Democracy In High-Speed
Almost 2000 teachers cut class on Wednesday, October 11th and hit the streets. They wore red shirts and carried picket signs that said things like, " I need more than an apple. I need a raise" and "How about no teacher left behind? "
United Teachers of Dade (teacher's union) and the Miami-Dade School Board are currently in negotiations over how much more teachers should earn over their current salary. Teachers are asking for a starting salary of $40,000, which would make their salary competitive with the salary of Broward County's teachers. The district is currently offering a raise that is $4000 less.
The demonstration was part of a week-long series of activities. Teachers handed out flyers at their respected schools and wore red t-shirts daily.
The teacher's union forbids any employee to organize, demonstrate or strike while on the clock. But these teachers were crafty, they took to their keyboards and began circulating hundreds of e-mails to fellow teachers, parents and administrative staff.
"I got involved through e-mail," said Jill Prince, a teacher at Gloria Floyd Elementary, "But you gotta be out there for it to work. I think the internet helps as far as getting people together, but you gotta get out on the street to make a difference."
The demonstration worked, in that it got the attention of every local news station. NBC6.net reported that they deceived dozens of e-mails regarding the protest as it was going on. The e-mails came from teachers and Dade County residents. All of the e-mails supported the teachers in their struggle.
"Helicopters flew overhead. I saw us on t.v." said Miriam Calderin, a first grade teacher who attended the demonstration held on Kendall Drive and 137th Avenue in Miami.
Calderin, like Prince, was told where and when to demonstrate through an e-mail she received, but she warns that the internet shouldn't be used as their primary tool.
"The fact that their having discussions using the internet does nothing. It just airs out their frustrations, but no one important is looking at it," Calderin said.
The mass e-mailing that lead to the Dade County teacher protest may not get them a raise, but it did raise a few eyebrows across the country. They made national news for a week straight and even got the attention of a few bloggers. Peter Rothberg, a writer for The Nation, wrote a blog on October 5th entitled "Teach the Children Well", about the protests and received 108 comments that same day. Most of the readers who commented sympathized with the teachers.
The teacher who organized the protest through Dade County Public Schools e-mail system, Shawn Bightol, was reassigned to the maintenance department just three days prior to the negotiation meeting between the teacher's union and the school board. The school board has yet to confirm whether it was a punishment or sheer coincidence.
Unfortunately for the school board, the damage has already been done. The debate over teachers' salaries has gained national attention. It has become one of the main issues of political candidates these past few weeks. During Tuesday's gubernatorial debate, the first question on the floor was whether or not teachers' salaries would be raised. Charlie Christ said that only teachers who are employed by schools who have scored in the top 25% on the FCAT should get a raise.
"Teachers salaries should be used to make sure they have the support they need to be a powerful teacher in the classroom, " said Jim Davis who is endorsed by the United Teachers of Dade.
Both candidates claim that they have a "plan" to raise teachers' salaries if they are elected.
The key to gaining national attention of this magnitude is to use the internet as a way to organize large groups of people for a single cause. E-mailing and blogging does nothing, if not proceeded by some kind of public demonstration. For example...
On January 21, 2003, Wired News uploaded the story, "Internet Strokes Anti-War Movement", on to their website. Wired reporter Leander Kahney credits the "organizing power of the internet" with the largest anti-war demonstration since the Vietnam anti-war movement.
The biggest difference between the Vietnam anti-war protest and the protest against the then "possible war in Iraq" was that Vietnam protests took years to reach the level that it did, while the protest against the Iraq War took just a few months. Anti-war websites and mailing lists spread information about the protest, which resulted in dozens of protests across the United States. Wired News states that the two biggest demonstrations were held in San Francisco and Washington, where about 100,000 protesters gathered.
Some websites, like InternationalANSWER, use the internet to organize protests on an international level. The acronym, ANSWER, stands for Act Now to Stop War & End Racism. The organization is planning a "Global Day of Action" for March 17, 2007. The demonstration is being promoted mainly through their website, which states that they are calling for mass protests in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. Only time will tell whether their internet advertising and mass e-mailing will prove successful.
Almost 2000 teachers cut class on Wednesday, October 11th and hit the streets. They wore red shirts and carried picket signs that said things like, " I need more than an apple. I need a raise" and "How about no teacher left behind? "
United Teachers of Dade (teacher's union) and the Miami-Dade School Board are currently in negotiations over how much more teachers should earn over their current salary. Teachers are asking for a starting salary of $40,000, which would make their salary competitive with the salary of Broward County's teachers. The district is currently offering a raise that is $4000 less.
The demonstration was part of a week-long series of activities. Teachers handed out flyers at their respected schools and wore red t-shirts daily.
The teacher's union forbids any employee to organize, demonstrate or strike while on the clock. But these teachers were crafty, they took to their keyboards and began circulating hundreds of e-mails to fellow teachers, parents and administrative staff.
"I got involved through e-mail," said Jill Prince, a teacher at Gloria Floyd Elementary, "But you gotta be out there for it to work. I think the internet helps as far as getting people together, but you gotta get out on the street to make a difference."
The demonstration worked, in that it got the attention of every local news station. NBC6.net reported that they deceived dozens of e-mails regarding the protest as it was going on. The e-mails came from teachers and Dade County residents. All of the e-mails supported the teachers in their struggle.
"Helicopters flew overhead. I saw us on t.v." said Miriam Calderin, a first grade teacher who attended the demonstration held on Kendall Drive and 137th Avenue in Miami.
Calderin, like Prince, was told where and when to demonstrate through an e-mail she received, but she warns that the internet shouldn't be used as their primary tool.
"The fact that their having discussions using the internet does nothing. It just airs out their frustrations, but no one important is looking at it," Calderin said.
The mass e-mailing that lead to the Dade County teacher protest may not get them a raise, but it did raise a few eyebrows across the country. They made national news for a week straight and even got the attention of a few bloggers. Peter Rothberg, a writer for The Nation, wrote a blog on October 5th entitled "Teach the Children Well", about the protests and received 108 comments that same day. Most of the readers who commented sympathized with the teachers.
The teacher who organized the protest through Dade County Public Schools e-mail system, Shawn Bightol, was reassigned to the maintenance department just three days prior to the negotiation meeting between the teacher's union and the school board. The school board has yet to confirm whether it was a punishment or sheer coincidence.
Unfortunately for the school board, the damage has already been done. The debate over teachers' salaries has gained national attention. It has become one of the main issues of political candidates these past few weeks. During Tuesday's gubernatorial debate, the first question on the floor was whether or not teachers' salaries would be raised. Charlie Christ said that only teachers who are employed by schools who have scored in the top 25% on the FCAT should get a raise.
"Teachers salaries should be used to make sure they have the support they need to be a powerful teacher in the classroom, " said Jim Davis who is endorsed by the United Teachers of Dade.
Both candidates claim that they have a "plan" to raise teachers' salaries if they are elected.
The key to gaining national attention of this magnitude is to use the internet as a way to organize large groups of people for a single cause. E-mailing and blogging does nothing, if not proceeded by some kind of public demonstration. For example...
On January 21, 2003, Wired News uploaded the story, "Internet Strokes Anti-War Movement", on to their website. Wired reporter Leander Kahney credits the "organizing power of the internet" with the largest anti-war demonstration since the Vietnam anti-war movement.
The biggest difference between the Vietnam anti-war protest and the protest against the then "possible war in Iraq" was that Vietnam protests took years to reach the level that it did, while the protest against the Iraq War took just a few months. Anti-war websites and mailing lists spread information about the protest, which resulted in dozens of protests across the United States. Wired News states that the two biggest demonstrations were held in San Francisco and Washington, where about 100,000 protesters gathered.
Some websites, like InternationalANSWER, use the internet to organize protests on an international level. The acronym, ANSWER, stands for Act Now to Stop War & End Racism. The organization is planning a "Global Day of Action" for March 17, 2007. The demonstration is being promoted mainly through their website, which states that they are calling for mass protests in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. Only time will tell whether their internet advertising and mass e-mailing will prove successful.
