History of the Future Educators Association®
1980s-1990s: Disbanding and Rebirth
In 1982, Mark Lowe, the acting national executive coordinator for FTA, announced the disbanding of the national organization as a result of the nationwide teacher surplus and budgetary limitations.
We don’t know much about what happened to local and state organizations after the national SAE/FTA disbanded. Some groups carried on under one name or the other, since local Student Action for Education and Future Teachers of America groups can be found around the country today.
Future Educators of America
Then in 1987, Jan Towslee — a former FTA member who was president of her high school chapter — became president of the Association of Teacher Educators. She realized that there was no longer a national organization supporting future educators at the high school level, and she created an advisory council to look into it. At this point, the teacher surplus of the ’70s had dissipated, and some areas were facing shortages. In 1989, the ATE established the Future Educators of America to carry on the tradition of inspiring, recruiting, and preparing the nation’s most promising students for careers in education.
Rapid Growth
By the early ’90s, the new FEA had grown so rapidly that, according to Towslee, the ATE could no longer sponsor the organization. A conference was held in Washington, D.C., to determine the future of the organization. PDK International offered national stewardship and permanent headquarters to the FEA program, and that is where FEA still resides today.
