My Holiday Message
It’s my favorite season! Everywhere I look, people and little dogs are wearing red shirts and sweaters. It’s so wonderful to see their support for #RedforEd!
The holidays can be stressful for so many people. Expectations are high, often too high. As they approach, I want all NEA members to know: I support you. I appreciate you. And I wish for you peace and love and good health in 2020, and, I must say, also a new president and Secretary of Education who supports strong public schools!
This is the time of year, as the longest night of the year approaches, that I like to look for light in the world. And, despite the darkness that lurks in many corners of our nation today—the rise in hateful incidents in our schools, the loving families torn apart at our border, and even the mundane, every day gloom of outdated textbooks and leaky classroom ceilings that too many educators and students are experiencing—I recently have seen so many sparkles of hope.
For example, the tens of thousands of educators who rallied in Indianapolis last month for the schools that Indiana students deserve: I see you.
The hundreds of big-hearted people who stood on the steps of the Supreme Court on a dark and cold November morning to support Dreamers and demand compassion from the court for immigrants to this great nation: I see you.
The Rhode Island educators who met last month to shine a spotlight on the mental-health crisis in our schools: I see you. And, the St. Paul, Minnesota, educators who have made their students’ mental health their number-one issue at the bargaining table: I see you, too.
The New Hampshire education support professional, who shared publicly the heartbreak of her husband’s death from cancer so that her colleagues could win access to the Family and Medical Leave Act from New Hampshire lawmakers: My dear, I see you, too.
We count our blessings in December. And then we make our resolutions in January for the new year ahead. As your president, I feel like I have 3 million blessings—each of you, working to inspire and uplift your students, your colleagues, and your profession.
On your behalf, I resolve, as I always do, to continue our fight in 2020 for the public schools that our students—and you—deserve. I know I can count on you to be by my side in this work. For each and every one of you, I am grateful.
Happy holidays, all!
