Editorials
Sending a message loud and clear
Feb 1, 2007 5:22 PM
Listen closely; that noise you hear all the way from Albany is the sound of fax machines grinding out a message from UFT members to their legislators. The words may differ but the message is the same: Reduce class sizes, now!
That message has been sent almost 16,000 times (as of our Jan. 29 presstime) and counting.
It has been a tremendous outpouring of sentiment by educators on an issue that is clearly close to their hearts. They know — as does anyone who has ever taken a dispassionate look at how children learn — that class size matters tremendously. Next to having a highly skilled teacher in the classroom, small classes in which that highly skilled teacher can give individual attention to every student is the most important factor in helping students achieve their potential.
That is what UFT members have been telling their elected representatives, urging them to make sure the next state budget includes the $1 billion or so necessary to reduce class sizes in the city so they will be about the statewide average.
State legislators have said that when they get 25 or 30 faxes on an issue they know it’s a hot issue. In the last few weeks, some city legislators have received more than 10 times that number during the UFT campaign.
And that is only part of the campaign. Personal visits matter. UFT President Randi Weingarten did that in Albany a couple of weeks ago, personally visiting with Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, Minority Leader Malcom Smith and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, after the UFT’s legislative breakfast. UFT members will by doing the same thing: paying a personal call on every state legislator who represents a district in New York City — all 92 of them — before the midwinter break. Not only will the members of the State Senate and Assembly know that class size is a hot issue, but they will know why and what educators expect them to do about it.
UFT members know this is important. They showed up in big numbers last month for training sessions before making their visits to legislators. In the Bronx 75 members came to be trained and in Brooklyn 250 turned up.
That’s dedication and that’s a hot issue.
Bravo to all of you who have participated so far. Don’t stop. Keep up the pressure.
And if you have not yet sent a fax or paid a legislator a visit, there is no time better than the present to join your colleagues. Sending a fax is a snap: Go to the UFT Web site, www.uft.org and click on the link in the Action Center on the home page. To be part of a visiting group,
e-mail brein@uft.org, give your name, phone number and school district and you will be contacted.
Smaller class sizes is a message all UFTers should want to send, loud and clear.
