In a rousing call to action, NYSUT Vice President Maria Neira challenged unionists to rock the boat — and be at the "center of change" for decisions affecting our workplaces.

"We've heard a lot about how we should do our jobs from CEOs, lawyers, foundations, corporate-funded think tanks and of course, the federal government," Neira said. "Well, I have a message for all those so-called experts who want to set our agenda, but have never worked a day in a school, at a college or in health care: NYSUT is in the business of rocking boats!"

Neira cited two recent examples where rocking the boat has made a big difference.

"We rocked the boat on NCLB — and believe me, we made waves," Neira said, to much applause. "As a result, momentum is building to fix the mess created by the so-called education experts in the Bush administration ... We're rocking the boat on NCLB and we can't stop until we burst the bubble of meaningless over-testing."

And just this week, Neira noted, when some New York City politicians and state school board leaders wanted to tie teacher tenure to student test scores, NYSUT rocked the boat — and defeated the misguided plan.

Neira called on members to step off the sidelines and be "at the center" of decisions that affect their workplaces, whether they work in pre-K through 12 education, higher education or health care.

"We have to make sure we're treated as real practitioners, not fill-in-the-bubble professionals," Neira said. "You know what fill-in-the- bubble professionals are? They are like the 'fill-in-the- bubble students' under no Child Left Behind: They are standardized, their creative thinking is stifled and mandates overwhelm the effective practices they know work best."

She urged unionists to take the lead in developing quality professional development and mentoring programs; making sure shared decision-making is being used effectively; and taking a good look at peer review programs as part of the goal to improve teacher quality.

"We know what happens when our voice is ignored," Neira said. "As practitioners we pay a heavy price, but the people who really suffer are the ones we serve."

As an example, Neira noted the state allows health care facilities to require nurses to work mandatory overtime. "The result is exhausted, overworked staff trying somehow to provide quality care to vulnerable patients," Neira said. "We're rocking the boat on mandatory overtime and we can't stop until patient safety is more important than profits."

Neira shared a little story to show how important it is to empower unionists and embrace accountability.

In ancient Rome, whenever one of their engineers constructed an arch, he had to be accountable for the quality of his work. The accountability was simple: As the capstone for the arch was lifted into place, the engineer had to stand under the arch.

"Great test," Neira said, to knowing laughter. "But for us, we're forced to stand under an arch built by people who don't know anything about architecture. Then we get the blame when the pieces come crashing down.

"We need to encourage our colleagues to be loud and clear in advocating for things we know are good practices," Neira said. "True accountability is done with us, not to us… Let's go out and rock that boat!"