Late Council Rock Educator To Be Recognized By The NEA

The late Dolores McCracken, former president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association and Council Rock staff member, will be honored with a Human and Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association.

McCracken passed away in November 2018 following a battle with cancer.

McCracken was a local, regional, and statewide PSEA leader for more than two decades. She previously served as a paraprofessional in a sixth-grade inclusion classroom in the Council Rock School District. She also served on the Board of Directors of the Council Rock Education Foundation and was a former PTO president at Churchville Elementary.

She is one of 12 recipients of the National Education Association’s "most prestigious" award, the organization said in a statement.

McCracken is receiving the H. Councill Trenholm Memorial Award for her advocacy for students and public education as well as strong unionism, the NEA said.

"A longtime union leader who ascended to the presidency of the Pennsylvania State Education Association in 2017, McCracken was a passionate educator who pushed young people to always achieve their best. She also was a social justice warrior whose legacy addresses racial, social and economic disparities in the public schools of Pennsylvania," the NEA said.

Awardees will be honored at a ceremony on July 3 in Houston, Texas.

“The recipients of the 2019 NEA Human and Civil Rights Awards are social justice champions, forging paths for opportunities for every student in every school no matter their ZIP code, and standing up against injustices everywhere,” said NEA President Lily Eskelsen García. “We proudly honor their contributions and sacrifices. By embodying what is right and just about the world in which we live, they motivate us to purposeful and principled action.”