When I decided to be a part of the public education system, I knew I wanted to make a difference. Every school has its challenges, every district has its challenges, and so being at my school, I’ve been able to really understand what’s happening and why things are not working for some of our students.
The people who put barriers to success in place for others are the same ones who are continuing to move us in the wrong direction—elected officials.
This is why I get really fired up when we talk about politics in education. Many educators keep coming back to this idea of ‘I don’t do politics.’ But if you’re an educator, your job is political. Either you get involved or you let other people make decisions for you. And that’s where the union can help.
Rodney Ellis was the first person I met at my new teacher orientation. He told me he had just stepped down as president of the North Carolina Association of Educators and had come back to teach. He also talked to me about the union and the important work it does for educators.
He made a powerful impression on me.
After he passed away, I started to get more involved. I truly believe the only way we’re going to make a positive impact on the country as a whole is to reshape the way the average person thinks about education and reclaim our profession.
Just imagine if everybody who entered our profession went ahead and signed up to be a member. We would have everyone organized under the same banner and leverage so much more than what we already have—and that’s the power of people. We say there’s the power of money and then there’s the power of people.
Right now, we need more ‘people power’ in order to make public education work.
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