Lobby

In my world, the word Lobby is a noun. But yesterday, for me and 3 other colleagues, we turned that noun into a verb.


With all the "crazy" happening in Wisconsin, union issues have been a hot topic at lunch lately. It just so happens that our union president eats lunch with us and talks with us about issues we should be concerned with. One day, he brought to our attention that teachers of my generation usually do not get involved with union work. He (and many others) think our generation expects things to be handed to us, and don't fight for what we want. And unfortunately, speaking on behalf of myself, he was right. I was the type of teacher who would pay my union dues, and then expect other people to do all the work for me. I didn't really know how to get involved, but I wasn't trying hard either.



Last week, he asked if anyone would be interested in going to the State Capitol to speak to legislators about education issues. I jumped at the opportunity. Sure, I didn't know what to expect, and I was stepping outside of my comfort zone, but I felt like I had to know what these legislators where thinking about teachers and the job we were doing. After all, we voted them into office, so we need to make them understand what we need, so they can (hopefully) vote on our behalf.



So I got to work, brushing up on my knowledge of recently passed bills and bills that were in the works. I also placed a few phone calls to my dad (who is a retired social studies teacher) who helped me develop some questions to ask the legislators (Thanks, Dad!).


When the day came, I was nervous and intimidated because I really didn't know what to expect. When we walked into the Education MN offices, my anxiety sky rocked when we walked into a board room with only 15 other educators in it. I was thinking there would be at least 100 members there to fight with us (especially due to the fact that Education Minnesota has 70,000 members). The idea of "safety in numbers" flew right out the window. To make me sweat a little more, I found out that we (meaning the 4 of us) had specific appointments with our district's representatives . . . alone in their offices . . . face to face. Gulp. One of the union leaders made sure to pep talk us by reminding us that these legislators work for us (the voters) and we simply needed to tell them our stories. We needed to tell them our ideas of how to better education for students and not get tangled up in all the collective bargaining/pension/continuing contract/pay freeze drama that is happening all over the country. Today was not about teachers, it was about students! It was very refreshing to hear!


When I walked into the Capitol, I was amazed with how beautiful it was. (I did not bring my camera . . . can you believe it? I thought about it, but then thought I might look like I was on a tour instead of fighting the big-wigs).

(all images provided by Google Images)


Our first meeting was with Republican Representative Bruce Anderson.

We opened the meeting by asking him what his thoughts and feelings were towards education in MN today. He started off by saying he was disappointed with how MN used to be ranked #1 in education and now we were #40 (first off, this stat is not true). We answered back by telling him that MN is actually ranked #1 in ACT scores and #1 in Graduation percentage . . . he had nothing more to say on that topic. He then started talking about how the United States education system is (basically) to blame for our failings in the business and economic world and the reason why countries like China is leading the way is because of their superior education system. But we reminded the Representative that China does not give a Free Public Education for All like we do. They may educate students through grade school, but then they weed out the lowest students (who then go on the path to learn a trade or skill) and only continue to educate about the top 30% (the cream of the crop). Then that 30% receives the most funding to continue their high level of education. The United States was not founded upon just educating the best, we educate them all . . . he had nothing else to say on that matter. In closing comments, we asked him to please remember students when he is voting on education bills. We noticed he had a military poster on his door which stated "boy scouts grow up". We reminded him that just like what his poster was stating, students grow up too, and if we don't invest in them now, we will be paying for it later.

Republican Senator Amy Koch was next on our agenda.

She is the Majority Speaker, so she is a busy (and important) lady. Unfortunately, she was booked solid all day. We tried to catch her on her lunch, but we were passed onto one of her legislative assistants. He was very responsive and listened as we talked to him about the importance of funding all day, every day Kindergarten for all MN kids. As he listened, as he jotted a few things down so her could relay our concerns to the Senator ( . . . um, probably never saw her desk, but I liked the "effort"). As we left his office, he shook all of our hands and thanked us for what we do everyday . . . it may have been bull shit, but I still appreciated it!

I had a great experience and look forward to the next opportunity to meet with our legislators. It was nice to be heard. It was nice to feel vindicated for the work we teachers do. I don't know if it made much difference, but it still feels good to talk to someone (outside education) about it.