Chicago Teachers Strike Nearing Resolution, Sources Say

Chicago Teachers Strike Nearing Resolution, Sources Say:

Chicago Teachers Strike Nearing Resolution, Sources Say

by Joy Resmovits

The standoff between Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the city's teachers' union appears to be nearing resolution, several sources close to the situation tell The Huffington Post.

Neither side, as of Thursday evening, was willing to declare victory, both because negotiations remained unsettled and because any triumphalism had the potential to alienate the opposition. But a source in the room in Chicago said that the thorny issue of teacher evaluations was mostly settled Thursday evening, though several 

Governor signs bill allowing training benefits for laid-off teachers siacabinetreport.com

Cabinet Reportsiacabinetreport.com Article:

Governor signs bill allowing training benefits for laid-off teachers

By Kimberly Beltran
Monday, September 10, 2012

Laid-off teachers will soon be able to collect unemployment benefits even while participating in specialized training under a bill signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday.

SB 1291 by Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, adds credential preparation or other teacher training programs in math, science and special education to the list of allowable activities under the state’s unemployment program – which generally does not allow its participants to attend school while receiving benefits.  The law will take effect Jan. 1, 2014.

“In order for California to remain competitive in meeting the educational needs of the future, California needs qualified teachers in high demand subjects,” Evans said in a statement following the governor’s announcement that he had signed the legislation.  “Unaddressed, we perpetuate the existing teacher shortage of qualified educators in high demand subjects. That means California’s workforce will not be competitive in math or science nationally and internationally, and that’s not where California needs to be to recover from this recession.”

The requirement that unemployed teachers be seeking additional certification in mathematics, science or special education coincides with a state and national push to increase the number and quality of educators in those fields. Recent changes in California law have opened up alternative routes to teacher credentialing by establishing the Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Career Technical Education Educator Credentialing Program.

Under current law, if a laid-off teacher enrolls in one of these courses, they risk losing their unemployment benefits.Current law also provides for the California Training Benefits program, which allows eligible unemployed individuals, who may lack competitive job skills needed to find stable employment, to receive benefits while attending training or retraining programs. However, retraining teachers for additional certification in specified fields is not currently listed as an allowable activity for purposes of qualifying for unemployment benefits.

The ongoing fiscal crisis has required school districts across the state to issue thousands of pink-slips each year to teachers. Last year 11,848 certified teachers were laid-off and this year nearly 20,000 pink slips were issued. This bill creates job opportunities by expanding available training for motivated teachers who wish to stay in the teaching profession by providing a safety net while they continue their needed education, Evans said in her statement.

According to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the demand for mathematics and science teachers is expected to increase by 33,000 by 2017.

California is currently ranked 50^th of 50 states in staff to student ratios for these in-demand subject areas, according to Evans.

Rep. Lee: Beyond shameful that 16 million children are living in poverty | The Raw Story

Rep. Lee: Beyond shameful that 16 million children are living in poverty | The Raw Story:

Rep. Lee: Beyond shameful that 16 million children are living in poverty

by Eric W. Dolan

Topics: Barbara Lee ♦ Congresswoman Lee ♦ war on poverty

 

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), co-chair of the Congressional Out of Poverty Caucus, on Thursday called for Congress to declare a “war on poverty.”

“It is beyond shameful that over 45 million Americans, including over 16 million children, are living in poverty in the wealthiest nation in the world,” she said on the House floor.

Figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Wednesday showed that 46.2 million people, roughly one in six Americans, were living in poverty. The data also showed that income for middle-class families had declined, while the top 10 percent of households saw their incomes rise.

“Now is not the time to turn our backs on struggling families just to preserve or even expand tax giveaways to millionaires and

Raw Story (http://s.tt/1nj9M)

Schools Matter: Chicago Rage is About More Than Money or Schedules

Schools Matter: Chicago Rage is About More Than Money or Schedules:

Chicago Rage is About More Than Money or Schedules

by Jim Horn

from HuffPo by Lisa Guisbond:

CHICAGO TEACHERS SAY "NO" TO HIGH-STAKES TESTING MADNESS
Huffington Post Education -- September 13, 2012
By Lisa Guisbond

Sometimes things get so crazy in our schools that classroom educators must use their "Teacher Voice" to restore sanity. That's what is happening in Chicago, where striking public school teachers are shouting "enough is enough" to test-driven school reform schemes. The strike is just the latest, and loudest, example of the growing national resistance to failed, top-down, test-driven educational policies.

Engaging Students in Politics — Whole Child Education

Engaging Students in Politics — Whole Child Education:

Engaging Students in Politics

September 13, 2012 by ASCD Whole Child Bloggers

Post written by Jill Bass, director of Curriculum and Teacher Development for Mikva Challenge's Center for Action Civics. Connect with Bass by e-mail at jill@mikvachallenge.org. This post was originally featured inASCD Express.

Every teacher has at least a handful of moments with students that make him or her think, "This is why I became a teacher." One such moment for me was on a campaign trip with about 60 students in Des Moines, Iowa, in 2007.

Mikva Challenge, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that helps develop youth leadership and engages young people in politics, had brought students from all around Chicago to spend five days working on the campaigns of the myriad candidates running for the Republican and Democratic presidential nominations.

I was chaperoning six students from the high school where I was teaching at the time, a school in a 

Pass / Fail : LA brings in team from Georgia to reform student discipline | 89.3 KPCC

Pass / Fail : LA brings in team from Georgia to reform student discipline | 89.3 KPCC:

LAUSD schools bring in team from Georgia to reform student discipline

by By Tami Abdollah

LA officials are meeting with a team from an Atlanta suburb that has pioneered methods to reduce on-campus arrests, in hopes of creating a similar, more holistic system to deal with misbehaving students. (Sept. 13, 2012)
Credit: Yellow Dog/Getty Images
Los Angeles school, law enforcement and county officials are meeting Thursday with a team from an Atlanta suburb that pioneered methods to reduce on-campus arrests. They hope to create a similar, more holistic system to deal with misbehaving students.
Rather than focusing on punishment, these methods focus on looking at bad behavior as a symptom in kids, 

Teachers Don't Suck !: May I Suggest An Addendum to the Report?

Teachers Don't Suck !: May I Suggest An Addendum to the Report?:

May I Suggest An Addendum to the Report?

by Walt S.

Here are some ways they might have forgotten:

501. End teacher bashing and disparagement by politicians and the media.
502. Require NJDOE executives to have real teaching experience before they dictate policy from on high. (Not four years in a private school or no experience at all - Please read my Friday, December 9, 2011 piece - "It Takes One to Know One!" ).
503. Require NJDOE executives to come to schools and demonstrate how it is to be done (preferable inner city schools).
504. End the constant state testing. (Stop the flow of huge sums of money to EST)
505. Stop the 

Missouri Education Watchdog: SBAC Chief State Officers Public Meeting Reveals Some Cracks In The Dam?

Missouri Education Watchdog: SBAC Chief State Officers Public Meeting Reveals Some Cracks In The Dam?:

SBAC Chief State Officers Public Meeting Reveals Some Cracks In The Dam?

St. Louis - Yesterday the State Education Chiefs of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortia (SBAC) held a public meeting to approve the next steps in the development process of the Common Assessments. Both MEW co-editors attended this meeting.  The following items were on the agenda.

1. Approving the process to be used for the development of Achievement Level Descriptors (ADLs  identify what students are expected to know and be able to do, at each grade level, to be considered proficient.)
2. Approval of a plan to provide sustainability for CCSS post 2014
3. Approval of the Sampling Plan for the Assessment Pilot Program
4. Endorsement of the Career Readiness Partnership Council Statement

There was fairly minimal open discussion as most of the work on these issues was done before the public meeting. The motions were even pre-written by the executive staff of SBAC so the officers had merely to move to accept and then 

UPDATE Response to Anthony Cody: The Role of the Marketplace in Ecationdu re: A Chicago Teacher Writes: The Joy of Finally Fighting Back - Living in Dialogue

A Chicago Teacher Writes: The Joy of Finally Fighting Back - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

A Chicago Teacher Writes: The Joy of Finally Fighting Back

by Anthony Cody

Guest post by Katie Osgood.

There is jubilation on the streets of Chicago.

The excitement is tempered with humility. No one wants a strike. Chicago teachers are very aware that this strike is difficult on parents, on students, and on the teachers themselves.

But for the first time in decades, Chicago's teachers are standing up. They are saying "no more" to the countless waves of harmful, poorly-planned, and unproven education reforms. There is freedom in drawing a line in the sand. For too long now, teachers have known that they were participating in something cruel. Giving test after standardized test, watching neighborhood schools be starved of resources and accepting that they had to "do more with less", watching as students began hating school as their lives revolved around test-prep curriculum, "zero tolerance" school discipline, and fewer and fewer of the engaging arts, music, world language, and physical education classes which makes their schools days rich and meaningful. All the while, teachers see the growingeffects of unabated poverty on their students' lives, while politicians and education reformers refuse to talk about the realities of our nation's poor.

And the politicians only make things worse. They further gut the public schools while giving away money to the favored charter schools and turnaround companies. In Chicago, they don't 

Response to Anthony Cody: The Role of the Marketplace in Ecationdu

IRVIN SCOTT , STACEY CHILDRESS

September 13, 2012

This post also appears on Anthony Cody's blog, Living in Dialogue. It is the last post in a weekly series of posts, over five consecutive weeks, between teacher Anthony Cody, and various members of the US education team at the foundation.

Irvin Scott:

The interaction on this blog began with a spoken agreement and wish between us and Mr. Cody during a conversation this summer: to truly engage with those who have different views from our own.  To listen to one other, potentially find common ground, agree where we can and respectfully disagree where we can't.  To try and bring some civility to what can sometimes be an uncivil quarter of our education debates.  That was our agreement - along with this set of topics reflected in this space over the last few weeks.  While I am not sure each post in the series fully met the spirit of the agreement, I do appreciate any effort Mr. Cody made to move in that direction. 

The topic of this final blog per our agreement is the "role of the marketplace in education."   

However, before my colleague, Stacey Childress, Deputy Director for our Next Generations Models team, joins me to respond to Mr. Cody’s claim about markets, I want to return to a theme that I have tried to intersperse throughout both of my previous responses. As I have reflected on these exchanges, my meeting with Mr. Cody 

The Rag Blog interview. « Fred Klonsky

The Rag Blog interview. « Fred Klonsky:

The Rag Blog interview.

from Fred Klonsky's blog by Fred Klonsky

An interview with Fred Klonsky:
Chicago teachers in red and on strike
If the city of Chicago wins this strike it will very likely give the green light to big cities such as Los Angeles and New York to go after teachers’ unions there.By Jonah Raskin / The Rag Blog / September 13, 2012
Fred Klonsky, 64, retired in June 2012 after 30 years of working as an art teacher in grades k-5 in the public school system in Illinois.
He doesn’t go into the classroom to teach kids anymore, but he hasn’t retired from political activism and from protesting 101. A long-time president of his local union, he’s as politically active now as he’s ever been. With Chicago teachers on strike, he’s out in the streets with tens of thousands of other teachers and like them wears a red shirt. He also writes about the strike almost daily on his blog,FredKlonsky.com.
If the name Fred Klonsky rings a bell it might be because he’s a former SDS member and because 

UPDATE: Support for the Chicago Teachers’ Strike | Seattle Education

Support for the Chicago Teachers’ Strike | Seattle Education:

Chicago Teachers Strike: News and Interviews

by seattleducation2011

I recently discovered a great news source,  Real News. Jaisal Noor, who is also a reporter for Democracy Now, does some excellent reporting on education issues around the country and understands the political and financial undercurrents for the big push towards the privatization of our public schools.
To follow are two reports by Mr. Noor for Real News on the teachers’ strike and then the first episode in a series on where the presidential candidates stand on all things education.
Chicago Teachers Strike Enters Fourth Day

Labor unions back striking teachers, while Democrats remain silent.

Chicago Teachers Strike Rooted in Community Struggle

Chicago teachers fighting bipartisan consensus over “corporate” education reform.

Support for the Chicago Teachers’ Strike

by seattleducation2011

From the Chicago Teacher’s Union website:
The Chicago Teachers Union is currently on the front lines of a fight to defend public education. On one side the 30,000 members of the CTU have called for a contract that includes fair compensation, meaningful job security for qualified teachers, smaller class sizes and a better school day with Art, Music, World Language and appropriate staffing levels to help our neediest students.
On the other side, the Chicago Board of Education—which is managed by out of town reformers and Broad Foundation hires with little or no Chicago public school experience—has pushed to add two weeks to the school year and 85 minutes to the school day, eliminate pay increases for seniority, evaluate teachers based on student 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: "The worst way to evaluate teachers..."

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: "The worst way to evaluate teachers...":

"The worst way to evaluate teachers..."

by Mike Klonsky

Isabel Nunez is an associate professor at the Center for Policy Studies and Social Justice at Concordia University and my colleague at CReATE. She has written a great commentary in the Sun-Times, "Standardized test scores are worst way to evaluate teachers."

 I am part of a group called CReATE, or Chicagoland Researchers and Advocates for Transformative Education, which is trying to unite the voices of academics in opposition to these changes and to the corporate takeover of public education. We are trying to spread the message 

Why We Can’t Talk About Real Education Reform, in Chicago or Anywhere Else « Student Activism

Why We Can’t Talk About Real Education Reform, in Chicago or Anywhere Else « Student Activism:

Why We Can’t Talk About Real Education Reform, in Chicago or Anywhere Else

by Angus Johnston

Sarah Jaffe has a great new piece up dismantling a bunch of complaints about the Chicago teachers’ union and their strike. The whole thing is well worth reading, but I wanted to piggyback on one particular bit.
Jaffe quotes Times columnist Joe Nocera’s claim that “the status quo, which is what the Chicago teachers want, is clearly unacceptable,” and responds with this:

“Here’s a deep-seated bit of ideology that’s really worth unpacking for a second. This is the image of unions in the American psyche these days. Most people think of them as little-c conservative institutions holding 

Candidacy Countdown - LA School Report

Candidacy Countdown - LA School Report:

Candidacy Countdown

by Alexander Russo

Want to know who’s filed to run for LAUSD board member next year, and how much cash they’ve gathered for their campaigns?  Click over to the LA City Ethics Commission’s website: 2013 Municipal and LAUSD Election. Below is a snapshot from yesterday evening showing the three LAUSD races for 2013 (towards the bottom).
District 2 is the seat currently held by Monica Garcia.  District 4 is the seat currently held by Steve Zimmer.  District 6 is the seat currently held by Nury Martinez. Both Zimmer and Garcia are running for re-election. Martinez is running for City Council, so her seat is open. The deadline to file for candidacy is November 10.

The post Candidacy Countdown appeared first on LA School Report.

NYC Public School Parents: Predictions of Pedagogic Peril

NYC Public School Parents: Predictions of Pedagogic Peril:

Predictions of Pedagogic Peril

by Gary Babad

September 13, 2012 (GBN News): Despite withering criticism of his efforts to influence the US Presidential election, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has once again injected himself into American domestic politics. In an apparent attempt to persuade the US to agree to an attack on Iran, Mr. Netanyahu has reportedly given President Obama intelligence information that suggests the Iranians may be secretly enriching curriculum.

A senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told GBN News that this revelation, if true, would greatly increase the chance of a US/Israeli attack before the November election. “Enriching uranium is one thing,” the official said, “but if they are actually enriching curriculum, it 

Teacher Salaries, Demographics & Financial Disparities in the Chicago Metro « School Finance 101

Teacher Salaries, Demographics & Financial Disparities in the Chicago Metro « School Finance 101:

Teacher Salaries, Demographics & Financial Disparities in the Chicago Metro

by schoolfinance101

No time to really write much here today, but I do have a few figures to share. I’m posting these mainly because I keep seeing so many ridiculous a-contextual… and in many cases simply wrong statements about Chicago teachers’ salaries.  As I understand it, salaries are not really the main issue in the contract dispute… but rather… the teacher evaluation system. I’ve already written extensively about the types of teacher evaluation frameworks that I believe are being deliberated here, but I’m not following the issue minute by minute.
This post may be most relevant! 
Someone has to just say no to ill-conceived teacher evaluation policies. Perhaps this is the time.
That aside, there are typically two ways one might choose to compare teacher salaries to determine how they fit into their competitive context. One is to compare teacher salaries to non-teachers of similar age and education 

Prop 30 vs. Prop 38: A Voter Guide for Parents:

Prop 30 vs. Prop 38: A Voter Guide for Parents

By Kim Tso 8 Comments

As a parent who volunteers in the schools and has learned the hard way just how complicated school finance is, I want to share my personal analysis of the two education initiatives on this November’s ballot — Prop 30 (a.k.a. Governor Brown’s Initiative) and Prop 38 (a.k.a. Molly Munger’s Initiative). If you need some basic background about each proposition, you can find good links at my “homework” post.

I based my analysis on one simple principle: Children should not be made to pay for the mistakes of grown-ups. With that in mind, this is what I decided.

Since parents are a busy bunch, I’ll give you my answers in three forms: the 15-second answer, the 1-minute answer, and the 3-minute answer (they build off each other, so read all the answers before it if you want the 3-minute answer).

The 15-second Answer

To make sure that schools don’t have to make do with billions less in funding, vote yes on BOTH Prop 

Morning UPDATE: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 9-13-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

An Intelligent Editorial about the Strike

by dianerav

The Los Angeles Times printed a thoughtful editorial about the teachers’ strike and about evaluating teachers by student test scores.
These days it is unusual to find an editorial or opinion column asking whether the tests were designed to measure teacher quality. They were not. Frankly, the test publishers ought to be yelling bloody murder about the inappropriate use of the tests, but they are making so much money that it’s hard to hear their complaints or to 

CTU: Wisconsin Teachers Will Be There on Saturday

by dianerav

A comment from a reader:
Stay strong. In Madison we’re organizing a couple busloads to come down Saturday and show our solidarity. You came to us when we needed it most; now it’s our turn to come to you. Stay out there and stay strong.

Why the Teacher Bashing?

by dianerav

This Chicago teacher sees a sinister motive in the avalanche of hostility to teachers. Teachers were always considered admirable even though teaching was not well paid and not very prestigious. But these days, teachers have become “enemies,” who soak up money and do little work, who get “paid for breathing” and “tenure for life.” None of this is true. This teacher sees a dark side:
The teacher bashing was key to changing public perception about teachers because in order to squeeze money 

Will Ohio Investigate K12 Online For-Profit Charters?

by dianerav

Stephen Dyer raises the question about whether Ohio will follow in Florida’s path and open an investigation of the K12 for-profit school. In Ohio, K12 has classes of 51 students to a single teacher even though it is paid to have a ratio of 20:1.
That is way profitable for K12, though not for the students.
Dyer’s article includes a link to a story about the sharp drop in K12′s stock price that occurred after news of the 

Advice for Chicago: Industrial History Shows Value of Collaboration

by dianerav

Andrea Gabor has a valuable post about industrial history.
The lesson from the past is clear, she says: Everyone benefits when there is trust and collaboration.
Gabor thinks it is necessary to get beyond the punitive tactics of the present–the idea that lots of teachers must be fired–and to identify evaluation models that seek to support the ongoing development of 

NEPC Review Says Brookings Voucher Study Found No Effects

by dianerav

A careful review of the Brookings study of New York City’s privately-funded voucher program finds that the program had no significant effects.
The authors of the voucher study, Paul Peterson of Harvard and Matthew Chingos of Brookings, wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal claiming that their study proved “the success” of vouchers. The study was widely cited by news media and voucher advocates as “proof” that vouchers improve college-admission rates for minority 

When Reform Killed a Good School

by dianerav

A reader remembers an important radio program about school reform. Listen up.

The strike in Chicago reminded me of an episode of This American Life from 2004, 10 years after “school reform” began in Chicago. It tells the story of one amazing public school that did a lot with very little. When “reform” began, the school culture deteriorated. This is a very moving account, and worth an hour to listen.I have been writing This American Life to do a follow up to this story, or perhaps a series of episodes on school reform. I encourage the readers to do the same.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/275/two-steps-back

Virtual School in Tennessee Strikes Out

by dianerav

The Tennessee Virtual Academy is one of those online for-profit charter schools that are supposed to “save” American education. Bad news for its champions: The scores at the school were in the state’s bottom 4 percent.The sponsors say forget the scores and wait until next year. Right.
Jeb Bush promotes virtual schools from one end of the country to the other. His Foundation for Excellence in 

An Art Teacher Explains How to Get Very Rich While Teaching

by dianerav

This is a terrific article, wherein an art teacher explains how it feels to be constantly pilloried while doing your best for children who love you.
The teacher wonders what he/she did to ruin the economy for everyone else while sitting in a little plastic chair with small children.
And much to the amazement and consternation of the critics in the media and on the Internet, this teacher is 

Scotland Says NO to GERM

by dianerav

As you may know by now, Pasi Sahlberg of Finland described the Global Educational Reform Movement (GERM) in his book Finnish Lessons. GERM is testing, accountability and choice. It is a nasty virus that destroys creativity. Finland opposes GERM and its schools and students are thriving.
Here is another nation that rejects GERM: Scotland.
Melissa Benn, a prominent supporter of the public sector in Britain., praises Scotland for its wise policies.

Where to Contribute to CTU Solidarity Fund

by dianerav

There IS a Solidarity Fund to which you can contribute at:
Chicago Teachers Union Solidarity Fund
222 Merchandise Mart Plaza, Suite 400
Chicago, IL 60654
And, yes–you can get more info. from the CTU website (Googling
Chicago Teachers Union will lead you to it).

Charter Application Rejected for 4th Time in Nashville

by dianerav

The Metro Nashville school board rejected the Great Hearts Charter School application for the fourth time. And this time, the charter said it was calling it quits. For now.
One of those times when one must admit, “Four strikes and you’re out.”

More Advice from Margaret Haley, Chicago Union Leader

by dianerav

Margaret Haley: 1921, Freeing the Teacher [Freeing the child] can only be secured by the freeing of the teacher. … To the teacher it means freedom from care and worry for the material needs of the present and the future ‑‑ in other words, adequate salary and old age pensions, freedom to teach the child as an individual. … Last but not least, the teacher must have recognition in the educational system as an educator. The tendency is to relegate her to the position of a factory hand, or a taker of orders from above.
‑Battleground: The Autobiography of Margaret A. Haley, Robert L. Reid, ed., (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982)

A Message of Solidarity with CTU

by dianerav

From a small union local:
We are a small local of about 300 members and have become fascinated with what you are doing not just for yourselves, but for ALL of us. A million thank you’s are not enough for what you are doing for every teacher in America…. the informed, the uninformed, the unionized, the non-unionized. You are fighting to restore a sense of dignity to our profession. You are telling the word that we are tired of being kicked around and you are making 

Advice from Margaret Haley, Leader of Teacher Unionism

by dianerav

Margaret Haley was the driving force in the early years of the Chicago Teachers Federation. She began her teaching career in a country school at the age of 16. At 21, she moved to Cook County where she taught for many years until going to work for the union in 1900. In 1901, she was the first woman ever to speak at a national convention of the National Education Association, which was then an organization of superintendents, college presidents, and other exalted educational leaders.
At the NEA convention in 1901, she gave a speech called “Why Teachers Should Organize.”

Dana Goldstein on the First Teachers’ Union

by dianerav

Dana Goldstein has written an interesting commentary on the history of teacher unionism.
Chicago was the home of the very first teachers’ union, and it was founded by a tough female teacher named Margaret Haley.
Haley hated the factory-style schools of the day, objected to rigid standardization, and wanted dignity for the 

To Chicago Teachers: Millions Say Thank You

by dianerav

A reader writes to his colleagues in Chicago:
Stay strong, and trust your colleagues. I remember being on strike in Seattle. It was my first year with the big school district – 29 years ago. I remember the ambivalent feelings like they were yesterday. I barely understood it all. I was so grateful for having a job – and there I was, marching shoulder to shoulder with veterans who were willing to lose their jobs for the cause.
I remember being told that others in outlying districts were watching, rooting us on. Looking back, that was nothing.
The entire country is watching you, Chicago Teachers. I wish there were a way for you to feel that support, the way I felt it walking the picket lines as a newbie teacher next to the veterans.
There are thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions of teachers watching – cheering for you, walking side by side with you in spirit.
Your cause is the just cause of teachers everywhere. Sure it’s a lot of pressure when it’s put that way, and I’m sorry, but it’s true.
Hang in there. Big Group Hug! – Mark
Did I say thank you?!!!