By Bill Cole

Something important seems to be bubbling across the country among public school teachers.

In recent weeks groundswells of educators have been effectively organizing in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona and Kentucky to protest the lack of sufficient financial resources being allocated to their students, the insultingly low compensation they receive for the indispensable work they do, and the relentless slashing of their benefits.

While teachers unions have played key roles in these various work actions, it has been the rank -and-file teachers that have driven these movements.

For instance, in Oklahoma, union leaders were preparing to set a strike date of April 23, but a critical mass of teachers, sparked by a sense of urgency, adamantly initiated the strike on April 2. An estimated 30,000 public school educators voiced their grievances at the Capitol in Oklahoma City over the fact that they have not received a raise in 10 years.

Right here in New Jersey an upsurge of activism has accordingly been seen around the state. Last month, thousands of public school educators in Jersey City took to the streets to rail against New Jersey's ill-considered Chapter 78 law which has unintentionally resulted in reduced take-home pay each year as employees have paid obscenely larger percentages of their health care premiums since the law passed in 2011.

A few weeks ago throngs of Paterson teachers rallied in front of the school district's headquarters after enduring nine months without a contract. Recent teacher rallies over contract disputes have also been organized in such districts as Roxbury and Randolph. Similar themes punctuate the discord.

New Jersey teachers are hankering for adequate school funding so that their students can have the quality education they are entitled to, a salary commensurate with their training and professionalism, state payments into their pension system as required by law and sorely needed relief from Chapter 78.

For the first time in a long time there is a serious opening to make good on these commitments with newly elected governor, Phil Murphy. What remains a question is whether the governor has the will and tenacity to execute on these very necessary actions.

It would be folly to dismiss this spate of teacher unrest as some passing fluke. What is happening is significant and is bound to sprout in more and more cities and states.

Public school educators have rightfully lost patience with their lawmakers and are demanding the level of respect they so richly deserve by advocating for better conditions for themselves and their students.

It is long overdue for society to recognize that teachers are doing some of the world's most important work. They are on the front line, helping to shape the future every hour of every day. This fact needs to be fully appreciated and reflected in fair negotiations with school boards and enlightened policy by state and federal legislators.

As conventional wisdom dictates, teachers will stay out of politics the day politics stays out of teaching.

Bill Cole is a school psychologist and a publicist for the Morris County Council of Education Associations (MCCEA).

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