ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 15, 1997 TAG: 9702170028
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
SINCE BECOMING president of the Roanoke Education Association, Esther Cirasunda has spoken regularly at School Board meetings on issues affecting teachers.
At Garden City Elementary School, Esther Cirasunda checks out books for children, teaches them computer skills and helps with their research on the Internet.
She has story time for the younger children, entertaining them with tales that relate to their classroom work and encourage them to read.
Cirasunda teaches the children how to use the library - it's called the Information Center in the computer age - and find books about subjects they are studying.
"I love being in here because I get to work with all of the children and all the teachers," she said. "I'm people-oriented. I like children."
But Cirasunda doesn't fit the image of a cautious, reserved school librarian.
She's not timid, not afraid to speak her mind.
In recent weeks, she has become a vocal advocate for Roanoke teachers: She has argued that they should have higher pay, stronger backing by school principals in discipline cases and more support by the School Board on grievances.
Since becoming president of the Roanoke Education Association in November, Cirasunda has spoken regularly at School Board meetings on issues affecting teachers.
She has accused board members and Superintendent Wayne Harris of breaking their promise to provide 6 percent pay raises for teachers next year.
She has called for the appointment of a task force that would include teachers, parents and community leaders to study discipline and the climate in schools.
Cirasunda said she was angered by some board members' suggestions that teaches are "slackers" who abuse the sick leave policy.
"Teachers are dedicated professionals who do get sick and are under many stresses in an urban setting," she said.
Teachers are so upset about salaries and other issues that they may seek a referendum on switching to an elected school board, she told the board.
Some board members have accused Cirasunda of trying to use the threat of an elected school board as leverage to pressure them to approve teachers' requests.
In recent years, most presidents of the organization have kept a relatively low profile and rarely criticized the board.
Cirasunda said she doesn't intend to confront or offend school officials, but she wants them to understand teachers' concerns.
"I'm not complaining. I just want them to know what the situation is, and this is my way of doing it," she said.
Cirasunda's heroes are her mother and Harry Truman. And that may partly explain why she has been so outspoken.
"My mom told me to tell the truth and to stand up for what's right," Cirasunda said. "She taught me to be a fighter."
And Cirasunda said she got her "give 'em hell" style from the former president.
"Like him, I think you ought to be up-front with people," she said. "Don't go behind people's backs. Tell them the truth."
She said that's her personality and style - she makes no apology for it.
Cirasunda, 46, has been a fighter and survivor since she was a teen-ager in Pulaski.
When she was 14, her father died. She had to help her mother raise two younger brothers and a sister. She also had an older brother. Her mother had to get a job to help feed the family.
"I had to take care of the kids. I had to cook and look after them because my mom was working," she said.
Cirasunda also worked part time as a waitress and at other jobs while attending high school. She was a straight-A student and a member of the National Honor Society.
All five children in the family attended college by working at part-time jobs to help pay tuition and other expenses. Cirasunda graduated from James Madison University and earned a master's degree at Radford University.
"No one handed me anything," she said. "We worked our way through school."
Cirasunda said her mother is still an inspiration to her and continues to motivate her to stand up for what she thinks is right. Her mother is 71, a cancer survivor, and a rabid fan and season ticket holder for the Roanoke Express hockey team.
"My whole family is outspoken," she said. "We get that from mom."
Cirasunda had cancer herself about 10 years ago and missed 110 days from school. But she has been cancer-free for years.
She is the mother of two daughters: Laura, a student at Virginia Western Community College; and Jessica, a senior at Patrick Henry High School.
Cirasunda said her parents instilled a love of music in their children. Both played the guitar and sang.
"When we were young, mom used to put us in front of the television each morning to watch [bluegrass and country music singers like] Don Reno and Red Smiley," she said.
Cirasunda sang in her high school choir and the James Madison University concert choir. Her older brother also sang, and a younger brother had his own band.
She had planned to be a teacher when she went to college and is certified to teach the elementary grades. But she got interested in library work and found that she loved it.
She does some teaching in summer school, and she works on the city's homework hot line for students one night a week.
Teachers, particularly those in urban areas such as Roanoke, have a tougher job than they did 15 to 20 years ago, Cirasunda said.
"We do more than just teach now. We have to feed the children, care for them and provide them emotional support," she said.
She recalled that when she was a summer school teacher during the 1980s, she would use her own money to buy milk and doughnuts for children in the mornings. The youngsters would come to school without breakfast, she said.
"If a kid is hungry, he can't get started in the morning and he can't learn," she said. "I used to buy a gallon of milk and a box of doughnuts for my students.''
The city will have to keep raising salaries in order to retain good teachers who will be willing to work in the urban environment, she said. "It's getting tougher and tougher as they deal with more discipline problems."
Cirasunda has been active in the REA throughout her 23 years as a librarian for Roanoke schools. She worked in Botetourt County two years before coming to Roanoke.
She doesn't view the REA as a union, although it is an affiliate of the National Education Association, the largest teachers union in the country. Unlike their counterparts in many states, Virginia's teachers don't have the right to collective bargaining and can't strike.
She views the REA as a professional organization that tries to improve public schools and upgrade teachers' skills. Some of the best educational workshops she has ever attended were sponsored by the NEA and Virginia Education Association, she said.
Cirasunda said she will continue to pursue other issues affecting teachers, such as discipline and sick leave policy, regardless of the board's decision on salaries.
She said her goal is to improve Roanoke's school system. "I live in Roanoke, I work in the city, my children went to school here, and my family lives here. I want it to be a better place."
LENGTH: Long : 136 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS STAFF. 1. Librarian Estherby CNBCirasunda scans third-graders' books at Garden City Elementary
School. color. 2. Melinda Newbill, 9, a third-grader at Garden City
Elementary, hugs Esther Cirasunda on Thursday.