Dear Governor Ducey

Dear Governor Ducey,

Thank you for taking the time to read this, as I’m certain you are incredibly busy these days! I’m a mother of two! My daughter, Hope, is a Kindergartener (SUSD). Her class has 25 students & one amazing teacher. She has a phenomenal classroom aide part-time & some parent participation. 25 students to one classroom teacher is far too many for Kindergarten.

As a former Cartwright teacher of 9 years, I can tell you, firsthand, that overcrowded classrooms definitely affect children’s education in a very negative way. Former teacher friends currently have 41, or more, students. That’s like herding cattle. There aren’t enough desks to accommodate that many students! Please address student:teacher ratio, ASAP!

Hope’s school has cockroaches, tattered books, & outdated materials. Often times, the technology (smartboard) doesn’t work. She comes home with readers that are falling apart. Our children deserve 21st century materials & the latest & best technology. Working conditions & 21st century materials need to be addressed ASAP!

How will you ensure our schools have the latest & greatest materials & safe working conditions for our students & teachers?

Our support staff, those without a class roster: secretaries, custodians, cafeteria workers, paraprofessionals, teacher’s aides, librarians, etc. are the glue that keeps our schools together. They, too, deserve a 20% raise. Without them, our jobs as teachers wouldn’t even be possible. Support staff raises need to be addressed, ASAP!

How will you ensure that our support staff superstars get a raise, too?

Teacher retention starts with taking better care of our teachers. Make them want to stay by taking care of them 1st & making them a top priority!

Teachers are professionals & should be regarded as such. As a former teacher & a very concerned parent, there is nothing more important than our children & their education. Children are the future.

What will their futures look like without the latest technology & up-to-date materials?

Please make paying our teachers what they deserve (a 20% raise ASAP), paying our support staff what they deserve (a 20% raise ASAP), allotting a percentage for building infrastructure ASAP, & allotting a percentage for working conditions for our teachers and students ASAP number one priorities!!!

It’s our teachers spending their own money on school supplies to outfit their classrooms to provide an equal & fair playing field, it’s our teachers coming in super early & staying late due to writing engaging lessons for each & every individual student, it’s teachers spending their weekends at professional developments to learn how to be the best they can be for each of their children, it’s teachers staying late to collaborate with their colleagues to learn best teaching practices to educate their students as best they can, it’s teachers teaching after school programs to get our students caught up, it’s our teachers that are taking care of boo boo’s& being their counselors when home life is rough, it’s our teachers feeding their kids breakfast when mom & dad forgot, it’s teachers buying backpacks so their students have a place to put their homework, & it’s teachers that go into this profession with their hearts on their sleeves & compassion in their souls.

My daughter needs to get back to school. Please take care of the demands of RedForED, ASAP, so we can get our kids back to school! Please meet with us to come up with a plan, together, because we all want what is best for our kids! It takes a village, Governor Ducey! Thank you!

Sincerely,

Melissa Rosella