No Justice, No Sense

I was making conversation with one of my fellow teachers as we wound our way toward the administration building downtown. I was trying to catch on to some of the chants and slogans that were being shouted out into the warm afternoon. I suggested that we try "No justice, no peace," since it seemed like a thought for this and any other time. We all savored the periodic honking of horns as citizens rushing past us showed their support. Or was it derision? It's so hard to tell with horns.
I was on my way to a "work action." Teachers from Oakland were asked to meet in front of the district offices before the school board meeting. We meandered down the sidewalks, being careful not to block driveways or intersections, many of us clad in our green shirts. We were going to rally and speak out against the proposed cuts in education in our city, state and nation. We were showing our solidarity.
I helped carry a banner that I didn't get a chance to read until I handed it off to another volunteer. I listened to the leadership of my union tell me that, contrary to the state teacher's union, we were encouraged to vote against the upcoming ballot measures meant to safeguard funding for education. I tried to make sense of it. I realized that I have been trying to make sense of this union for twelve years now, and I'm no closer than I was back in my first year of teaching. It is a very telling statistic that every one of our school's prior union representatives are no longer teaching in this district. Some of them left teaching entirely. Others just went to districts that offered more money or benefits or just more direction.
I went to some union meetings when I first started. I was impressed by how much rhetoric could be mounted on one topic, before another could be addressed. Teachers love the sound of their own voices, and sitting through a meeting with a bunch of politically directed teachers created a night of filibustering. No one could agree on the central issue of the day. Was it salary? Benefits? Class size? Social justice? No justice, no peace. No focus, no point.
Teachers don't get paid enough. That's why we have a union. We are in the middle of a recession. That's why we don't have money for education. Bailing out banks and auto manufacturers comes first. And maybe someday there will be peace in the world and the priority of our country will shift to education. And maybe someday I will stop feeling so horribly ambivalent about going to these rallies. Maybe someday it will make sense.