Support Your Teachers! A Student Perspective
Written by: Carissa Quesnell Editors: Elbethel Alemeneh, Valeria Garza
On March 26, 2024, one hundred thirty-eight certified Yakima school district employees received a letter of reduction in force. As of today, 75.5 full-time positions are being eliminated. 22 of these staff members call IKE their home. IKE has more cuts than any other school in the district. As students of these staff members, it is our responsibility to come together for them like they would come together for us. On Thursday, March 28, we need to come together and wear red in support of our staff getting let go at IKE. If you want to show your support further, join us in walking out after 5th period for a peaceful but powerful protest. The creators of this protest beg you to join us and show that, as a school, we would be nothing without our teachers.
I’m well aware that most students are nervous to walk out of the school tomorrow so I did research to hopefully ease your mind. We have every right to peacefully protest state actors like the superintendent's cabinet and the school board. As students, you have every right to assemble according to the 1st Amendment in the United States Constitution. We also have the right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. All of which we will be doing on 3/28/2024 when we protest outside the blue wall door and or wear red.
During the school board meeting on March 25th, 2024, an important member of the IKE Staff spoke. Duff DeWitt said, “Having looked at the agenda and knowing what was coming today for over a week, we had many members come here today because they wanted to know whether or not they had a job tomorrow. The dog and pony show that went on for the last 2 hours to avoid that conversation; to tell our teachers if they're going to work next year, has been an embarrassment of leadership and the failure of the balls it takes to run a district this large. Thank you.” We, as students, are embarrassed of our school district, but we could not be more damn proud of our teachers. Emy Arellano explained it best when she took to social media about what DeWitt said, “he said what needed to be said and I am proud of the teacher that spoke up. That makes me proud to be a cadet.” Duff DeWitt makes us proud to be Cadets and to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Yet I have never heard the same thing said about Superintendent Greene. Compared to Duff DeWitt, Superintendent Greene is a disappointment to the Yakima school district.
Superintendent Greene cannot make all these decisions without the help of the school board. The Yakima School District school board consists of 5 members who agreed to eliminate 75.5 positions. At the same time, they have been giving Trevor Greene a raise every year. Our school board must be called out for their uninformed spending and decision-making. Four out of five members of this board have been on for more than 5 years; one of which has been on the school board for decades, and their ideas aren’t growing with this school district. They are unable to change to benefit our teachers and students.
Real life people and families have been affected by this. One of my colleagues had the privilege to speak to Yahaira Cortez Alcantara, whose mother has been told she will be let go next year. Yahaira tells my colleague, “My mom loved her job. She worked so hard to get where she’s at, and to get laid off just like that? She hasn’t even been a teacher for 5 years. Some of the staff at her school don’t even form a connection with the students, but they get to stay. It’s so upsetting.” The families of teachers are struggling while the superintendent’s cabinet enjoys the raises they received last year. For the price of one superintendent, you get 6 teachers who are hands-on, changing the lives of hundreds of kids at IKE.
The people who are closest to our students are the ones struggling because of the administrative spending decisions. In the opinions of many, the people in charge of our school district are willing to hurt students' education before they are willing to hurt themselves. Our teachers have shown us again and again that they are willing to do whatever it takes to protect their students, and the best example of that is Hailey Adkison. Adkison is a powerful woman and role model who was willing to put herself in debt to protect her students. Adkison was recruited to be a teacher when she was 21, and when this happened, she was given a contract that included $10,000 that she was not expecting to receive. When she brought this mistake up to the person handing out contracts, they told her to sign the contract. After she signed the contract, Superintendent Greene signed it, as well as 3 other assistant superintendents. Months after this, she was told that the school district overpaid her and that she needed to pay the $10,000 back to the school district. When she brought up that it was in her contract and it was not an overpayment, they threatened her by telling her she would not coach her dance team next year if she didn’t pay them back. Adkison immediately chose her kids compared to the $10,000 mistake the school district made. Hailey decided to have debt for 3 years so she could keep coaching her dance team, and now she has been given the news that she will not have a job with the Yakima school district at the end of this year. Hailey Adkison will never receive the praise she deserves from the school district. She is a leader to whom all young women in this school look up. Including her extremely powerful dance team, who are outraged their one of a kind dance coach might be out of a job as of next year. Sydney Hager, a dance team senior, begs you to support her on the walk out when she says, “Being a part of the dance team and being fortunate enough to have a coach like mine has changed my life and my teammates for the better. She has taught me that time is limited and, with that, to live life to the fullest. She inspires kids to put nothing but love into everything that we do. Being a senior this year, I found a part of me I never knew I had, thanks to her. It feels like I’m losing a member of my family”.
Our education is not something that can just be passed by, especially when the selfish wants of our superintendents are causing a big part of this. We are embarrassed by our school district for putting our education on the line. So join us cadets on March 28, 2024, right after 5th period and outside by the blue wall to fight for our education, our life-changing teachers, and for our school district, which deserves much better administration than what it has been given. If you can't support our teachers by walking out, support them by wearing red. We can be stronger together, cadets.