IEA members elect president, vice president and secretary-treasurer

SPRINGFIELD - Illinois Education Association (IEA) members elected Karl Goeke president of the state's largest union, Gina Harris vice president and Gladys Márquez the secretary treasurer on Sat., March 14, at the IEA's 172^nd Representative Assembly in Rosemont.

About 1,200 IEA members gather each year to direct the union on bylaws, new business and other items. Every three years, there is an election of officers. In addition to the IEA officers, members also elected three members to the National Education Association (NEA) Board of Directors.

Goeke, who had been a classroom teacher until three years ago when he was elected vice president of IEA, had most recently been serving the remainder of the term of IEA President Al Llorens, who died in September.

Goeke taught Spanish for more than two decades in Illinois K-12 schools. He was raised in Dakota, Illinois, and graduated from Highland Community College, Western Illinois University and Illinois State University. He is married to Stacy, who is also a teacher, and the family lives in Bloomington with their two daughters.

"Being elected president by a delegation of educators is the honor of a lifetime. Public schools represent the deep-felt trust of entire communities across the state. For the delegates from those schools to elect me to represent them means I have earned their trust, and I take that very seriously. I am thankful and will work with my amazing team of leaders to represent our members to the best of our abilities," Goeke said.

Harris graduated from Oak Park River Forest High School, Triton Community College, the University of Illinois at Chicago and Dominican University. She came to teaching as a second career after working in the business world for several years. She taught in Schiller Park, Maywood and Oak Park, as well as at the higher ed level.

She was first elected secretary-treasurer of the IEA three years ago and served as interim vice president of the IEA after Llorens' passing, before being elected to the position last weekend.

"I am honored to serve on another historic team on behalf of our members and students across the state. I bring my skills, heart and passion to this work, and I am confident that together we will meet this moment-standing strong for our members, our students and the future of public education," Harris said.

Márquez was a high school English Language Learner teacher at Eisenhower High School in Community High School District 218 in Blue Island. She was also serving in her second term on the National Education Association's executive committee.

She is a veteran educator who holds multiple degrees, including bachelor's degrees in elementary and secondary education; master's degrees in educational administration and curriculum, instruction and evaluation; and a doctorate in education in interdisciplinary leadership.

"I am honored to be the first Latina elected in IEA's 172-year history. As educational trade unionists, we must ALL fight for the future our students and colleagues deserve. Everyone deserves to live in a just society where one job is enough, where everyone makes a living wage, where schools are well-resourced, and students are well-nourished and receive the wrap-around supports they need to thrive, not just survive."

This slate of officers will serve in their positions until July of 2029. IEA members also elected three members to serve on the NEA Board of Directors. NEA Directors from District 4 - Alison Rohrbach and Adriana Caballero were elected to represent District Four and Benjamin Baer was elected to represent District Two.

Rohrbach, of Cary, is a teacher at Sunny Hill Elementary School and a member of the Barrington Education Association. Caballero is a curriculum specialist in Schaumburg and lives in Berwyn. And, Baer is a classroom teacher at Coal City High School in Coal City where he resides.

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The 135,000 member Illinois Education Association (IEA-NEA) is the state's largest union. IEA represents Pre K-12 teachers outside the city of Chicago and education support staff, higher education faculty, retired education employees and students preparing to become teachers, statewide.