Thank you, Parents!

The school year is wrapping up, and without exception, it has been the most difficult one of my career.

It was not difficult in the sense of not knowing what to do, how to manage the students, or any of the other requisite skills that teaching as a career requires. Rather, it was difficult in the emotional and psychological sense.

For several years now, we as public educators have been under fire. Movies such as Waiting for Superman have deliberately skewed public perception of our schools: their successes, their failures, and most of all, their students and staff.

Through conversations with fellow educators, I know that I am not alone in having felt at times over the past several years demoralized, unappreciated, and overlooked. Through conversations with my students, I am certain that they too have come to feel the pressure of seemingly endless standardized testing; SGOs (Student Growth Objectives) which are purportedly designed to assess the quality of the teacher, but only wind up adding yet another test to the students' schedules; and of myriad other educational initiatives, most of which are not borne out even in the slightest by educational research.

And then the parents heard us.

The parents heard the cries of their children, and the cries of their children's teachers. They have risen up as a mighty force, conquering and vanquishing foes whose fortunes and favors extend far and wide. They have risen up with a primal cry in refute, refusing to allow their children to be treated like so many guinea pigs in the experimental laboratory of contemporary education.

And I thank you for it.

You, parents, have heartened me, and brought me a greater sense of peace and hope. Together, I hope that we can defend the educations of our children, mine included.The stakes are too great for us to do anything else. As I care for my children- in my heart, soul, and self- I am sure that this is how you care for yours.

Together, we CAN and WILL overcome the virulent forces amassed against us. We have already garnered several victories, the last of course being the removal of Cami Anderson from Newark. True, her replacement is no angel. However, the point is made. They can (and will) write whatever they want in education deform-friendly periodicals, but in my eyes, she is gone because of the incredible and intense pressure that students, parents, educators, and community members placed on our lawmakers.

Hooray for us!

And so, allow us to continue to fight the good fight. To be sure, this will be a long, protracted conflict. There is too much money at stake for it to be otherwise. However, we have something on our side that they can never match: our love for and fierce defense of our children. As we care for them, so may we fight together to secure schools which are fit for their upbringing and growth.