Our Speaker Today:

Karen Aronowitz, United Teachers of Dade

 Karen Aronowitz is the President of the United Teachers of Dade, the union that respresents 42,000 teachers and support professionals. She is in her third term and addressed our group about what she sees as the effort to dismantle public education under the mantle of reform. Ms. Aronowitz is alarmed by what is happening today, people are talking badly about teachers and people in unions, and a similar situation is happening in Florida as happened in Wisconsin. She sees an effort to decertify the union for Florida teachers by not collecting dues through payroll deduction. Ms. Aronowitz spoke about how unions promote health and safety and improve working conditions for all people, even those who are not in the union, and that a lot of what has benefited the American middle class stems from the formation of unions.

She spoke to us about current focus on education, and that we are continuing to use a model that was a failure. This is FCAT week. Ms. Aronovits says that this emphasis on the FCAT has started to undereducate students, as they must pass a minimal skills test, and scores are expected to go up every year, which becomes a statistical impossiblity to meet. In her opinion, this is an injustice to students, money is being cut to the shool systems and funding for programs that keep children learning and engaged are the first ones to be cut.

Students today will fill jobs in the future that have not been created yet. An authentic education will allow children to learn and have the flexibility to learn new technical skills. As the idea of work itself has changed, most people don't have long careers with one company, but need to develop critical thinking skills to adapt to change. As she is saddened by what is happening, Ms. Aronowitz asked for our support for a strong public school system.

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