huge departure for the NEA," he says. "They have been stalwart supporters of the Democratic Party and vice versa." In 2020, the NEA