Ivy Chan from Washington served one summer as treasurer in the campaign of a man running to become her state's Superintendent of Public Instruction. She was driven to do so because she objected vigorously to statements that her candidate's opponent made during the campaign. This was a wealthy experience for me to take back to the classroom. A South Carolina teacher, Kelly McCalla, described an important contribution that teachers can make to the political process. Politicians want solutions.
Teachers know how to state the problems.
What teachers must do is learn how to state the problems in a language that politicians understand and that will lead to solutions. Leading efforts to make teachers more visible and communicate positive information. Many teachers aren't by nature self-promoters, so other educators, parents, policy makers and members of the community often aren't aware of teachers' abilities and accomplishments. Visibility is critical if teachers want their work to be recognized and if they want to take on leadership responsibilities outside the classroom. We need to make use of the media.