School Boards

Where do I start? School board members often come to the table with one or more issues or agenda: (And I may be jaded about some aspects of education but I remain passionate about my students, what I teach and the daily duties of being a teacher)

• Narcissists (good for supervising children)
• men with Napoleon complexes who want to rule tall women (teaching is still a woman-dominated profession)
• micro-managing mothers who don't think their kids can graduate or get a proper education without some special muscle
• adults who had bad experiences in school and want to be in charge of the teachers who once bullied them (because telling a child to sit down and be quiet so the rest of the class can learn is clearly out of line…)
• parents who don't want their kids to ever know anything about sex because "abstinence education" will definitely prevent all teenagers from having sex
• Wearing-their-religion-on-their sleeve "Christians" who do not understand the separation of church & state – yes, the first amendment controls what a school can & cannot do and your religious affiliation has no bearing on what the public school does or does not teach (or what the library does or does not shelve).
• passive-aggressive nut jobs who hold grudges against " lazy" teachers who only work 190 days a year (I wish!)and get better health benefits than they have (this is very helpful for contract negotiation)
• community members who think most teachers only hold jobs because they have tenure (have it easy), not because teachers take their careers seriously
• citizens who think they have to save the district's students from the teachers who are merely "book smart" and not "street smart"
• business people who think should serve schools should serve their interests and believe that schools produce products

and a few good people who have no agenda and really want what's best for the students, district and community.

(Don't get me wrong, I think that local control is important for school districts, but my district, like many others is having a hard time finding people to fill board positions)

And then there's this guy who apparently who ran for the school board to increase the audience range of his bigoted rhetoric: (thanks for the tip, Kathy!)

Where do I start? The fact that 6 people "liked" this message is appalling. I don't know much about the good people of Arkansas, but I think this idiot's giving them a bad name. On the other hand, the Facebook page asking for his resignation has 14,000 members.

This guy is why kids think it's okay to be bigoted against gays (and to use bad grammar!). If those who are supposed to be running the district are like this, how could the kids think differently? And how could they possibly learn to use the proper pronouns?

And since when should one kill oneself for sinning? So-called Christians (not to be confused with the actual forgiving Christians): Ur doin' it wrong. And school board members: You have got to educate all kids in a public school system, even the LGBT students. You don't get to pick and choose the students any more than the teachers do. Please remember this when you create policy.