By Sheila Caldwell, BSN, RN, CSN-NJ
The second-year curtain rises, and the dance takes me back to the White House and visit the NEA building for the first time during my fellowship. COVID-19 protocols were in place and there weren’t many people in the building, but I did that the elevator up to the Education Support Professionals Quality (ESPQ) Department floor to walk around.
In August 2022, I accepted President Joe Biden’s invitation to celebrate passage of the Inflation Reduction Act on the South Lawn of the White House. A real honor to be invited back to the White House after I had attended the signing of the executive order by President Biden for the Strengthening of Medicaid and Expansion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in early April.
This visit was held on a beautiful day in September, where guests were provided refreshments and time to converse with those in attendance. My invitation afforded me with the opportunity to sit up front with the Congressional members, national organization leaders and dignitaries. This surprised me, as there were many people who were in an area behind low barricades who had to stand for the entire event.
This event is very important to all citizens in some fashion or another and here are some highlights about the provisions.
The Inflation Reduction Act is landmark legislation that will:
- Lower prescription drug prices for Medicare with annual cap of $2000.
- Lower energy costs, increase cleaner production and reduce carbon emissions.
- Lower Affordable Care Act health care premiums for millions of Americans.
- Make the biggest corporations and top percent of wealthy individuals pay their fair share of taxes.
- Not add new federal taxes on families making $400,000 or less and no new taxes on small businesses.
As educators, we do need to be aware of what is taking place that can affect us, our family members, and the children and families that we serve. We can be the advocates to ensure that credible information is shared to avert scammers and others from trying to take advance of any of us. Surely, there will be individuals, who try to capitalize on knowing about these opportunities. As the information about the Inflation Reduction Act is released over the next weeks to months to years, just be alert.
Our NEA President Becky Pringle also attended this event along with other NEA staff. They informed me that NEA couldn’t have been happier than when President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law the weeks prior to this celebration. To know that our members and/or members’ families across the country will benefit along with other citizens of this great nation was a big win.
Most people think of NEA and NJEA as only being about job protections, salary scales and benefits. But as I have been sharing in some of my fellowship experiences, you are probably getting a glimpse into some of the work that is taking place on behave of all of us. I cannot speak about all of the work, as I still don’t even know the breadth of what NEA reaches. I am still learning and going to take of my shoes to rest my feet as I prepare for the next dance in this world of NEA.
Sheila Caldwell is a certified school nurse in the Matawan Aberdeen Regional School District. She is on leave to participate in the SISP Fellowship described in this article. In addition to receiving numerous national and local awards, Caldwell has received the American Academy of Pediatrics-NJ Chapter School Health Advocate of Year (2016) and the 2021 National Association of School Nurses (NASN) Recognition Award for “continued support and unique contributions to NASN and school nursing.”
Caldwell can be reached at SCaldwell@nea.org.