By Erica Jones
MAE President

I am a second-grade teacher who is currently serving as state president for the Mississippi Association of Educators. I write to express concerns over the water crisis in Jackson.

Back-to-school time should be a joyous time for our students and educators. School supplies would normally include crayons, pencils, and notebooks. Not this year – bottled water and water containers were added to the school supply list. Why? Because our city was under a Boil Water Notice for over three weeks.

This water crisis is an education crisis. Our students deserve better. Our community deserves better.

I encourage our leaders to work together to come up with a sensible solution. Consult your teachers, your coaches, your school administrators, school support staff, your children, and grandchildren. They will tell you this is a problem that needs fixing. Now.

Here at MAE, we have a saying, “Together, we can.” I believe that together we can solve the Jackson water crisis. We are ready to do our part.