Thank you for all the horns honked, thumbs up signs, hands waved, smiles and support you poured out for us during our "informational picket" tonight. We felt loved by you, our community. It is something lacking in today world of teacher bashing. Elk Grove knows that EGUSD is the jell that unites our community, has been for over 50 years, and it's teachers are what makes EGUSD work.
About 2000 teachers and other employees of the district walked, dressed in black to the EGuSD board room. The idea was a funeral march to mourn the death of interest based bargaining. As Maggie Ellis, EGEA president stated, "this isn't just about health care." We want a district administration we can work with to solve problems, not one who says one thing and does something else. We want a district that honors agreements made and doesn't try to hide a surplus of funds.
And we discovered last night, that some of you want the same. Maybe you want your kids to attend school for a full year, with no furlough days. You want your kids to be in classes of a reasonable size, instead of your school district hoarding money. You want your local school to be well staffed, with teachers and support staff like custodians, para-educators, etc. You want what we want, the best for the children of our community.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
numb
We have been numbed by continuous attacks on our pay and benefits. Sometimes, we just want it to stop. So, we swear we'll take anything they give us, just to stay sane.
Later, after its all over and cooler minds prevail, we look at what we settled for and are shocked. Yes, shocked to see we caved, when all we needed to do was stand firm. Shocked to think we believed their smooth words and heartless appeals.
It was so hard to stand firm! It took so much time. I didn't have the energy after a while. All I wanted was to teach. I wanted to stand in front of those kids and give them my knowledge, open their minds to the possibilities. But they kept at me. Telling me they couldn't meet my needs, that my demands were too dear, that my compensation would be detrimental to the children.
I listened and didn't believe them. I did not want to think that my place in this world was so devalued. I wanted to think that they had ulterior motives, they wanted something else from me, from us. Well, it turned out all they wanted was my blood. They wanted to suck us all dry and leave us to rot. They wanted us to work for pennies while they filled their coffers with cold cash. They want to take from everyone, even their precious children.
Later, after its all over and cooler minds prevail, we look at what we settled for and are shocked. Yes, shocked to see we caved, when all we needed to do was stand firm. Shocked to think we believed their smooth words and heartless appeals.
It was so hard to stand firm! It took so much time. I didn't have the energy after a while. All I wanted was to teach. I wanted to stand in front of those kids and give them my knowledge, open their minds to the possibilities. But they kept at me. Telling me they couldn't meet my needs, that my demands were too dear, that my compensation would be detrimental to the children.
I listened and didn't believe them. I did not want to think that my place in this world was so devalued. I wanted to think that they had ulterior motives, they wanted something else from me, from us. Well, it turned out all they wanted was my blood. They wanted to suck us all dry and leave us to rot. They wanted us to work for pennies while they filled their coffers with cold cash. They want to take from everyone, even their precious children.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)