Wednesday, November 07, 2012

The heaviness that wears away at hope

Mr. President, I didn't listen to your victory speech. (It was way past my bedtime.) But after hearing about it from friends, I did google for a transcript.

And it's full of encouragement and hope... and then I get to where you said

We want our kids to grow up in a country where they have access to the best schools and the best teachers.

Mr. President, why is it that we can work together on employment, on the national debt, on our military, on immigration... but education must be a competition? How can you not see that this will only result in spending more money, time, and attention on bureaucratic hoopla, and less on our students? That the competition inevitably becomes one between the rich, who have even more opportunities provided for them, and the poor, who see the few opportunities they have eroding even further?

I am a better teacher than I was four years ago, when I first voted for you. But I am not a better teacher because of you or your policies. In fact, because of those policies I am actually less successful, less effective than I otherwise would have been. My classes are larger. My books are worn out, pages falling out, covers falling off, and I can't afford to replace the ones that are in poor repair, let alone purchase new titles.

Four years ago, I truly believed you when you said "Yes, we can." But this year, Mr. President, all that comes to mind is, "it could be worse."

And that just doesn't seem right for "the greatest nation on Earth."

Image thanks to whitehouse.gov

1 comments:

Mrs. Chili said...

Sing it.

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