The National Education Association’s incoming president secured 50.3% of delegate votes and signaled that the nation’s largest teachers union will continue its political activism and opposition to the Trump administration.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Princess Moss will take control of the National Education Association on Sept. 1 after narrowly winning the presidency of the country’s largest teachers union and promising to continue its emphasis on racial justice, social activism and organized political power.
Moss, an elementary school music teacher from Virginia who currently serves as NEA vice president, received 50.3% of the vote during the union’s Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly.
Her election positions her to succeed Becky Pringle, whose two terms and six years as president were marked by aggressive support for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, critical race theory, LGBTQ advocacy, restorative justice discipline policies and Democratic candidates.
“Together, we will build the power to defend public education, advance racial and social justice, and ensure every educator has the respect, resources, and voice they deserve,” Moss said while announcing her election.
The transition is not expected to produce a major change in the union’s political direction. Moss served alongside Pringle as vice president and has repeatedly endorsed the same social and electoral priorities advanced during Pringle’s leadership.
In remarks to delegates, Moss praised “educators, unions, students, and entire communities” for having “stood in your power” during the previous 18 months, according to Just the News.
Her speech directly addressed opposition to the Trump administration, which has used executive actions and other policies to shift federal education priorities toward academic instruction and away from what it describes as divisive ideology in schools.
“You have faced an administration determined to turn diversity, equity, and inclusion into a slur … to gut Medicaid, SNAP, and Social Security, and to defund our schools to fund billionaires,” Moss told delegates.
The NEA is approximately 169 years old and represents more than 3 million members, giving its leadership substantial influence over education policy, organized labor and Democratic politics.
The union and its political action committees raised approximately $27 million and spent more than $43 million during the 2024 election cycle, with much of that spending directed toward Democratic candidates, left-leaning advocacy organizations and ballot initiatives, according to an analysis by The 74.
The 74 is a nonprofit news organization focused on the American education system.
Pringle used the union’s national reach to promote political causes extending beyond classroom pay, benefits and working conditions. Her leadership included support for DEI and critical race theory programs, LGBTQ policies, affirmative action and school discipline systems based on restorative justice.
She also mobilized NEA members for national demonstrations, including “No Kings” Day and May Day protests.
Pringle described those efforts as “organizing for power”, framing the union as a force for coordinated political action rather than an organization concerned exclusively with education policy and employment issues.
Her tenure also included opposition to Supreme Court rulings affecting education and parental authority.
Among those decisions was Mahmoud v. Taylor, in which the court ruled that parents have a constitutional right to remove their children from LGBTQ-related curriculum.
Pringle supported former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden and backed then-Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee in 2024.
Moss’ public record indicates that the NEA’s partisan and ideological alignment will remain substantially unchanged after the leadership transition.
While serving as vice president, Moss urged union members during the 2022 midterm election cycle to vote to “protect the right to vote, the rights of women and LGBTQ+ rights,” and to “carve a clear path toward the presidential election in 2024.”
Her rise through the organization began while she was a student at the University of Mary Washington, where she became involved with the Virginia Education Association, the NEA’s state affiliate.
Moss remained active in local education associations throughout her 21-year teaching career. She served two terms as president of the Virginia Education Association and two terms on the NEA executive committee.
She was elected NEA secretary-treasurer in 2014 and became vice president in 2020.
Moss ultimately won the presidency with support from 50.3% of voting assembly members, giving her only a narrow majority but placing her at the head of one of the country’s most politically active labor organizations.
Virginia Education Association President Carol Bauer celebrated the result and promised continued organizing alongside Moss.
“Princess is one of us, and she always has been,” Bauer said following the election. “We are proud, we are ready, and we are going to organize right alongside her.”
Moss will inherit an organization with millions of members, significant political spending and an established role in Democratic campaigns and progressive advocacy.
Her comments following the election suggest that she intends to defend that model rather than narrow the union’s mission to wages, classroom conditions and conventional education policy.
The NEA’s leadership change therefore represents a continuation more than a departure. Pringle’s tenure established a broad political agenda centered on DEI, LGBTQ causes, racial justice, organized protest and Democratic electoral priorities, and Moss has pledged to preserve those commitments as she assumes the presidency.
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