OEA President Hanna Vaandering knows that these are tough times for schools.

"One of the big challenges is understanding the realities in our schools.  There's a lot of conversation about bad teachers in our classrooms.  But the real conversation needs to be what's going on in our schools -- great things every day.  Through professional growth, we are giving them the tools to inform and insure that there's a great educator in every classroom."

More than 400 teachers from around the state are attending the conference through Thursday.