You gotta talk to them...

Today's post is a guest post from Rebecca Heckman , science teacher at Princeton High School, 22 year veteran teacher and OEA member, 13 year member of PACE and daughter of the types of conservatives we need to vote NO on Issue 2 this November...

My entire life I’ve voted Republican. My dad ran for public office in St. Bernard, and politics were always part of our family life. My parents talked about elections and how to vote and considered straight ticket voting the only responsible way to go. You side with a platform, and you follow that. The candidates would follow the party line, you could be sure of that.

My parents continue to be straight ticket, conservative Republican voters. We had a bit of a falling out during the original SB5 discussion of the past spring. After SB5 passed and the initiative began to get the signatures to place a repeal on the November ballot, I couldn’t bring myself to talk to them about the issue and ask them to sign the petition.

Recently, however, I decided to bring up Issue 2 to them to see if I could talk them into voting with us to repeal Issue 2 this November. I was nervous, but it had to be done. My parents have two daughters who are public school teachers, and they needed to understand what SB5 would mean to their daughters…and they needed to hear it before November.

When I approached them, it was a casual setting and I felt comfortable. I stuck to the following points:

· Teachers won’t be able to negotiate working conditions if SB5 stands

o I stuck with this point for a while.

o I mentioned class size and how difficult it makes my job.

o I discussed lack of in school planning time and how difficult that makes my job.

· I talked about the fact that when we wanted to discuss SB5 with the senate, teachers, fire fighters and policemen were locked out and denied that right

o I mentioned this point when it was pointed out that the governor had asked the unions to meet, and we had said NO to him

· I talked about what SB5 would mean to their grandchildren - 9 of the 11 attend public schools

o I stressed that safety would be an issue in crowded classrooms.

· Finally, I mentioned that while I understood the state’s financial issues, I didn’t feel it was the duty of the middle class to shoulder the entire burden of their budget shortfalls.

o If the middle class loses money due to this bill, it will harm the economy.

o I’d have less money to spend and so would many people like me.

o This is not how to end a recession.

In the end, I was able to convince my mom and dad to vote no on Issue 2 this November. It was a difficult discussion to initiate with them, but our future as educators depends on conversations like this being held at family dinners and with people like my parents. We cannot be afraid to address the people close to us. This is the time to confront and educate them. If we don’t take this initiative, no one will, and we can’t afford to do that.