Welcome back from winter recess and welcome to 2012!

I hope the past two weeks provided you everything you hoped for and a much-needed respite from the stress of teaching in the age of high-stakes testing. Only those working in the trenches of public education could fully understand what it means to be a teacher in 2012. Floods, tornadoes, conflagrations, and earthquakes predicted by the Mayans, Nostradamus, and Hollywood are nothing compared to the elemental perils already faced by the heroes and heroines in today’s classrooms:

Water – As early as 1995, education scholar Frank Smith correctly declared public education a disaster comparing it to the Titanic, doomed to sink under the weight of high-stakes testing solutions devised by politicians and other meddlesome people.

Air - As if NCLB didn’t jam the hazardous waterways with enough high-stakes testing flotsam, a stiff Chicago wind blew in with the Race to the Top which instigated SB1040 and more hot air (even for politicians) than one could imagine.

Fire - Burnout’s symptoms of exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy are not like stress, which, like the tide, comes, then goes. Whether suffered by teachers or students, burnout interferes with optimal cognitive performance, its serious consequences lost on blowhards who dismiss concern for stress and burnout despite having little or no experience working as a teacher in today’s classrooms.

Earth – In each high-accountability classroom stands a teacher whose dedication and commitment to students defines the rubber meeting the road and what it means to be a hero.

I start my 2012 with a thank you to every classroom teacher. Thank you for your commitment to public education and the students you serve. May the year provide you endless supplies of the resilience necessary to keep you safe from test practice and focused on the best practice which you know as the authentic way to help your students learn and love learning.

I especially want to thank every SEA member for understanding that your dues produce victories at local, state, and national levels, define you as a member of your professional organization and an educator who stands up for quality education. I am proud to stand with you and thank you for your continued support.

Anne Hanson, SEA President

Educators united for the purpose of improving the professional lives of each member