An Interesting Question

An interesting question was asked of me today. "Why didn't you raise your questions when you were on the executive board?" That's a legitimate questions and one that I'm happy to address.

When I became a unit representative I attended the board meetings regularly. A constitution/bylaws document should have been given not only to me but to every SWVEA member. However, that document was not given out. In fact, I was not aware that there was one available until near the end of my second term. Ignorance is my fault. I had to request several times that a copy be given to me and it wasn't until the last day of school that I received one via interoffice mail.

At that point I began studying the document and found many, many instances where the constitution was being ignored. Many would say "So what?" Imagine what would happen if we treated the US Constitution in that manner. These are our guideline for our association. It places restrictions on actions so that the rights of all are protected.

Why would we let people run roughshod over our rights? We cannot be bullied. We can attend the June 8 meeting and start asking questions. We cannot teach our students respect for the laws of the land yet ignore our own association rules. We cannot teach our students that it is important to be participants in their own government yet bury our heads in the sand in our own association. Be active, be informed, be involved even if it's in a very small way. You are valuable.