Dear Writer Friends! I’m writing to ask for your help in telling the stories of Philadelphia teachers, like my wife Julie Steiner , who recently had their labor contract revoked on Monday by the School Reform Commission, (SRC) led by appointees of Governor Corbett. In the past several years, the governor has slashed funding to Philadelphia’s schools, and is now blaming teachers for the district’s dire funding crisis. If you haven’t been following the story, it is a little bit complicated, and I would be happy to fill you in and answer all your questions, but the upshot is that Corbett and the SRC are trying to bust the teachers’ union and dismantle their collective bargaining rights by claiming that teachers are not “sharing in the sacrifice” needed to overcome the very funding crisis that Corbett himself created. A subgroup of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, called the Caucus of Working Educators, has been doing great organizing to highlight the many sacrifices that teachers already make. These include a unilateral freeze in contractual pay raises for the last two years, paying out-of-pocket for basic supplies, and, perhaps most significantly, countless hours worked outside of teachers’ contractual obligation, grading papers, planning lessons, being present for students. I think it would be a really powerful public relations and organizing tool to tell these teachers’ stories. Under state law, Philadelphia teachers are not allowed to strike (and will lose their teaching licenses if they do), but more importantly, they don’t want to strike. Most of these teachers are deeply committed to urban public education, and do not want to break their contract with their students, even though the SRC has broken its contract with them. One such teacher recently wrote about her commitment to her students here: I am working with the Caucus of Working Educators to try to tell the stories of more of Philadelphia’s amazing teachers, and their very real sacrifices, but I need your help. What I propose is to connect one teacher with one writer, who would spend a little time chatting – by phone, skype, or email. I would provide as much background as you wanted/needed about the situation in Philadelphia, as well as sample interview questions. After you interviewed your teacher, you would use your skills as a writer to tell this teacher’s story. It would need to be short and accessible and focused and compelling—the stories will either be published on the Working Educator’s blog or on a Tumbler we create. They could be told in prose or poetry or in any way you dream up! I want them to be little works of art. Do you think you can help? If so, please let me know, along with any questions you might have, and I will get back to you with answers and the contact information of a Philadelphia teacher for you to be in touch with. I can’t tell you how much it would mean to me if you would be able to help me out with this project. I am feeling devastated about what is happening here in Philadelphia, but telling stories is what I know how to do. It’s what you know how to do too, and I really think it could make a difference in turning around the ugly, teacher-bashing narrative that Corbett and the SRC are trying to sell to the public. I look forward to hearing from you! All best, Marta
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 23:49:38 +0000
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