opinion

Supporting teacher strikes supports democracy

I've been following the teacher strikes in West Virginia, Kentucky and Oklahoma. Some people will be surprised that tens of thousands of teachers are taking to the streets, closing schools across these three states. As a retired teacher who has seen many education battles, I am still appalled as I hear striking teachers talk about the low salaries, small pensions and poor working conditions that have led them to join together to improve their lot and call for more resources in their schools.

It has to be pretty bad for so many teachers to rise up and demand a decent livelihood, smaller classes and more school funding for books, other supplies and equipment.

I heard one teacher being interviewed in Oklahoma (which has the lowest teacher salaries in the U.S.) and where there is only a four-day week because of lack of funding. On the fifth day, teachers can take on other jobs to help make ends meet.

This particular teacher works in a herbal shop and cleans peoples’ homes; her husband also has another job and sells his own plasma when finances are very tight. Despite their efforts, they did not have enough extra funds for their high school daughter to buy a school ring. They have no idea how to pay for her college education.

Another teacher panhandled on a busy road with a sign that said, “Teacher needs school supplies! Anything helps. Thank you.” She got a lot of support from her community. She started a “Go Fund Me” campaign on the Internet to raise more money for herself and other teachers; she spends time sharing the money she raises with teachers who have been part of their meager salaries for their classrooms and students.

Teachers who have to take on second and third jobs don't have sufficient time to do adequate classroom preparation or rest up for the daily challenges they face at school. Many are leaving the profession, and school districts across the country are having trouble filling these vacancies. Students’ education suffers when teachers are exhausted and teacher turnover is high.

(A study by the Economic Policy Institute reports that there is not one state in which teacher wages are equal to or better than other college degree holders. On a national average, teachers earn just 77 percent of what other college graduates are making.)

Another factor contributing to teacher and student frustration is the emphasis on standardized testing preparation. The focus on getting high scores takes away from creative and meaningful teaching time. These tests are boring and do not measure what matters most in education: the development of curious minds that want to learn. On the contrary, the joy often sucked out of learning as students become alienated as they are forced to learn how to pass these tests.

There is a myth that teaching is an easy job. It is not. Over the many years that I taught in at elementary and secondary public schools (as well as at Rutgers/Newark in the Urban Education Dept.), my colleagues and I spent many hours after school and at home creating lessons, marking papers and reaching out to families. During the summer, we attended workshops to improve our skills and planned for the fall.

Despite the hard work and the disrespect we feel from politicians and certain segments of the public, most of us stay in the profession because we love teaching – seeing students learn and helping guide them into becoming good citizens.

The thousands of teachers on strike have found support from their unions, communities, school boards and superintendents. They understand that their children’s futures are at stake in the teachers’ efforts to improve the neglected school systems. While the strike is on, they see that children are getting lunches and activities in churches and community centers. People were inspired by the nine-day teacher strike in West Virginia that closed all public schools. The result was a 5 percent pay raise and pension reform, with teacher representatives becoming part of the decision-making process on school matters.

Education: ACLU demands halt to gender-based teacher training in West Milford

Schools: Lyndhurst 2018-19 school budget contains reduction in force, deficit payments

Education: Paterson, teachers' union reach tentative agreement on new contract

In New Jersey, Governor Murphy has proposed a budget that will provide more funding for many education programs, which is a positive step for our state. However, it will not cover all the needs of our school districts.

Where can the money come from?

The U.S. Department of Education under Betsy DeVoss is transferring federal taxpayer dollars from public education to charter and private schools when research shows that they do no better on the whole than public schools and can refuse to accept students. The $1.3 trillion federal budget that just passed in Congress and signed by the president gives 54 percent to the military and an estimated 6 percent to education. This is a tragic misplacement of priorities. As Dr. M. L. King said, “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

Supporting teachers also supports democracy, justice and a better nation.

Jane Califf is a community activist and a Green Party member. She lives in Bloomfield.