June 12 seems to be my day to protest. I did that years ago in New York City against nuclear proliferation and, again, just recently in Northampton for the Northampton Association of School Educators to get a fair deal in contract negotiations.
Both were and are worthy causes, so one could make a connection between them as they are the future of our planet. Every day, teachers face a classroom of students whose minds they must challenge and engage. Those minds are our future. Who knows when one of those souls will be the one to find a solution to our world’s pollution problem, cure Alzheimer’s disease or be the next Eleanor Roosevelt.
We cannot afford to shortchange our educators by stressing them with financial concerns. If we force them to live with less and less in a time when the cost of living is going up, we are the ones who will pay the price in the end.
Out of 289 school districts in Massachusetts, Northampton teacher pay is 19th from the bottom.
I was chatting with one of the visiting protesters from the New York City area during the protest and she said “ … these teachers are entirely too nice.” I had to smile. Of course, they are. They are teachers, not a gang of thugs or militants.
Protesting is not something they are fond of doing. They are teachers who love their students with all of their hearts. Need I say more. If you agree that these hard working teachers need to be paid fairly, call the mayor and tell him to give the NASE a fair shake.
Robin Nardi
Westhampton