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Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » Which side are you on?:

Which side are you on?

by alicemercer

This was a long, hard, slog of a campaign in California, even without there being a contest at the top of the ticket. Winning on 30 and defeating 32 was not done by magic, or by throwing money into a media campaign, it was done one phone call at a time. If you were one of the 500-700 teachers and education supporters that I called (and I was not even one of the most productive callers at my local), I’m sorry I interrupted your dinner, but phone calls are how elections like this are won. People glance at mailers, and toss them in the recycling.  DVR/TIVO technology is making tv less important. Human contact is how we get the job done. Just as it was on the top of the ticket.

Why am I sharing this? Proposition 32, The Special Exemptions Act, a wolf-in-sheeps-clothing initiative that sought to choke-off teachers’ ability to participate in policy and politics discussions (money being the mother’s milk of that), while letting out-of-state millionaires hide behind the “beard” of so-called “public-benefit corporations”. But it’s not just a California problem. Wisconsin and Indiana show how far folks are willing to go to a California problem. Wisconsin and Indiana show how far folks are willing to go to