Mike Huckabee Spoke to the NEA Today

Mike Huckabee was the only Republican to speak at the NEA National Meeting today. He was surprised that he was the Republican to speak. He told the audience that he was the first male in his family to graduate high school and also the first Arkansas governor in 50 years to send his kids to public schools. He talked about the importance of Arts and Music Education. About the guitar his parents bought him, “but I would never have made it to be governor had it not been for the skills that I learned from music.”

Read the full article.

There is also a video you can click on from the article. I don't have sound on my computer, but if it's a video of Mike Huckabee it's gotta be good.

UPDATE: I was able to listen to the video. I was right, as always, Mike Huckabee did a terrific job speaking at the NEA. Here's the video:

God Bless from the Upper Peninsula in Michigan!

Mike Huckabee will Speak at NEA

From Campaign e-mail-

Mike Huckabee to Address the National Education Association

in Philadelphia on Thursday, July 5 at 1:45 p.m.

Little Rock, AR – Former Ark. Governor Mike Huckabee, a Republican, will outline his vision for the future of America’s public schools at the National Education Association (NEA)’s Representative Assembly in Philadelphia on Thursday, July 5 at 1:45 p.m. ET. The event is open to the press. The NEA is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 3.2 million teachers, higher education faculty, educational support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers. More than 9,000 school employees will attend the assembly, which is one of the largest democratic decision-making bodies in the world. Huckabee, who served as governor of Arkansas from 1996-2007, is recognized as a national leader. A past chairman of the bipartisan National Governors’ Association (NGA) and chairman of the Education Commission of the States, he has been honored by several renowned publications and organizations for his numerous accomplishments. Governing Magazine named him as one of its 2005 ‘Public Officials of the Year.’ Time Magazine called him “one of the five best governors” in America. In 2007, he received the Music for Life Award by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) for his commitment to music education. As governor, Huckabee created intensive reading and math programs for elementary and then high school students, resulting in a dramatic rise in test scores – and one of the most demanding high school curricula in the country. Other achievements included raising teacher salaries, from among the lowest in the nation to among the most competitive, and making schools more accountable by insisting on transparency in how money is spent and creating more efficiency by putting money into classroom programs, rather than administrative costs. Huckabee, who formed a 2008 presidential exploratory committee, said education reform remains a critical part of his agenda. He supports the “No Child Left Behind” law’s effort to set high national standards; however, he believes states must be allowed to develop their own benchmarks. Among other initiatives, he stresses the importance of music and the arts to prepare the nation’s youth to meet the challenges of a creative global economy. (For more information, please visit: http://www.explorehuckabee.com/.)