Blind and Mute, Not Deaf

This has been an interesting fall -- I'm talking seasons, not from grace.  I never should have posted "Octoberfesters" as it seems like prophecy now.  I really look forward to November 1. 

So much is going well in our system.  We received a superior achievement on the state's financial integrity system, we got the FEMA grant to build a new gym, we were able to hire everyone we needed to start the school year and got some great new folks, we are working hard on defining what it means to be "actively engaged," a.k.a., ride for the brand, and our audit was clean, our books and finances in great shape, especially considering the year we have had with state funding.  The construction of the new high school is the talk of the town, and our football team, volleyball team and cross-country teams are doing great.  Our band has never looked better or bigger and are bound for area marching contest this coming weekend.  If you have not seen the Silver Spurs perform you have really missed a treat.  Our teachers are implementing a top-of-the-line curriculum and our kids are challenged academically every single day.  Even our cafeteria food is better!  And yet,....

Several of our band members and athletes are now not eligible to participate in their respective UIL events because of grades.  I sat at the Board Meeting last week while angry and frustrated parents complained about girls' atheltics.  (They had some valid points and we are working on that.) The local paper chooses a headline to report on that meeting that makes it sound like irrate parents were the main event.  And the coffee shops are buzzin'.

It is a real challenge to listen to the buzz, whether I am at a Board Meeting or in the grocery store, and remain mute.  It is hard not to fire back, it is hard not to tell the inside story, share the reality vs. the perception of reality that is being hashed and re-hashed and continues to stoke tempers and secrete bile.  I cannot help being blind in one eye, but I choose to remain mute.  I choose to do that because it is the professional thing to do.  It is what I am licensed to do, trained to do, experienced at doing, and because I take my profession seriously.

No educator may discuss the attributes of any student in public.  No educator may discuss the attributes of a fellow educator in public.  Period.  So, I sit blind and mute.  Not deaf. 

What I can say is the following:  Every employee of our system is both certified by the state of Texas and Highly Qualified according the federal government.  Every employee we have ever hired is absolutely the very best, most qualified employee available at the time.  Every teacher in this district is working night and day to promote student academic success.  No teacher in this district wakes up on a given morning and decides to fail a kid just for the fun of it.  Doesn't happen.  Each student failure is a wound to a teacher. I will defend the instructional practices of the teachers in this district, each of whom has been tasked with raising the bar for student performance.  Each complaint about the quality of a given program and the people who staff it is a wound to the people in those programs.  My job is to defend, support and improve our system.  And I must do so, I will do so, without naming names and without disclosing confidential information.

We have a great system.  We have great people working in this system.  We have great kids.  We have great parents.  We are on sound financial footing.  We are on sound academic footing.  We have wonderful extra and co-curricular activities even in times of economic hardship.  We are good and getting better.  My kids graduated from here and I am proud of that.

I am not deaf.  I hear the complaints and attacks. 

I cannot respond.   But, it hurts.

Now, Go Cowboys!  Go Cowgirls!  Go Band!  And, Go Teachers!