Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/17719
SCOTT MILLER: I think that in the business world you have the luxury of mandating that your employees leave all their differenc- es at the door. As people who work in schools, we don’t have any of that. A 9-year- old child cannot leave what happened to them this morning at home or on the bus, they cannot leave that at the door, and we cannot expect them to. We can treat them as individuals, set high expectations, and do our best to help them reach those. I want a governor who understands that. I think Jer- ry Brown has learned a lot about what works through the years, and understands that I’m an important part of the solution, and that I have to be part of the conversation to get California back on track. KAREN LORD-EYEWE: We have to get California back on track. I remember when I moved to California from Delaware with my kids. I was shocked at the disparity in the educa- tion system. I thought California, being so big and so wealthy, would invest more in their public schools. I just assumed things would get better. But over the past two years alone we’ve seen a cut of more than $17 bil- lion. That has to stop. And it has to stop with this election. Our votes must lay the founda- tion for a better future for California. My son, who’s 22 now, reminded me of that the other day. He was saying we all know what our schools need; we just have to get en- gaged and involved and make it happen. How do we do that? SCOTT MILLER: I think part of it is, a lot of peo- ple feel powerless, and a lot of times when you go back to school and you say, “Hey, this is what we need to do,” you hear “I’m only one person” or “We’re only a small school.” But that’s really not the case. That’s one of the reasons we belong to a union — to be stronger together than we ever could alone. I think, as educators, we need to keep the conversation going, and I think it starts at the dinner table, and then it goes to the community centers and the churches and the synagogues and the community groups ELIZABETH REEVES-ARREAGA: Teaching at the col- lege level, I get to see this play out for stu- dents in a different way. My students can vote and really care about this election. They understand what’s at stake, and they want things to change for the better, and they are willing to work to make it happen. They in- spire me. That’s why we’ve got to make sure people who support pro-public education candidates vote in this election. SCOTT MILLER: I think another thing is that we’ve got to keep going out and telling our stories. and the soccer fields and all those different places. We have to get more people involved in really doing what’s right for kids, because we can’t carry the load on our own, especial- ly when we have to fight these people who have so much money. Sounds like you are talking about Meg Whitman? MISAO BROWN: Yes. I don’t think her top-down “help” is what our schools need. We need help from someone who understands col- laboration is key to improving our schools, someone that’s going to get my community involved, that’s going to get my colleagues involved — someone who will encourage parents to be partners in the education pro- cess. We need Jerry Brown. “We can’t afford to live in a so- ciety where we’re not educated.” Scott Miller, Hawthorne Elementary Teachers Association And how do we make sure Jerry Brown becomes our next governor? SCOTT MILLER: It’s simple. We turn out the vote. We have to do what we think is right at the polls instead of staying at home, and we must encourage everyone we know to do the same. MISAO BROWN: True. SCOTT MILLER: We can’t afford to live in a so- ciety where we’re not educated. If we keep telling our stories to everybody — to the newspapers, to the television stations, to the politicians, to our neighbors, to our friends and our families — then maybe people will see that teachers and educators have to be included in the conversation, and when we’re not, it hurts everybody, not just the students. MISAO BROWN: We must put ourselves in the conversation every chance we get. What are your hopes for the election? SCOTT MILLER: I hope we get back the hope that so many people have lost, and that after this election we have people in office that will work with us. We have to really start work- ing together to improve the education of all of our students. I feel like we’ve spent so much time in the past few years just fighting off attacks. With new leadership in office, we can start working together to improve our schools. MISAO BROWN: I hope that people reflect on their values and understand that we can not only preserve public education but make it better for all kids, when we stand together and vote for people that share our values. ELIZABETH REEVES-ARREAGA: I’m really strug- gling with this one, because to me, the hope for the election is the hope that the candidates will follow through with what they promised, and that this elec- tion marks the beginning of a new di- rection for California. KAREN LORD-EYEWE: I see it as a new starting point. You work to elect the best people you can, then you work with them and hold them accountable. SCOTT MILLER: Exactly, you can never be silent. I mean, that’s sort of the point. SPECIAL ELECTION ISSUE OCTOBER 2010 | www.cta.org 17