End School Privatization

 By Jamaal A. Bowman

Originally published on his blog here https://jamaalabowman.wordpress.com/2016/11/24/end-school-privatization/

 

I have many friends and colleagues that I admire and respect who work for charter schools. I have no doubt that they love children and would give their lives to transforming our highest need communities. 

My friends and colleagues have no problem working in charter schools partly because far too often, because of the convoluted bureaucracy, public schools get in their own way. As a result, many children have suffered. This is not the public-school norm; as the propaganda machine of privatization would lead us to believe. Through their control of media and political influence, a new “common sense” has been created. Public schools are failing, while charter schools are thriving. The reality is, on average, public and charter schools perform about the same on achievement tests.

From the moment I began to pursue my school building leadership license, I knew I wanted to lead a public school. I don’t know why, but charter schools felt very corporate and elitist to me at the time. After my residency at an Achievement First charter school, my presumptions were just the tip of the iceberg. Not only were charter schools corporate and elitist, but they were also abusive. 

At my Achievement First residency, breakfast and lunch were silent for children. Hallway transitions were also silent. In classrooms, students had to use specific hand signals to ask questions and use the restroom. In my professional opinion as a certified teacher, school counselor, and building principal, these policies are child abuse. Achievement First is not the only charter school that implements these so called zero tolerance policies. The same practices are applied at schools like Democracy Prep, and Success Academy charter schools.

Some conservatives might read this and think it is okay to treat children this way because kids are “out of control” and need order. From my perspective, I wonder why children in white communities are not treated this way, while a black child’s pedagogy has to revolve around some form of oppression; especially considering most of the charter organization’s leadership is white.

Another important point is the fact that charter school environments seem to be abusive to teachers as well, as teacher attrition at charter schools is tremendously high.

Since my time at Achievement First, I’ve learned an awful lot about the political and financial incentives associated with the charter school movement. I’ve learned that this movement is not about charter schools and student learning, it is about the privatization of America and a pedagogy of oppression for the masses. Charter schools in general are non-union entities, and not only are they exceedingly unregulated by the state and thus prime for corruption, their teachers do not have the ability to collectively bargain — which is the bedrock of any healthy democracy. 

Teacher unions are arguably the strongest remaining union in the country. If they are defeated, America will be fully privatized and our democracy will officially be an oligarchy. There are many who would argue that democracy is already dead in America as we have elected a corporation, Donald Trump, into the presidency. Judging by president-elect Trump’s initial moves, he is following the conservative playbook, and his choice for education secretary is no different. Trump, like his conservative base, wants to privatize and control all of the institutions, people, and resources of our country and the world. 

Just look at our economic divide and all that has contributed to it. Wall Street took control of the housing market through mortgage backed securities, and collapsed the economy; while a percentage of the 1% gained enormous additional power and wealth in the process. Citizens United’s unlimited investment in elections, tips the scales of our democracy in favor of the wealthiest. Lobbying by the wealthy over the last forty years has created policy, like reversing Glass-Stegall, that has made the banks our masters and us the economically enslaved. Bank CEO’s along with oil tycoons, are the richest and most powerful individuals in the world.

Now they are coming for our schools; the last domino to fall in the global privatization equation. Once they take over public schools and destroy the teacher unions, we will be a racist oligarchy led by the wealthy elite. This is Donald Trump’s mission and plan.

I wonder how the blue collar hard right (alt-right) Trump supporters perceive their place in the privatization equation. Will all the new jobs go to them, and allow them to sustain their place in a class system above certain “undesirable” groups? Do they care about the core of our democracy; freedom, being taken away, or are they more concerned with their ability to oppress Blacks, Latinos,Jews, Asians, and Arabs?

Back to charter schools for a moment, for the charters that perform well, not only is their curriculum linear and narrow, they have also implemented a system to ensure that only the savvy parent with the right social capital could handle the rigors of the charter school application and enrollment criteria. I would also like to see some of the data of the students before they transfer to the charter schools. Were they at or near “proficient” on state tests? The point here is, charters do not work for all kids and parents.

The weapon of choice for public Ed privatizers is standardized tests. High stakes standardized tests, forces schools to implement a test prep curriculum. Test prep learning involves the rudimentary learning of isolated information, with little to no opportunity for understanding concepts, connections, big ideas and complex systems. This method of schooling creates a populace that’s cognitively compromised, and vulnerable to oppression. Creativity, evaluation, authentic problem solving, collaboration, agility, initiative, and leadership, all skills necessary to thrive in a healthy democracy, are absent from the standardized testocracy as the brilliant Jesse Hagopian (you have to watch his Ted Talk) refers to it. Ironically, the schools where the privatizers send their children, do not administer annual high stakes standardized tests and implement innovative curricula and pedagogy.

The same standardized testing weapon was also very popular during the eugenics movement. That movement was designed to “prove” that certain races and groups of people were inferior and thus it was okay to oppress, neglect, disenfranchise, and reject them. The strategy goes as follows: mistreat and oppress a group, underfund their institutions, put guns and drugs into their communities, then give them a test to show how much they don’t know. Create anguish and a low sense of self-worth over time and the people will beg for you to come and save them — enter charter schools, de-unionization and the privatization of America. 

They want to control us. They want to disempower us. They want a dictatorship. And now they have a conservative republican president, a republic senate, and a republic house, with a conservative republican Supreme Court judge on the way. The conservative oligarchy has risen, will the rest of us put aside our differences, unite, and fight like hell to save ourselves and our country?

A Thank You To Teachers. I See You.

A Thank You To Teachers. I See You.

By:  Julie Borst

Originally published on her blog here https://elfasd.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-thank-you-to-teachers-i-see-you.html

I wish parents could see their children's teachers outside of school. We've all been bathed in the "bad teacher" narrative for so long that when someone mentions a "bad teacher" we just do the head nod. Fortunately, for all of us, that narrative is largely false. Before someone sends me hate mail, of course there are people who should be doing something else, just as you find in any workplace. Understand, that "bad teacher" narrative has a specific purpose...but that's for another blog post. I want to talk about teachers today.

I'm very lucky to know a lot of teachers through my activism. I have very deep respect for them, because not only do they care very deeply about their students and profession, they are also willing to fight like mad to make sure public education is there for everyone's children. That is not just fluff-talk. Some put in long hours researching and writing to educate all of us (some of my favorite teacher-bloggers: Mark Weber, Peter Greene, Marie Corfield, Russ Walsh), some head up volunteer organizations that lift up students, and teachers, and public education (like Marla Kilfoyle, Denisha Jones, Michael Flanagan, and Melissa Tomlinson), some write amicus briefs for the US Supreme Court, and others take the time to do professional development work beyond what their districts provide. They do all of these things on their own time and with their own money. No one is paying them to use their voice for their students and for their profession.  

Which brings me to this year's NJEA Convention. I love going and talking with teachers about what they are doing in their classrooms, what they're excited about, what their students are excited about, and what their concerns are. It's also fun to walk the floor and see what the latest and greatest toys, books, tech, and programs are being sold to teachers. 

Even with the fancy bells and whistles of the tech stuff, the booksellers' booths are always the busiest. Especially the ones who sell books for the lower grades. After grabbing a late lunch with a friend, we noticed a very long line which snaked across a couple of aisles. We asked what they were all standing in line for, expecting it to be a book signing, but it turned out they were waiting for free books for their classrooms. Free books. For your kids. On a day off. The line was at least 200 people long. I want to share with you a few pictures of the line because you should see what your children's teachers do for them. 

From top to bottom: the beginning of the line, to all the way around, to you can't see the end of the line - which was a couple of aisles over from the start. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the little chalk board announcing the times of the giveaways. This line was a good 10-15 minutes before the giveaway started. I hope the pictures "speak a thousand words."

So, on the eve of Thanksgiving...thanks to Maddie's teachers. You know who you are, the ones who put in the extra time, who cared enough to learn more about her and the way she learns, who stood up for her and her rights as a student. Thanks for your patience and your resilience.

I see you.  

MythBuster: Do We Have a “Government-Run Education Monopoly”?

By Steven Singer, Director of BATs Research/Blogging

Originally posted on his blog here https://gadflyonthewallblog.wordpress.com/2016/11/23/mythbuster-do-we-have-a-government-run-education-monopoly/

“There’s no failed policy more in need of change than our government-run education monopoly, and you know that’s exactly what it is.”

With these words, candidate Donald Trump unleashed his K-12 education policy at a campaign stop in September, two months before winning the general election.

In the speech, the former reality TV star and current President-elect vowed to spend $20 billion in federal tax dollars to encourage more charter and voucher schools nationwide.

It remains his most concrete executive policy offering to date. Yet it’s based on this characterization of public schools as a “government-run education monopoly.”

One wonders – is it true? Do we really have such a thing here in the U.S. or is it just propaganda to boost an unpopular education scheme?

The devil, it seems, is in the details.

The answer is both yes and no: Yes, public schools are government-run. No, they’re not a monopoly.

First, let’s consider “government-run.” Everything the government does from paving the roads, to delivering mail, to protecting us from invaders is “government-run.” The military is government-run. Would you rather a foreign power tell our soldiers what to do? Congress is government run. Would you rather big business come in and decide all our laws?

In that same spirit, yes, our public schools are indeed government run. But who else should run them? Russia!? The Mafia!? A media cabal?

In emphasizing the role of government in education, Trump appears to be trying to stoke the fires of anti-government sentiment. There is certainly a lot of that going around, deservedly so given the way the federal government has encroached on the states, the states have encroached on local government, etc.

However, public schools are not essentially federally-run schools, nor are they state-run schools. They are subject to federal and state mandates, but the major decisions about what happens in your neighborhood schools are made by your duly elected school board. They are not controlled by some nameless, faceless government bureaucracy. They’re controlled by you, your friends and neighbors – people you voted for and who are held accountable every few weeks at open meetings.

That, too, is government.

It’s not Big Brother. It’s Howdy Neighbor.

Let’s turn now to the “Monopoly” part.

A monopoly is the complete control of the supply or trade in a commodity or service. To put it in terms of the titular Parker Brothers board game, you have a monopoly when you own both Boardwalk and Park Place – you’re in control of what happens to all the dark blue properties. However, if you don’t have titles to BOTH, you don’t have a monopoly, and therefore can’t buy houses, hotels or charge double the normal rent.

Therefore, there is no education monopoly – no one has complete control of all the various kinds of schools. There are private schools, home schools, magnet schools, charter schools, even voucher schools. No one owns them all, no one tells them all what to do.

Yes, you could say that the overwhelming majority of them are public schools, but so what? That’s not a monopoly. There are far more personal computers out there than Macs. That doesn’t mean PCs have a monopoly on the field.

Once again, the term “monopoly” is meant to stir anti-government sentiment. We are meant to balk at the degree to which government – local government – is in control of our education system.
I’m sorry, but there is nothing objectionable about schools being controlled at the local level.

Are you upset by federal intrusions in school policy? Me, too.

Are you reeling about unfunded federal mandates? Me, too.

Are you angry about states sweeping in and stealing local control from impoverished inner city parents? Me, too.

But I’m just not one bit upset about being allowed a say in how my tax dollars are spent at my community school district. If you ask me, that how things SHOULD BE.

But Trump is proposing we change it. He’s proposing exactly the same kind of federal intrusion that drove many of us up the wall when it was done by President Barack Obama.

Obama used the Department of Education to bribe cash-strapped states into adopting Common Core. And now Trump wants to do the same thing with charters and voucher schools.

Excuse me, but it’s not the federal government’s job to dangle money in front of state legislatures with strings attached. The Department of Education is supposed to ensure all schools have adequate funding. It’s not supposed to tell us how we should be running our schools unless we’re breaking the law or violating students civil rights.

But what about parental rights? Shouldn’t parents be allowed to choose a school for their own children?

Heck no.

Hear me out. When you fall down the steps in your home alone, do you get to choose which governmental service comes to help you, or do you just call 9-1-1? When you need the police, do you get to choose officers from halfway across the state or make do with your local boys in blue? When your house catches on fire, do you shop around or call the nearest fire station?

It’s called a community for a reason. You’re a part of it, for better or for worse.

Our grandparents never thought they were so entitled they could pick and choose what governmental service should meet their needs. They joined the army, not Blackwater. They called the fire department where they volunteered. And they sent their kids to the local public school.

Yes, some public schools are better than others – which is just another way of saying that some are better funded. THAT is a problem we need to fix at the local, state and federal level. That’s something the President and Congress and our Governors and our state legislatures should actually be working on. But instead of meeting the real needs of their constituents, they’re too busy with all this choice nonsense.

Why? It’s a scam.

We’re talking Donald Trump here – founder of Trump University. He just settled out of court for $25 million for a fake business school that defrauded students out of hundreds of millions of dollars. If there’s one thing he knows, it’s a good scam.

Think about it.

Expanding charter and voucher schools, reduces accountability to taxpayers. These “choice” schools rarely are governed by elected school boards. They don’t have to abide by the same kinds of transparency standards as traditional public schools. They can spend our tax dollars in almost anyway they want behind closed doors, and there’s nothing we can do about it. In fact, there have been a rash of high profile scandals where charter and voucher operators have defrauded the public out of millions of dollars.

Who wants to expand that? Criminals!

Not me. I’m a taxpayer. I want a full account of how my money is spent, and most voters are with me.

We didn’t just vote for President a few weeks ago. Many states held referendums on whether to expand charter schools or not. In every case, voters decided against it.

But does Trump care? No way. This proposed school choice policy is yet another example of the federal government ignoring the will of the people in favor of wealthy donors hoping to further enrich themselves at public expense. It opens the door for profiteers to keep stealing our money.

And they justify it by offering a false choice:

Hey parents, they say. Want to enroll your children in a school with little to no accountability, a school you may not be able to afford unless you spend some of your own money in addition to the tuition you get from the state, a school that can turn you down for whatever reason including race, religion or nationality, a school that may very well be no better and often much worse than a traditional public school?

But they spin it, offering slick commercials and preying on the ignorant and hopeless. That weakens the traditional public schools because it means a loss in revenues. Therefore, the public schools get worse, which is a reason for more parents to try the ‘choice’ schools, etc. It’s an endless cycle where students lose but investors in for-profit schools win.

Invariably, it leads to a further social stratification of schools. The rich go to the best schools, the middle class to the middling schools and the poor to the substandard ones. You think we’ve got segregated schools now, wait until Trump’s school choice policies! It’ll benefit the Nazis of the alt-right who want more white flight, but most kids will lose.

Such a policy does not represent the best of America. This country was founded on the principles of working together. We haven’t always lived up to it, but our ideals are ones of shared sacrifice, community and brotherhood. Trump’s education policy is about selfishness and greed.

That’s your real choice. Which will it be?

“TEACHER, WHO DID YOU VOTE FOR?”

By:  Jennifer Bradley 

Originally published on her blog https://beyondthestoplight.com/2016/11/14/teacher-who-did-you-vote-for/?iframe=true&theme_preview=true ·

Teacher, who did you vote for?

That question was the most compelling and gut-wrenching question I heard asked in hallways and classrooms the morning after the election. 

I’ve been an educator for over 25 years. That means I’ve been one of the adults in school buildings the day after the last six elections. There is always dialogue about democracy, respecting the will of the people, unifying the country, etc.After every election, some students and educators are happy with the results, and some are not.

Yet as we’ve all come to agree on by now, this time is radically different. There are so many stories and posts and articles on this difference, that adding my perspective to the chorus felt ridiculous. 

I’ve read about hate incidents, about protests and platforms, safety pins and classroom notes, and everything in between. But I haven’t read much about one simple question and how very differently it was asked this time around.

Teacher, who did you vote for?

Walking through the hallway of a K-8 urban charter school the morning after, I heard that question asked of so many teachers as they greeted shaken students in the hallways, and my student teachers noticed it as well. They noted that the question was asked, not with a child’s fleeting curiosity (as I’ve heard after previous elections), but with a genuine sense of urgency and concern. 

Teacher, who did you vote for?

As one of my student teachers pointed out, this question felt like a litmus test. Students weren’t just curious. Ten weeks into the school year and the day after the election of Donald Trump, they were suddenly cautious and guarded around her. In a school with 75% students of color, this white student-teacher felt as though they were trying to assess not just where she stood politically, but if they could trust her. 

Am I safe with you? 

After all of the scary messages of the campaign, about policing, deporting, sexually assaulting, mocking, demeaning, and disrespecting, the students didn’t just want to know who teachers had voted for, they wanted to know if their teachers can be trusted. They want to be assured that the person at the front of the room isn’t secretly supporting rhetoric and policies targeting them. They want to know that they’re truly valued for who they are. Worth fighting for. And most of all, safe. 

Teacher, who did you vote for?

There are reasons both for and against sharing our voting decisions with students, but in the wake of this election, it’s critical to understand that this question has layered meanings that reach far beyond curiosity.

How will you answer?

PRESS RELEASE

The Badass Teachers Association

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:  

MARLA KILFOYLE, Executive Director BATs

MELISSA TOMLINSON, Asst. Executive Director BATs

contact.batmanager@gmail.com

516-987-4405

BATs Board of Directors Statement on Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education

The Badass Teachers Association, a network of over 80,000 teachers and education activists throughout the United States, are appalled that Betsy DeVos has been selected Secretary of Education.  We want to be clear as an organization, we will mobilize on a national level, at the state level, and the local level to STOP her agenda to dismantle public education in this nation.  We will fight for our communities to have strong, sustainable, and well-funded public schools.

Betsy DeVos brings NO education experience, but she does bring a disturbing record of attempting to dismantle public education.  She has used her family money and influence to push an agenda that will hand public tax dollars over to unaccountable for-profit corporations; she will promote vouchers schemes that have, according to research, no value in improving education, and she will funnel public money to church-sponsored schools.  Students and families across the nation will pay for her lack of understanding that it is the responsibility of elected officials, and the public, to provide a quality public education for all children.

"Public education is not a business.  Public education is not a competition.  In competition and business there are winners and losers.  Public education should be about nurturing our most valuable resource - our children.  Our children deserve a Secretary of Education who is an advocate for public education not privatization."  - Marla Kilfoyle, Executive Director BATs

“Children whose parents lack the means or ability to select a school and provide transportation for a child to a school far away from their neighborhood are left with little “choice.”  This will certainly be harmful to the most vulnerable children and families and will fall especially hard on those in poverty and those in isolated rural communities”.  - Kathleen Jeskey, Oregon BAT and BAT Co-Director of State Administrators.

"Trump's choice for Secretary of Education solidifies and makes tangible the very real concerns many in Public Education have about the disrespect shown and the callous disregard for our profession. It appears that the President-elect has doubled down on the efforts to privatize and commodify one of the cornerstones of democracy. Trump has in fact spat in the face of all who work tirelessly for the many children in public schools throughout the country by appointing someone with little regard for the work we do. As a public school teacher, I am committed now more than ever to bringing attention to the many challenges we face in trying to save Public Education from the greedy hands that seek to profit from our children and our communities. With this selection, Trump has revealed his true feelings and intentions when it comes to the students, families, and educators that comprise our Public Schools."  - Gus Morales, BAT Board of Director Member

"Great! A Republican mega-donor who never held a job in her life will be the next Education Secretary. She's a perfect choice for Trump's plan to bribe state government to increase charter and voucher schools with our tax dollars." - Steven Singer, Director BATs Research, and Blogging.

" Why on Earth would someone who has no experience working with and for the public in our school system be appointed to oversee the same system they never worked within. Is the goal of this administration to improve Public Education or is it to pilfer the coffers that should be allocated for all the children of our country. This is unfathomable." - Becca Ritchie, NEA BAT Caucus Chair

"After the constant failure to deliver the promised results of improvements and closing of achievement gaps, BATs consider such a nomination as unacceptable. Public schools and teachers have seen and suffered for almost two decades the same dogmatic ideology she professes and its destructive policies." - Sergio Flores, BATs Board of Directors Member

"My teacher friends here in Michigan know that the choice of Betsy DeVos as the next Secretary of Education shows just how much we have to be concerned about in a Trump administration. Ms. DeVos is not just a charter cheerleader--her goal is to destroy our system of public education and turn a public good into a private profit center.  Based on her track record in Michigan, we can expect an alarming lack of transparency and an unbecoming level of arrogance coming from a DeVos-run Department of Education. We must all be vigilant, and make a move from public school advocates to activists. It's that important." - Mitchell Robinson, associate professor and chair of music education - Michigan State University

BATs around the country will continue to advocate and fight at the federal, state, and local level to sustain our public school system and to make sure that every child in this country has a strong, sustainable community public school in their neighborhood.  Betsy DeVos is unqualified and unfit to be Secretary of Education.  The children, families, and teachers of this nation deserve better.

                                                     ###


Please consider donating to BATs at http://www.badassteacher.org/ so that we can continue to fight for children and public education.  You can make a one time donation or be a $10 a month subscriber.  BATs is a 501c4 so donations are not tax deductible.  You can also send a check made out to The Badass Teachers Association, Inc.  Send it to P.O. Box 1390, Bellmore, NY 11710.

Neutrality is Dangerous

By:  Ferial Pearson 

This week, I've spoken on a panel at the ADL about Islamophobia, talked with the mayor about the needs of the LGBTQIA+ community, and presented to over 40 school librarians about Culturally Responsive Teaching, and there was one thing that came up all three times.

Neutrality is dangerous, irresponsible, and just plain bad. There is no "other side" to justice and equity that deserves representation.

Yes, everyone has a right to their opinions and beliefs. Absolutely. But when those beliefs and actions manifest themselves into words and actions that are psychologically, emotionally, and even physically damaging, then the people spouting those opinions through those words and actions should be ready and willing to suffer the repercussions and consequences of those actions.

There are protests whose purposes are to highlight injustice, pain, danger, and bigotry, to mourn and grieve together, and to show solidarity to those who are hurting. And then there are protests that espouse injustice, pain, danger and bigotry. One of those should be given airtime and space. The other should be shut down.

For example, there have been students even here in our city who have been protesting against the president elect. Students who are in pain, who are scared, who have experienced oppression and discrimination. They are being brave. And then there are students who protest these protestors with chants of "build the wall" and other such rhetoric that is designed to be painful and bigoted. I hope you can see how administration and teachers should NOT be neutral, because one of these sides is causing psychological damage to the other, and the other one is not. It's not about politics; it's about safety, acceptance, respect, and modeling what equity looks like.

We who belong to marginalized groups and identities do not appreciate the neutrality of those in power when our very existence is being challenged. Now, more than ever, but to be sure it's been this way forever.

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. - Desmond Tutu

About Ferial Pearson 

Ferial Pearson was born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya. She is the oldest of four girls and the first in her immediate family to go to college. After graduating from Peponi School in 1997, she left Africa to attend Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota, where she earned her Bachelor's degree in 2001 in Communication Arts Literature Teaching, and where she met her husband, Daniel. She was offered the opportunity to teach in Omaha at Omaha South High School, where she taught English and Reading for ten years. During her time there, she also served as the Gay Straight Alliance and Unity Club sponsor, and received national awards for her work with students and in the community. These included the National Education Association's Virginia Uribe Award for Creative Leadership in Human Rights in 2012, the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network's Educator of the Year Respect Award in 2011, and she was the Nebraska representative and finalist for the National Council of Teachers of English Academic Freedom Award in 2012. Locally, she has been awarded the 2011 Omaha Education Association's Human Relations Award, the 2012 Promising Professional Award from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and RESPECT's 2011 Anti-Bullying Award. Most recently, she was awarded a TOYO (Ten Outstanding Young Omahans) Award in 2014. She also earned her Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a Graduate Certificate in Urban Instruction from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2009. Ferial left Omaha South High School to work as a Talent Advisor for the Avenue Scholars Foundation and taught for them at Ralston High School for two years until 2013, during which time she created the Secret Kindness Agents project, which became the subject of a book, a TEDx Talk, and now the focus of her dissertation. She currently is an Instructor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha in the Teacher Education Department, and is working on her doctorate in Educational Leadership. This year, she was the recipient the Kennedy Center’s Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher award. She lives in Ralston, Nebraska with her husband Daniel, son Ilahi, and daughter Iman.

Dear Tired Teacher

November 18, 2016 Andi Schiappacasse

Originally posted here https://firethejudge.com/2016/11/18/dear-tired-teacher/

Dear Tired Teacher,

I want you to know I see you.  I mean I really, REALLY SEE YOU.

I see the look in your eyes in the morning when you greet me in the hallway.  Your voice and tone are pleasant but your eyes?  Oh, your eyes reveal how tired you are.

I see you in IEP meetings and RtI meetings and Behavior Plan meetings and meetings that parents request.  I hear your professionalism and your desire to do what is needed.  I admire how you take a deep breath when another task is added to your unending, overflowing, insurmountable pile of things that has to be done.  And I see you.  I see a flash that goes between disbelief and panic.  I know that it means, How will I ever be able to do this TOO?

I see you in the classroom.  I see you with students who are coming to you with such a range of skills that you must orchestrate lessons that address the needs of all.  Students who can barely read all the way to students who finished the entire series of Harry Potter over the weekend.  Students who can multiply and divide and “fractionize” the first time you teach it and students who require weeks of reteaching and practicing.  I hear your sincere encouragement and recognition to all your learners.   I see your joy when the lightbulb goes on.  Please know, I see your defeat when it doesn’t.  I know what it means.  You’re trying everything you know.   Dear Tired Teacher, I know you are.  I see it.

I see you with “those kids” Tired Teachers.  I see you when I come to help with the student who is running laps around the class, or tipping chairs, or stringing curse words with poetic ease.   I see when you take him for a walk to cool off.  I hear your calming tone as you try to diffuse the situation.  I see the look when you’ve tried everything you know and the student is still on the floor shouting insults.   I know what it means.  I know you hurt for him.   I know you wish you could’ve said the right thing or done the magic trick that snapped that student out of it.  I have a feeling, Tired Teachers that this is The One Thing.  This is The One Thing.  If you could wish away One Thing it would be you would wish away the pain behind the behavior.

I see you with parents Tired Teachers.  I hear how you are professional and honest.  I admire how you can celebrate success and express concern all in the confines of ten minute conferences.  I see how it hurts when an angry email arrives in your inbox.  I see how the walls go up after a while because it feels like you’re under attack.  I see how the pain depletes the joy that you have for your calling.  I see this Tired Teacher and I’m sorry that I can’t block you from that attack more.

Please know Tired Teachers, I also see something else.  I see your resilience.  I see how you resist to allow a bad day become a bad week.  I see how you are flexible even if you’re unsure.  I see how brave you are to come to your place of work when it’s hard and exhausting and sometimes thankless.  I see when your light shines a little bit brighter.  I know what that means.  You’ve figured a kid out.  You found the way through the fractions or the inferencing or the behaviors and it’s finally working.  When I see this, Tired Teacher, it lifts me up too.

I SEE YOU TIRED TEACHERS.

This is the Thursday night of the last full week before Thanksgiving.  You’re in the home stretch.  I pray for the small break that you’ll get next week.  I pray that it provides the respite your Tired Teacher soul needs.  I hope you leave your teacher bag at school and resist the urge to bring “just one thing” home to grade.  I need you to enjoy your time with family and friends.  I beg you to refuel your soul however you need to recover your joy.

I see you Tired Teachers.  And I am more thankful for you than you can ever know.

Sincerely,

Your Principal