I’m Sorry I’m a Teacher

Alan Haskvitz is a member of the National Teachers Hall of Fame and has been recognized many times as one of the nation’s most successful and innovative teachers. Accounts of his students’ accomplishments have been featured in books, periodicals, and on national radio and television. He is a classroom teacher with experience at every grade level and every major subject area.

For over 45 years I have enjoyed making a living teaching. It hasn’t been easy or lucrative, but it had its rewards, one of which was a secure retirement plan.

Now, after reading the recent California Little Hoover Commission Report that recommends that public school retirements be reduced, even for those who are already retired, and the actions of the Wisconsin Republican Party in accusing teachers and their pensions and bargaining rights as mainly responsible for that state’s financial situation, I am sorry I became I teacher. I honestly didn’t mean to place so many states in danger of going bankrupt.

I also realize now that I am sorry to have chosen education as a career for other reasons. I am sorry that my wife may have to work until she is well past 70 and endure the rigors of 12 hour shifts as a nurse. I am sorry that I may become a burden to my children because my retirement income won’t cover the costs of extended care. I am sorry for those students I encouraged to become teachers, telling them to ignore the glow of the better paying professions.

[readon url="http://teachers.net/gazette/wordpress/alan-haskvitz/im-sorry-i-am-a-teacher/"]Read more...[/readon]

New Poll - Workers More Popular

A new Gallup poll shows workers more popular than governors

The Arc of Truth bends towards Justice!

We recieved this in our mail bag from teacher Maureen Reedy

Dear Friends,

I know the past few days have been very tough days for all of us, but take heart... and if you were at the Statehouse Wednesday night, up in the balcony of the House of Representatives chamber and on the floor of the Senate, hearing the impassioned testimony of the Democrats and a few Republican legislators then you know what I am feeling right now.... there is hope for what we believe in, what we teach to our students and children, our future as educators and the preservation of the very creed of our democratic society.

If you were not there, I thought I would share some quotes from my notes as Democratic Representatives and Senators and Republican Senators Grendell and Seitz spoke on the floor of the House and Senate just before the votes were taken...

"Senate Bill 5 is anti-liberty, anti-life, anti-justice, anti-truth, anti-pursuit of liberty and happiness..."

"We are all in the same boat and one-half of a boat don't float..."

"The arc of Truth bends towards Justice...."

"What side of history do we want to be on? The RIGHT side of history!"

"Historically progress is marked by moving FORWARDS not backwards, SB 5 is pushing our society BACKWARDS... it turns the clock back 100 years..."

"My father taught me that being a politician was not about voting on issues just to win an election but for standing up and voting for what you believe in your heart."

"Senate Bill 5 is dishonest, it insults, demeans and denigrates the very people who save the lives of Ohioans and educate our children for their future..."

"When Senate Bill 5 passes and there is no collective bargaining for Paramedics, how are YOU going to feel when it takes the EMT 10 extra minutes to reach YOUR mother's house? What if she does not survive?"

"Senate Bill 5 is unfair... it will generate unfunded mandates locally and statewide and encourage nepotism in the workplace...."

"Never let Truth get in the way of a good story..."

"Senate Bill 5 is just a smokescreen for eliminating the middle class... SB 5 is not fair, not just and not equitable... "

"Absent binding arbitration, Collective Bargaining is useless..."

"Collective Bargaining is Democracy in the workplace..."

The testimony and voting went on until 9:30 pm, we heard the most impassioned, moving and affirming speeches, the air was electric. This truly is becoming the civil rights movement of our time for all of us AND for the children of tomorrow. When we were in the House chambers, it was like a scene out of To Kill a Mockingbird, all of the people sitting in the balcony, hanging onto every syllable of every word of testimony...

Then the vote was taken and everyone was standing up, looking down over the balcony to the legislators below.... Here were their voices : "What about the people?" " You voted against humanity!" "What about the children?" "We risk our lives for YOU!" "We CHANGE lives!" "You let Ohio down!" "Shame on you!"

Then we all walked down the stairs singing "Power to the People" and gathered in the Rotunda to listen to each democratic Representative of the House address the crowd with a promise to get the Referendum up and moving so that the voice of the people would prevail, hundreds of people cheering and waving together.

We then went into the Senate chambers for the next 3 hours, lots of singing, chanting, clapping , standing , stomping, the democratic legislators were there singing and talking with us, at 8 pm began another hour of impassioned testimony and loud cheering...

Then the final vote of the Senate on the amended House version of the bill...

The reaction of the crowd to the final vote was just incredible, we felt the truth rising and filling the chambers, in spite of the outcome of the vote, we did not feel it weighing us down, rather liberating us to move forward towards the referendum movement, towards the voice of the people resonating with justice...

As the onlookers shouted, the supporters of SB 5 were escorted out of the chambers by state troopers , it was as if they were moving through a tunnel of shame, their heads were actually hanging down... just amazing to watch.

We all left quietly with the voices of the people filling us with purpose, passion and conviction for the days and months ahead...

Together, we will move forward toward the light... and remember the words of a wise legislator who stood up on the Senate floor and said ...

"The Arc of Truth bends towards Justice!"

Maureen

SB 5 - Your Next Steps

With the Governor signing S.B. 5 last night, we move onto the next phase of our effort to stop this assualt on working people - a referendum, or Citizens Veto of the law

Cleveland Police Patrolmen's president Steve Loomis, who has been out front stomping for Cleveland police and other law enforcement personnel, told reporters that the fight will continue through the referendum measure and said that he is extremely disappointed because he and other policemen "voted for Gov. Kasich."

Over the past few weeks thousands of teachers, firefighters, policemen, nurses, electricians and other union affiliates from across Ohio swarmed the Statehouse in protest of the union reform measure, including members of AFSCME, and the powerful Ohio Education Association.

The next step will be for the Govenor to file S.B.5 with the Secretary of State (SOS) and then 1,000 Signatures are needed - before a referendum petition may be circulated, the referendum committee must write a summary of SB 5 and submit it to the SOS and Attorney General both offices will then issue a certification that the summary is “fair and truthful”.

The SOS and AG have 10 business days to act. If the AG states that the summary is in his opinion not fair and truthful, the committee may repeat the process and/or challenge the decision in the Ohio Supreme Court. There is no limit on the number if times the process may be repeated, but it takes time away from the 90 days the committee has to circulate a referendum petition. The 90 days begins the day after the law was filed by the Governor with the SOS.

If this unscientific poll of Dispatch readers is any measure, the public are going to support us overwhelmingly.
But we don't need to rely on unscientific polls however. A Poll conducted by Public Policy Polling just 2 weeks ago found

If the Republicans’ Senate Bill 5 becomes law and is the subject of a referendum this fall, 54% say they would vote to repeal SB5, while only 31% would vote to keep it intact.

Kasich is clearly on the wrong side of public opinion. 51% generally have a favorable impression of labor unions, and 37% a negative view. 57% of Ohio voters side with the unions over Kasich, who is backed by only 36%. 65% think government workers should have at least the same amount of rights they have now, including 18% who think they should have more rights.

So you are fire up and ready to go - what can you do?

• Be patient. It's going to take 10 days or so for the first part of the process to play out. We might see some partisan shenanigans from the SOS and AG, but we hope they act fairly and with professionalism.
• Talk to your colleagues, family and friends about the damage S.B.5 will do and how we are going to repeal it. We have a section of our website dedicated to providing you with information you can use, from facts and figures to talking points. Take a moment to visit it. Share that link, print out the material. Feel free to use it.
• Sign up for our email so you don't miss out on ways you can get involved. We will need lots of help collecting signatures, making phone calls and disseminating information to counter lies supporters of S.B.5 are sure to spread.
• Join our growing Facebook team, and follow us on Twitter.

Let there be no doubt that we will place a referendum on the November ballot and we will repeal S.B.5 and send a powerful message that the middle class fights back.

Words vs Deeds #Updated

In an excellent example of "Say one thing, do another", on March 4th Governor Kasich told Gongwer

Gov. John Kasich said Friday that he was pleased with substance and pace of legislative action on a controversial proposal to the roll back collective bargaining rights of public employees.
[...]
Gov. Kasich said he didn't anticipate holding a ceremonial bill signing event for the contentious proposal.

"This is hard for people and anything that's hard - I want to be respectful of other people's feelings their thoughts and their emotions," he said.

"My only word to union families are: what we are doing in this state is designed to make sure that your kids have a future in this state, that your kids can stay in this state, that they can have jobs in this state and your family can be prosperous," he said. "This is not an attack on you, this is not a political operation. I could care less about the politics. This is what is part of an overall plan to help fix our state."

This afternoon we learn from the Dispatch and our Email inbox's

Gov. John Kasich will sign Senate Bill 5 this evening, placing into law legislation that limits collective bargaining for about 360,000 public employees.

The bill was delivered today to the governor's office for his signature after being processed by Ohio Senate Clerk Stacy Lilly. The signing will take place at 7 p.m. in the Statehouse State Room.
[...]
The governor announced he would sign the bill today through a campaign fundraising email sent out this morning.

In Kasich's email, he said passage of the bill by the Ohio House and Senate was "a victory for Ohio taxpayers." The email also asks for donations of "$20, $10, or even $5" to "help us continue to return the balance of power."

"There is a reason that the union bosses opposed these changes; because it strips power from the union leaders and returns it to the taxpayers and workers," Kasich's campaign email said.

Does a campaign fundraising email sound respectful and apolitical? If it doesn't, you'd be right.

UPDATE

Plunderbund puts the video together

When Criticism of Teachers Becomes Offensive

By Stuart Singer, The Teacher Leader

I do not want to get into the politics of the situation. If governors around the country feel compelled to battle unions, so be it. I do not want to get into the specifics of balancing budgets. I understand that states cannot print money so financial shortfalls mandate pain for everyone. I do not want to talk about how much money other people should be paid. That is an assessment employers should be making. But when I am bombarded on a regular basis by a narrative blaming teacher avarice for much of the monetary ills of 2011, I have to speak out.

When stalking ineffective teachers is not enough. [readon url="http://nasspblogs.org/principaldifference/2011/03/when_criticism_of_teachers_bec.html"]Read more...[/readon]