Out Standing and Waving and Supporting Educators!

Today, I was totally blown away by how many teachers came out to wave and hold signs for our Unity Day rally. We think there were close to 120. Tomorrow there will be an article in our paper and I hope it reflects us well. The reporter, Carolyn, asked me a great question and I am not great on my feet, but I hope I answered it articulately enough. The question was: Why do you think you got such a great response? I don’t know what I told her, but here’s what I wish I had told her. I think we are having a shared experience. That shared experience is that we have shared the pain of pay cuts, furloughs, health insurance increases, no contract, and a divisive year as we have tried to obtain a contract.  We share the pain of teacher-bashing which is occurring nationwide. We share the pain of unfairness, like putting the furloughs on Columbus Day and next to breaks so that the public doesn’t realize it’s a furlough day. Even the morning news erroneously reported it as a teacher workday. We share the burden of more work, but no recognition for the increased workload. We share the pain of a lack of respect shown by the powers that be, especially the governor, who has it in his power to honor the contract that was ratified in May. 

But we must look forward. We must believe that things will get better for us, and indeed the economy has improved so there is every reason to believe that we will get a better contract. We share the belief that we deserve it. We share a love for children, for public education, for our profession. The people who came today, I believe, were motivated by some or all of these shared pains and shared hopes. Their signs said many things: Care about Educators like they Care for Your Child;  Today is a Furlough Day; Standing Strong for Public Education; Respect Teachers. 

My favorite: A DLWOP (Directed Leave Without Pay) - But I didn’t do anything wrong .

I think we also share a desire to let the public know what we are experiencing, and I do believe that those who came share the belief that letting our story be told will lead to a positive resolution. We believe that silence and sitting back and complaining will be our demise. We believe that by standing up for ourselves, by making such a strong statement, we will be a force to be reckoned with. What an honor to be among people who have these hopes, these beliefs, who answered the call to action! How inspiring! How contagious! May the hope-filled action continue until we can say, we did it! We stood up for a good cause and we won! If you were there, please comment. Why were you there? Am I off base? Home run? Out of the park? Foul? Let me know.