I've written before in this space that one of the things I love about my position — and there are many — is the opportunity it provides to visit members, locals, schools and other worksites throughout our great state. It's always heartwarming to see and hear about the good work we're doing out there, be it in a rural, upstate town or the heart of Brooklyn.

Local union leaders, in addition to bringing me up to speed on their concerns, are always eager to show me what our members are doing. They're proud to show how they're making a difference every day, helping students to succeed, patients to heal and communities to prosper.

But, occasionally, I encounter a situation that is heart-wrenching, often frustrating and sometimes preposterous. That's what happened on a trip last month to Buffalo, where I met with Ellis Woods and the executive committee of the Buffalo Education Support Team and with the Buffalo Teachers Federation's longtime leader and president, Phil Rumore, and addressed the BTF Delegate Assembly.

• Related story: School violence sparks outrage in Buffalo

Phil shared with me a bizarre story that left me shaking my head and, at the same time, reminding me how important a strong union really is.

The incident involved a cold and calculated assault on a student by several other students resulting in the injury of a teacher who came to the student's aid (see back page). Buffalo Superintendent James Williams took it upon himself to personally return the students to school.

Let me quote from Buffalo News columnist Donn Esmonde, who expresses an appropriate outrage shared by many others in his community:

"Superintendent James Williams' response to a November assault at the Academy for Visual and Performing Arts gave logic a beating. Six seniors plotted with friends to divert school security. Then they attacked a targeted student in chemistry class.

"Teacher Bob Kurasiewicz was badly hurt in the melee. School officials believe he will retire rather than return — costing kids an excellent teacher and putting a sad punctuation on a fine career.

"I don't know which was worse, that attack in the classroom or the assault on common sense."

He's right — common sense was one of the victims in this sad incident. In fact, violence in schools has many victims, including the good kids who are there to learn. That's why NYSUT has been steadfast in its support of programs — and funding for those programs — aimed at stopping bullying and harassment; fostering an environment of trust and communication; and increasing the presence of caring, well-trained adults, like teachers, nurses, counselors, social workers and psychologists.

Project SAVE

When NYSUT's annual convention convenes next month, delegates will be asked to consider a resolution that demonstrates our continued support for the Safe Schools Against Violence in Education Act, or Project SAVE.

Our resolution calls on the state to: fund alternate settings for students who have been removed from the classroom; increase funding for violence prevention programs, additional school-based mental health services and professional development on Project SAVE; provide training to help teachers understand their rights to remove disruptive students; and include input from teachers and their unions in the development of school safety plans and in the reporting of violent incidents to the state.

I expect our convention delegates will have a lot to say when we put forward the SAVE resolution, and then I expect they'll enthusiastically support it.

Crumbling buildings

As we address the personal safety of our members and our students, we must also consider the buildings and campuses where they work.

In 2005, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave a "D" to America's schools on its "Infrastructure Report Card."

As the American Federation of Teachers' excellent report, "Building Minds, Minding Buildings," points out: "Every weekday, millions of children and school staff spend the day in buildings that can make them sick, injure them or diminish their productivity. The root causes of these problems are lack of attention to maintenance/operations and inadequate funding."

Nearly 1,000 teachers and SRPs surveyed reported conditions "that at best are highly disruptive to learning and at worst are dangerous and make serious learning impossible."

The AFT has made a series of sensible recommendations designed to "turn crumbling schools into environments of learning." And, while it sounds like a monumental undertaking, some school districts have had success in upgrading their infrastructure and establishing a protocol for those upgrades. The AFT report cited several NYSUT locals — including the United Federation of Teachers and the Newark locals — that have been particularly active, and successful, on this issue.

Again, demonstrating how important a strong union really is.

Celebrating Women's History Month

In January, I was invited to travel to Washington to witness the swearing-in of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and first-time Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand: one with a great deal of experience and the other in her first elected position.

While visiting Rep. Gillibrand's office, I joined her staff in viewing the swearing-in of Nancy Pelosi as America's first woman speaker of the House.

All of these moments, and the phrase "Madam Speaker," go a long way in summing up how much there is to celebrate during Women's History month this year!

On Senator Clinton

As long as it's Women's History month, I can't help but note that it takes a half-dozen male presidential candidates to try to get the only female candidate to "apologize" for her 2002 vote on the Iraq War. Given that it's Sen. Clinton, I guess it's almost fair — but she still has the edge!

In 34 years of teaching, I needed to make many decisions about students based on what I knew at the end of the first and second marking periods. This, of course, changed as I gathered more information as the school year progressed and had more interactions with each individual student. In some cases, my early decision was incorrect — underestimating or overestimating a student's ability based on data on hand at the time, incomplete or simply wrong.

I didn't spend the rest of my year, or years, apologizing or saying "I told you so." I never thought I should apologize for decisions I needed to make at a given point in time; in fact, most were learning experiences that better prepared me as a teacher.

I learned to move on and, as with many of you, the value of experience improved my ability to make wise and appropriate judgments later on.

Just a thought — my thought.