Please join us for a panel discussion featuring four educators and rank-and-file union leaders from around the country. Our panelists will share lessons from their experience using social justice and common good demands to energize rank and file members and build community support.

They will also talk about how their unions are organizing now, in the face of the pandemic, economic recession, and now the black-led uprisings against institutionalized white supremacy.

The panel discussion will be followed by a breakout discussion about how we can apply these lessons to the conditions we are facing in Vermont today, and a final report back at the end.

Panelists include:
Jay Barbuto from Arizona.
Jay teaches 7th and 8th grade language arts at Thomas A. Edison Elementary in Phoenix, and is a lead organizer in Arizona Educators United.

Betty Collins from Oklahoma.
Betty Collins is a US History teacher and department chair at the 8th Grade Center, and served on the 6-8 Distance Learning teacher committee. She is the membership chair for her Oklahoma Education Association local and sits on the legislative committee. She is also on the PAC recommendation committee and on Oklahoma’s Every Student Succeeds Act coalition.

Molly McKay-Bryson from Boston.
Molly is a Humanities teacher and instructional coach, and member of the Boston Teachers Union and AFT. She is an active rank and file leader in the BTU’s Unafraid Educators (Immigrant Rights) and Ethnic Studies organizing committees.

Kirstin Roberts from Chicago.
Kirstin is a pre-school teacher in the Chicago Public Schools and an activist in the Chicago Teachers Union.

The panel will be moderated by Mike Leonard, a paraeducator and member of the Burlington Education Association.

Note: This event was organized and hosted by a team of rank-and-file Vermont educators and union members, but is not an official Vermont NEA sponsored event. Thanks to Champlain Valley DSA for hosting the Zoom line, and to all of our panelists for carving out time to share their experiences.
To join the meeting, follow the link or dial-in instructions below:

Join by computer:
https://dsausa.zoom.us/j/96529513391

Join by phone: +13126266799,,96529513391#

Meeting ID: 965 2951 3391