Don't Give Up on Public Education

During this, my first official week as president of the VEA, I was asked to write an op ed. piece for the Richmond Times Dispatch. The request came as the result of recent coverage of Delegate Chris Saxman’s announcement of a new “bipartisan,” nonprofit organization promoting school choice and a recent Washington Post editorial offered by Sen. Joe Lieberman on the public schools in Washington, D. C. I was asked to write about something “good” about public schools in an effort to provide a balance.

I am providing a copy of what I submitted for you in case you don’t get to see the editorial in print. It is entitled, “Don't Give Up on Public Education.”

“During this past school year, I became aware of the fact that one of my students—a new Latina in the fifth grade—had a problem sometimes getting to school on time. She periodically overslept and missed the school bus. Her parents, who spoke little English, were unable (or unwilling) to drive her to school, so she would call the school office to ask if someone could come get her. As far as I know, someone always did. Another child was reported to the principal because he kept falling asleep in class and just didn’t seem interested in his schoolwork. The teacher had talked to him and he wouldn’t tell her why he was so listless, so the teacher asked the principal if she might try to get to the bottom of what was going on with him. After much coaxing, he finally admitted—embarrassed but worn down—that he was hungry. It wasn’t yet the end of the month, and there was no food in the house. As a result, he had been coming to school for several days in a row with no breakfast and no morning snack. The principal pulled a snack from the stash she kept in her office and told him the next time he came to school with no breakfast, he was to come straight to her.

Public schools are succeeding every day in ways that go beyond academic achievement with students like these by offering not only a free and appropriate public education, but also a safe haven. We at the VEA absolutely believe that we owe it to our children to ensure that they have every opportunity to succeed in the 21st century. That is, in fact, what we are all about and what we advocate for every single day. We vigorously disagree, however, with proponents of school choice programs on how to provide that opportunity to each and every child. I believe that the promise of vouchers and tuition tax credits programs is a false one for too many of the children who need our public schools the most.

Instead of dreaming up so many different ways to abandon our public schools, wouldn’t it be more helpful and productive if folks spent the same amount of time and energy trying to work for meaningful reforms within the system? Politicians want to blame teachers for being in the way of school reform, but I would suggest that teachers haven’t yet been asked to be a meaningful part of the solution. Instead we are just being blamed for the problems caused in large part by policies that were adopted as short term fixes for long term problems. Practicing educators would love to be part of the conversation around how to fix some of the problems that exist in the current system—just give us a place at the table and listen to us for a change!

Let us be very clear. Public schools are not perfect. They never have been. But our public schools should certainly not be abandoned by the very public they strive to serve. The fact of the matter is that with all of its various problems, public schools in America need to be defended and protected because it is there that the vast majority of our nation’s citizens learn about what it really means to be an American. In our public schools, the principles of freedom and democracy and what is fair and right are taught as part of the core curriculum. Everyday, the ideals of our nation are taught not just from textbooks but from the practice of bringing together diverse members of the community with every effort made toward getting along and learning together. In spite of their problems, both real and imagined, public schools are the best hope that we have for producing more than just a select few students who are ready to tackle the challenges of the 21st century. I believe that our last real hope for the future lies with our public schools and its preservation and promotion. I urge the readers of these words to get involved in the public schools in their communities and make contributions and changes there—where every child has a reason to hope that someone cares deeply enough to protect his or her right to a free and appropriate public school education.”

NBCT's Partner with SVEA Chapters

Last year at about this time, while others were winding up their summer vacations or professional development pursuits or preparing to return to school, 30 national board certified teachers from all around the Commonwealth of Virginia convened at beautiful Mariner’s Landing on Smith Mountain Lake to hear about a new initiative that the VEA was launching. The idea was to pair NBCT’s (National Board Certified Teachers) with SVEA (Student Virginia Education Association) chapters around the state in an effort to (1) beef up the SVEA programs where they already existed and generate interest in starting a program where there wasn’t one; (2) provide students planning to enter education as a career an opportunity to meet accomplished teachers who can tell them what it is “really like” to be a teacher; and (3) provide the kind of pre-service experience of the VEA that will hopefully translate into those students, upon graduation and induction into a school system somewhere, being eager to join the VEA as their primary professional organization.
After a year of varying experiences with very mixed results, about 20 of the original group reconvened today in Richmond in order to debrief and share their different experiences as pioneers in this new venture. Some had experienced great success...others had met with a certain resistance...and a couple had been unable to break through the wall of indifference presented to them; but that had done nothing to spoil the individuals’ energy or their enthusiasm.
This program is just one example of the many opportunities that the VEA routinely provides for members who wish to get involved and contribute to the profession in a meaningful way. For those who are looking for an opportunity to “give back” or to share their expertise, whether they they national board certified or have some other talent to offer, I hope that you will take a look at the VEA as a way to find a vehicle for sharing your many talents. We are, after all, a grassroots organization, and we are only as strong as the individual members who take the time to offer their interest, their energy, and their need to contribute to the good of the whole group. I appreciate these dedicated national board certified teachers who took time out of their busy schedules today in order to come to Richmond to share their stories, and I hope to be able to use this blog for sharing this kind of information in the coming months ahead.

Courage, Activism, and Doing What's Right

At the 2008 NEA convention, during a Teacher Quality forum, John Wilson, the NEA Executive Director spoke of the need for educators to display both “courage and activism.” More specifically, he said, “Courage, activism, and doing what’s right...that’s what we [at the NEA] need to be about.” He went on to say that “We need to seize this opportunity—as our nation faces a critical choice that will not only impact us for the next eight years but will impact us well into the foreseeable future—to connect the “promise of policy with the practice of politics.”

As the newly elected President of the Virginia Education Association, I plan to remind our members that we are--our association is--in fact, all about courage, activism, and doing what’s right. I absolutely agree with Mr. Wilson that the time for connecting the promise of policy with the practice of politics has come.

As a result, when I visit local associations and regional events that are coming up around the state this fall, members and nonmembers alike will hear my call to have courage; to stand up for what is right; and to become activists not just for public education but for social justice on behalf of their students and their profession. By doing so, I believe that we can collectively change the course of history in our country for the better. The time has come; the time is here; and the time is now.