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| Some of Laredo's TSTA leaders ( before their matching red shirt days) mingle with Texas politicians |
For years, thousands of Laredo teachers have been paying about $35 a month in order to maintain their TSTA membership. Non-teachers pay about $22 a month. I'm guessing that altogether, these members contribute roughly about $100,000 to the state TSTA offices. How much of those $100K is returned to the local chapter is beyond me but it's got to be at least $20,000. Well, to the relief of LISD and UISD union employees, TSTA Laredo/United leaders have jumped into action. In these tough times when job cuts are looming at both districts, the first order of business was to buy themselves mongrammed, matching, red polo shirts.
Now that the wardrobe issues have been resolved, a day of action is being planned locally. TSTA leaders are scheduling a march for Saturday, April 2nd. It will start at the Laredo Public Library main branch and proceed to the Blas Castaneda park. I'm not 100 per cent sure, but I don't think there's many school district offices along that route.
Obviously, the place to march on is the state capitol in Austin, Afterall, it's Rick Perry who's behind all this mess. And I understand that there is a march planned there on March 12th, but I don't know what role, if any, the local TSTA chapter will be playing on that date. They should use some of those union dues to charter a few buses and allow hundreds of Laredoans to make their presence known in Austin. I certainly hope that it's not only going to be the "officers" going up there by themselves, what impact is that?
Good luck to all employees of Laredo's schools and stay on top of your union leaders to maximize your participation and voice in this crucial debate. That's what you've been paying all those union dues for.
This is more info on the March 12th rally http://savetxschools.org/
ReplyDeleteThey encourage communities to rent a bus or caravan or get there any way you can. Vamos!
One year later Laredo United TSTA is still advocating for state aid. Just last month TSTA partnered with Webb County who adopted a resolution calling on the governor to call a special session to restore the cuts to public education. This month the City of Laredo passed the same resolution. Laredo United TSTA believes in a relational culture where organizing begins at the local level.
ReplyDeleteLast year Laredo United did take a bus to march in Austin, calling the governor to dip into the State Rainy Day fund--He did.
The current cuts were pushed by an ideology, one which in time will change. Once the people--parents, businesses, taxpayers, and voters--experience the effects of these cut; once the people come to see the difference between what was and what is; once they are fed up with the lack of quality education, then and only then will we have a system worthy of our children's education.
We are currently losing great minds because no one wants to go into the teaching profession. How long are you willing to wait before we see the detrimental, catastrophic effects to our society?
One year later Laredo United TSTA is still advocating for state aid. Just last month TSTA partnered with Webb County who adopted a resolution calling on the governor to call a special session to restore the cuts to public education. This month the City of Laredo passed the same resolution. Laredo United TSTA believes in a relational culture where organizing begins at the local level.
ReplyDeleteLast year Laredo United did take a bus to march in Austin, calling the governor to dip into the State Rainy Day fund--He did.
The current cuts were pushed by an ideology, one which in time will change. Once the people--parents, businesses, taxpayers, and voters--experience the effects of these cut; once the people come to see the difference between what was and what is; once they are fed up with the lack of quality education, then and only then will we have a system worthy of our children's education.
We are currently losing great minds because no one wants to go into the teaching profession. How long are you willing to wait before we see the detrimental, catastrophic effects to our society?