Tag Archives: Teacher Politicians

Educators who have also served in political positions, either appointed or elected.

Former Connecticut teacher Jahana Hayes now serves in the US House of Reps

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Former Social Studies teacher Jahana Hayes of Connecticut now serves in the US House of Representatives. Photo Credit: US Home of Representatives

Many talented educators have gone from the classroom into successful careers in politics. One of these is Johana Hayes, a former high school Social Studies teacher from Connecticut who currently represents her state in the US House of Representatives.

Jahana was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, on March 8, 1973. Because her mother was a drug addict, she was raised by her grandmother, and they lived in public housing projects in Waterbury. Even though Jahana became a teen mother at age 17, she overcame her obstacles and worked hard in school. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at Southern Connecticut State and her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Saint Joseph. In 2014, she earned her Sixth-Year Certificate from the University of Bridgeport School of Education. In 2015, she earned her certification in Intermediate Administration or Supervision from the State of Connecticut.

After earning her degree, Jahana accepted her first teaching position at Southbury Training School in Connecticut. Later she relocated to John F. Kennedy High School in Waterbury, where she taught Government and History. There she also served as the co-adviser of HOPE, a student service club and as the Chairperson of the Kennedy SOAR Review Board, a program for gifted students.

Jahana’s hard work in the classroom did not go unnoticed. In 2015, she garnered the John F. Kennedy Teacher of the Year award, and then the Waterbury School District Educator of the Year honors. In 2016, the teacher with the dazzling smile was named the state of Connecticut Teacher of the Year. That same year, President Obama recognized her as the US Department of Education’s National Teacher of the Year.

In 2018, Johana entered politics when she was elected to the US House of Representatives representing her state’s 5th Congressional District. She was re-elected in both 2020 and 2022. There she serves as the Chair on the Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations; and she also serves on the Committee on Education and Labor; the Committee on Agriculture; the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education; and the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services. She is also a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Even though Jahana is a working US Representative, she is still a member of the National Education Association, and as a big supporter of labor unions, she is a former member of the Service Employees International Union 1199.

Governor Michael Dunleavy of Alaska was once a history teacher

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Former high school History teacher Michael Dunleavy currently serves as the Governor of the state of Alaska. Photo Credit: The Hill

Many excellent educators also go on to successful careers in politics. One example of this is Michael Dunleavy, a history teacher from Juneau, Alaska, who currently serves as the Governor of the state.

Michael was born on May 5, 1961, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Once he graduated from Scranton Central High School in 1979, he enrolled at Misericordia University, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in History in 1983. He completed the requirements for his Master’s degree in Education and his teaching credential from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, in 1991.

Michael was working at a logging camp on Prince Wales Island in southeast Alaska when he accepted a position to teach within the Arctic Circle in the northwest part of the state. He invested nearly 20 years there working as a teacher, principal, and school superintendent. He also served a stint as the Director of K-12 Outreach through the University of Alaska Statewide. And he is the former Program Manager of the Alaska Statewide Mentor Project.

While working in the north, Michael married Rose Newlin, a Native American of Inupiaq heritage who was born and raised in the small community of Noorvik in Alaska’s Kabuk River Valley. In fact, the population there is only 700 people. Together, the couple have three children.

In 2004, Michael and his family relocated to Wasilla, where he founded an educational consulting firm and worked on several statewide educational projects. He also served on the the School Board for Matanuska-Susitna Borough, including a two-year stint as the organization’s president.

In 2012, Michael was elected to the Alaska State Senate on the Republican ticket, and served there from 2013 to 2018. While in the Senate, he served on the committees for  Education; Judiciary; Transportation; and Finance. He also served as the Chair of the Educational Transition Team, and he was member of the Subcommittees for Education and Early Development; Fish and Game; Administration; and Law.

Next, Michael was elected the Governor of Alaska in 2018. In 2022 he was re-elected to the office, and he continues to serve in that role. During his terms, he has placed focus on effective pandemic response, fiscal responsibility, crime prevention, and the energy issues that are particular to the state.

Golda Meir: Wisconsin schoolteacher and Israeli Prime Minister

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Wisconsin schoolteacher Golda Meir emigrated to Israel and eventually became the country’s Prime Minister. Photo Credit: History.com

Many people have heard of Golda Meir, the “Iron Lady of Israeli Politics” who served from 1969 to 1974 as the Prime Minister of Israel. But did you know that Golda was also a Wisconsin schoolteacher?

Golda was born Golda Mabovitch in Kiev, Ukraine, on May 3, 1898. Her parents were Moshe and Blume Mabovitch, and Golda was one of eight children born to the couple. Five of her siblings died in infancy; Golda was the middle child of three surviving daughters. When she was a young child, her father immigrated to the United States; the rest of the family followed him three years later. The Mabovitches settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

As a youngster, Golda attended the Fourth Street Grade School where she graduated as the valedictorian of her class. She then enrolled in North Division High School, against the wishes of her parents, who believed that girls should get married, not pursue an education or a profession. In her freshman year, Golda moved to Denver, Colorado, to live with her older sister, Sheyna, and at that time she transferred to North High School. In Denver, Golda met Morris Myerson, and she fell in love. Despite this romance, in 1915, Golda returned to her parents’ home in Milwaukee, and the following year she graduated from North Division High School.

After her high school graduation, Golda enrolled at Wisconsin State Normal School to pursue a three-year degree in education. During her training, the neophyte educator taught young children reading, writing, and history three days a week at a folkshule, a Yiddish school at the Jewish Center of Milwaukee. She also gave numerous lectures on Zionism, a movement to establish a homeland for the Jewish people.

In 1917, Golda married her long-time boyfriend Morris Myerson. Later, she modified her surname to Meir. In 1921, the fourth year of their marriage, Golda and Morris emigrated to Palestine, where the couple quickly joined a kibbutz. Over the next five years, Golda and Morris had two children: a boy named Menachem in 1924, and daughter named Sarah in 1926.

Unfortunately, Morris contracted malaria, so the family left the kibbutz and moved to Jerusalem, where Golda accepted employment in a government job. She worked as the secretary of the Working Women’s Council, and represented the council at a number of international labor meetings. In 1929 Golda was named a delegate to the World Zionist Organization. In the next decade, Golda organized illegal immigration of Jews to Palestine when it became obvious that they faced persecution by the Nazis. In 1946, at the end of WWII, Golda was appointed the acting head of the Jewish Agency’s political department, a position she held until Israel was founded on May 14, 1948. The former teacher was among the signers of Israel’s Declaration of Independence.

Golda began her political career in Israel as that country’s representative to the Soviet Union. When she was elected to the first Israeli Parliament, she returned to Israel, where she was appointed minister of labor and social insurance. While serving in this capacity, she endeavored to solve the most important problems Israel faced at the time: housing and employment for 700,000 new immigrants. In 1947, David Ben Gurion, then Prime Minister of the fledgling country, appointed Golda his Foreign Minister, Israel’s second most powerful position. The only female foreign minister then serving in the world, Golda nevertheless conducted herself in a very informal way. She flew tourist class, hand-washed her own underwear, shined her own shoes, and entertained foreign dignitaries in her kitchen wearing an apron and serving them her homemade pastries.

In 1966, sixty-year old Golda decided to retire from public service, but her political party persuaded her to become their secretary general and the secretary of the Unified Labor Party. When Prime Minister Levi Eshkol died suddenly in 1969, her party prevailed upon her to become Israel’s next Prime Minister. She guided her country through the difficult period of the Yom Kippur War. However, the former teacher was suffering from lymphatic cancer, and because of her declining health and political pressures, she decided to resign in 1974.

Golda Meir passed away on December 8, 1978, at the age of 80. At the time of her passing, Golda was recognized as one of the first women to lead a nation in the modern era.

Educator Phyllis Robinson also served in Texas House of Reps

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Texas schoolteacher and school counselor Phyllis Robinson served four terms in her state’s House of Representatives. Photo Credit: Legislative Reference Library of Texas

During Women’s History Month, we honor the many excellent classroom teachers who have also served their communities in political and legislative positions. One of these is Phyllis Robinson, a Texas teacher and school counselor who was elected to her state’s House of Representatives.

Phyllis was born on Sept. 11, 1946, in the small town of Gonzales, Texas. As a young woman, she attended Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, where she earned her degree in 1967. She earned her Master’s degree from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio in 1972. Once she earned her degrees, Phyllis worked diligently as a teacher and school counselor in her home town.

In 1982, Phyllis was elected on the Democratic ticket to the Texas State House of Representatives. In the Democratic primary, she garnered 63 percent of the vote, more than any of the three men who were running against her. With no Republican opposition in the general election, she handily won that election as well.

The first woman elected to represent rural District 31 in that body, the former teacher served four consecutive terms, which spanned the years from 1983 to 1991. While there, she became a member of the Committees for Agriculture and Livestock; County Affairs; Fire and Protection Standards; and Insurance. She also took a great interest in matters that pertained to education, tax relief, the state’s drug problems, and incentives for farmers, ranchers, and oil and gas development. Of the 44 bills she introduced, 23 were passed.

At 77 years of age, Phyllis Robinson has retired from politics and has returned to Gonzales, where she now lives with her husband, Thomas Miller.

Teacher Irma Dixon also served in the Maryland General Assembly

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Elementary teacher Irma George Dixon served in the Maryland General Assembly, one of the first two African American women to be elected to the body. Photo Credit: Maryland Archives

During Black History Month, we recognize the accomplishments of the many African American educators who have made significant contributions to our nation’s education system. One of these was Irma George Dixon, a public schoolteacher who was one of the first two African American women to be elected to the Maryland General Assembly.

Irma George was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1911, and she was raised there. After her graduation from public schools in her home city, she attended Coppin Normal School in Maryland before earning her Bachelor’s degree in English at Morgan State College, also located in Baltimore.

Once she earned her degree, Irma inaugurated her career as an educator in Baltimore public schools, where she taught elementary and junior high school for 15 years, from 1934 to 1949. After leaving the classroom, Irma married William B. Dixon and established a small business selling dresses from her home.

Always eager to better the life of others, in 1958, Irma decided to make a bid for public office. She was elected on the Democratic ticket to represent the Fourth District, which included the city of Baltimore, in the Maryland General Assembly. That same year, colleague Verda Freeman Welcome was also elected, and the two became the first African American women elected to the legislative body.

While in office, the former teacher was a strong advocate for education, proposing tax increases to pay for additional funding for education and advocating that school be compulsory beginning in kindergarten. She was also an advocate of equal pay for men and women, and in 1962 she sponsored a bill that proposed a ban on racial discrimination in private employment throughout her state.

In addition to her work in the legislature, Irma was involved in a number of advocacy groups, including the Baltimore Urban League, the NAACP, the National Council of Negro Women, the School Marms, and the YWCA. She also served as a legislative consultant to the Health Commission of the Maryland State Conference of Social Welfare.

Sadly, Irma Dixon passed away, while still in office, on June 30, 1965. Only 54 years old, she had been battling a lengthy illness. She is buried at Arbutus Memorial Park in Baltimore.