There has been lots of talk and debate about the lack of experience that the Caucus of Working Educators will bring to the leadership of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT). And it is usually followed by the fact that it is a contract year and that the case presented before court is still being deliberated and that a win is just around the corner. The best one yet is that this is a divisive move and the union needs experience more than change. And that is when I realized that it was time to share a story and not an article or an op-ed. It was time to recognize that no union member came straight from the womb knowing how to negotiate an effective and fair contract. Not one union member came out of the womb knowing how to listen, I mean really listen to the body language and the room when a teacher or staff member is in the midst of a dispute with administration. Not one union member ever came fully prepared to the table without first being given the opportunity to learn.
We are all teachers. Our vocation means that we believe that students are sponges and ready to learn. But, we are also wise enough to respect and listen to the life experience that they bring from their family, community, and friends. When combined with the curiosity to learn more, a powerful thing begins to develop.....experience. This is dedicated to someone who passed on her keen insight into education and what it means to organize and do the hard work...
I am going to tell you a story about a teacher. She started teaching and did not fully understand what it meant to be in a union, but by her second year she was the recording secretary for her local. The next step was treasurer followed by a quick one year stint as vice president and then president for eight years. No one told her that she was too young at the tender age of 36 that she did not have enough experience to lead 15 school districts. And she was responsible for several contracts that teachers loved and district heads feared. She was open to the lessons all around her. She soaked up education and labor law so that she could ask the questions that each superintendent and school board that sat across from her dreaded....why....usually followed by concretely flawless evidence. She was even more fierce because she maintained her status as a classroom middle years teacher throughout this experience that she was developing and continuously honing her experience. This union member worked in the same conditions as her rank and file members. Her passion was derived from experiencing budget cuts, layoffs, and administrative manipulation firsthand. And she continues in retirement to provide necessary training to pass on her experience to now active members.
The Caucus of Working Educators has the same power as the main character of my story times 11,000. They are ready to connect their combined experience with the needs of the rank and file members because they are the members. Many have been teaching in the worst of times and continue to show up and show out. Many have already provided advice and defense for their fellow teachers as Building Representatives. Many have already made life long political connections with other unions and politicians to strengthen the battle to take back our public schools from state control and all that threatens public education throughout Philadelphia. But first, we have to eradicate the exhausted excuses.
This is a story about experience and I know firsthand that WE experience comes with the undeterred will to listen, fight and win. And that is all the experience the PFT needs.
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