Whiny teachers don’t speak for all of us.
This message serves to inform you that the bellyachers whining about their professional workload, expressed in a letter to the editor dated Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2010, and titled, “Why is this the worst school year?” do not speak for all Fayette County public school educators.
You must understand, many of our teachers have never taught outside of Fayette County, and for the ones who have, it’s been awhile now.
A lot has changed in public education since 2001, and Fayette County is finally experiencing what other metro school systems have had to endure: excessive conferences, faculty meetings, redundant tasks, burdensome testing, data collection, and struggling to achieve AYP.
Fayette teachers are finally being smacked with the realization that their precious, once exceptional Fayette County schools are not immune to the political and social pressures that come with merely existing as a public school system.
What do I mean? This is the natural result of the politicization of education; government owned and government operated. The burdens other school systems have struggled with since the inception of No Child Left Behind are now creeping into Fayette County, and many of our elitist educators truly believe they should be exempt from such measures.
Ten years ago, they may have been correct, but shifts in Fayette County’s demographics say otherwise.
Folks, this is the reality of public education: blanket curriculum, AYP, IDEA, Graduating Everyone Matters Act, Inclusion, and excessive government intervention into the classroom.
Fayette County educators, welcome to what many other metro counties have been dealing with for years now. I’m sorry you are learning this lesson the hard way, but maybe you all should step back and be thankful for the positives our school system offers rather than focusing on the common inconveniences other educators have had to tolerate for over a decade now.
Fayette County exceptionalism is quickly coming to an end, and nothing can stop that outside of building walls around our county.
I’m sorry this is so hard for many of you to accept, but please stop asking the government to fix education when government is the problem with education (i.e., crying to GAE and PAGE). Many of you speak out of both sides of your mouths, and it makes all of us look foolish.
A thankful Fayette County teacher
Name withheld
