The Arizona Education Association is preparing its priorities for the coming school year. State educators will join nearly 10,000 education professionals convening in Washington D.C. at the end of June. KJZZ’s Nadine Arroyo Rodriguez reports.

NADINE ARROYO RODRIGUEZ: The National Education Association is hosting its 150th annual conference. Teacher development, a Bully Free campaign, and the presidential election are among several issues group will address. NEA meets in Washington D.C. every presidential election year to bring the issues of education to national legislators’ doorsteps. Andrew Morrill will be in D.C. as president of the Arizona Education Association.
 
ANDREW MORRILL: When we come together here it is from a practitioner base and with an eye on the needs of students try to drive forward, hammer out an agenda for public education that is student centered, that looks at reforms that will work. Sometimes, those reforms are putting back things that’ve been taken out by state legislatures.
 
ARROYO RODRIGUEZ: Morrill says he’ll closely monitor the issue of teacher preparation, a topic often debated in Arizona.