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CAT Tracks for November 15, 2011
DEAR JOHN... |
...I gave at the office.
A week or so ago, I saw where John Wilson, former Executive Director of the National Education Association, was going to launch a new blog.
Well, having attended the NEA's Annual Representative Assembly for several summers in a row, I was very familiar with John Wilson.
John would always emcee the touchy-feely presentations designed to entertain the 10,000 attendees while the NEA President was taking a break from the action.
And...
John was good!
John would use his smooth silky southern voice to rivet the audience, to elicit whatever emotion was appropriate for the moment.
John Wilson was damn good!
Based upon that past experience, my first impulse was to award John Wilson a permanent link on CAT Tracks. John Wilson...unleashed...blogging away on the current state of education...an experienced, educated viewpoint in this day of mindless attacks on public education by the uneducated and ill-informed.
And, then it slipped my mind...
...until this no-news, wee-hour morn.
Still searching for a suitable CAT Tracks post, I opened my daily e-mail from Education News and saw a link for an article entitled "Collective Bargaining for the 21st Century" by John Wilson.
Well, I clicked the link and entered John's view of the 21st Century...
...tumbled down the rabbit hole.
I shall not rant and rave...
...for I am sure that the views expressed by John Wilson are from the heart.
It doesn't take much imagination for me to see John at center stage of the NEA RA, lights dimmed, soothing voice echoing through the chamber as pictures and videos of teachers and support personnel (interacting with the children they serve, the children they love) playing on the big-screen monitors.
The audience would laugh, the audience would cry...
...John Wilson, he was good.
John Wilson could play your heart strings like a fiddle.
And...
...there are those of you out there who will agree with the sentiments expressed by John Wilson in his blog. Hell, I agree with his sentiments.
But...go to the bargaining table in Cairo School District Number One armed with these sentiments, these issues? As you know, I love my music. In fact, I can hear it now..."Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high...There's a land that I heard of, once in a lullaby..."
Teachers are a giving people...
...teachers give their hearts and souls and, yes, their money to their children every day they walk through the schoolhouse door, along with the Saturday's and Sunday's and summer months that they don't.
Teachers carry the burdens thrust upon them by ignorant politicians and harried parents...with a smile.
Teachers do their damnedest every minute of every working day to see that the primary needs of their students are met so that those students will settle down and focus, be receptive to the educational needs for which teachers are held accountable.
So, John...
...Dear John:
Excuse me if I don't buy into your view of 21st Century Collective Bargaining.
It's definitely politically correct. It will definitely win rave reviews in today's anti-teacher, anti-union environment.
But...
...it will NOT address the basic needs of teachers - for food, clothing, and shelter...for paying utility bills and property taxes.
The collective bargaining process is the one moment in time that teachers are allowed to focus on THEIR needs, the needs of THEIR children, the needs of THEIR family. And dammit, they should NOT be made to feel guilty about it!
Teachers will be assailed with "You only care about money. If you cared about your students..."
EXPLETIVE DELETED!
What?
Teachers shouldn't care about money?
What about bankers, lawyers, plumbers, carpenters, burger flippers, sanitation engineers? Do THEY do what they do just for the love of doing it? Or do they do it for M-O-N-E-Y. Stop THEIR paychecks and see how long before they quit coming to W-O-R-K. It doesn't make them bad people...and neither should it make teachers money-grubbing, don't-care-about-kids, bad people.
It simply means that teachers are human...trying to "take care of business" as they pursue the love of their life. (Heck, let's pile on the St. Louis Cardinal's Albert Pujols...who's looking elsewhere...thinks that the gazillion dollars that he is being offered to stay is insulting. The fact that he wants more money...does that mean he must not like baseball? I don't think so...)
John...
...I love you like a brother.
But...
...how am I to be my brother's keeper if I don't have any money, if I don't have any sick days or personal days to attend to your needs, if I'm working an extra job or three trying to make ends meet?
So...
Dear John:
I love you, man...
...but I simply cannot accept your overtures.
It breaks my heart to tell you that the cruel realities of day-to-day life will not allow me to embark on this new love-love bargaining relationship.
I know you will wonder "Why?" However, trying to explain our divergent paths would only deepen the hurt, prolong the agony. Your idealistic views are simply incompatible with my keeping-it-real outlook on life.
I hope we can remain friends. I will always have fond memories of our times together...
...the darkened room, your soothing voice, the laughs we shared, the tears.
But, there comes a time when all good things must end.
Still wondering? Maybe not "Why?", but whether there is a "Who?" Has another come between us after almost a decade of courtship?
Sigh...
I was trying to spare your feelings, since contrary to literary pandering, parting is not-so-sweet sorrow.
There is, indeed, another.
In better times, we might well have weathered the storm...skipped arm-and-arm down the yellow brick road to your land of ooze. But, unfortunately, I have seen behind the curtain and evil lurks...wicked witches, mortgaged houses.
Yes, there is one who comes between you and me and the break of a new dawn...
It's the economy, stupid!
Your loving dinosaur,
Ron
From the John Wilson Unleashed Blog...
November 09, 2011
Free to Be Me
I woke up at my usual 5:00 A.M. on September 1st and realized that my life had changed. No longer did I have to drive that mile down 16th Street to the National Education Association (NEA) headquarters for my usual 10-12 hour day. No longer did I have to be available 24/7 to deal with the latest attack on my profession. No longer did I have to manage the stress of being responsible for 555 of the greatest employees or 3.2 million of the best members in the world who, on any given day, could turn my office into a drama department. I was retired. I was free--free to be me!
Today, I am honored to be a part of the blogging community to share my experiences, my ideas, and my rants and raves. As a member of the teaching profession for over 40 years, and a practicing classroom teacher for 23 of those years, I join ranks with those who honor and respect the teaching profession. I expect every person who deems to call himself or herself a teacher to be ethical, highly qualified, high performing as well as give unconditional support and love to every child they teach.
Beyond my commitment to teachers and education support professionals, I have been a child advocate. I am distressed with the growing poverty rate of our children. I have spent my entire adult life advocating and developing programs that assure poor children will stay in school, have access to quality health care, and be provided the basic necessities of food, clothing, and love. Expect me to have a lot to say about how we treat children, and I will not hesitate to take on the bureaucracy and the policymakers that drag their feet to the detriment of our children.
Finally, I know more about the NEA than most of those who write commentaries based on folk lore, political diatribe, and sometimes just plain untruths. I always get a chuckle out of those who would write about the NEA and yet never bother to call, text, tweet, or email anyone at the NEA to confirm their facts or challenge their opinions. So often, they get it wrong.
I have been a member of the NEA since 1966, when I was a student at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC. I have served on their highest level governing body, and I have served as their highest ranking staff member, executive director. I know the good people at the NEA, and I intend to challenge them to use their power for good teaching, the best interests of our students, and unifying all supporters of public education.
I am excited about launching this blog. I encourage you to share your comments with me as well as information and ideas for this blog. I am unleashing my best, and I invite you to unleash yours.
Posted by John Wilson at 7:00 AM
November 14, 2011
Collective Bargaining for the 21st Century
To my union friends, I have one message, "Wake up and smell the coffee!"
The latest Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll is the proverbial "canary in the coal mine." When 47 percent of the general public says unions hurt public education, something is not working. It could be public relations or systemic. I vote for the latter, and I suggest the National Education Association (NEA) and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) transform the heart of unionism--collective bargaining.
Yes, the world has changed and collective bargaining needs to change as well. Using an industrial age tactic in a knowledge-based economy is not working, and the public wants better. We are over a decade into the 21st century, and we need 21st century collective bargaining. What if a contract negotiated through collective bargaining required a quality preschool education for every child of poverty? What if that contract also required an intervention or two for every 3rd grader who was unable to read? What if it forbids school employees from being enablers to students dropping out of school? It is time for collective bargaining to become collective wisdom.
Twenty-first century collective bargaining must be student-centered. When management and union leaders come together, the filter for both sides should always be the well-being and academic success of the students. If that is not the case, then take it off the table.
Twenty-first century collective bargaining must have expanded scope of bargaining. Tap into the wisdom of teachers and education support professionals to know what is best for students. How silly is it to limit bargaining to salary, benefits, and working conditions and then complain about employees caring more about themselves? Expand the scope and you will find that educators care mostly about their students.
Twenty-first century bargaining must be collaborative. Adversarial bargaining has passed its time. Collaboration is a 21st century skill that is as relevant at the bargaining table as it is in the schoolhouse.
Twenty-first century bargaining must be evidence-based. We have too much access to data not to use it in our decision-making. While we need a lot more of quality education research, we should not ignore the current research. I believe that is tantamount to malpractice.
Twenty-first century bargaining must be flexible. To believe that every school needs a "one-size-fits-all" contract is absurd. Schools that are high poverty may have different needs than schools that are affluent. Develop a process for school-based decision-making and trust the employees to do what is in the best interest of their students.
Twenty-first century bargaining needs parent and public involvement. While I know that can be scary, contracts are stronger when parents feel invested. Whether it is through surveys, open forums, or in the ratification process, all are better served when all stakeholders know the contract and are committed to it.
Last week in Ohio, the public made it clear that they support collective bargaining rights for teachers and education support professionals. Today, unions and management must make clear that they will use those collective bargaining rights for the public good. If they are successful in creating 21st century collective bargaining, more than a million teachers and education support professionals currently without the right to bargain will be able to have a pathway to future rights or at least a collaborative process that gives them a stronger voice in their profession and the success of their students.
I welcome your additions to my elements of 21st century bargaining, and I would love for you to share with me examples of labor-management agreements that reflect these elements.
If you want your school district to engage in 21st century bargaining, bring the parties together and start the conversation. Whether you have bargaining rights or not, change the process of your advocacy to be student-centered. Let me know how that works for you.
Posted by John Wilson at 7:00 AM
