If teachers speak up, they are immediately accused of just trying to protect their jobs. If unions step up, they are attacked as socialist institutions. If students speak up, politicians claim that they are being used by the teachers as pawns.
Meanwhile, we often cannot tell the entire story. Protocols and even laws designed to protect children limit what kinds of information that we can provide. Let's say that my son gets assaulted by another student at school. I have to remember that the other child involved requires the care of the school as well. Just as my son's record cannot be made public to anyone who wants to know, so to is the information regarding the child that assaulted him. It might not seem that the other child got the punishment that I might have wanted, but I don't have the right to find out the circumstances around the life of that other child. Not having that information frustrates people and makes them feel that the school is doing nothing, when the truth is often vastly different.
Not that educators are perfect. I know that you might have never made a mistake at your job, but I've done so many times--and I'm constantly learning from them. Sometimes, there are honest mistakes regarding a situation. Sometimes, I act in the heat of the moment and later regret my action (or even inaction). School principals, too, are not perfect. Even those educators with decades of experience can still trip on the many pitfalls that are imbedded throughout our profession. Younger or less experienced staff, faculty, and administration should also be granted some level of forgiveness.
However, we are also still doing amazing work. Despite all of the negativity focused on us, despite the lack of adequate funding, despite the limited resources, we are still making a profound difference in our students' lives. For a stunning number of students in the Soldotna area, we are the adults who protect them from abuse, our school is the only safe place that they have, and even our school meals are the only food that they get. With all of that, we are still providing them with an education that prepares them for the ever-shifting and challenging futures that await them in the many different directions that they all go.
Is public education perfect? It is far from it, but how do people expect us to improve when we aren't even provided with the funding to sustain the status quo? Honestly, I'm not certain what people expect from us when we are continually required to do more with fewer resources.
One thing is clear: we need to end the negativity being directed towards our schools and revitalize our supporters. A democratic republic such as ours requires an educated citizenry for it to properly function, let alone flourish. Too many people have been complaining about the way our society is headed, but have been allowing (or even making) attacks on the public education system rather than working to support it, ironically unaware that they are the very source of the problem.