Letter of encouragement to Glenda Ritz by ICPE-Monroe County - TopicsExpress



          

Letter of encouragement to Glenda Ritz by ICPE-Monroe County Chair, Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer. Write your own as well! " Dear Glenda, Rumor has it that you are feeling a bit discouraged and maybe apprehensive about tomorrow’s board meeting. I’m not sure if that is true or not (you strike me as tenacious and strong-willed, but we all get weary from time to time), but regardless, it gives me a good excuse to write you a letter of appreciation. I have watched and, as you know, sat through and testified at a few state board meetings. I marvel at your ability to remain calm, focused and firm in the face of such blatant hostility and, to my mind, disrespect. I have sat in my kitchen at my computer throwing a fit while watching it live online and when I returned to orbit, was blown away by your composure. This is why you were elected with such an impressive number of votes. It wasn’t a vote against Tony Bennett last fall. It was a vote for you. Don’t ever let those folks in the statehouse, in the media and the spoiled sports across this country convince you otherwise. When you spoke on television, at events, at forums and so forth, people in the audience thought and spoke aloud: “YES!” Teachers heard a mentor teacher who spoke with respect to the profession and with expertise on what “works” in schools and with children, and they felt empowered. They felt appreciated and valued. Parents heard you acknowledge what so many of us knew: that our kids were being tested to death and losing out on precious learning time; and we felt hopeful that someone who understood what is important and what is being lost in the onslaught of legislative “reform” by these bought-and-paid-for politicians (NON-educators) would change the direction of education to being child-centered. We said “yes!” And citizens who understood that attacking public school teachers and the cornerstone of our democracy, the public schools themselves, was un-American and wrong-minded, felt confident in the reassurances you made. And we all came together around your candidacy and that election because we believed in you. That hasn’t changed. What IS changing is that the fog is being lifted right now from the public’s eyes. The Tony Bennett email-gate, the complete disregard for your platform (public dollars for public schools) in the last legislative session (redirecting millions of dollars to charters and voucher schools, draining our public schools further), and the disrespect shown to you and your leadership by Governor Pence (with his new umbrella department of education), his appointed state board members ( refusing to allow you to even finish your proposal for the IREAD3 changes in July’s meeting, for example), and the members of the statehouse who have voted for all of the above including changes to the budget and the structure of our state government to marginalize you--- all of this is waking people up. I know that I speak for thousands of people who will write letters (and have!), make phone calls and do whatever it takes to ensure that in the next election, there will be a concerted effort to change the representation in the state legislature to be one that will support and respect your authority on our educational direction. For, as someone once told me, you don’t change politicians’ minds--- you change politicians. Take care, Glenda. Breathe deep. And know that we send a circle of support around you and are rolling up our sleeves to work for you with, hopefully, as much determination as you have shown in working for us. Cathy (Fuentes-Rohwer)"
Posted on: Wed, 04 Sep 2013 11:26:18 +0000

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