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Editorials & Backgrounders

Making our future better...

By Christy Levings
December 2004

The end of the year is always a reflective time for me. Maybe it's coming to the year's end and seeing how little progress I had made on my New Year's resolutions. Or perhaps it's the teacher in me wondering if we've made enough progress through the first semester. Whatever it is, these end of the calendar year activities have led me to develop two habits.

The first is to reflect on how much I've learned in the past year and the second is to question the sanity of making New Year's resolutions in the first place.

As I reflect on 2004 I have learned a great deal from the lessons and stories you have shared with me as I have traveled throughout our state this year. I have learned that you can and do teach and work with students regardless of what is going on in the world outside your school walls. There may be an election whirlwind blowing or a Supreme Court decision waiting in the wings, but you go on doing your best for your students every day and every class period regardless of what happens on the legal and election front. I am humbled by your dedication to your profession and the students of Kansas.

I have seen you put into practice the core American values of hard work, responsibility, respect, and persistence in your classrooms. I have seen you model those values in your own behaviors. I am very proud to represent you before the detractors who criticize us for always talking about the needs of all students and a strong public education system for Kansas. I love to be criticized for standing up for the core elements of what makes America strong.

As an organization we have grown and learned a great deal about how to improve an already premier state school and higher education system.

We have learned to be ever vigilant in protecting our schools and the wonderful individuals who make them work from political agendas that do not support every child and every school. We have learned to keep pushing the needs of schools and education employees to the forefront of every political debate and in every arena.

As members, we can be very proud of the work we do together. I know with all certainty that if KNEA did not exist today a crucial message about the needs of students and educational employees would never be heard in our current political arena. You make our state stronger and our students' future brighter by your collective action as members of Kansas NEA.

I have been reminded of two important lessons this year. The first is how long it takes to solve very complex problems and the second is how vital collective will is to the resolution of those problems. In 2005 we will work just as hard but will use the lessons learned in 2004 to work smarter. We must reexamine the lessons of the past and become more vocal in sharing our concerns with those who make decisions on issues they know little about what happens in your school or on your campus.

My crystal ball is no better than yours so as I write this I do not know what the Supreme Court decision will involve or what 2005 has in store for the education community. I do, however, know that Kansas NEA will work to help each student in Kansas have the brightest future possible and that we will use every ounce of our collective will to share the needs of our members in every setting possible.

I hope the end of the year provides all of you with an opportunity for some rest from your hard labors and some time to reflect on how you can help us share our important issues in 2005.

And while there are many things we cannot predict for 2005, our work together in supporting each other and the students we serve is a responsibility we know we must commit to today and in the future. I also know that we are up to the challenge, and by working together we will move forward to make our future better.

Peace and all the great things you deserve in 2005!

Christy Levings is the president of the Kansas National Education Association. An elementary teacher on leave from the Olathe School District, she lives in Osawatomie.

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