Who we are
It is with a tremendous amount of excitement, hope, and determination that we officially announce we, Christina Cole and Reilly Finnegan, are running together for NCAE leadership in 2026 — Christina for NCAE President and Reilly for NCAE Vice President.
For the last 13 years, a tiny group of wealthy privatizers in NC have rigged and dominated state politics in order to wage war on our public schools. We know firsthand how devastating this has been for us and our students. Now they are looking to entrench their power again in 2030 and completely shutter our public schools by 2040. Our duty right now, as a union, is to do everything we can to stop them. We need a plan to win and we need to organize. We need to grow our ranks, build our member democracy, and lead majorities into action. It’s time to unionize so we can defend and transform our schools and communities!
To learn more about us and our decision to run for union leadership together in this pivotal moment for our schools, read our candidate statements below.
“We need bold plans to win and a serious strategy to take back our state government from anti-public-school, anti-union decision-makers. Fear is our greatest enemy, and the courage to fight - to fight with love, and with integrity, but to fight - is our greatest friend.”
— Christina Cole, Special Education Teacher, Wake NCAE President, NCAE Region 5 Director
Christina’s Candidate Statement
Earlier this Spring, after a very long period of reflection, countless 1-1 conversations, dreaming, hopes and fears and tears, I made what I know in my bones was the right and brave decision to run for NCAE President in 2026. This decision and campaign announcement is a proclamation of my love for our people - for our students, our public school staff, and the entire multiracial working class across our state.
I am a Black woman educator and organizer, born and raised in an Appalachian holler in Ashe County. I am a proud product of Ashe County Public Schools, a humble school district nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains. I am a Special Education teacher by trade, and since 2022 the proud President of Wake NCAE. I’ve had the honor of working with many of you as Region 5 Director on the NCAE Board, an SMO trainer, and in so many other spaces over so many years.
I’ve asked Durham social studies teacher Reilly Finnegan to be my running mate, and to serve as my Vice President if we have the opportunity to lead. Because many of you know me a little better than Reilly, I want to say a few things about him. Reilly is a brilliant, tirelessly hardworking, unsung hero of the Durham Association of Educators’ tremendous growth and successful campaigns, including hitting majority and winning a robust Meet + Confer policy under very tough conditions. He’s a deeply trusted member leader with sharp strategic instincts, and perhaps most importantly, he’s one of the architects behind Durham’s organizing committee, a model collaborative decision-making structure that really takes member democracy to the next level. He has skillfully managed countless relationships, helping build a tent so big, yet so disciplined, that thousands of workers have taken high stakes collective action together towards shared goals, over and over again, even in the face of great opposition. Lastly, he’s a joy to work with and a great thought partner. Local leaders from Murphy to Manteo should have the opportunity to know and learn from Reilly, and he should have the chance to learn every detail of your local context so he can contribute to more victories across our state.
The support Reilly and I have already received, and the all-star team of battle-tested campaigners and organizers assembling around us, is absolutely humbling and means the world to us. In the coming weeks and months, our team will be sharing more about our vision. Reilly and I have been neck-deep with our members building our locals and running campaigns these past few years, and we are really looking forward to getting out around the state more and more, learning from all of you, supporting more locals to grow + win, and collaborating on serious statewide strategies to win the state-level victories that every one of us desperately needs. We will work around the clock to continue building a diverse team of trusted member leaders, skilled member organizers, and resilient campaigners.
The gravity of a decision to step out in this moment in history is not lost on us. Public schools and our democracy both face existential threats, from billionaires and privatizers bent on destroying everything we love and everything our students need to survive and thrive. Our opponents have passed legislation that defunds public schools and siphons public dollars into private schools. They are working to dismantle the Department of Education and continue to perpetuate harmful narratives about public school staff that fuel culture wars and division. We continue to do more, with less, and our students suffer.
Our ability to maintain and level up a fighting labor union of public school staff is the only thing standing in the way of this path of destruction. As Reilly likes to say, “we have not a day, not an hour, not a dues dollar to waste.” We need bold plans to win and a serious strategy to take back our state government from anti-public-school, anti-union decision-makers. Fear is our greatest enemy, and the courage to fight - to fight with love, and with integrity, but to fight - is our greatest friend. I am committed to leading with courage in the coming weeks, months, and years as we fight to win a North Carolina where public school students, public school workers, and the entire multiracial working class can thrive. Reilly and I are ready to fight alongside you. We hope you’ll give us the opportunity to do just that.
In solidarity forever,
Christina
“We have proven we can win when we grow our membership, build democratic organizing structures, and develop our leaders through ambitious campaigns - the way the strongest unions have done for generations. It’s time to translate these lessons to as many counties as possible by 2030 so we can flip the NCGA and save our public schools.”
— Reilly Finnegan, Social Studies Teacher, DAE Member Organizer & Campaign Chair
Reilly’s Candidate Statement
I am extremely honored to be running with Christina as NCAE Vice Presidential candidate in next year’s critical election. Christina’s leadership in Wake County and among her peers across the state is a model of rigorous organizing and constant hunger for improvement - as well as authenticity, warmth, and human connection. When I see and hear the way leaders in Wake County, her home local, talk about Christina, I know she’s been in the trenches with them and earned their trust by putting it all on the line again and again to win real victories for students and schools. I also see the clear, committed, capable member-leaders she’s supported around her, and the respect with which she engages them as real partners in the work. Under Christina’s leadership, the Wake County bus safety assistants got their worksite to majority membership and fought for 3 years to win lighting, bathrooms, and a new building at their worksite. Librarians have more than doubled their membership and delivered a majority petition to the school board demanding equitable funding of school libraries. And member-leaders have formed an organizing committee to join together with parents and community members to fight for a historic school infrastructure bond that ensures healthy and safe working conditions for staff and learning conditions for students.
Nothing in this world is more important to me than public schools and union rights. I was born and raised in High Point, NC, the proud grandson of a 40-year educator, and the proud graduate of Guilford County Schools. The diverse, vibrant, challenging public schools I went to changed my life and made me who I am today — as a teacher, a union leader, and as a human being. Public schools are where I learned to read, write, research, speak Spanish, and play trombone, but most importantly, they are where I first learned about inequality and first committed to fighting for racial and social justice. That’s why, in 2016, I decided to become a high school social studies teacher and join the labor movement, and since 2018 I’ve been teaching and building our union in Durham.
The next five years will decide the future of public schools - including if we have public schools at all in the next decade. My last two years helping lead in Durham have taught me how transformational it can be to have a clear plan to win, a focused strategy, and a far-reaching, disciplined, democratic organizing structure. When we have that winning combo, it turns out we can do things that people thought were impossible - like grow our union to majority, win a local budget increase that was three times the record, and hold open negotiations around our working and learning conditions in a state where collective bargaining isn’t legal - yet.
I’m incredibly proud to have been part of a wave of trailblazing majority locals - Asheville, Durham and Edgecombe - and I’m buoyed by the energy coming out of Forsyth and Nash as we start this school year. We have proven we can win when we grow our membership, build democratic organizing structures, and develop our leaders through ambitious campaigns - the way the strongest unions have done for generations. It’s time to translate these lessons to as many counties as possible by 2030 so we can flip the NCGA and save our public schools.
Love and solidarity,
Reilly
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