If you could invite the presidential candidates to spend a day with you at your workplace, what is the most important challenge you face every day that you would want them to see firsthand?

The response was tremendous. Here is what several of you had to say:

Lahoma Jones, Roseville (Mich.) Federation of Teachers: I would like the candidates to see children who come to school hungry, unkempt, tired, and glad to be anywhere but home. Trying to teach children to read and write when they are struggling with daily survival skills at home is a real challenge.

Bunnie Woodruff, Cy-Fair (Texas) Federation of Teachers: I would like the candidates to see the time and energy that we put into our daily schedule from the minute we arrive before school begins, to the late hours when we leave. Our job is not an 8-to-4 job. Usually the planning does not even end when we leave. There is still more work to be finished when we go home to our own families.

Jeffrey Price, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers: I would like the candidates to see how difficult it is to create a proper learning environment with 33-46 students in a single class and no consequences or accountability for student misbehavior.

Michele McCoy, Volusia (Fla.) Teachers Organization: I would like the candidates to see what public education is really like. There are highly skilled, well-educated and very dedicated people trying to teach too much curriculum to kids who are not developmentally ready to handle it. We do our best to help our kids feel safe and loved. We do it without enough money for materials and supplies, without enough parental support and without support staff (like teacher aides). We do it for such a low salary that we worry about paying our basic bills each month. We are constantly told we have to do more and accomplish more but we don’t get extra funds, additional staff or additional time to reach these lofty goals. Yet, no matter how downtrodden we are, we show up the next day with a smile for each child and do it all over again.

Ellen Schneider, Chicago Teachers Union: I would like the candidates to see the effects of NCLB on education. Too many children are being left behind because of the law. There is no room to individualize instruction for the children. Teachers have to teach to the test in order to fulfill the law’s requirements so that the school will not be sanctioned.

Karen Johns, Albuquerque Teachers Federation: I would like the candidates to see the condition of school buildings, including the extensive use of portable buildings. It is pitiful that children go to school in run-down, old, out-of-date and temporary structures. The message this sends to teachers and children is that our country does not value education.

In these responses, our members reveal their commitment to improving their workplaces, their extraordinary passion for their work, and a healthy dose of outside-the-Beltway common sense. By taking a few minutes to log onto the AFT’s You Decide 2008 Web site, they also made sure their voices were heard.

I am grateful to members who have already taken the time to visit www.aft.org/youdecide2008, and I invite you to do the same.

By joining the conversation and participating in union activities, you not only determine who represents you in Congress or who your next governor is, you make our union democracy work better. And you are creating a stronger union that can help you succeed in your workplace and build a better life for your family.