President Lisa Gourley Shares an Update for the New Year
“Holy Cow!” It’s 2022 and our union continues pushing forward.
Our lives have been forever catalogued in the history of our nation as those in the “Great War,” “Great Depression” or other era-defining events.
Just as those times were not “great” to live in, there is nothing great about the crisis brought on due to COVID-19. Profound change has occurred with lasting effects on our society, politics, economics, health care and the education system – and on children and each other as staff. For many of us, managing our daily lives has taken on an entirely new meaning.
We are not clear of the crises. There is a growing problem with what is seemingly a lesser variant. This one is not reported to have as strong an impact on most people when infected. However, it appears to be forming its own crisis through its transmissibility.
As educators we know that bad flu seasons can impact school closures. We must brace for the possibility of this happening in some of our communities and worksites. The difference between two years ago and today is that now we have the tools to serve our students and communities if this happens, though it is not ideal. We can once again pull up our bootstraps for an “all hands on deck” moment as essential workers.
If this variant continues its rapid spread, we will need to be the confident and capable teams of professionals that our communities need. Just like a team on the field, we can pull together to push our educational services forward to the finish line.
I want to assure you that the value and needs of classified staff and the other educators we represent are being heard loud and clear. Long before this crisis, OSEA has been advocating on behalf of our members and communities about the importance of recruiting and retaining quality staff.
But now with staff shortages rising to tsunami-levels, we have been demanding that districts, state agencies and state-wide workgroups recognize the importance of classified and everyone we represent. We must come together to urge our school boards and policy makers to do the right thing for educators, students and schools.
In Unity,
Lisa Gourley, OSEA President
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