Dear NESPA Colleague,
When I think about my parents and grandparents, I am struck by the sacrifices they made for me and my siblings. And I am grateful.
Thanks to the efforts and sacrifices of the generations before us, most of us have choices and opportunities that they never had. It didn’t come easy. They fought wars. They organized unions. They built the world’s most productive economy. And the world’s best education system. These were gifts to us, a legacy.
Today, much of that is at risk. Efforts to privatize public education (charters and vouchers) and to transform our schools into test mills are well funded by millionaires. Unions, which were 35% of the workforce in the 1950s, are now only 12% of the workforce. Life is becoming harder as incomes decline, higher education becomes prohibitively expensive, and decent jobs become scarce.
We are fortunate to have the ability to make a difference, and to leave a legacy for OUR students, children, and grandchildren. As part a union (a gift left to us), we can each do a small part, and make a huge difference, together.
That’s what our FIGHTING FOR THE FUTURE EMERGENCY MEETING is about. I hope that you’ll be there THIS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4TH at the Inglemoor High School gym. (Sign in at 4:00 pm; meeting at 4:30 pm.) Please be there. Also attending will be State Senator Rosemary McAuliffe, Representatives Derek Sanford and Luis Moscoso, and WEA President Mary Lindquist.
Please invite EVERYONE you work with: teachers, paras, office, and others. Carpool if you can. Click here for directions.
Teaching is caring for the future. I am grateful for your participation.
Kraig Peck
WEA Staffperson for NESPA & NSEA