Shaton Berry, President, Michigan Parent Teachers Association
Michigan PTA’s vision of a quality education encompasses many aspects. A quality education requires rigorous standards that prepare students for both college and the global workforce, involves effective family school partnerships and constant community collaboration, and is achieved through adequate and equitable school funding. One of the many ways Michigan PTA is working toward these goals is by strongly supporting the full implementation of the Common Core State Standards.
There are also, however, elements of our vision of a quality education that we are not as well positioned to secure. We know our children benefit from smaller class sizes, as well as from having adequate learning materials. We also know that having an effective teacher is an important contributing factor to student success. This means local school districts must offer wages, benefits and working conditions that are attractive to the talented educators we need in our classrooms.
Achieving these goals requires more than just the voices of parents and families — it requires teachers and school districts working together for all of our children. One way that work is undertaken is through collective bargaining. When teachers bargain for smaller class sizes, effective professional development, adequate materials and respectable wages and benefits, they are working towards making our vision of a quality education for all children a reality.
We support Proposal 2 because we value the impact collective bargaining has on the success of our students. This does not mean we support every request teachers’ unions make at the bargaining table, or that we oppose every effort school boards make to achieve their goals. We hold both groups accountable for the success of our students and fully expect them to act in the best interests of Michigan’s students in these trying economic tines, whether at the bargaining table or not. We encourage parents and families to be vocal advocates for their children and to call out abuses of collective bargaining no matter who commits them.
In addition to a quality education, our mission also speaks to a child’s need for a nurturing environment. Many public servants work everyday to provide safe and nurturing communities for Michigan’s families. Police officers, nurse and firefighters all utilize collective bargaining to help them better serve Michigan’s citizens. Police officers and firefighters bargain for proper equipment, training, wages and shift lengths. Nurses bargain for adequate staffing levels to provide prompt and through care to the ill, injured and elderly. When we remove the voices of these highly valued professionals by limiting their rights to collective bargaining, our whole society suffers.
Michigan PTA believes in a quality education and nurturing environment for every child. Our support of Proposal 2 is in service of that vision, a vision I trust we all share for Michigan’s future.
