Republicans have declared war on teachers.
Part of it is a desire to destroy public education, so all of those tax dollars can be diverted to for-profit ‘education’ companies.
Part of it is because they’re turning ‘parental rights’ into a culture war fight — how dare teachers presume to challenge bigotry and ignorance, or promote facts over beliefs? They’e banning books, censoring teaching plans, and pandering to the worst among us. (If you haven’t read SemDem on why Ron DeSantis is out to destroy New College, do so. It’s horrifying.)
Part of it is because people who grow up with an education that informs them and enables them to question what they see around them is something that threatens their closed minds and the conformity they wrap themselves in like a security blanket. Education can make people see a wider world — and that larger world frightens those on the Right. They are doing their best to shut it down.
Gavin Aug Than has taken a poem by Taylor Mali and augmented the words with pictures. You can see the whole thing (there’s an excerpt above) at Go Comics.
The poem itself is here:
What Teachers Make — Taylor Mali
He says the problem with teachers is
What’s a kid going to learn
from someone who decided his best option in life
was to become a teacher?
He reminds the other dinner guests that it’s true
what they say about teachers:
Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.
I decide to bite my tongue instead of his
and resist the temptation to remind the dinner guests
that it’s also true what they say about lawyers.
Because we’re eating, after all, and this is polite conversation.
I mean, you’re a teacher, Taylor.
Be honest. What do you make?
And I wish he hadn’t done that— asked me to be honest—
because, you see, I have this policy about honesty and ass-‐kicking:
if you ask for it, then I have to let you have it.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional Medal of Honor
and an A-‐ feel like a slap in the face.
How dare you waste my time
with anything less than your very best.
I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall
in absolute silence. No, you may not work in groups.
No, you may not ask a question.
Why won’t I let you go to the bathroom?
Because you’re bored.
And you don’t really have to go to the bathroom, do you?
I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:
Hi. This is Mr. Mali. I hope I haven’t called at a bad time,
I just wanted to talk to you about something your son said today.
To the biggest bully in the grade, he said,
“Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don’t you?
It’s no big deal.”
And that was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.
I make parents see their children for who they are
and what they can be.
You want to know what I make? I make kids wonder,
I make them question.
I make them criticize.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them write.
I make them read, read, read.
I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful
over and over and over again until they will never misspell
either one of those words again.
I make them show all their work in math
and hide it on their final drafts in English.
I make them understand that if you’ve got this,
then you follow this,
and if someone ever tries to judge you
by what you make, you give them this.
Here, let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:
Teachers make a goddamn difference! Now what about you?
Mali. Taylor. “What Teachers Make.” What Learning Leaves. Newtown, CT: Hanover Press, 2002. Print. (ISBN: 1-‐887012-‐17-‐6)
You can see Mali perform it live here.