I attended the TUSD school board meeting on Feb 21, 2017, and although I had requested to speak, 48 people reportedly did not get the opportunity to speak. Here is what I had planned to say:
“Hello, thanks for giving me the opportunity to speak with you this evening, and I’m here to speak in support of the students and teachers of TUSD.
I was born and raised in Morristown, TN and the Air Force brought me here July 4, 1984 to serve as an aircraft electrician on the A-10. I believe that by spending a significant amount of time outside of the Tucson area during my life, I’m able to see TUSD from a different prospective.
Many would say I am educated – earning a Masters degree in Information Systems, a Bachelors degree in Business, an Associates degree in Engineering, and an Associates degree in Aircraft Accessory Systems Technology. Education is a part of my resume – having taught college as an adjunct instructor for over 4 years here at Wayland Baptist University along with a couple other colleges in east Tennessee.
My wife and I are a blended family of 5 children – 4 girls and our son. All four of our adult daughters have spent varying amounts of time in TUSD schools such as: Lyons, Steele, Gridley, Sahuaro, Wheeler, Bonillas, and Reynolds.
TUSD is having very public issues with discipline and achievement, and I would like to share a couple of stories from our family to help look at the issue of achievement through a different prospective.
When one of my daughters was in 3rd grade a well-meaning teacher wanted to cut the number of weekly spelling words in half – “because she couldn’t do it and she wanted her to succeed”. I thanked the teacher for trying to help my daughter, but told her that we would not allow her to lower the bar for our daughter. We explained that we believed in our daughter and we were confident she could do the work. This daughter succeeded without the bar being lowered for her, but only because we intervened on her behalf.
When the job situation got tough in the Tucson area, we moved back to my home town in Tennessee for a few years. When we first moved, another daughter of mine was just going into 1st grade. However, based on the “education” she received from Lyons, her new teacher in this higher functioning school district suggested she wasn’t ready for first grade and should be held back – just a couple of weeks into first grade. We urged the teacher not to give up our daughter so early in the school year and pledged to do whatever it took to make her successful. At the end of the school year, our daughter’s teacher thanked us for taking the course we chose, and our daughter ended the school year comparing favorably to the rest of her class.
In Tennessee, we found our children up to 2 years behind their peers, and a few years later when we moved back, we found our children up to 2 years ahead of their peers in the Tucson area.
We never learn to leap higher by lowering the bar.
We never see the most beautiful landscapes by following the easy trail.
Today, the first daughter mentioned above is the mother to our two grandchildren, attended Pima Community College and works as a medical assistant. The second daughter referenced is also pursuing a career in healthcare and currently provides home health services for several clients as they near the end their life. We are very proud of our children and what they have achieved.
You are being tested today – will you pass that test?
You know the right answer, but will you choose it? Dr Sanchez must go!”
From my prospective, the parents who spoke in favor of retaining Dr Sanchez did so out of fear. Fear of change, fear of not having a clear image of how much better the future could be with a different superintendent.
Our teachers are suffering in TUSD – not getting the money promised to them in proposition 301 and 123, being saddled with discipline problems without the tools to take positive action to correct behavior, not being provided with the opportunity to require rigor, and being afraid to do the right things due to the current administration.
With Arizona ranking near the bottom nationally in education, many people might feel it is not possible for our children to achieve more, but we know the reputation of the Vail School district. Success is possible, but only by striving to do better – better by our children and better by our teachers.
The education of our children is bigger than one person, but the problems plaguing TUSD starts with Dr Sanchez. I’ve lived through believing in our children and being a part of their success. I’m certain you believe in your children also.
Let’s raise the bar and teach our children how to leap higher and achieve more.