Valley Voices
E DITORIAL AND READERS’ OPINIONS
Viewpoint: What Did Your Child’s Teacher Tell Your Child Today?
The National Center on Time and Learning says that teachers who are contracted to engage in direct instruction spend an average of 30.8 hours per week with students. Although, that time varies a great deal depending on the level of the student. The younger the student the more time per week teachers spend directly with the students.
Not counting sleeping, how many hours per week do you spend with your children? If you are like many of us, classroom teachers may spend more time with your child than you do.
That can be a blessing or a curse. As I look back on the teachers I had in my life, the majority of them were a positive influence on the person I became.
Some, not so much.
During my interview ( see page 7) with D70 Board of Education member, John Christenson, I became aware of a recent Colorado Education Association resolution that was passed on April 22.
Here is the resolution: “ The CEA believes that capitalism requires the exploitation of children, public schools, land, labor, and/or resources and, therefore the only way to fully address systemic racism (the school to prison pipeline), climate change, patriarchy, (Gender and LBGTQ disparities), education inequality, and income inequality is to dismantle capitalism and replace it with a new equitable economic system.”
We might never have known the resolution passed, or was even voted on, had it not been for a tweet by an attendee. After the initial release it took over a month for the 39,000-member strong union to explain why they approved an anti-capitalism creed.
Union President Amie Baca-Oehlert told Colorado Politics in a statement their resolution “related to economic disparities that some of our students, public schools, and communities face and that many educators deal with every day.”
“Recognizing that our members reflect our state’s diverse views and perspectives, these resolutions reflect our members’ aspirations in our collective endeavor to create a safer and more equitable world for Colorado’s students, educators, and communities, and do not require any action from the organization.”
Also from Colorado Politics, Baca-Oehlert claims that “political opponents who want to defund public schools are now attacking CEA,” so they’re the victim in all this. Not the children.
From the CEA website: The Colorado Education Association (CEA) was founded in 1875 by a handful of educators that came together, voted, and formed the first union for public education workers in Colorado. It is the designated union for approximately 40,000 teachers and other public-school employees in Colorado.
Until recently, every teacher had to pay dues to this organization as a condition of employment.
However, in 2018 in the case of Janus v. AFSCME, the Supreme Court ruled that public employees can no longer be required to financially support a labor union against their will.
The court ruled that the mandatory dues requirement violated workers’ First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and association, and that public employees have the right to choose for themselves whether to pay any union dues or fees.
Hopefully, educators opt out in droves.
Several things to consider: 1) Not every teacher, just because they are a teacher, go along with everything the CEA does. It does however, as a parent, a grandparent, a taxpayer (they work for us) behoove you to find out what your teachers in your local school are teaching your children.
2) Remember you are the child’s parent. You are the ultimate guide to your child’s education.
Talk to your children about each class and what they are and aren’t being taught. There are close to 900,000 young minds in the Colorado School system, spending 30 hours a week with teachers.
Don’t you think it would be good to know what they are teaching your children?
3) Finally, not all teachers are good teachers, not all teachers are bad teachers. Overall, the educators in the valley schools, from my experience, have the best interests of your child at heart. But each of us has a responsibility to make sure it stays that way.