As a runner, Sara Ferguson has a pre-race routine of writing her students’ names on her jersey. “It’s so I can take you with me,” she tells them. “Because you keep me going.”

As she attended President Obama’s State of the Union address as a special guest, she was not alone. She represented all of the teachers and support staff from across the country who are struggling with too few resources and too little support, she says. “This invitation was an honor, but my dedication to education is not exceptional or unique,” she says. “Because, for all teachers, it is our students that keep us going.”

Ferguson says this commitment to quality public schools is even more important during these tough and uncertain economic times. Her school district, Chester Upland School District in Pennsylvania, has long had financial troubles. The majority of students there come from families living at or below the poverty level. More than 70 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, which is more than double the state average.

In January, things went from bad to worse. Pennsylvania’s Governor Tom Corbett cut $860 million in state funding, which meant a 14.4% drop in funds for Chester Upland. Cuts like these disproportionately hurt school districts that are already financially distressed. On top of that, state funding was cut most dramatically in the districts that needed it most.

It was then that Ferguson and others learned that the school district did not have enough money to make payroll. The 204 teachers and 64 support staff in Chester Upland were told they might not receive their paychecks.

“We were all incredibly anxious and upset,” Ferguson says. “I’m a third generation teacher, and to be told I might not be able to continue teaching my students was horrifying. We all have families to take care of, mortgages and bills to pay.”

But union leaders brought them together, and the teachers and support staff decided unequivocally to keep working as long they were able to make ends meet. “Our students had no contingency plan,” Ferguson says. “They needed to be educated, so we intended to be on the job.”

Pennsylvania lawmakers have announced an agreement with the governor that will make sure Chester Upland educators will continue to receive their paychecks. However, for this school district and many others, the problem is far from solved.

Across the country, politicians are balancing the budgets on the backs of students, and making excuses for not giving students and teachers the tools they need to be successful. Meanwhile, too many school districts are nearing a fiscal crisis which threatens their students’ academic future.

Ferguson says we need to turn these misplaced priorities on their head.

“Education must be at the top of our list, not the bottom,” she says. “To get our country back on track we need to invest in education. I was proud to hear that message from President Obama at his State of the Union Address, and to know that he understands why teachers and support staff devote our lives to our students. We need more politicians to speak up and say the same thing.”

Watch Sara Ferguson on the Ellen Show!

http://www.hulu.com/watch/325463/the-ellen-show-hero-teacher-sara-fergusons-inspiring-story

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