Speak Up For Education

Speak Up For Education

 

Growing up a public school kid, I can’t seem to remember a time when public education wasn’t facing some kind of fiscal crisis.  2010 is shaping up to be yet another year of slashed budgets, program cuts, and Hobson’s choices for local communities: school committees can either lay off teachers or cut popular programs.  Communities as different as Washington Park in Providence and Wakefield in South Kingston are facing school closings and thousands of teachers are sweating out another budget season to see if their jobs will be waiting for them in September. 

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Chances are they won’t be.  An estimated 1,200 additional teachers and education support professionals could be out of work by September 1st unless Congress passes the “Keep Our Educators Working Act” as part of an emergency funding bill in the next week. The proposed law would create a national $23.5 billion education jobs fund specifically to keep 300,000 teachers working nationwide.  Rhode Island is poised to receive $78 million from the bill if it passes: money local communities desperately need to balance budgets without raising property taxes while keeping classroom teachers in front of kids instead of standing in unemployment lines. Rhode Island public higher education would also benefit from this law allowing the General Assembly to address the cost of tuition at CCRI, RIC, and URI.

This Wednesday, May 26th, is a chance for everyone reading golocalprov.com to take action and stand up against this crisis threatening our schools.  Join with people around the country and Speak Up for Education and Kids by joining in the National Call-In Day of Action.  Call 866-608-6355 to hear a recorded message about the importance of education funding and to urge Congress to include education jobs in the emergency funding bill. Log on to Facebook.com/speakforkids and change your profile picture for a chance to win a prize and follow along with the latest breaking news of the campaign.

I’m not a fan of political cliché’s but my new favorite t-shirt is one that says “won’t it be great when the schools have all the money they need and the Wall Street bankers need to have a bake sale for their next bailout?” In this time of crisis and recession the last thing Rhode Island needs is thousands more people out of work and more stress on the education system.  We can do something about it: right here and right now. 

Pat Crowley serves as the Assistant Executive Director of the RI NEA