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Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Santa Precaria, We Pray, Protect SFAI from Wrongdoing


Administrators, Donors, Friends of SFAI, Alumni,
Look deep into your hearts in the silence of this long night
And contemplate the insecurity of SFAI's adjuncts
Who have devoted their years and months and days
To SFAI's students and school.

Have a care, we implore you, be respectful,
And value our dignity, our long commitment to our community,
Always in the service of our students' potential.

We are brought here by the force of Contingency,
Unleashed by profiteers who gamble with the lives of educators.
Look upon us, who would foster culture, creation, and criticism
And are made the incarnation of Precarity.

Santa Precaria, tear away the veils of cynical spin and suave deception,
Move the administration into partnership with their teachers,
Bring them back into good faith negotiations,
Bring them into the light of common sense and justice for us all.

Soften the hearts of our administrators,
That they will treat us fairly.
Open the eyes of SFAI's donors and alumni,
That they will open their mouths to protest unfairness.

Santa Precaria, O merciful light in the darkness,
Watch over us in our struggles
Against the iron shackles of eternal temp work
From underemployment and unending insecurity.

Break the dead weight of our bonds and recognize our living connection
To our school and to our students.

Santa Precaria, awaken in the ones who would glory in control,
Their share in our mortal destiny, their own need of a shared world of care.

To teach is a sacred vocation,
To teach is to be generous, to be civil, to be fair,
To devote yourself to respect and to care.

Santa Precaria, guide those who are guided to administer education
To grant to the majority of SFAI's teachers the security and respect and fairness
Of real contracts and paths of advancement.

To this necessary and inevitable end we pray, Amen

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