BIG BUSINESS vs. the little defenseless children

If you haven’t noticed by now, the showdown has started. It’s high time that parents, taxpayers, educators and all dedicated union employees united to protect the sanctity of our public school system.

Our public schools should be a place of classrooms and childrens’ playgrounds, not class/race and corporate battle-grounds! It is unconscionable to allow the corporate interests of Mass Insight, Cambridge Education, the Broad Institute, Vision 2015, Northwest, Renaissance Schools, Innovative Schools, JP Morgan Chase, RODEL, AIRS, DSTP, DCAS (the list goes on and on) and ANY other self-serving corporate entity to rape our districts and fleece our coffers. No, our children deserve to be protected, our district employees also deserve to be protected and we, the adults/taxpayers/parents who stand to lose the most by this criminal activity, must take responsibility for our actions or lack thereof.

For every dollar that some corporate weasel ferrets out of our district, cuts must be made elsewhere. Since teachers and hourly employees have the greatest numbers and are lowest on the food chain, they are the first to go. Budgets for textbooks, classroom supplies, and office supplies are also on the chopping block.

I don’t know about you, but when I went to school, we had textbooks; lots of them. My backpack would wear out every year or two. It wasn’t a piece of crap sold by Walmart that’s designed to fall apart each year. No, it was the weight of all of those textbooks that I was entrusted with. Textbooks meant assigned reading and homework. All I get home for my child is off-kilter photocopies, often without instructions. My teachers were career educators. They taught from both an approved curriculum as well as their hearts. Although Nixon, Ford & Reagan offered few frills, my public education resembled that of my parents. Will our children receive the same free and appropriate education that I received, or is this just some watered down, cut-rate, pathetic facsimile?

It’s a FACT that the facts are not, in fact, facts! Review an accounting of the hundreds of millions that filter through a Delaware school district over the course of a year and the spreadsheet will suggest that the bulk is spent on administrative costs and teachers. Review a random sampling of teachers’ W2s and you’ll be able to quickly surmise that they are not the drain on our budget. Tens of millions of dollars are wasted each year on contracted educational “support”. What do we get for our investment? We get constantly changing strategies that are proven NOT to work. After all, if they really worked, we wouldn’t need to hire contractors to fix the problem the following year.

Bottom line is that a handful of greedy bastards may hold the power over the district, but we still have the advantage and should rise to the challenge. We have the numbers, and each of us has a vote. Democracy can be such a beautiful thing. We can grant power…and we can, and should, govern those who govern us. If elected officials (Federal, Local, & School District) abuse their power GET RID OF THEM! Expose their shortcomings. Expose their fraudulent activities. Expose their weaknesses. Then, VOTE THEM OUT! If (over)paid EMPLOYEES, such as our School District Administrators, act out or sell us out, expose them for what they are and FIRE THEM! Let teachers teach and let business people seek their profits elsewhere.

We are living in historically challenging times. Like the current working poor, the generations to come will probably not have government retirement benefits, corporate pensions, inheritances, and any real sense of security. What will we leave to them? What will be our legacy?

RISE TO THE CHALLENGE!!!

Send Ms Bock a powerful message: sell-outs aren’t welcome here! We trusted you and you betrayed us. RIF her a new one! TEACHERS – Recall her. Impeach her. Vote for anyone else for CEA President.

Send Mr. Esquire, the Christina School Board President a powerful message: you’ve somehow been given almost 30 years to destroy the Christina School District…not another day on our watch! RIF him a new one! CHRISTINA CONSTITUENTS – Vote for anyone else for his school board seat. (by the way, you do not have to live within the city to vote in the MAY election!!!)

Contact your local legislators about your concerns. If they aren’t responsive or don’t represent your views, vote them out, too!

The easiest problem to fix in Christina is Schneider. She is an employee. Delaware is an “at-will” state. Ax her. Pay out her contract, if need be. Write HER off as a loss rather than the future of our current teachers and our childrens’ education. Send the bitch packing!!!

Please feel free to share this with message with EVERYONE you know at work. Get out the vote.