I have always been proud of my older sister, Amy. She graduated from Iowa State’s teaching program and has inspired both students and teachers in every school she has worked. Amy student taught in Scotland and Houston, then took a job teaching in a Houston public school system. From there, she has taught in Shanghai and currently works in Chicago school systems. She is on strike. Her statement inspired me, and I hope sharing her statement with more ISU students will inspire your further adventure at Iowa State:

“I have to post with one clarification regarding this strike and impending contract. I don’t know everything that is happening and being said at the negotiation table. However, I have been a successful primary-grades teacher for nine years (eight in inner-city schools). The new evaluation system rates teachers in three areas, one of which is test scores using a value-added measure (which has been regarded as invalid in recent research).

“For teachers such as myself who don’t teach in a tested classroom, my value-added measure is an average score of the teachers in my building. If I am concerned about my future evaluation, why would I stay in the low-performing school I’m currently in? I could use connections and work at a school where the kids traditionally are prepared for conventional classroom practices and who grow with even mediocre teaching. Qualified teachers and instructional coaches will leave the schools that need them the most, continuing the ‘rich get richer.’

“I have chosen the students I work with and they deserve to keep qualified teachers in their buildings, which unfortunately results in a strike to fight for sustainability of veteran teachers. It’s the right thing to do, not the easy thing. We have been misrepresented in the media.

“I do hope it is resolved soon, but peaceful protesting and the right to assembly has been a powerful agent of change in our country. Let’s hope we pull it together for the families and children who are often unheard.”