Thousands of supporters of providing a quality public education to New York's students are participating in the One Voice United rally in Albany tomorrow, June 8. They will be joined by AFT President Randi Weingarten, New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento and New York State United Teachers President Richard Iannuzzi. Averill Park Teachers Association President Michelle Smead wrote her Top 10 list of reasons why education professionals should join them:

10. You have realized public education is being hijacked by for-profit organizations.

9. You are tired of reading about how ineffective you are at your own profession by people who know nothing about education.

8. You believe high-stakes testing is out of control in New York.

7. You believe you have not had enough time to learn the Common Core yourself, let alone have your students tested on it.

6. You believe your students’ personal information, including their state assessment results and their IEPs and other personal data, should be kept confidential.

5. You believe your effectiveness rating should be kept confidential and don’t want a link on the district webpage to this information or directions given to get this information.

4. You believe that NYS should report to the public the amount of taxpayer money spent on developing, administering, grading and reviewing state assessments.

3. The word PEARSON makes your skin crawl.

2. You work in Averill Park (insert your own school district) and have lost about a quarter of your faculty due to unfair state budget cuts.

AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON…

1. You are a caring professional who wants the BEST public education for your own students, children and grandchildren, and you know this isn't it!

Cilento gives more details about the importance of the rally:

From Buffalo to Montauk and everywhere in between, we all share the same dream for our children; we want the next generation to have a brighter future than the generation before it. That is why working men and women—public sector, private sector and building trades—are coming together with parents and members of the community to fight for strong public education and, in turn, the future of our state. We will raise our voices for all elected leaders to hear that the impact teachers have on the lives of our children should be respected and appreciated. Together, we will fight to ensure that our schools, teachers and students receive the resources they need to succeed, and we will refocus education back where it belongs—on our children, not high-stakes testing.

The rally takes place Saturday, June 8, from noon to 2 p.m. at the Empire State Plaza, in Albany, N.Y. More details are available at the New York State AFL-CIO's website.