Dear Members,
Happy New Year! Wow, it’s 2020. I can hardly believe it. I have been a lifelong fan of science fiction and grew up on Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein. In the annals of science fiction, these are the years when space operas play out, the years when robots have either enslaved us all or freed us from all toil. Such imaginations we have! So much of what we dreamed of has happened, yet so very little.
Technology is indeed remaking our world. We carry very high-powered computers in our pockets that masquerade as telephones. The internet and automation have impacted almost every profession and industry. Robots have indeed remade manufacturing and are making inroads into other industries. Those of us over 50 stand shocked and amazed while those under 30 grin and say, “Okay, Boomer.”
Despite all this technology, all this change, much remains the same. We all still love our children and fight for them. We want to both protect and prepare them. We want the world to be a better place for their lives to be easier than ours.
This, of course, is where PTA comes in. I have learned so much in the year I have served as the executive director of the Washington State PTA. The power of PTA is quite extraordinary. It has meant the difference between children in factories and children in schools. In our 112 year history, we have successfully advocated for so much at the federal and state. And we are not done.
Your children need you to advocate on their behalf in the schools and the school districts. They need you to let state legislators know that PTA is a critical and robust voice in service to our children and schools. With 128,000+ members, ours is one of the loudest voices in Olympia. I hope that you can join us on Focus Day when we meet with legislators. They want to hear from you. They want to know you. They can only serve us if they know what we want. Please join us there on January 20.
While I do not yet have a jetpack or live on Mars, I have become an active member of a global community working for a better future for our children. Incredible. Thank you for joining me on this journey.
May 2020 be the best year of your life!
Andrew L. Estep
WSPTA Executive Director