Organizing a march, etc., etc.,

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Organizing a march, etc., etc.,
By Cathy-Dee

Actually now that I look back at all the posts, etc., that have been happening I still have a lot of questions, but it seems no answers.

First.... I have organized events, my brother helps to organize conferences for over
5000 people (this is with speakers, presentations, retailers, etc.,) It does not take hundreds of people to actually organize an event. It takes a few key people to get things started, do all the ground work and then hundreds to help run the event once it is planned. From what you have written - this is something you are just beginning. Have you looked at all the logistics, etc.,

before you get hundreds of teachers signed up - what do you actually have in place other than ideas.

And if you truly want to do this, then you also need to clean up your messages - you reposted the same message a number of times with quite a few major typing/spelling mistakes, etc., I tend to take more seriously statements that are well thought out with good information and that have been proofread at least by the time they've been posted the 3rd or 4th time.

There are good school districts and bad school districts everywhere. I do not think Jan was dismissing those who do not have jobs as great as she was, but she was defending as others I sure can the fact that not all schools are under the conditions you described. This does not mean necessarily that they wouldn't support a march to help equalize teaching conditions.

So many of my questions remain the same....

1) Where are you with your plans - is this just the beginning or something you have been working on for the past year and now need more people to do the work in their areas.

2) What kind of march are you planning - all in one area or marches in a number of locations all at the same time.

3) What is the goal of the March - surely you have a mission statement by now.

4) The volunteers you are asking for now - what is it you want from them other than ideas - do you have specific goals in mind.

5) Who are you - not necessarily your name or even where you live - though I'm sure you could share the State you live in. What grade(s) do you teach, how long have you been teaching, what are your credentials. Have you organized other events? In other words help us to take you seriously.

6) Have you contacted any teacher unions, etc., to see what they think - are there legalities involved that need to be ironed out first?

7) You say you have 3 people from each State - how did you recruit them? Are they all educators? Who are they and where do they teach? The main group of organizers should have contact numbers, there should be information available on who they are, etc., if this is indeed a committee working on such a march. If one emails you would they then get this information?

I'm not questioning your heart or desire to make changes, but I am questioning whether you have the means and time to actually do something like this. It's a great idea, but... a ton of work regardless of how many supporters you end up having. If you look at the websites for the other Million marches, they have committees, they have to organize fund-raising, etc., it's a full-time job, not something you can just do after school or on weekends. Are you willing to give up your job for the next year planning this event?