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Success requires 'dynamic partnership,' Herndon says
An interview with WEAC Executive Director Terry Herndon
We are at a crossroads. The Qualified Economic Offer law and school district revenue controls have been sapping our teachers and eroding our schools for six years. If we don’t reverse this trend toward degradation now, we will reach a point of no return. That is what happened in California, where a once great system of public education was dismantled to the point where many have lost any hope for its revival.
Our current dilemma is largely the result of major changes in society and societal attitudes. People today tend to be more focused on their own corners of the world and their own pocketbooks rather than the broader picture and greater good. Add to that the opportunistic campaigns of anti-education forces and you have a climate that has chipped away at our traditionally strong support for public education. We can take some solace in the fact that what is happening in Wisconsin is happening all over the country. In fact, because of the deep-rooted commitment of many citizens, the determination of WEAC members, and aggressive lobbying and public relations efforts of our association and our allies, our situation is not as hopeless as that faced in some other states.
There are many hopeful signs. We know that Wisconsin citizens traditionally believe in public education and support their children’s teachers. They are our natural allies. We also know that every politician wants to be perceived as “pro-education.” Our challenge is to bring these two sectors together. We have to create a common ground of understanding that strong public schools are critical to our democracy and that public policies enacted by elected officials ultimately determine the success or failure of our public schools. Once people understand these relationships, they will begin to exert more pressure in the right places until they achieve a desirable outcome. Not coincidentally, that outcome is the same one we as an organization desire.
It will take a dynamic partnership of teachers, support staff, administrators, students, parents, business leaders and citizens. We must develop a single, strong, unrelenting, unified and enthusiastic voice advocating for children and the preservation of high-quality public education throughout Wisconsin. If these groups work together in an organized fashion in their local communities to identify needs and demand that those educational needs be met at the local and state levels, we could see a sudden, dramatic shift in public policy toward greater support and increased resources for our schools and educators.
Posted April 6, 1999