Hurray for Katie Gillespie and Adam Littman’s reporting on the possible La Center teacher strike (“La Center teachers protest before talks,” Aug. 21, The Columbian) — especially the great photos of teachers in good spirits as they near-unanimously (the vote was 75-1) threaten to strike if their fair demands are not met.
Despite overwhelming support for teachers from the community as they grapple with current negotiations, one antagonist asked on the La Center teachers Facebook page why the teachers don’t just go to other districts.
La Center teachers stay because La Center is their community. La Center teachers educate generation after generation from the same families. They were my teachers, and they were my brother’s teachers 12 years later when he graduated. Kids I went to school with now trust their children with some of these same teachers. La Center teachers have put their own children through La Center schools.
It is a fundamental misunderstanding of what teachers experience and contribute to wonder why they don’t pack up straight away and move on for better pay. The suggestion that they should walk away from their community rather fight to stay (at significant risk), is everything that is wrong with those who do not believe teachers deserve better.
