Arkansas Education Association President Carol B. Fleming will serve another two-year term after winning re-election in the AEA Primary election last week.

“I want to thank the members of the AEA who are working day in and day out to support our students while navigating through this public health crisis,” she said. “I look forward to continuing to lift our educators’ voices as we advocate for health and safety while providing quality education for Arkansas’s children.”

Fleming, a speech-language pathologist, spent 20 years working with students in the Little Rock School District at Pulaski Heights Middle School. After taking office in 2019, Fleming spent several months traveling the state to speak with educators about the challenges facing Arkansas’s public schools; however, those visits shifted to zoom meetings and virtual events following the outbreak of the coronavirus in early 2020.

Fleming called on state officials to listen to health experts while making decisions about school re-openings and encouraged districts to ensure open lines of communication with employees once face to face learning resumed. She also successfully advocated for extended leave for educators who needed to quarantine after possible exposure to the virus and called for educators to be prioritized to receive vaccines. Once the vaccine became available for public school employees, Fleming worked with the department of health and school administrators to ensure educators’ questions and concerns about immunization were answered.

“Educators are the people working most closely with students every day,” Fleming said. “When we speak up about health and safety in our schools, we do so in the interest of our students. These concerns must be taken seriously and addressed to ensure our students, educators, and their families can stay as safe as possible.”

Fleming has also been traveling the state to read stories and donate books to school libraries for our Gift of Reading events.

“I love sharing the joy of reading and showing children how books open our minds, broaden our imagination, and allow us to travel to so many interesting places,” she said.

For years, Fleming has been an active and engaged member of the AEA at the local, state and national level. She has also served in her children’s Parent Teacher Associations when they were students in the Pulaski County Special School District and North Little Rock School District. Fleming and all of her children graduated from North Little Rock Public Schools.

Fleming has worked to ensure good public education policies at the local, state and national level. As a parent of an adult with special needs, she is reminded daily of the importance of advocating on behalf of the professions and those served which has fueled her passion for education, leadership, and professional issues.

Fleming will officially begin her second term July 15, 2021. AEA members can view the full election results HERE.