Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/739275
COMMUNIQUÉ A PUBLICATION OF THE IOWA STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION – OCT/NOV 2016 – Vol. 54, No. 2 IN THIS ISSUE: Opinion Finland Presidential Report Cards Legal Know Your Rights Election Edition 3 6-7 11 Set it... Set it... and forget it! and forget it! EFT AVAILABLE NOW! EFT AVAILABLE NOW! FOLLOW US ON: Organizing for Education It's mid-afternoon on a late September afternoon as Melinda Jones adjusts the papers on her clipboard and sets out down Ray Street on Ottumwa's southwest side. Ray Street is a few blocks of bungalows, Cape Cods and ranch homes on 1/8-acre lots. It's the kind of working-class neighborhood whose residents should be receptive to Jones – a reading teacher at Wilson Elementary – her efforts to identify pro-public education voters and get an absentee ballot request form into their hands. Although her school day ended just a bit ago and Jones only has a couple hours before she has to pick up her daughter from daycare, she figures there's time to knock out a couple canvassing miles today. "What I don't even want to think about is what happened when we lost our (Iowa) Senate seat by 10 votes," Jones said referencing the 2010 contest when current state Sen. Mark Chlegren beat Ken Kreiman of Bloomfield. "I tell myself if I can just knock on 11 more doors, talk to 11 more people, that might be the difference." Later that same evening, at the other end of the state, Amy Konda, a teacher at Bryant Elementary in Sioux City, scoops up her, dog, Bandit, and heads over to the Woodbury County Democratic Headquarters where she'll spend the next few hours working her way through a call list to help turn out the vote for pro-public education candidates. The vast majority of Iowa's educators didn't decide to go into education to get involved in politics. But nearly every aspect of working in a public school is affected by politics – from curriculum and teacher pay to facilities, class sizes and, even, the day school starts. That's why thousands of Iowa State Education Association members, like Jones and Konda, mobilize every election cycle to help elect candidates for public office who listen to educators when we talk about our students, our schools and our colleagues. "The more personal you can make voter mobilization, the more effective it can be," said Christopher Larimer, an associate professor of political science at the University of Northern Iowa and husband of ISEA member Danielle Larimer, who works as an elementary teacher in the Waverly-Shell Rock School District. Iowa's educators make excellent advocates because they know the students, the neighborhoods and the towns where they, and prospective supporters, work and live. "The research shows that someone from the same neighborhood or the same area can really have a positive effect on (a potential voter's) perception of the message," Larimer said. On pages 8-10 of this edition of the ISEA Communique, you can read short profiles on ISEA members like Konda and Jones, from all parts of Iowa who work every election season to help put pro-public education candidates in office. Deeper in the issue, you'll find tips from the ISEA legal staff on making your advocacy count, an absentee ballot request form for you to use and a list of the ISEA- recommended candidates for this cycle. Remember, voting ends Nov. 8. Nathan Kelley (left) and Megan Johnson (right) talk with National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen Garcia during a campaign event in Cedar Rapids. Eskelsen Garcia joined Iowa educators who canvassed on behalf of state and federal candidates. ELECTION ISSUE 2016 Melinda Jones, a reading teacher at Wilson Elementary in Ottumwa, has spent several evenings this campaign season knocking doors in support of pro-public education teachers. Here, she watches as she fills out an absentee ballot request form. Amy Konda gets arrives for another night of phone banking. Konda, a special education teacher at Bryant Elementary, spends a few hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays calling voters in the Sioux City area. She typically brings her dog, Bandit, to the call center where he's become something of a mascot. Iowa State Education Association members knock doors, work phones, and share on social media to get pro-public education candidates into office.