Posted in: Activist Tools NEA Today Top Story
Four meaningful resolutions for 2012
Tags: Election 2012, Leading the Profession, middle class, Ohio, Positive Agenda for ESEA Reauthorization, resolutions
Photo by dream designs
As trusted members of their communities, educators can make all the difference in this crucial election year by speaking up for students and schools. The EdVotes team resolves to support everyone who makes these pledges to public education:
1. Get active for public ed! If 2011 taught us anything, it’s that our collective voice is strong. Educators and like-minded citizens got up on their feet and exercised their right to let their elected leaders know exactly how they felt. (Just ask the Ohio lawmakers who saw their terrible anti-worker legislation overturned by a citizens’ veto.) Sign up as an EdVotes volunteer to find out what you can do in the coming year to get the right folks elected and demand that all in office do right by educators, students and the middle class.
2. Consume less junk news. Political rants aren’t news—they’re about as bad for your mind as empty calories are for your body! And it should raise a red flag when a media outlet seems in favor of writing off public education wholesale. Opt for healthier information alternatives. EducationVotes.org filters out the noise to deliver stories on topics education voters care about and shows how you can take action. Make EdVotes your home page so you don’t miss a thing!
3. Keep a positive outlook—and share it with your friends and family. Research shows that educators are held in high regard within their communities, which means your voice carries weight. Tell your friends and neighbors why you support candidates who believe in the promise of public education. Familiarize yourself with NEA’s three-point plan for true education reform and our Positive Agenda for ESEA Reauthorization. Don’t let those who use educators as scapegoats have the last word.
4. Cut back on stress…by keeping candidates who aren’t friends of public education out of office. Nothing will give you more headaches in 2012 and the years ahead than living with the bad decisions of politicians who don’t know what’s good for public schools and won’t listen to educators who try to fill them in.
What resolutions have you made in the name of your students and public education? Please comment!
![IMGP0635_EDIT[1]](http://www.educationvotes.nea.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/IMGP0635_EDIT1-190x100.jpg "IMGP0635_EDIT[1]")
Retired teacher: Citizens United unfair to American voters
Second anniversary of Supreme Court decision marked by protests.
Romney and the middle class: The gap widens
Candidate deems $374,000—14 times the average U.S. salary—“not very much.”
Facebook Like Box
Featured Video
Twitter: edvotes
- An estimated 96 percent of NY school budgets approved by voters. Via @nysut http://t.co/hpgFj0ZP
- Hilary: After that cheating scandal I can't believe people take Michelle Rhee seriously!!!...
- treed: Thanks! We've added Capistrano to the list....
- Vicki Soderberg: In California: Capistrano Unified Education Association, home to over 2000 educators. http://www.fa...
Posted January 5th, 2012 at 8:24 pm
I find this post ironic. It’s getting very difficult for me as a career educator who feels constantly under attack (along with many of my colleagues) to keep a positive outlook when I realize that our national and state education associations (AKA unions, but no one seems to want to use that dirty word around here) are no longer representing our interests at all. And it’s also hard to cut back on stress by “keeping candidates who aren’t friends of public education out of office” when the NEA has already endorsed a candidate who does not “know what’s good for public schools and who won’t listen to educators.”
Obama and Duncan have been a disaster for public education. Van Roekel is working with them, and with TFA. Where is our hope in any of this?