I know, I know, it’s been a long time since I last wrote. I hope all of you with school-aged children have had a great start to your year. The first week of school is always a blur. There are new teachers to meet, students’ names to be learned, and all the ins and outs of classroom rules and procedures. This is the first year in quite some time that I am not teaching in a high school. While there have been some minor adjustments to my new position, I have to say that I couldn’t be happier. Unfortunately, I know many of my colleagues around the country do not share my same level of happiness. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not because of the kids. In fact, the kids are the only reason why my peers continue to do their jobs day after day. However, forces outside of the classroom continue to eat away at the teaching profession and public education in general. Schools are closing, teachers are either being let go or leaving the profession, and recruiting quality candidates to join the profession becomes more and more difficult. Perhaps the only good news to come out of all this bad news is that people are finally starting to take notice. Just today, I read an article describing how the actions of thousands of college students forced Sallie Mae to cancel its ALEC membership. If you don’t know who ALEC is, you definitely should find out. ALEC stands for American Legislative Exchange Council. When you visit their website, you will read how they support limited government, free market enterprise, and federalism. Sounds great, right? Beware of the wolf in sheep’s clothing. ALEC has continuously lobbied for and funded campaigns in support of charter schools, voucher programs, and for-profit colleges (just to name a few). They don’t want to strengthen the foundation of our democracy; they want to erode its very core. An uneducated public is easily controlled. But don’t just take my word for it. Go out and be informed. Be involved. Be the change.
Words from the Long Run 