All over the country, from Wisconsin, to Rhode Island, to New York, a fierce assault has been launched against our teachers – against their right to negotiate for better working conditions, for seniority protections, and against arbitrary layoffs, without due process.
This assault has been funded and carried out in many cases by the same small group of wealthy men who want to privatize our public schools. You should note that no one is talking about removing seniority protections from firefighters or police.
As parents, we understand that experience matters when it comes to effective teaching; (see our fact sheet on this issue).
We also realize that in many cases, better working conditions also means better learning conditions for our children, and that without the right to collective bargaining, class sizes could swell to unimaginable proportions – something that these men who are trying to impose their solutions on our schools are aiming for, though they themselves send their children to private schools where classes sizes are limited to 15 or less.
We recognize that this attack on the teaching profession would make the job far less attractive, especially in our large urban districts, which already suffer from high rates of teacher turnover. If our nation wants to attract qualified candidates to the profession and keep them there longer, this attack on the teaching profession is the exact opposite direction from where we should be going.
In this time of dire need, as parents we stand behind our teachers and say no more. Rallies are planned at 12:00 NOON tomorrow, Saturday February 26, in many places. MoveOn has compiled the master list of events around the country. Find the event or events nearest you here, and join us!
This is no time to sit back, and allow the billionaires, hedge fund operators and privateers to attack our teachers and destroy our public schools.
Leonie, Mark, Sharon, Andrea, Rita and Lisa for Parents Across America
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