We Must Not Cave To The Onslaught

What a dilemma we find ourselves in. If it weren't for our love of kids, the other side would have won by now. We are adrift in a sea of professional educators who have spent the past 40 years being the frog in the boiled frog experiment. We find ourselves having survived thousands of fly-by-night Mcfix-its to the point that the majority of our fellow educators have spent the past two years numbed by Pavlovian conditioning and sit passively by watching the current siege as yet another passing fad. We are worn down, we are unsure, we are taken in front of the board of inquiry to face the kangaroo court of judgement. We see our comrades falling like flies under the scrutiny crafted of lies and political expediencies.

My fellow teachers, I feel your pain. Two years go I too was under the lights and flogged in the arena of degradation and humiliation. We are facing a form of mental water-boarding in the hopes we crack under the strain and cave to our human instincts to take flight under duress.

Today we find ourselves at a crossroads. We see the armor of our foes begin to strain under the scrutiny of truth. Simultaneously, we find ourselves mentally and physically exhausted from our courageous and prolonged fight. As we enter into the days ahead we must not waiver from our commitments. But we also must remember that in order to do our best for others, we must first put on our own oxygen mask before helping others to put on theirs. But we must not cave to the onslaught. We are educators, damn it! Our lives have meaning as we work every day to give meaning to the lives of others. Our indignation is righteous, warranted and just! Our anger is born from the injustice and inhumane indifference by which the reformers toss the hearts and minds of children aside like so much rubbish accumulated and in the path of their chase for control of education.

This is indeed the lost generation. We see it grow more and more so year after year. This is why we get up every day! This is why we stand from the rooftops hollering for others to hear! This is why we take quiet solitude, give time to the quiet, and humbly reaffirm that our calling is so much more than any test, or any policy, or any soul lost to the venom of propaganda. And we open our door in the morning, peer into the eyes of the future and start another day of making a difference.