Let’s Get Real # 3 – My deep sigh

I am done putting my disclaimer on Swords/Plowshares Posts. I did it for 30 posts because I wanted to be sure that new readers didn’t think I spoke for anyone but myself. I read the following post on Facebook. It is from a friend and colleague of my daughter’s at the Duluth Public Schools Academy. This person made sure to put a disclaimer on his/her post as well.

The post reveals the pain that the damned competitive model has inflicted on the “Edison” side. It is every bit as “visceral” as the pain expressed by ISD 709 teachers who took Edison’s admission into Duluth as an accusation that they were shirking their duty.

The simple fact is that folks who go into teaching don’t do it for the money – they do it for children. I’m reposting this here to give a voice to the countless DPSA employees who have been made to feel like pariahs. Like ISD 709’s teachers and paraprofessionals they are good people. I know this personally. One of them is my daughter, the Mother of my two grandsons.

Disclaimer: The following opinions are my own in no way reflect the opinion of Duluth Edison Charter School, its board, or administration – in fact they might be mad about this.

In the 13 (or 14, I can’t keep track) years I’ve worked for the Duluth Edison schools, I have had to listen to a large amount of visceral hatred directed toward my employer (and indirectly, me) from Duluth Public Schools stakeholders, and their supporters – some of these people have even been friends. One of the most difficult and hurtful aspects of this vitriol is that many of the “facts” presented as unethical actions of the Edison Schools have been outright lies. Since these lies confirm prior bias, they are believed – and perpetuated by frequent repetition in the rumor mills of Duluth. An implied tenet of these claims of impropriety is that the only way the Edison Schools can compete for students is unethically – because our ability to educate children is inherently inferior.

As an educated, diligent, and relatively intelligent tutor and paraprofessional, this implication is incredibly insulting. The resurgence of this talk with the pending opening of an Edison high school has been really hard to take – and I see on the news tonight that a couple of our DFL state representatives have added mud to the fight.

After years of listening to this vitriol, it now causes me physical pain. Speaking for myself (and based on what I see in the classrooms) the Edison teachers, paras and other employees are simply busting our tails and doing the best we can to educate the students whose parents have chosen to send to our school. My school is not a building full of evil, unethical, or incompetent people. We are dedicated educators. I give everything I have to provide the best education I can to the students under my care, and I’m tired of being lied about in the meeting rooms, staff lounges, and coffee shops of Duluth. Sometimes I wish our government and school board officials would look past their biases and sit down and talk to those of us in the trenches. Maybe they could start to see what I see – but I’m not holding my breath.

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