As educators and educational support professionals, we have built our lives around public education. Whether we wear it on our sleeve or carry our banner deep within the recesses of our day-to-day actions, we all believe in the power it wields to engage society in positively changing the world we live in. Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.” As public educators, the prospect of something better for our students is at the core of our belief system. And every day, you great educators and educational professionals increase the probability of that prospect.
Throughout the first quarter, while you have been doing the real work of educating today’s youth, SEA has been attending to individual’s concerns, ensuring that the contract is followed and that there is a continual and collaborative district push toward equity, violence prevention and cultural and emotional competency. We must hold our school district and our schools accountable in these realms to make the true development of public education realized. Please do not accept less than what is best for your entire class and school. You are the educational professionals and you know what is best for students. The task before us; making a better future for our students, our community and our world is a mighty one and SEA is here with you every step of the way.
-Aaron Graves