D-Day for Education

     This Friday, June 6, marks the 70^th anniversary of D-Day, when Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy to launch the liberation of western Europe in World War II.  The reason I mention it is because I’ve been reading Rick Atkinson’s history of that portion of the war, The Guns at Last Light, and am continually overwhelmed by the level of courage and fortitude it took to accomplish this invasion.  Casualties on June 6 alone totaled 12,000 dead, wounded, or missing.  LSTs approaching the beachheads witnessed wholesale slaughter as Nazi gun emplacements riddled the men leading the advance, and yet, the men on those landing craft stepped off the gates and rushed into the surf in spite of what it meant to them as individuals.  The Nazis had terrorized the free world for five long years, and Allied soldiers were willing to forfeit everything to change that reality.

     There are no modern day parallels to what those soldiers and sailors faced in June of 1944, but teachers are not oblivious to the costs of political terrorism.  Since the beginning of Mr. Bush’s second term, educators have been the lightning rod for any ill that can somehow be linked to the system of education in this country.  Since Rick Snyder’s election four years ago,  we’ve seen our standard of living decline, been subjected to assaults on our right to organize and bargain collectively, and fallen prey to evaluation processes that are so transparently arbitrary that they border on the obscene.  November 4, 2014 is D-Day for educators and public education in Michigan.  If the current imbalance of power in Lansing continues, it will be Katie bar the door for Rick Snyder and his pals in his second term. 

     The only question that remains is:  what are YOU going to do about it?  Will you head home on June 6 and bury your head in the sand until August wanes?  Ignore the fact that the only way change takes place is when we all collectively shout NO MORE, and rise up to resist?  There are many things you can do.  Commit to an hour a week for Colleen Lamonte.  Spend two hours of your week on an MEA phone bank.  Call your legislators.  Attend a community forum.  Sign a petition.  Show some fortitude and be courageous for your profession, for your students, and for your colleagues.  Instead of making excuses for why you aren’t involved, get involved.  If you don’t, there will be no one else to blame for what unfolds on November 5^th.  In spite of the personal sacrifice change will require, it’s time for each of us to step into the surf and face that entrenched enemy on the beachhead.  The cost of doing otherwise may be your job, your home, and possibly worse, your dignity and self-worth.