The Tuesday Tattler

As an elementary school teacher, I hear my fair share of tattling on a daily basis.  From "Billy didn't wash his hands." to "Soosie called me a name."  In deciding on a topic for my blog post, I could't resist the thought of putting together a little "tattle" of my own once a week.  I will use Tuesday to report on someone or some topic dealing with our PUBLIC schools and those who are out to destroy them. So, today I bring you the first issue of The Tuesday Tattler. 

"They don't play nice."

Who does not play nice?  Of course we are referring to the Public Education supporters.  Now, before you start pouting and sending the lynch mob, hear me out.  The accusations have already been thrown at us from outgoing and incoming political office holders. So this is not new news to anyone.  However, I offer this.  Public Ed supporters tend to get themselves worked up over the "latest craze" and most impassioned "bandwagons".  I am just as guilty as most.  We share and post our likes and dislikes.  We look for something to dislike and go after it in impassioned disgust.  We find a cause we support and we push anyone and everyone to look, read, like, and share.

 How did we get here?  We arrived at this point because we are all tired of watching our beloved public schools be beaten and battered by the likes of Jeb Bush, Mitch Daniels, Michele Rhee, and Tony Bennett.  We decided to take a stand and voice our displeasure with anything and everything these so called reformers threw at us.  We continue to fight back against reform, any reform, and push others to dislike them as we do.  Is it "playing nice" when all we do as "public ed supporters" is bash any and all reform ideas as evil and against our beloved schools?  I dare say, we are not playing nice.  We are not working for the support of Public education if we are not stading for something other than just saying we stand for Public Education.

What are we going to do about it now?  I offer this solution to help us all "play nice" in the future.  Let us work together to determine what it truly means to support Public Education.  It surely means somehting more than finding the latest bandwagon to jump on and then be considered a Publid Ed supporter.  Too many are bashing this reform or that to benefit themselves and their own agenda, then backing away from Public Education when they see no benefit.  All reforms are not bad.  Reform is needed in our Public schools nation wide.  Are we battling the extreme?  Yes, but let us not lose sight of what it means to support Public Education by attacking every reform and every political stance.  There are so many "hot button" items on the political agenda around the country right now.  As we look to support Public schools, we must look to see what truly represents reform and what constitutes a "deformed" sense of educational progress. 

Let's all take a step back, decide if we truly support public education, and work together accordingly.  Let's not buy into the false sense of support being offered by those who seek only to progress their agenda under the guise of public education support.  These people hide amongst us, pushing their "anti this" and "pro that" ideas, when in all actuality they only support their own personal gains and not the whole that is Public Educatoin.  Public eduation is just that, PUBLIC.  It is about our children being taught in the best possible manner by caring educators, benefiting from tax payer money, without the intrusion of private corporations and the lining of their wallets.  If you truly stand for Public Education, you will understand what it means to be a passionate supporter of ALL children.  If you only seek to progress the agenda that will benefit your own children, then you are only supporting you and not the whole of all children, which is truly PUBLIC EDUCATION.