State-of-the-Union Teacher Writes About Experience

In her blog on the Huffington Post, Sarah Ferguson writes about her experience at President Obama’s State of the Union Address Tuesday night.

“As I attended President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night, I was not alone. I represented all of the teachers and support staff from across the country who are struggling with too few resources and too little support. This invitation was an honor, but my dedication to education is not exceptional or unique. Because, for all teachers, it is our students that keep us going.”

The math and literacy teacher has taught at Columbus Elementary in Chester Upland School District for 21 years but says the school district has long had financial troubles.

In the last five years, the number of students declined one-fifth, while the budget increased from $85 million to $113 million last year, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

More than one-third of the city’s population lives below the poverty line, and almost a third of Chester Upland district property owners do not pay their tax bills, the Inquirer reports.

“…204 teachers and 64 support staff decided unequivocally to keep working as long we were able to make ends meet. Our students had no contingency plan. They needed to be educated, so we intended to be on the job.”

In her blog, Ferguson praises President Obama for recognizing that “addressing the crisis of education funding goes hand-in-hand with addressing the jobs crisis.”

“We must provide high quality education equitably, to all students, if we are to fulfill our promise to their futures. We need more politicians to realize that quality public education is the way to economic recovery. Now more than ever we need to put the political bickering aside for the sake of our students and the nation.”

“Addressing the problems facing our public schools will take hard work from all of us --- lawmakers, parents, and teachers. And we owe it to our students to keep going.”