It’s time to take back our schools

http://wbztv.com/video/?id=90267@wbz.dayport.com

Yesterday at my son’s school, there was an assembly to recognize the seniors.  During that assembly, a member of the Yarmouth Police Department was giving a speech to honor the seniors who had chosen to enlist in the military upon graduation and during that speech, a teacher displayed a sign which read “End War.”  While the National Anthem was being played and everyone rose with their right hands over their hearts, she held up a Peace sign instead.  As if this sort of anti-war protest isn’t inappropriate enough on public school grounds, during school hours, at an important school event, the real travesty was when everyone in the school stood to give a standing ovation to these six brave young men and women, and these two idiot teachers sat down and refused to applaud.

The sign reads "End War"

Spencer sent me a text message immediately to express how angry and upset this made him.  Once I got the entire story from him, I called the school principal to discuss the event.  I was told, in essence, that the school does not condone these two teachers’ actions and that they will be weighing their options and they will deal with it internally.  I told the principal that after listening to my son come home for the last six years, since middle school, telling me story after story about teachers who were using their classrooms as platforms to further their personal political agendas, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me and that I would be contacting the media.  He suggested I call the Superintendent of schools, which I next did.  I had a rather lengthy conversation with her and although she agreed with me entirely in principle, she indicated that the situation would be dealt with by the principal.  I explained that I would be contacting the media and that with the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District looking to the taxpayers for yet another budget override within the month, I hoped that perhaps the administrators of these schools might find the motivation to respond more strenuously to the actions of their teachers when it brings such negative public scrutiny to the district and puts the district’s goals at risk.

The Superintendent spent a great deal of time and effort trying to talk me out of going to the media.

My next call was to the Cape Cod Times, our ridiculously liberal rag of a local newspaper, and I left a message with someone at the newsroom.  Ironically, the only story that I’ve found thus far today in the paper is about a silly prank pulled by a small number of juniors against the seniors – typical, silly kid stuff.

Next, I sent an email to WBZ TV, the CBS affiliate in Boston.  Late in the afternoon, I received a phone call from Beth Germano, a reporter for WBZ that they were on their way to the Cape and would like to interview me.  I gave her the names of the teachers, the principal and the Superintendent.  WBZ stopped by to interview the teacher first – and you can watch a portion of that interview from the link above – and then went to the local middle school to interview two of the seniors who were being honored, a freshman who was present at the assembly, the principal and me.  The piece was only going to be one minute and thirty seconds long, so my interview was not shown.

After seeing the story aired and hearing the teacher’s words and the principal’s words – I am even more incensed by the whole thing.  What happened yesterday was appalling, inappropriate, disrespectful and proved without question that my tax dollars are paying two public servants who openly abuse their trusted positions of authority with our children.  The fall-out proves that my tax dollars are also paying the administrators who “cannot guarantee that disciplinary action will be taken against these teachers.”

But the other parts of the story were not told and I feel that there is much more wrong with what happened yesterday than the obvious inappropriateness of these teachers’ actions.

There is one basic tenet that the public school systems in this country are founded on which is being violated on a daily, rampant basis and no one is willing to expose this dirty, little secret because it furthers the interests of the administration as well.  In this country, every child is entitled to earn an education in a neutral environment, free from discrimination.  The point is argued continuously and consistently all around the nation – but only when it suits the administration to do so.  When it’s a question of “separation of church and state” or gay rights or any number of other topics, these teachers and administrators wave their flag of neutrality like a banner, but when it comes to remaining neutral about voicing and demonstrating their personal political agendas (which will pay their salary and provide more and more protection and benefits for them, and them alone), then it’s a matter of the First Amendment of the Constitution.

The hypocrisy has to stop and we have to find a way to take our schools back.

No child should ever have to walk the halls of a public school (which is paid for by the child’s parents’ tax dollars) and be concerned that even one teacher may judge him, disapprove of him, or God forbid – which is what happened here yesterday – publicly shun him for having the courage, pride and honor to choose to serve this country and defend that teacher’s right to have an opposing opinion to his choice.

I too will defend these teachers’ rights to have their opinions and to express their opinions openly until the day I die.  But they are not entitled, they do not have the right to do it on public school grounds, when they are being paid to be public servants.

Teachers hold trusted positions of authority and we teach our children to respect their teachers and to trust and have faith in them.  We believe that we are sending our children to a school which will provide a safe, neutral environment.  We expect our teachers to teach our children and impart knowledge and facts in various subjects via a specific curriculum.  It is the basic tenet of neutrality that I vehemently support in the public school systems.  It infuriates me to know that it is being blatantly and rampantly violated each and every day.  Yesterday, the violation of this tenet was egregious, disrespectful, poorly timed, inappropriate and the teachers who had the unmitigated gall to perpetrate it should be held accountable for such abuse of their positions.  And if the school administrators do not have the gumption to do so, I believe they are equally responsible.

These six seniors had one opportunity to be honored and recognized by their peers and by their role models.  They had one day and one event which was dedicated to them.  These two selfish imbeciles took it upon themselves to steal this time and the spotlight away from these young people.  In three months, these two women will have every opportunity (after all, they only work 180 days a year!!!!) to exercise their right to protest the war on their time as they wish, but these six young men and women will be learning the skills needed to defend their right to do so.  And next year, when my taxes will still be paying the salaries of these two worthless, selfish PUBLIC SERVANTS, they will have the opportunity to attend the senior assembly of another graduating class and these six young men and women may well be under fire and fighting to survive in a foreign land, with nothing more than a distant memory of a day when they were to be honored for their courage, but it was stolen by these teachers.

I hope Ms. Marybeth Verani and Ms. Adeline Koscher are terribly proud of themselves. How cowardly to take advantage of their positions and steal the spotlight away from the students in their charge.  And they will surely be rewarded by the school administration with a continued paycheck and a pat on the back for a job well done.

When will we find a way to take our schools back and bring back the principles that our forefathers intended?  There is no valor in hiding behind the First Amendment only when it suits your purposes.  Freedom of speech is a powerful thing, and I intend to exercise mine – at top volume.