TEACHERS TELLING THEIR STORIES

I've been to Madison four times over the past month. And I've been reading websites and newspapers online for over a month now, devouring news about the Wisconsin workers' upsurge.

I think this teacher's message gets at the core values of the movement, and I wanted to share it. She is saying what so many teachers are saying -- that she loves teaching. That she became a teacher because she loves teaching. She became a teacher because she wants to imbue her students with a lifelong passion for learning and to make a difference in children’s lives.

This is what she lives for: "These moments when children transform because of something they learned in school. An experience they had because of a loving teacher and a dedicated staff."

And she writes that, after the union-busting bill was passed that stripped teachers and other public sector workers of their rights, "when you see teachers weeping today, you should know they are not crying only for themselves. They are crying because public education in this state is being dismantled. It started with the unions. And it will end with hurting our children."


I think we need to find a way to get more of the teachers' personal stories out there to the public. A teacher telling her story - like this Wisconsin teacher - is very, very powerful.

This is becoming, must become, the new face of the American labor movement.

READ her story at: http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=32719