Amid the Crisis, Teachers Continue to Lead
Amid the Crisis, Teachers Continue to Lead
'Our members continuously demonstrate their skill, passion and dedication to their students'
In honor of National Teacher Day, MTA President Merrie Najimy and Vice President Max Page sent the following message to MTA members:
Today, on National Teacher Day, the MTA wants to bring into sharp focus how our members continuously demonstrate their skill, passion and dedication to their students. Teachers are being pushed to the limit in their many roles as educators, parents and partners, all while processing what this pandemic might mean for our collective future and coping with their own stress. And yet teachers across Massachusetts are working with their local unions to ensure that remote learning plans allow them to find creative and innovative ways to reach their students.
There are countless stories of teachers providing thoughtful support to students, serving meals in their communities, delivering packages of school supplies to homes, and simply calling to see how someone is doing.
On short notice and with no warning that we would not be returning for the year, teachers and students left their school buildings in March with few materials and no time to say meaningful goodbyes. Now, though physically distanced, teachers are staying connected to their students.
While the corporate ed reformers are pushing to replace face-to-face learning with online learning, teachers — through the MTA — are fighting back. Speaking with one voice, MTA members made clear that relationships — not technology, not testing — are the foundation of learning. The MTA worked to ensure that DESE’s remote learning guidelines reflected members’ priorities, and MTA members made sure to tell DESE and the State House to cancel MCAS for the year. Done!
Teachers also know well the historic social, racial and economic injustices that disproportionately affect communities of color and low-income and rural communities. Unequal access to technology, phones and material resources, as well as food, housing and income insecurity and a lack of access to good health care are among the inequities contributing to the trauma that many students are experiencing. Teachers know that families are under myriad pressures as the impact of the COVID-19 crisis rapidly transforms the way people work and live, but they know what has to be done. Teachers will accomplish their goals by organizing through the MTA and their local unions.
There are countless stories of teachers providing thoughtful support to students, serving meals in their communities, delivering packages of school supplies to homes, and simply calling to see how someone is doing.
All this week, Teacher Appreciation Week, let’s share your pictures and stories using the hashtag #ThankATeacher and tagging @massteacher on your social media network of choice.
Our efforts are being noticed. A national poll conducted by the NEA showed that more than 80 percent of parents and guardians have a positive view of teachers and that 88 percent approve of the way teachers are handling the coronavirus crisis.
Massachusetts teachers and the MTA will continue to lead. We will not be going back to a “normal” that failed to serve all students, their families and our communities. Now more than ever, we all need a powerful MTA, one that will deepen the collective power of our membership, take back control of our schools, secure a public higher education system that is well-funded and debt-free, and demand that we fix the deep economic and racial inequities thrown into stark relief by this crisis.