
In this photo, which originally appeared in the June 1977 issue of the CEA Advisor, Schortman gives advice to George DeBonis, Watertown Education Association president.
CEA sends our condolences on the passing of former CEA President Maxine Rothe Schortman to her family and friends. Schortman, who served as president of CEA in 1976-77, was a third grade teacher at Lake Street School in Vernon for 33 years and served as president of the Vernon Education Association.
During Maxine Schortman’s term as president, (CEA Presidents only served one-year terms at the time), her involvement in politics led to a meeting with Mort Mondale when his brother Walter was running for Vice President, she gave interviews to the news media about teacher lay-offs and the teacher evaluation law, and met with members to discuss issues affecting teachers across the state.
In her last CEA Advisor column as president, Schortman wrote words that still resonate with CEA members today.
“We teachers have been caught in the middle. We have been caught between the pincers of those who make the demands and set the goals of the community’s schools on the one hand, and the pincers of those who want the goals achieved without giving financial priority, human and professional freedom, unhampered lay representation and the professional recognition needed to foster such achievement.”