|
To reach the Mayor and Members of City Council by phone, call 703.746.4500 |
| How often, in your life, are you a part of something profound...a movement bigger than you and, at the same time, not about you? How often are you called to do what's right, not because it is convenient, but because you have the responsibility to stand up for a worthwhile cause. Without resorting to hyperbole, the ACPS Underground is a movement in its nascent stages, modeling itself after the many underground or resistance organizations opposing the oppressive regimes throughout the world. Ahhh, what the heck...let the hyperbole flow! (My apologies to a great writer, Terese Pencak Schwartz, author of Irek from the Underground.) Wearing either stolen ACPS name tags or just plain ugly suits, these homemade soldiers were the ACPS Underground -- the resistance fighters of Sherman-occupied Alexandria...Really, though, while the risks are far less, the cause is just. We members of the underground seek no reward other than our common goal--to rid the school system of greed and pecuniary/monetary driven policies--to teach our children with a compassion and common sense approach that can only be fueled by teacher driven decisions, to elect an independent-minded school board and to restore teacher morale.Fathers, grandfathers and young boys fought side by side with only red and white armbands for identification. They came together to defend, as best as they could, their beloved homeland. They concealed their precious cache in cemeteries and hospital grounds. The city schools are where our teachers work, by day, most fearing to express their disdain for an administration that values them not at all. After school we emerge and rendezvous with fellow underground members. We meet with parents and citizens of Alexandria. We use the internet as our conduit for information. We organize at bars and each others' homes. And we meet at bars. After school we gather in classrooms, careful to write our thoughts on dry erase boards, lest someone be listening over the intercom system. Sometimes we meet at bars. The city sewers became their staging area, their Headquarters and their passage ways. The younger ones -- teenagers worked as liaisons, running through the sewers smuggling supplies and passing cryptic messages and orders. We are everywhere. We are ever-increasing in number. More than 4,000 page reads, here, yesterday alone. We are multiple bloggers and blog sites. We are TRT's and members of the ACPS finance department. We have the support of at least two principals. And you are the underground...every time that you refuse to teach to a test, every time you refuse to use Sherman's meaningless vernacular, every time you rip down a Habits of Mind poster or toss out a Lucy Calkins writing series, every time that you refuse to engage in teaching practices that do nothing to further your students' progress, every time that you and a colleague conspire to do what is right...YOU ARE A MEMBER OF THE UNDERGROUND! http://youtu.be/fFX6-xhet7U Through the wet stinking sewers they moved like rats in sewage that was sometimes chest high. "We would have to dismantle our weapons," says Borowski, "and carry them along with our ammunition over our heads so they would not get wet." But we will not remain hidden and secretive forever. A critical mass is building. Our clandestine operation swells. Soon the sewer rats will emerge from beneath 2000 North Beauregard Street to be heard! Update-We are now blocked from ACPS email! You are so afraid of our teachers knowing the truth, Mort! Shame on you...you trade in misinformation, all the while keeping the truth from our employees. If you have nothing to fear, open up the server and let our message be heard! |
| The coincidences between the protests taking place in Egypt and the outrage over the state of public education in our city are down right eerie. Think about it...they (the Egyptians) are marching by the tens of thousands in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, facing tear gas, rubber bullets and clubbing to bring down a corrupt dictator who masquerades as a caring, benevolent leader. At the same time, we, also in the city of Alexandria, want to topple the scheming, conniving head of our school system. And like our Egyptian counterparts, we citizens, parents and teachers alike are willing to risk...uh, never mind. Somewhere along the line, someone made the decision that Alexandria's school superintendent, like Hosny Mubarak, would be allowed to make himself rich on the backs of hardworking taxpayers. The question is--why? What is it that Mort Sherman does that merits a quarter of a million dollar annual salary? Forget the perks...the fringe benefits and the car,...we are talking a quarter of a million dollars a year simply in base salary ($240K) plus his TSA/Deferred Compensation. Let's put this in perspective, shall we? Mort earns $76,000 more than members of Congress. Mort earns nearly $20,000 more than the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Firefighters in our fair city start at $29,000 and top out at $138,800. And I've seen them make a positive difference in Alexandria! But wait, you say, Dr. Sherman is responsible for more than 11,000 students...isn't that degree of responsibility, the safety, nurturing and education of our young people worthy of a salary commensurate with such a duty? Let's be fair, you cry, and measure our Mort against those similarly situated, i.e. superintendents. Okay, how about the superintendent of neighboring Arlington. With a population almost twice ours, the super there pulls down only $195,000. What about Richmond...challenging, inner city population, twice that of Alexandria? How does $170,000 grab you. And the real inequity of these comparisons is that Arlington and Richmond have, by all accounts, great superintendents. Sherman is paid obscene amounts for failing the students and parents of this city. Of course, there are the intangibles that the Doctor delivers. If not for Mort, who would give the blessing at the annual school board/superintendent retreat dinner (play following link): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTaFkahld50 Who among us is prepared to show even a fraction of the courage of the citizens of our sister city and reveal Sherman for the snake oil salesman that he is? "It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong." — Voltaire |
