President's Viewpoint

Katrina: We Are Family

NEA President Reg Weaver

I’ll never forget walking into a middle school in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, smelling water-logged books and school supplies in towering piles of Katrina debris, and seeing a brand-new basketball floor that was warped so bad it had to be taken up.

But I also won’t forget the smiles of the children; or hugging NEA members who had just had their own homes under 20 feet of water, but still managed to find the energy and will to scrub floors so school could start up again. 

And I won’t forget how much it meant to all of them when I handed over a check for $2,500 because NEA members from around the country wanted to help. 

I saw the same expressions of gratitude in Jackson, Mississippi, when I told School Board members NEA would buy uniforms for hundreds of displaced Katrina children they had taken in, so the children would feel like the other children in their new schools. 

No natural disaster in American history has displaced America’s school children in such a way as Katrina. It left 372,000 of them with no school to attend; it closed 700 schools, 100 damaged beyond repair; and it means thousands of NEA members have no jobs. 

Across the country, the NEA family knew what to do when people hurt. We mobilized. We set out to raise $1 million to help all the public school employees get back on their feet, and to support those who are taking in the displaced children. 

As soon as the money started coming in, I went on a trip to the Gulf Coast to start handing it out, because the need is now. 

We set up a helpline, and there have been days when more than a thousand teachers and education support professionals have called asking for emergency aid, be it to pay for medication or rent an apartment. One call was from a husband and wife, both NEA members, who had their house, their car, and their school all under water. 

We set up an adopt-a-school program, and hundreds of organizations have called, saying count us in, we want to assist. And we are asking some NEA staff to go to the area because an extra hand never hurts.

I learned something else from my visit: we need to be there for the long haul.

When the news crews leave, and government officials stop doing their photo ops, educators will still be there—caring for the children and teaching in trailers.  

And the children will still have the emotional scars and residual problems from the nightmares of life and death, being rescued from rooftops and living in shelters. 

I saw it first-hand. I was in a school in Pasadena, Texas, just outside of Houston, where a number of families had relocated. It was a few days before Hurricane Rita was to come ashore, and that afternoon children were being told they needed to evacuate. 

Walking down the hallway, I felt as though I could spot the children originally from New Orleans. They were the ones with a certain look in their eyes. 

It hasn’t been easy for them, or their big-hearted new teachers scattered in 25 states. 

The truth is, it won’t get any easier, especially during the holidays. So I ask that you continue to send money so we can exceed our $1 million goal. You can visit our Web site and make an online contribution, or send a check to the NEA Hurricane Relief Fund.

I know teachers and education support professionals don’t make big salaries. I know you now pay $3-a-gallon for gas. I know how generous you already have been, giving through the Red Cross, or your place of worship, or the local store.

That money has made a huge difference, and so has all the money NEA has distributed.  But problems remain, and we are a family. Let’s continue to help our education family in the TEAM NEA fashion. NEA appreciates you and so do I.

Photo: Sam Pierson