Veteran educators: Share your stories
As a 27-year history teacher, Ryan Furkas knows the importance of documenting the past while those who lived it are still around to tell the story.
Now that his daughter is becoming a teacher, Furkas feels urgency to share what life was like before Gov. Rick Snyder and how he destabilized the system. Otherwise, newer educators “don’t know what they never had.”
In Southgate, the Downriver community where Furkas has worked for 27 years — including 15 years as union president — the district was plunged into debt when the Republican-controlled Legislature and governor cut $470 in per-pupil funding.
In a dark time, the union agreed to “immense sacrifice” to save the district from state takeover.
Salary givebacks and step freezes cost some educators $43,000 over five years. People lost homes. The district laid off 35 employees over two years, causing class sizes to skyrocket. Student programs were cut. District-wide morale suffered.
A high school coach of football, basketball, baseball and tennis, Furkas and his wife — also a teacher in the district — tightened their belts and took extra jobs. “It hurt,” he said.
On the bright side, the crisis unified and rallied the community around its schools. Voters have since passed bond measures and a sinking fund to bring the district back to financial health.
But without stable benefits, such as paid health insurance and pension, the profession hasn’t been restored. “As a history teacher, I know history repeats itself — but not if people learn from it. Our young educators need to know what happened, so they don’t have to go through it again.”
QUOTABLES
“The secretaries being asked to do more and more should see their paychecks reflect the professionalism with which our administrators expect us to act. That’s who we are — we’re professionals.”
Melissa Kolf, union president and main office secretary at Clawson High School, notes her just-graduated-from-college son makes higher pay than she does. In fact, Kolf could not afford to stay in the job if not for her husband’s income and benefits.
Meanwhile, she’s managing a complex and essential role that involves problem-solving; emotional support for students, families and staff; and front-line security. Schools need adequate funding to fairly compensate all who contribute to educating children, she says.
Read all of the stories in our special report, ELECTIONS MATTER >> by Brenda Ortega, MEA Voice Editor:
