In 2005, in my first address as NYSUT president, I told the assembled delegates that "our strength is in our pluralism." I cannot recall a time since that those words have rung as true as they do today. Each of our professions is at a crossroads. The economic and political realities we face today make it critical that we act to support one another and to take charge of our professions before others — some well-meaning, but many not — define our professions for us.

This is as true for health care workers, where the debate over reform will define the nature of the delivery of services, as it is for employees in government service and not-for-profits, where budget cuts threaten the very existence of critical social services.

It is as true for early-childhood education threatened by the relaxation of regulations as it is for higher education, where public colleges and universities are constantly told to do more with less.

And, this is especially true in K-12 education as our teachers and support professionals navigate the maze of educational reform, attempting to distinguish meaningful change from misinformed schemes. A curious alignment — or misalignment — of events has created this situation: the worst recession in our nation's history and the election of a well-intentioned administration in Washington.

Ironically, at a time when there is a growing awareness of the scope of the achievement gap and its roots in economic and social conditions, states find themselves in economic stress not experienced in decades. And, while the administration in Washington is committing unprecedented resources toward improving educational opportunities for every child, at this point, their efforts appear to be too narrowly focused on elements that, although of value, are far from the whole answer.

In responding to the administration's priorities for grants through the Race to the Top program, for example, NYSUT raised concerns about what we considered over-reliance on test scores, undervaluing professional development, a narrow focus on charter schools, a dependence on alternative certification routes and a compressed timeline for arriving at common national standards and assessments. While acknowledging that each of these has a place in addressing the educational challenges we face, we must also examine other legitimate opportunities to create educational excellence. We should not limit by either rewarding or denying resources linked to these, or for that matter any other narrow field of options, our ability to be creative and innovative in striving for educational excellence.

Indeed, to take charge of our profession, we must be willing to develop and accept sound, research-based changes even when they make us uncomfortable; we must be willing to reject unwise changes; and we must develop the skills to demonstrate the difference.

This is certainly true in the debate over defining what constitutes teacher effectiveness, one of the most significant — if not the most significant — factor in improving student achievement.

But, once we accept this link between the two, we must also acknowledge the viability of student achievement data when identifying teacher effectiveness. We know that teacher effectiveness should never be defined by student test scores alone, but we also know that student performance cannot be ignored. If we wish to take charge of our profession, we need to actively participate in developing a model that includes student performance as one factor in measuring effective teaching practices.

A similar role must be accepted with respect to charter schools. Research clearly shows that some charter schools exceed the performance of similar regular public schools.

While the research also demonstrates that the performance of most charters is the same or below (with some significantly below) similar regular public schools, we should not deny the successes. As we move, hopefully, toward a system of real accountability and transparency for charter schools and examine ways to keep funding issues from devastating local school districts or charters, we need to examine closely where there is real improvement.

Again, to take charge of our profession is to recognize practices that are closing the achievement gap and replicate these successes.

While student test scores and charter schools are grabbing the headlines, we know that to accurately examine teacher effectiveness and student achievement, we must go well beyond these factors. Teacher preparation, internships and mentoring, as well as the role peers can play in intervention and review, must be examined when measuring teacher effectiveness. Likewise, the work of community schools, magnet schools and other experimental schools within existing school districts must be taken into account when recognizing successful schools. Taking charge of our profession means critically examining all the successes and failures with an eye toward offering well-thought-out innovations that demonstrate the likelihood of improved student performance.
None of this will be easy.

Taking charge of our profession will require us to lead in proposing and embracing needed changes. Changes that can increase the chances that every child — no matter race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or economic condition — will have an equal opportunity to receive an excellent education and changes that will increase our ability to close the achievement gap. Taking charge of our profession also means offering cogent arguments for rejecting change — no matter who or where it comes from — if, in our professional judgment, that change will lessen the availability of quality educational opportunity.

As with education, each of our professions is at a crossroads that can only be traversed safely if, when given the opportunity, we have the will to take responsibility for our work. For all our professions, taking charge is not about defending the status quo because it is the status quo, nor is it about being the bluest of blue states or looking at the ideas of others — in Washington or Albany — through rose-colored glasses.

Taking charge of our professions is about being true to our mission, true to our principles, true to our professions and, most importantly, true to ourselves.