Dear Scott,
I can’t begin to even tell you how shocked I was to see your message in my inbox the other day. After all, it’s been a few months since I last wrote you and nearly a year since you turned my world upside down. You didn’t even try to hide that you wanted me out of your life, first by sending me a form letter that had nothing to do with what I’d written you and then by ignoring my messages altogether.
And now you have the audacity to send me an email message telling me all about the wonderful things you’ve done since our relationship soured.
Ouch.
Having a mind of my own and being willing to voice my opinions is part of who I am and what makes me good at what I do. And yet, everything you’ve done since the day things went bad for us has sent a crystal-clear message that my voice doesn’t matter to you.
But it matters to me, and there are still a few things you need to know.
First off, while I didn’t do a happy dance when the requirement for increased pension and health insurance contributions came through, I also understand the economic realities that are present in this state. So did my colleagues. That’s why they had already agreed to those monetary concessions well before Act 10 was passed.
And yet, you turned a deaf ear to them. You never even tried to listen.
And I’m thanking my lucky stars that I am not teaching in one of the few area districts who have used Act 10 to implement draconian rules that go so far as to restrict what their staff wears when attending athletic events on their own time. The result is that these demoralized teachers are now avoiding these events as well as paying exorbitant monetary penalties just to be released from their teaching contracts, either for other teaching positions or out of education altogether. Talented professionals are turning their backs on their passion because they’ve been placed in an intolerable situation.
Are you proud that you made that type of toxic work environment possible?
30% of the children enrolled in one suburban elementary school receive free or reduced lunch every day. I wonder how the future will be for those students when the cuts you authorized hit in full force. Those eight hours may be the best those children have all day, and the cuts you’ve implemented just made it harder for educators to create the very best experiences possible for those kids.
And right now, my suburban teaching colleagues already have classes with 35 kids
in them. You haven’t listened to them either. Will you ever?
I wish I could make you understand that the political firestorm around you now is not because of what you did, but because you did so without listening and without considering the words of President Dwight D. Eisenhower: “You don’t lead by hitting people over the head – that’s assault, not leadership.”
I wish you’d taken a minute to think about this remark from George W. Bush: “I have a different vision of leadership. A leader is someone who brings people together.“
But you didn’t.
Maybe you feel that you’re holding all the cards now, having eradicated collective bargaining and having been complicit in creating an atmosphere in which educators all over the state were vilified while you said nothing.
But even through all of that, I’m moving on, Scott, and I’ll continue working as hard as I can in the name of my students. I’ll keep learning and growing and improving my craft because teaching is my passion. It’s what I was born to do, and I will never allow you to take that away from me.
Besides that, I still have one other thing in my hand that you’ll never have, no matter how hard you try: my trust.
Good luck, Scott.
