More than 8,000 teachers and administrators are currently gathered in the country's capital for the National Education Association's annual conference. Among them is Meg Gruber, president of Virginia's Education Association.
Gruber is the outgoing president of the VEA, and a veteran teacher of more than 30 years. Before she headed up to D.C., Gruber sat down with reporter Mallory Noe-Payne to talk about how education, at its heart, is a local issue not a national one.
"Not everybody can do this job. And if we want quality people in our classrooms, and we want some of them to become quality administrators, we've got to first of all start listening to them and treating them with respect."
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Gruber also talks to reporter Mallory Noe-Payne about how Virginia is faring when it comes to attracting and retaining the best teachers in the country.
In the 2013-2014 school year, Virginia's teachers made an average of almost $50,000 -- almost 12-percent below the national average. This year, the state legislature approved a pay raise of 2-percent.