Two messages I have received from striking teachers call for wider discussion.

One is from Nate Walker, a middle school teacher.

"The Detroit Federation of Teachers strike has ignited national discussion about Detroit Public Schools. Much of this conversation focuses on the struggle as a labor dispute between an employer and its employees. Even peripheral discussions that pit a growing charter school presence versus the public school system and involve terms like "count days" and "highly qualified" only reaffirm that we view school's primary function in our community as a place of employment. We can continue to chastise the district for mismanaging money and insist that spending this money differently will directly improve what happens within our classrooms. But until we candidly evaluate whether our pay raise will really benefit our children and our city, we will only be exercising our voices as strikers and not as educators and citizens.

"The time has come for us to discuss education in Detroit beyond district mismanagement or how to increase standardized test scores as a way of procuring funding. Furthermore, if we are going to defend public education, it is our responsibility to recognize that it is flawed and must be changed. Instead of just demanding compensation for working in a climate that desperately needs repair, we must confront the reality that what goes on within our schools urgently needs change. There is an alarming dropout crisis, a frightening illiteracy rate, growing prison populations, and a lack of community confidence in our educational institutions. We must admit the negative impact our current educational model has on our future citizens and city. Most importantly, we must envision how new goals and methods of education can address these issues.

"No matter how this labor conflict is resolved, schools will eventually reopen, some children will go back to Detroit Public Schools, and others will attend charter schools. But how will education in our city be different as a result of our strike? If it remains the same, we must stand united to ensure that we begin to change it. Together as parents, students, teachers, administrators and members of a community, it is time to collectively commit ourselves to address the roots of the educational crisis. If we don't, our schools will continue to fail our children and our city. We must work to create an educational experience that nurtures and prepares children to solve some of the problems in our communities instead of schools serving as a battleground."

The other message is from a veteran physical education teacher who is on the lookout 24/7 for educational opportunities for her students and writes that "Nothing is Impossible if We Accept the Challenge."

"Walking on the Detroit Public School Teachers picket line has been an emotional, yet enlightening experience. Frustration, laughter, fear, and hope have been our constant companions. Periodically, as people drove by, they would blow their car horns to let us know they support our efforts to receive a reasonable contract. While walking, we have been able to refine plans for the school year, get better acquainted, and discuss our current plight.

"Public school educators are in a very challenging situation today. We are confronted with the reality that many of our students lack the academic preparation and support that most private and charter school students get. Teaching in the public schools means that we have additional responsibilities. Even though the demands on DPS teachers are already great, we must find ways to address our students' needs by:

* Spending lots of non-school hours addressing clear and systematic educational goals.
* Gathering resources that extend beyond the school walls.
* Taking extra care to nurture our bodies and spirits.


"I am glad to say that on the picket line I found most of my colleagues ready to accept the challenge of helping our students reach their full capacities as human beings."


THINKING FOR OURSELVES
Songs of Grief
By Shea Howell
Michigan Citizen, Sept.17-23, 2006

I was at Alex Haley's farm in Knoxville, Tennessee, on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the attacks of September 11. I was part of a small gathering of activists to consider the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King's vision of a beloved community for our time.

At one point in the middle of the gathering song broke out. Led by veterans of the civil rights movement, we sang old songs, forged in the pain of slavery and handed down through the generations as a source of solace and hope. There is a power in these songs. It is a power that sustained a movement, inspiring people to reach beyond their fear to challenge governments and men. And there is beauty in them that comes only from the ability to face suffering and transform it into a message of hope and faith. This capacity to embrace and transform pain into something of beauty marks the best of the human spirit.

It was the strains of these songs, echoing in my heart, that made me think about how far we as a country have moved away from the essence of these old songs.

In the days leading up to the anniversary, members of the Bush administration hit the airways and talk shows to claim support for the U.S.-led "War on Terror." The most crass among them was the Vice President who affirmed his commitment to the invasion of Iraq and proclaimed "the world is much better off" with Saddam Hussein in jail. These remarks formed a backdrop for Bush's address to the nation. With five speeches in two weeks, Bush has attempted to justify both the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism as "a struggle for civilization." "The safety of America depends on the outcome of the battle on the streets of Baghdad."

Bush opened his 9/11 speech to the nation with these words. "For America 9/11 was more than a tragedy: it changed the way we look at the world. On Sept. 11 we resolved we would go on the offense against our enemies, and we would not distinguish between the terrorists and those who harbor or support them." He then talked about driving people out of power, capturing people, and confronting "threats before they reach our shores."

Thus Bush glosses over the pain, grief and anguish felt by so many on that tragic day, using it only as a justification for revenge and violence. His inability to truly stop for a moment and hold the pain of that day, to be open to the grief of so many people who lost so much, is perhaps the greatest failing of his administration. Had these leaders been capable of opening their hearts to grief, they might have been able to reflect on what grief teaches us. They might have been able to see that the best in the human tradition has always been to pledge that our highest obligation is try to protect other people from the pain we endure.

Instead these leaders moved in the most regressive of human directions, away from forgiveness and toward vengeance. Surely most of us now know that this vengeance was blind or contrived, striking out at people and nations who did nothing to us.

So our pain was not used to create beauty, but to justify death. In so doing, Bush and his administration have killed more soldiers than died in the attacks they pretend to honor. They have killed twenty-fold that number in campaigns of bombing, war and brutality. In the face of this pain, the old songs call us to a new kind of action.