Opening Day Speech: 2007 - 2008

Good Morning Mayor Cohen, Dr. Young, Chairperson Zaleznik, members of the School Committee, and my friends and colleagues here this morning. It is hard for me to imagine that this is the 6th time that I am standing before you as your Association President. I am very proud to represent you in this capacity.

This is, however, only the second time that I stand here in September knowing that we have a settled contract, one that will take us through August 2009. I’d like to ask our Negotiations Team to stand at this time, and I would ask you all to help me thank them for their many hours of hard work and their sheer determination in getting us to a three-year agreement. We have had many inquiries about the contract and when it will be available in print. We are trying to cut down on printing costs and paper. So the new contracts will be available electronically on the Human Resources folder no later than Friday, September 14th. Each of you will be able to download your particular contract onto your Desktop to have it there for easy reference. There will, however, be hard copies available in every school office; and each building Rep will also be supplied with a copy of each of the 5 contracts (Units A, B, C, D, and E).

While we are still in the mode of showing appreciation, I would ask the members of our Executive Committee and all of our Building Reps to please stand at this time. These members are the lifeline of our Association. It is their willingness to serve that keeps our Association running smoothly and effectively. Please join me in a big round of applause for your hard-working colleagues. We are a large organization and our strength comes not only from our leadership but it comes from you, our members. Everything that the NTA does is for you, but we can’t do anything without your help. We need you to serve on committees, take part in demonstrations when necessary, contact your legislators when asked, and attend meetings that are held. Our strength lies is our collective voice. Here in Newton we are over 1,700 members strong. And, remember we are part of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, which is over 100,000 members strong, and we are all part of the National Education Association, which is 2.8 million voices strong.

As we look forward to this school year, what is in store for us? That is always something of a mystery- a mystery that give us butterflies in our stomachs every fall, no matter how many years we have been teaching. There are many great aspects to our jobs, and one of them is that no two years are alike. In fact no two classes are alike and not even two days are exactly alike. Every year we are given a fresh batch of kids to teach. They have different personalities, different learning styles, different backgrounds, and different idiosyncrasies. That student that we barely know, because she is so quiet, may dazzle us with her poetry half way through the year. That boy who is a clown may just have a superabundance of energy, and our challenge is to figure out how to channel that energy into something besides falling off his chair for laughs. That kid who might be having so much trouble in French could surprise us by being a real computer whiz. Students like that are golden, by the way, because we will certainly be able to elicit their help to solve some computer problem during the year.

As we learn about our new students, we will be engaging in one of the great juggling acts of teaching – exciting children about learning, nurturing their unique talents, and, at the same time, preparing them to do well on the MCAS and other tests. In other words, we have to support and develop the talents of our non-standardized students at the same time we must help them all to do well on standardized tests. If we can do all this, congratulations! We are highly skilled teachers! If anyone ever tells us that teaching isn’t rocket science we must tell them that we agree, because teaching is harder than rocket science! In rocket science, there are right and wrong answers. In teaching, however, there are countless shades of gray. We not only have to know our subject matter, but we have to know how to deliver it in a way that our students can and will relate to. Someone once said that good teaching is one-quarter preparation and three-quarters pure theater. So with so many challenges in teaching we may sometimes feel overwhelmed. We can be sure that there isn’t one of us here today who does not feel overwhelmed from time to time. However, I believe that teaching provides us with greater personal rewards than most other professions. And, I suspect that you all would agree.

Yes, we are in a noble profession, but we sometimes face real obstacles that keep us from doing the very best we can. I ask you to not ignore these obstacles. I ask you to be part of the solution to make the system work better. It is important that you express your opinions and share your experiences with others about what works and what doesn’t work well in your classrooms and in your schools. Think of your association as your megaphone - an instrument which will amplify your voices.

One other thing that I will ask you all to do is to stay tuned to what is happening on the political scene. We have an important National election coming up in November 2008. It is our collective responsibility to vote for the candidates who understand the plight of public education today, and for the candidates who understand the challenges of our profession and for those who understand the importance of a vital public educational system. They must understand that we, in public education, need more resources to be successful. We need smaller classes, in every school and at every grade level, to be more successful. We need more up to date technology to be successful. We need buildings and classrooms that are not in disrepair to be successful. We need more time to confer with colleagues and more time to engage in professional development to be successful. Certainly with our strength in numbers we should be able to effect positive changes for our schools, our students, and ourselves. And I believe we can do this as long as we all work together.

In closing, I want to leave you with a few thoughts to get you through the hectic opening days of school. When you’re caught up in the day to day struggles, it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture, which is just how important our jobs are. Tom Brokaw once said: “It’s easy to earn a buck. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference.” At least he was half right. If you are an educator, you may not be convinced that it is really easy to earn a buck, but you do know that it is tough to make a difference. But that is what we do for a living. We make a difference. But remember there are also more ways that we make a difference.

We make a difference when we fight for adequate funding for our schools.

We make a difference when we insist that our students be treated as individuals and not just ciphers to be programmed for standardized tests.

We make a difference when we actively support elected officials who believe in public education.

We make a difference when we demand respect for the work that we do, because we do important and good work.

We make a difference when we show the world that we are proud to work in public education.

I hope that that during the coming year you will remember that what we are doing each and every day is: “making a difference.”

Thank you.