Teacher-Community Unionism: A Lesson from St. Paul

[marmar]

from Dissent magazine:



Teacher-Community Unionism: A Lesson from St. Paul
Mary Cathryn Ricker ▪ Summer 2015


When I was elected president of the St. Paul Federation of Teachers (SPFT) in 2005, I thought my own story might help transform the relationship between teachers and administrators as well as improve the image of teachers in the community. I was a veteran middle school English teacher, and I’d been honored for my work. And I had been active in the SPFT as a political and community volunteer as well as the union’s professional representative on local and state committees.

I had also spent enough time in my classroom and in the city to know—and be bothered by—the dominant story told about public school teachers and our union by the mass media, a number of Minnesota legislators, and in many local communities. On a local TV station’s evening news show, a Minnesota Republican state senator, Richard Day, had even declared, “We all know Minneapolis and St. Paul schools suck.” In too many conversations, I got accused of failure unless I quickly told people about the awards I had won for creating a model English/language arts classroom and running a program for my colleagues on how to improve writing in middle schools. If local citizens, especially parents, could learn about our talent, our dedication, and our ideas, I was convinced their perceptions would change.

Students in urban public schools deserve teachers who are both creative and optimistic. Additionally, spending many years of your career teaching in an urban setting can stimulate good ideas about how to improve that work.

In St. Paul, we knew we were doing wonderful things both inside and outside the schools. We applied for grants to teach middle school science to students alongside environmental and historical community activists while rebuilding the historic watershed on St. Paul’s East Side, a largely working-class neighborhood. We held public sessions where students read their essays and stories. We designed geography and history lessons about the immigration patterns of our city and our students. We lobbied our school board to maintain funding for peer mediation programs. We were thrilled to wake up every morning and share our love of these subjects with our students. ..................(more)

http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/teacher-community-unionism-lesson-st-paul

[Wellstone ruled]

1. Good on you!!!

Keep hearing these negative statements being taken as fact. Know which TV News outlet you speak of. And people should know the owner Hubbard is one of the largest contributors to the GOP of Minnesota and his carpet Bagger friends from Wall Street have been trying for decades to dismantle the public school system in Minnesota. Since Al Franken was elected to the Senate,always pay attention to what Norm Coleman is promoting. One of the major lobbyist's as well as Vin Weber,for the Pearson Group.

You all must be doing something right,Minnesota SAT's and ACT's are knocking it out of the park. But,you would never see that on ABC,NBC,or CNN. As far as Richard Day,Hubbard loves to go to him much like ABC goes to Trump.