Enough Already

I am so tired of politics. Mudslinging, creating fear, saying what people want to hear. Countless ads, constantly in the news, a total mental overload. I am tired of people voting for Republicans because they are Republicans, and people voting for Democrats because they are Democrats. What about what a candidate stands for? What about the direction they are going to lead us in? The programs they will cut, the people they will hurt? As an educator, this is a really difficult time. Again, funding is going to be cut from schools. Again, teachers will be blamed for student failure when there is not enough money to buy basic supplies, some schools are falling down around those who are supposed to work and learn there, and support from anyone becomes nonexistent. Again I and my colleagues will be told we are simply not doing enough, when we work from the time we get up to the time we go to bed, constantly trying to give students what they need, constantly trying to do a better job. I would like the legislators and news media, who all claim the failure of schools is due to bad teaching, to come to a classroom in my high school for a day. Better yet, into one of the schools where students dodge ceiling tiles and try to learn sharing one computer and a handful of books. I want them to see the work we do. And then I want them to go home with my kids - those children all over the nation - who face beatings, lack of food, lack of shelter, and/or no parents at home and then figure out why their test scores don't measure up. It doesn't take a genius to see that there are other factors. If only the politicians - or more voters - cared.