Working Together For Public Education

Collaboration: the act of working together with one or more people in order to achieve something.  I am by nature a collaborator. As a kindergarten teacher for many years, this was critical as I worked closely with my educational assistant to meet student needs. I relied on her knowledge of students based on her relationship with students and their families. I counted on parents to provide their perspective as part of our team.  As a second grade teacher, I teamed with my second grade teaching colleagues, the librarian, counselor, music teacher, as well as first and third grade teachers, to meet our common goal of helping all students learn and be successful.

I carried that preference for teamwork to my Association work as well. I remember when our local changed from traditional to interest-based bargaining. That process carried over to other relationships with the administration. We all had valid concerns and specific interests. Many of them were the same and this process helped us to listen to each other and uncover those common areas. But it does take a lot of work and persistence to build and maintain such a relationship.

Never has there been a time with a greater need for such collaboration at the state and national level. The future of public education is at stake! This is not the time to hold firm positions and refuse to listen to other perspectives.  All parties must share a willingness to come together and do what is right for students while respecting the interests we all bring to the table. Unions as the employee representatives, administrators, school boards, legislators, parents and state elected and appointed leaders must all listen to each other and work to achieve what is best for our students. That requires a degree of trust, and trust is difficult in these times of partisanship and positional rhetoric.  It is easy to talk about working together – not quite as easy to do so.

Each of us can begin the process by contacting our own legislators and talking to them about our classroom needs. There continues to be public rhetoric that education cuts haven’t hurt the classroom. Let legislators know the specifics of how your students and school have been hurt by the cuts. And listen to their concerns as well. Each of us must do our part to change the nature of the conversation. We have to be real and tell our stories about our very real students and their families.  

I am optimistic as we begin 2012.  In this election year, many legislators and even the governor appear to have heard from you about the injustice of balancing the state budget on the backs of public employees by requiring employees to pick up an additional share of the state’s contributions towards retirement. Both the LFC and Governor’s proposal restore the state’s 1.75% contribution and provide employees some needed financial relief. Funding for intervention programs are getting some attention and that is something we have been advocating over the years. But interventions for students in overcrowded classrooms don’t meet the needs of kids or educators. We must restore cuts to education funding before we can talk about additional funding for special programs. Again, listening to parents and educators to understand the needs of our schools is critical. And we too must listen to the concerns about ensuring that all students have a caring, competent teacher, that we are all held accountable for the success of our students, and that we invest in our public schools to ensure that all students have a strong foundation for success.

We can all do better: we can listen more, develop innovative solutions, and ensure that all New Mexico students have the opportunity to attend a great public school. It takes all of us working together, and I am confident that we can do it. Our students are worth it!

In unity,

Sharon