Reginald “Reg” Weaver died Tuesday. He was president of the Illinois Education Association, the state’s largest teacher’s union, 1981 to 1987.
Weaver, who also spent 30 years as a teacher in the Harvey school system, was the first Black person to be elected president of the IEA. After his tenure at IEA, he went on to become the president of the National Education Association, from 2002 to 2008, and later went on to serve in the leadership of Education International, an organization representing 29 million teachers and education workers in 169 countries.
According to the IEA, he led the battle to ensure collective bargaining rights for Illinois educators.
“Reg was a pioneer in many ways. He led the way for people of color to see themselves in leadership at the state and national level. He was a mentor to so many state and national leaders. He created pathways to leadership and made room for folx when they arrived. He was kind, generous, and humorous. He always had a story to tell with a light in his eyes. He made people feel welcome, supported and valued,” said Karl Goeke, current president of the IEA.
A Danville native, Weaver earned a degree in special education from Illinois State University in 1961 and a master’s degree from Roosevelt University in 1971. He has received honorary degrees from numerous universities across the country.
In 1973, Weaver first ran for president of IEA and lost.
“After that, he built a minority caucus in an effort to increase the number of people of color who attended the union’s Representative Assembly and whose decisions guided the path for the organization. He was able to organize that group and build coalitions between groups to help build power within the IEA,” the organization said in a statement released to media.
“In 1978, former Gov. Jim Thompson was elected head of the state. The IEA was the only union to back the Republican candidate. He credited IEA with pushing him to the win. As a result, he said, he would support the passage of collective bargaining for educators and did, signing the Illinois Education Labor Relations Act in 1984.”
Weaver also served as president of the Harvey Education Association from 1967-71, as an IEA board member from 1971-77, as IEA vice president from 1977-81. He served on the NEA executive committee 1989-95, NEA vice president 1996-2002 and as NEA president 2002-08.
He was the winner of the IEA-NEA Human Relations Award, which is now known as the Reg Weaver Human and Civil Rights Award.
When he completed his final term as the NEA president in 2008,
“Thank you, Reg, for being the right man, in the right job, at the right time,” NEA Vice President Dennis Van Roekel said.
Weaver was 86.
