Rush to Judgment

Photo by Nathan Ham

Here in Washington, D.C., amid traffic and tour trolleys and throngs of office workers, you occasionally see groups of small children trotting in pairs or being transported in large, multi-child strollers. These little ones are from child care centers, havens where their commuting parents have entrusted them. Recently I was walking down M Street (NEA is on the corner of 16th and M Streets, N.W.) and saw a little boy in one of these stroller convoys, fast asleep, adorable and serene. But I'd walked only 10 paces when I heard, "Jerlen, wake up! Wake UP!" I turned to see one of the adults over this child, speaking very loudly, very close to him.

Ah, in a split second, what to do? Tell this woman to stop it? (It was so disturbing to see a child yelled at.) Have faith that she was doing her job properly? (Maybe he had a special circumstance.) Ask her why she was waking this child? (Maybe his parents asked that he be kept on a specific nap schedule.) Let it all go? In another split second, the woman stood up, the convoy turned the corner, and they were gone.

People who work with children have high-profile jobs, because it's natural for us--the village--to watch and to make sure kids are being treated well. So educators are under constant scrutiny. And there's always the potential for some act of even the best-intentioned professional to be misinterpreted.

In this issue, Alain Jehlen examines the precarious nature of being an educator, how actions can be misunderstood--and at times intentionally. Working with NEA's Collective Bargaining and Member Advocacy Department and Office of General Counsel, Alain has found staggering tales of dedicated educators who lived through nightmares of false accusations and misperceptions, and he reports on the human toll it takes. As one person has told him, it can "suck the life from you."

Ironically, we as a society can take those who work with our children so seriously--and then at times so lightly. Because there are, of course, big questions, like why don't we pay top dollar to those who work with our beloved children, to reflect their critical role? That's for a future NEA Today.

For now, read on for dramatic stories of traumas and misperceptions that your colleagues have faced professionally, and how NEA has stood beside them.

Leona Hiraoka
Editor-In-Chief