Friends:
As we look to the future and determine what shape MAE’s advocacy work will take, we know that — regardless of the specific nature of those efforts — it remains imperative we collect your stories and continue to raise up the voice of Mississippi’s educators.
Although we celebrate the history-making victory of teacher pay raises, we’ve been thinking a lot about how public education advocacy moves forward from this point. While we have certainly been presented with issues unique to a pandemic, many of the most difficult challenges we’ve been asked to navigate are problems that have long plagued public education in Mississippi. Whether it’s a lack of technology and connectivity or dilapidated buildings or limited resources in the classroom, we know these aren't new problems.
We will not sit on our 2022 Legislative laurels, we intend to take on these systemic issues going forward.
To that end, we’ve decided to continue collecting your stories. Using an app called Storyvine, we’ll now be able to efficiently and meaningfully capture your experiences in the classroom and package your responses in short videos. All we need in return is for you to share your perspective on several critical questions:
1) What challenges do you face as a result of a lack of resources?
2) What kinds of resources would help the most?
3) If you had an opportunity to talk to state leaders and lawmakers, what would you want them to know?
Sharing your answers to these questions is an incredibly easy process. You’ll simply visit this link to register as a user and download the Storyvine app to your phone. From there you’ll enter your email address and record your responses. They’ll then be sent to MAE headquarters where we’ll use your stories to better inform the work we do and the work we ask our state leaders and lawmakers to do. Your stories will help decisionmakers better understand what’s at stake in our classrooms and for the future of our state.
If you have questions or need assistance, please contact Pam Johnson, director of public affairs, at [email protected].
Thank you for the work you do in our schools and communities, and for being willing to share your stories with us and those who make decisions about us.
In solidarity,
Erica Jones
MAE President
