Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association President Bob Peterson: “Sometimes those hands must become fists.”

Bob Peterson, President of the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association.

NEA bylaw amendment 1 would increase annual NEA membership dues by three dollars and allocate the increase to a fund to assist NEA affiliates to, in the words of the proposal, “advance great public schools for all students.”

Bob Peterson, President of the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association took the mic to speak in favor of the dues increase. But Bob proceeded to frame the goals differently than than the national NEA leadership had done.

I am posting Bob Peterson’s address to the delegates.

I am Bob Peterson speaking for the Wisconsin Delegation. As president of the largest teachers’ union local in our state I urge you to pass this amendment so the NEA (has) resources to help  local affiliates organize for great public schools.

Friends we are at war.

I know. I am from Wisconsin. I am from your future. A future that has no collective bargaining, no fairshare, no payroll deduction for dues, and a requirement for annual recertification requiring 51% vote of eligible members. But the plan by the Koch brothers, Tea Party, ALEC, and market place ideologues, is to not only destroy public sector unions, but to destroy public schools. Last month the Wisconsin legislature expanded the nation’s largest voucher program from Milwaukee to include the entire state, continuing its slash and burn policies.

In order to fight this war, these past few years in Milwaukee we have reimagined our union. I compare our union to a stool with three solid legs. We fight for bread and butter issues, we unite with parents and the community for social justice, and we reclaim the teaching profession.

Our professional staff, our six full time release teacher and ESP organizers, and elected leaders are not just servicing our members in traditional ways. We’ve turned part of our office into a teacher-run professional development center. We’ve organized our members at the school level to do neighborhood canvassing for elections winning victories of anti voucher candidates in the legislature and school board. This year we organized members to remove tyrant-like principals from five schools. Citywide we’ve organized to demand developmentally appropriate early childhood practices, that libraries have librarians, that a new teacher mentor program be restored after the administration excessed all mentors, and that educational assistants get paid an additional $5 an hour each hour that they cover a class for an absent teacher.

We have also united with community groups in solidarity with striking Palermo pizza workers, in support of immigrant rights and bilingual education, and against the expansion of voucher and privately-run charter schools.

Friends, I am all for raising our hands for public schools, but the last two years in Wisconsin has taught us that sometimes those hands must become fists and we need resources to fund organizing, to fight the war against those who would destroy public education, and to organize our members to unite with parents, students and community to build great public schools for all students.