Speak Up!
Here’s where you are needed now:
- To nominate educators in your community and recognize them as a classroom superhero, visit classroomsuperheroes.com.
- Follow us on Twitter and tweet using the hashtag “#stopteacherbashing“
- Join the ongoing conversation by becoming a ‘fan’ of Speak up for Education and Kids on Facebook ‘“ a community of educators and concerned citizens ‘“ now more than 40,000 strong!
With the release of ‘Waiting for Superman’, there is a lot of talk about how to make schools better in America. We all appreciate the attention to the work we do every day in public schools, but many are disappointed that the debate has recently been dominated by silver-bullet solutions to wide-spread issues. We can only make our public schools better for all students if educators are driving the debate.
It’s time to Speak Up!
America needs you in the debate, on the discussion boards and in the public forum. What do you see every day on your school bus, in the classroom and after school. We need your positive input, ideas and best practices to be a part of today’s growing debate. We know that it’s hard, but we also know that educators are the everyday heroes, who stand ready to transform our schools and ensure that a great public education is America’s priority.
NEA Vice President Lily Eskelson comments on ABC News
Here’s how NEA members and other education activists are Speaking Up:
- An Upset Educator’s Letter to Oprah – ‘Ask teachers.’
- Sneak Peak of California Teachers Association’s interview with David Guggenheim
- Ed Weeks’s Anthony Cody, “How WOULD a Journalist Cover Education Nation” and “The REAL Thieves of Hope: America’s War on Teachers”
- Teacher Ken on Daily Kos, “The problem with NBC’s Education Nation - where are the voices of parents and teachers?”
- Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting, “First, Bash the Teachers – Media find a scapegoat for educational failure”
- The Nation, “Grading ‘Waiting For Superman’”
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- 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 March 6th, 2011 at 9:52 pm
So much money!!! I started at $12,000 when alll my friend were making $20,000! It took me 6 years to make $20,000- no on complained about teachers then!I’m still idealistic, even though I’m no longer young. I love teaching and will continue to do my best at changing lives each day. Glad I’m not bitter and unfufilled like you. If you’re worried about tax payers money- check out all the greedy politicians. Look at their salaries, staffs and benefits.
Guess what, I’m a tax payer too!
Posted March 4th, 2011 at 9:44 pm
I am a retiree in the Wisconsin Retirement System, which incidentally IS fully funded. A past Republican governor raided this fund some years back and after a lengthy legal battle, was forced to put the money back. Hooray. I retired early and am able to still purchase the health insurance for my family. We gave up many a raise and increase to retain these benefits. Now they are already altered. According to Wis Bill 11, my increased premium could be as high as $567/mo. My earnings as a support staff worker ended with my income being less than $40,000/yr. My whopping pension is about $1,300/mo and when I hit 62, Social Security age, it will drop to $432. Tell me how I will pay this insurance premium? I can’t. If collective bargaining goes out the door too, maybe retiree insurance will be dropped altogether. With a wife with many pre-existing conditions and the new Health Reforms being up for appeal, we would not even be able to purchase insurance. There goes 40 years of budgeting and saving for our golden years. Some one else is getting the gold.
There is a joke going around: “A unionized public employee, a teabagger and a CEO are sitting at a table. In the middle of the table there is a plate with a dozen cookies on it. The CEO reaches across and takes 11 cookies, looks at the teabagger and says, “Look out for that union guy – he wants a piece of your cookie.”
This is what is happening in our great state of Wisconsin. The state that is primarily responsible for the 40 hr workweek, overtime, workmen’s comp and unemployment benefits Please, please help us …………KILL THIS BILL.
Posted March 4th, 2011 at 7:50 pm
I been a CPA for 42 years and a teacher full and part-time for 46 years. Teaching is the hardest thing I ever did. I did high-school teaching one year and vocational and technical college for for 45 years and college and university teaching 31 years. I enjoyed every minute but it was always a challenge.
Posted February 27th, 2011 at 10:32 am
Our teacher unions and associations are at the heart of America. We have joined together for a unified voice because we know that together we persevere and divided we fail. I hear workers around the country are jealous of our health & retirement benefits, benefits that are part of our compensation, benefits that we bargained for! It is working poor jealous of what we, who are also working poor, have been able to accomplish through collective bargaining. Let us be the voice for “medicare for all’. Then all citizens of our great USA have their health care needs met. We would all need to contribute more for medicare and social security but we could all rest easier in the assurance the we will have our health and retirement basic needs met. Let’s not fight amongst ourselves, let’s lead the way to lift everyone up!
Posted February 25th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
You know, when I first started subtitute teaching in education 14 years ago, my first day was at a “nice” suburban high school. When I got on this 15-year-old student’s case, he stood up in class, took a handful(and I mean a handful) of change out of his pocket and whipped it at my face. He got a one day suspension and I had to talk to his dad. Did this cause me to quit? No. Did it cause me to change my mind about teaching or children? No. But this is an example of the reality that we deal with. At this point, everyone is jealous of educators and health care workers because they work in professions that are necessary and have some amount of job stability. So, the politicians and the commercial-time selling media, bashes teachers and schools every chance they get. Is it public education’s fault so many jobs have been allowed to go overseas? No. Did we make those “free-trade” agreements during the 1990′s that outsourced our manufacturing jobs? No. Educators and schools(including our students) are scapegoats for the economic ills of the current times. Come in and sub for me for a few days and then tell me how “easy” I have it. Plus, I have gone to school 17 years of my adult life and I am 39 years old. I am still going to college to prove to the state that I am qualified to do my job. I have to do this on my own time with my own money. What do you outsiders know? When people my age think of public school, they are thinking of what they experienced as students in the early 1980′s. It isn’t like that anymore, Jack.
Posted February 22nd, 2011 at 12:53 pm
Budget deficits should not be an excuse for union busting. Those who would increase their profits by eliminating labor unions unions would like to “seize the moment” in order to push their anti-union sentiments. The rest of us should recall what U. S. society was like before labor unions existed – unrestrained exploitation of workers, shameful child labor, and economic freedom only for the wealthiest..
Unions have helped us to realize the American ideal of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” for more than just the elite. We should continue to expand these freedoms to the least privileged Americans. Taking away the bargaining power of unions is a step backwards, toward less freedom for all but the priviled few.
It is clear that the labor unions of this great country are willing pull in their belts along with all U.S.working people, The disappearance of union negotiating power would benefit only those who would increase their great wealth even further.
Posted February 22nd, 2011 at 11:40 am
Senate Bill 5 is now being proposed in the state legislature and it promises to destabilize the Ohio education system at a time when significant strides are being made by educators to make Ohio students competitive in a global economy. Some have suggested that “first responders” should be protected from the governor’s wrath. I agree. Senate Bill 5 is an attempt to dismantle and destabilize the system that allows teachers to focus on children and forces them to focus, instead, on their own economic survival. Make no mistake, educators are “first responders” just as police and fireman. They are first to respond to kids who need extra help with reading, math or science; or when children are in emotional crisis and need support and someone to talk to;and when families need support; and when children have to learn the interpersonal skills to negotiate an increasingly complex world. Maybe the citizens of Ohio should tell the Ohio Senate, the new governor, and the Ohio House to support our dedicated “first responders” instead of using the budget as an excuse to attack teachers and other public employees.Is there room for improvement? Of course. But perhaps the Governor should start at the top of the hierarchy to determine if cuts need to be made instead of putting it on the backs of teachers and other public workers. Such Machiavellian strategies as Senate Bill 5 do not serve the best interests of citizens of Ohio
Posted February 21st, 2011 at 3:55 pm
I had a chance to become a teacher when I was young and idealistic, but I chose not to because I didn’t want to work for the government…Thanks for providing the best affirmation for my decision by protesting FOR your ridiculous demands. Grown ups such as I don’t belong in ‘education’ unless it’s a private school where they educate rather than indoctrinate.
I heard someone on the news say that you weren’t ‘protesting for money’, but ‘ for your rights’…LOL, your rights to bargain for more money than the tax payers can afford! We aren’t as stupid as you ‘folks’ obviously are.
I don’t earn as much as most of you do, but I have my autonomy and my integrity. I know that i can’t count on the government to take care of me and my family, so my advice to you is:
Wake up and then grow up, if possible. We can’t carry you whining babies on our backs any longer.
Posted February 24th, 2011 at 6:32 pm
You have no idea how many educators, including myself, are heaving a heavy sigh of relief that you decided against a career in education. You talk about teachers whining? We certainly cannot lay a glove on you, now can we……LOL.
Posted February 25th, 2011 at 10:09 am
When the college aged students realize that public service is not valued who will teach your whining babies. I hope you are prepared and qualified to homeschool them, protect them from crime, put out a fire at your house, and treat any health condition your family has.
Posted August 5th, 2011 at 3:00 pm
Sometimes when a person opens their mouth they tell others more about what they DON’T know than what they do know. You have made it obvious that you know nothing about the education field other than what u have seen on fox news. You obviously know how to use the internet–try RESEARCHING before speaking. And if u really make less than I do (math teacher) then u likely do not have health insurance and qualify for those “pesky entitlements” like food stamps. Once again Charles, RESEARCH. It will save u from ur ignorance. Didn’t anyone teach u that?
Posted February 19th, 2011 at 1:54 pm
Observarán Día Mundial de Solidaridad con la UPR en 40 Aniversario del 11 de marzo.
11-M: Día Mundial de…
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16 de febrero de 2011 – Redes de simpatizantes con la huelga de la Universidad de Puerto Rico anunciaron hoy que celebrarán manifestaciones simultáneas en solidaridad con la UPR, en ciudades alrededor del mundo el viernes, 11 de marzo de 2011, e invitaron a todas las personas solidarias a unirse, coordinando actividades propias en sus respectivas ciudades. Interesados e interesadas en autogestionar manifestaciones pueden enviar un correo electrónico a redaccion@gmail.com para adherirse a la Declaración, y acceder a la página redaccion-pr.net para obtener información sobre las actividades ya pautadas. Los y las organizadoras alentaron a la gente a enviar vídeos e imágenes de sus actividades y/o mensajes de apoyo. A continuación, reproducimos íntegramente el texto de la Declaración.
LLAMADO A LA CONCIENCIA Y A LA MEMORIA HISTÓRICA
DÍA MUNDIAL DE SOLIDARIDAD CON LA UPR
“Antonia, los pueblos no perdonan.”
-Antonio Cabán Vale “El Topo”
El 11 de marzo de 1971 fue uno de los días más sangrientos en la historia de la Universidad de Puerto Rico. En un Recinto de Río Piedras ocupado por la Policía de Puerto Rico, confrontaciones violentas segaron las vidas de dos policías, incluyendo el entonces jefe de la notoria Unidad de Operaciones Tácticas, y un estudiante.
Apenas un año antes, el 4 de marzo de 1970, durante una manifestación estudiantil, había muerto la estudiante Antonia Martínez Lagares a manos de un oficial de la Policía. Esas tragedias influyeron sobre a una serie de decisiones que contribuyeron a reducir la intensidad de los conflictos universitarios durante las décadas siguientes, incluyendo la salida del recinto del Cuerpo de Entrenamiento de Oficiales de Reserva del Ejército de los Estados Unidos (ROTC, por sus siglas en inglés), y un compromiso institucional de resolver los conflictos universitarios sin intervención policíaca
Cuarenta años después, la comunidad universitaria, liderada por el estudiantado, sigue luchando por una institución democrática y accesible, frente a las políticas abusivas y excluyentes del el gobierno colonial de turno. Entre estas, además de su clara intención de privatizar lo más posible la educación superior, dicho gobierno ha despedido a más de 25,000 empleados públicos y pretende construir un gasoducto a lo largo y ancho de la isla que desplazará comunidades enteras e impactará zonas de alto valor ecológico y arqueológico.
En ese contexto, el Recinto de Río Piedras nuevamente vivió varios meses de ocupación policíaca, con el aval de las autoridades del gobierno y de la propia administración universitaria, como reacción a la huelga declarada democráticamente por la Asamblea General de Estudiantes del Recinto, en rechazo de una injusta e arbitraria “cuota especial” de $800. Los ojos del mundo observaron cómo ante las cámaras de televisión, oficiales de la Policía de Puerto Rico torturaron impunemente a desobedientes civiles pacíficos, acosaron y agredieron sexualmente a mujeres estudiantes, ficharon y hostigaron discriminatoriamente a líderes estudiantiles y golpearon a mansalva incluso a personas ya bajo custodia.
No cabe duda de que la reciente decisión del Gobernador Luis Fortuño de retirar el grueso de la fuerza policial del Recinto de Río Piedras es una victoria parcial del estudiantado, que con su valentía y determinación ha hecho insostenible para el gobierno mantener ese nivel de represión. No obstante, no es el momento de bajar la guardia. No sería la primera vez que el gobierno de Fortuño reduce temporalmente su uso de la fuerza bruta, para luego regresar con mayor crudeza, usando cualquier pretexto. Estamos convencidos de que si la Policía de Puerto Rico no es retirada de forma inmediata, total y permanente de todos los recintos de la UPR, será cuestión de tiempo antes de que ocurra otro 11 de marzo.
Además, nos une la firme convicción de la justeza de los reclamos universitarios. La huelga sigue vigente, y la lucha (su fase actual) continúa hasta derogar la cuota. A largo plazo, favorecemos la democratización real de la toma de decisiones en la UPR, de manera que sea la comunidad universitaria la cual determine la mejor manera de abordar los problemas económicos y administrativos de la institución.
Por estas razones, el viernes, 11 de marzo del 2011, cuadragésimo aniversario de aquel fatídico 11 de marzo, será el Día Mundial de Solidaridad con la UPR. Ese día celebraremos, en nuestras respectivas ciudades, manifestaciones simultáneas junto con individuos y organizaciones que apoyan las causas justas. En un momento en que el mundo todavía vibra con la poderosa voz del valiente pueblo egipcio y de las demás naciones árabes en su reclamos por la justicia y la democracia genuina, confiamos en que las personas conscientes del mundo darán la bienvenida a esta iniciativa y gestionarán sus propias actividades en ese día.
Les alentamos con entusiasmo a que se adhieran a esta Declaración, y nos envíen vídeos, imágenes y declaraciones de apoyo de sus actividades del Día Mundial de Solidaridad con la UPR.
¡LUCHA SÍ, ENTREGA NO!
¡FUERA LA POLICÍA DE LA UPR!
¡CERO CUOTA!
Contactos:
redaccion@gmail.com
http://redaccion-pr.net
Amsterdam – Antonio Carmona Báez, carmonabaez1@yahoo.com
Barcelona – Josean Laguarta Ramírez, jalaguarta@gmail.com
Madrid – Laura Rodríguez; larod98@hotmail.com
Manchester – Félix Aponte-González; feivapo@gmail.com
Nueva York – Ángel González, gee.lee21@verizon.net
Chicago – Elías Carmona, eliascar@gmail.com
Boston – Stanley Rosario, yelnats_02@hotmail.com
Filadelfia – Alicia Rivera, cicia.rivera@gmail.com
Hartford – Papo Castillo, papocastillo2@gmail.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMMUNIQUÉ
WORLD DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH UPR TO MARK
40TH ANNIVERSARY OF MARCH 11
February 16, 2011 – Networks of sympathizers with the ongoing student strike at the University of Puerto Rico announced today that thy will stage simultaneous demonstrations in solidarity with the UPR in cities around the world on Friday, March 11, 2011, and invited all supporters to join them, coordinating their own activities in their respective towns. Those interested in self-organizing demonstrations can email redaccion@gmail.com to sign the Declaration, or visit redaccion-pr.net for information on already scheduled activities. Event organizers urged people to send in videos, and/or statements of support, from their demos. The full text of the Declaration follows.
A CALL TO CONSCIENCE AND HISTORICAL MEMORY
WORLD DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE UPR
“Antonia, Peoples never forgive.“
-Antonio Cabán Vale “El Topo”
March 11, 1971 was one of the bloodiest single days in the history of the University of Puerto Rico. The main campus at Río Piedras was occupied by the Puerto Rico Police, unleashing violent confrontations that ended the lives of two police officers, including the then chief of the notorious Tactical Operations Unit, and one student.
Barely one year before, on March 4, 1970, during a student demonstration, student Antonia Martínez Lagares was shot dead by police. These tragedies influenced a series of decisions that helped reduce the intensity of on-campus conflicts during the following decades, including the removal of the United States’ Army Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), and an institutional commitment to resolving conflicts without police intervention.
Forty years later, the UPR community, led by the students, still struggles for a democratic
and accessible institution, against the abusive and exclusionary policies of the latest colonial government. Among these, aside from its clear intention to privatize higher education as much as it can, said government has laid off over 25,000 public employees, and intends to build a gasoduct across the island that will displace entire communities and impact areas of high ecological and archeological value.
In this context, the Río Piedras Campus once again lived several months of police occupation, with the open support of the government and university administrators, in reaction to the strike democratically declared by the Río Piedras General Student Assembly, rejecting an unjust and arbitrary $800 hike in the cost of studying. The eyes of the world watched as Puerto Rico Police officers tortured peaceful civil disobedients with impunity, sexually accosted and attacked women students, discriminatorily harassed student leaders, and savagely beat people, even under custody, all before the television cameras.
There can be no doubt that the recent decision by Governor Luis Fortuño to withdraw the bulk of the police force from the Río Piedras Campus is a partial victory for the students, who with their bravery and determination have raised the political cost of sustaining that level of repression way to high for the government to afford. However, now is not the time to lower the guard. It wouldn’t be the first time that the Fortuño administration temporarily curtails its use of brute force, only to return even more violently under any pretext. We are convinced that if the Puerto Rico Police is not removed immediately, completely, and permanently from all UPR campuses, it will only be a matter of time before another March 11.
In addition, we are united by the firm conviction that the demands of the UPR community are just. The strike is still in effect, and the struggle (its current phase) will continue until the $800 hike is eliminated. In the longer term, we support a real democratization of the decision-making process in the UPR, so that it is the community that determines the best way to handle the institution’s financial and administrative problems.
For all of these reasons, Friday, March 11, 2011, fortieth anniversary of that fateful March 11, will be World Day of Solidarity with the UPR. On that day we will hold, in our respective cities, simultaneous demonstrations together with individuals and organizations that support just causes. At a time when the powerful voice of the brave Egyptian people and all arab nations is still ringing around the the globe, we are confident that the people of consciousness of the world will welcome this initiative and organize their own activities of solidarity on that day.
We enthusiastically urge you to sign on to this Declaration, and send us video, images, and statements of support from your World Day of Solidarity with the UPR demonstrations.
STRUGGLE YES, GIVE IN NO!
POLICE OUT OF THE UPR!
ZERO HIKE!
Contacts:
redaccion@gmail.com
http://redaccion-pr.net
Amsterdam – Antonio Carmona Báez, carmonabaez1@yahoo.com
Barcelona – Josean Laguarta Ramírez, jalaguarta@gmail.com
Madrid – Laura Rodríguez; larod98@hotmail.com
Manchester – Félix Aponte-González; feivapo@gmail.com
Nueva York – Ángel González, gee.lee21@verizon.net
Chicago – Elías Carmona, eliascar@gmail.com
Boston – Stanley Rosario, yelnats_02@hotmail.com
Filadelfia – Alicia Rivera, cicia.rivera@gmail.com
Hartford – Papo Castillo, papocastillo2@gmail.com
Posted February 18th, 2011 at 9:00 pm
Do you work on SS windfall repeal? Obama says teachers are underpaid. What a joke. So what happens when we retire? My CalSTRS for 10 yrs is approx $1000 a month.. my SS will be about $1200.. MINUS the windfall calculation of x2/3 my pension (about $700) I end up with about $500 SS.
Add it up.. $1000 pension plus $500 SS. Oh my God.. if I got all my SS the total would be approx $2000 a month. Retire in California on $1500.. I think all our Cal legislators should be required to retire on $1500 a month.
When will this legislation be repealed?! it is an outrage.
Posted February 18th, 2011 at 7:59 pm
I call Wisconsin the Egypt of Education. We understand buget cuts. We do not understand human rights or bargaining rights cuts. This is the fuse to light against “No Child Left Behind”. Too many teachers held accountable for too many unengaged.