The threat of being denied tenure or the discontinuance of tenure-ship at both the secondary and collegiate level has ruined a radical movement that could seriously challenge the current economic policies and intellectual plight of this country. The psychological game played by those who have the power to grant long-lasting economic productivity has bereft otherwise incredibly talented people from contributing to the national dialogue. Teachers are a source of serious political opposition...if only we can publish and organize.
In my years of teaching high school, I have never met a fellow teacher who is a prolific and successful writer. I have met many that dream of publishing, hold and attend writing workshops, and may have a developing manuscript somewhere. The job is never done because of fear and exhaustion. A dear friend and wonderful poet has a collection of "teacher poems" that are expertly crafted and do justice to our world, however, if published I'd be concerned about my friend's job. I scribble away vignettes on the despair of the American middle class but am unable to create a piece I'd feel unashamed of showing to others because I am emotionally and mentally drained from the unrealistic and fruitless demands place on me at my school. Now that I am tenured, the residue of my years spent in fear has constricted critical thinking and suffocated the connections that could be made. Instead of sinking to the bottom heavy with the burden of fighting back, we need to get out of the morass of hopelessness; a feeling those in power want us to have.
What has been lost here is catastrophic: the rapid disintegration of my generation's political movement.
We should be angry. This anger should launch the largest opposition yet. There has never been a time that needs our outrage more. Corporations show no loyalty to the country yet the government has granted corporations constitutional rights, the middle class is under attack, years of warring, the earth dying, artistic output controlled, legions of politicians lying, many Americans remain unable to understand, and a hundred other realities that indicate an unhealthy world.
Education reformers tell teachers that we can make a difference. I am no longer sure what that difference is. The only long-lasting differences the education reform movement has made is to create principals who mimic the corporate business model, schools that lie about students' abilities in order to survive, the traumatic dismantling of neighborhood schools, blaming teachers for the fault of years of disastrous political decisions, privatizing public property and spaces for critical thinking, and the promise to thousands of families that their children will be better off.
Teachers who have published his/her analysis or anecdotes have nearly always been reprimanded or met with opposition. Though some teachers have not handled their contributions professionally, this is simply an indicator of how teachers are not encouraged or expected to be scholarly. Observe any professional development session across New York City and it becomes clear the low-expectations that are placed on our intellect.
Educators of all grades must plunge into creative and critical output of ideas: attend writing workshops, connect with professors, forego a frivolous duty from school to read an anthology of poetry, read blogs (hint hint), make every effort to flourish because you are a teacher and deserve the opportunity to test the potential of creation. Besides parents and other caretakers we have the most access to the next generation. Though we may not always share the same ideologies, in my experience teachers are sensitive to the sorrows of the world. It is just this tenderness that is needed; coupled with radical action, we might just be able to make the difference that we know is needed.
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