The Real Story

A reminder that, while the big story in town seems to be happening on Route 108 these days, the real story is happening in classrooms all over the county.

Teachers, support staff, and administrators get up every day and move forward on the journey with our children. There aren’t enough hours in the day and we are now painfully that there isn’t enough money in the budget. They do it anyway.

No matter how school catchment areas are drawn, the aspirations of teachers will remain the same. They will bring the same desire to connect, draw out, lift up to every child that walks in the door. Despite what a former era in our school system might have wanted us to believe, teachers are not in the classroom solely to perform as an efficient delivery system of content. Teaching is a far more nuanced and multifaceted calling.

Schools are also committed to working with families of all kinds. Teachers work hard to find ways to connect with different kinds of parents. I wonder what they are thinking right now as they see combative and hateful grandstanding at Board Meetings and in the press? If you were a teacher, how would you feel about interacting with school parents like that? Would you feel safe? Would you feel you could be candid about a child’s progress? Would you be fearful of reprisals if a difficult situation arose?

I’ve seen people point out, ruefully, that our children are watching. That’s true. But so are our teachers. So are our schools. When all is said and done, they will still need to be there to welcome our children.

What are we doing to them?