It takes all of us.

Recently, I read a book by Karen Zacharias titled Hero Mama. It’s a memoir describing the struggles of Karen’s mother to raise her family after her husband died in Vietnam.

Karen used to write for the Tri-City Herald. I enjoyed her columns for both their wit and colorful descriptions of her siblings and growing up in the South. From her writings, I was aware her dad had died in the war and that she was working on a project to connect with the man who was her father. She wrote about planning to go to Vietnam with a group of survivors of the war, but ran into opposition from her employers who did not see the value in giving her the time off she needed for the trip.

When I read her last column, I wrote to her, told her how much I enjoyed her work and wished her well on her project. To my surprise, her husband Tim wrote back. Karen had already left for Vietnam, but he thanked me for my kind words. It turned out he was a teacher in Oregon and we commiserated over school funding woes.

I finally met Karen on her book tour for Hero Mama. The title came from an experience she had in Vietnam. There were the usual war memorials, but one was different. It was a statue of a woman and was dedicated to the “Hero Mothers” who watched their loved ones go off to war, and then went to extraordinary lengths to maintain their families, community, and culture. Karen realized this described her mother, hence the title of her memoir.

Karen was able to embrace the dysfunction of her family, pull it close, peer into it and see that the dysfunction was imposed by circumstances beyond the control of these basically good people. She could see that while her mother was not perfect, she never gave up and in fact worked extraordinarily hard, doing her best to overcome the obstacles thrown in front of her family.

It scares me to think about the Karens in our schools today. How many are being bulldozed aside by one-size-fits-all curriculum or high-stakes standardized tests? How many are being lost in large classes? How many authors are we losing, or carpenters, or plumbers, or police officers? It’s easy to say we have high standards, but are we providing the resources needed for every student to reach those high standards? It costs a lot less to help someone become a contributing member of our community than to look away and by our inaction push them into despair.

Read the book. It took more than a heroic mother to save the family. It takes all of us.

Every voice and vote matters.

Just recently, a local leader thanked me for getting her involved in politics. I had pushed her, insisting that her members needed someone to represent them both with current office holders and with those running for office. She said she had no idea how interesting it was, or how much fun.

It got me thinking back to when I first became involved in politics. I was reading about a local election where less than 32 percent of registered voters participated. It hit me that a minority of only 16 percent was making decisions that affected 100 percent of the population. The wacky politicians who make crazy decisions that only benefit a minority are not elected by a majority of the people. They are elected by a majority of the people who show up. When you decide to stay away, you are proclaiming that it is OK with you whatever decision is made. I already voted in every election, but I realized that I wanted to be part of the decision regarding what was placed on the ballot. I became involved in politics.

How about you? Are you one of the hapless hopeless who feels you can’t make a difference and thinks it doesn’t matter who gets elected anyway? Or are you an educator whose life is wrapped around the belief that you can make a difference.

Four years ago, our governor’s race was decided by a record close 133 votes. Every voice and vote mattered. The contrast between the two candidates’ positions on education could not have been starker. One candidate had used his role in the senate to orchestrate over $1 billion in education cuts and has steadfastly refused to discuss education policy with educators, showing no concern for the increasing workload from unfunded mandates. The other candidate pledged to restore the suspended initiatives, honoring the will of the people, and to maintain ongoing discussions with educators on relevant issues. Our governor followed through on her promises. She demonstrated her integrity by her actions.

So it does matter to public education who gets elected and every vote does count. There are things you can do that will make a difference. Most important of all, vote! WEA members have three easy things they can do which will make a big difference. First, join WEA-PAC and find five friends to join with you, and help with the PAC drive. Second, sign up to help on the Gregoire phone banks being coordinated through your council. And third, join the Action Team at www.ourvoicewashingtonea.org.

You do matter and you can make a difference. If your salary, your workload, and your students matter to you, step forward and be part of the solution.