Thank you to Clarence Voters and the Kids who Rallied

Although the budget vote was ridiculously close, the board election was a blowout for the pro-school candidates, and for that we give thanks.

But.

On Tuesday, students rallied in support of their schools - in support of their education, and yes - in support of their teachers. During that rally, someone passing by in a car took the time to slow down, roll down a window, and yell at a 14 year-old girl and boy that they are "brainwashed scumbags".

Let me tell you what I think of that - are you paying attention, Ellie Corcoran? You, who claimed up and down how evil all of the parents and students are, while maintaining this phony sheen of decency?

Whoever would take the time to roll down a window and call a high school freshman a "brainwashed scumbag" is the lowest form of scum. If you want to ignore the kids, go right ahead. Indeed, that is what a reasonable adult would do if they disagreed with them or what they were doing.

But to take the time and effort to yell an epithet at a kid ranks among the most cowardly and pathetic thing an adult could do.

Let me share with you something I found on the internet - never mind who wrote it or where I found it. It was posted in direct response to yesterday's drubbing.

It appears that there are still plenty of people who are not bamboozled by the Clarence Teachers Ass. as indicated by the votes. I'm sure they will continue to stack the deck, slander and vilify anyone who opposes their kingdom. I am sure they feel righteous in what they are doing because that is what they have been brainwashed and conditioned to do.

To use the term "brainwashed" in a conclusory way - without any evidence - to describe a political foe is just lazy. No one was slandered by anyone, and no one is brainwashed. Just because someone doesn't see the world the way you have it skewed in you mind doesn't make them "brainwashed." Likewise, if someone takes a position counter to yours, it doesn't mean they've been "bamboozled". Again - lazy, conclusory name-calling is the mark of someone who pays scant attention and doesn't have the wherewithal to consider other points of view. 

The idea they are teaching children yet conduct themselves in a manner that suggests "win by any means", even if they have to exploit children and intimidate people is a sad state of affairs. 

Whose child was "exploited"? By whom was that child "exploited"? In what way were people "intimidated"? Did anyone call any of the school opponents a "brainwashed scumbag" yesterday? No. Clean your own damn house before you start bitching about other people's. 

They have forgotten for whom and why the school board exists. 

Um - the students. 

For them it is another domain they have claimed and will do anything in their power to hold on to. Unfortunately they don't realize the impact they are having on the tax paying residence of this community and the other community's around Erie County. 

*Residents. The taxpaying residents of Clarence are doing just fine, with their comparatively ultra-low taxes and excellent school system. I could go through the data and the fact that the author of this whinging diatribe pays less now in actual dollars in school taxes than he did in 2006, but there's no point. There is no rational argument that people like this will ever listen to or consider. None.

Unfortunately many folks will be forced to sell their homes and move to other places to sustain. I find it very disheartening that people that claim to have all this compassion and caring for children can be so ambivalent toward the tax paying citizens, all for their own greed. Please don't feel a need to respond to this, this is merely my opinion... I hope I can still keep that!

Greed. That's what this is about - the greedy, subhuman, brainwashing, horrible teachers. They are the root of all evil in this person's mind. They exploit children and are politically ruthless. Right? Getting rich on the government teat, with their "salary" and "benefits" and "pension" and "summers off".

Class warfare is all that is. Jealousy. "It's not fair" as the cry of the aggrieved tea party collectivist, ignorant of the inherent irony.

No one is "ambivalent toward the tax paying citizens" - least of all the teachers who, if you'll recall, also pay taxes. If they live in Clarence, their taxes are significantly lower than in other places. The taxpayer in Clarence has very little indeed to complain about if you compare it to similarly situated communities. No, we're not like Mississippi or Alabama, and thank God for that. Our schools actually function - especially Clarence.

No, I don't get a teacher's pension, but I don't sit here whining about it, and I don't try to fail school budgets over it. After all, it's state law - you can fail every fricking budget from now until eternity,  but it would have no effect on how pensions are statutorily set up.

The upshot of it is this - if you want be involved, do it. If you want to change the way public education is funded or regulated, go for it. Want to change the testing scheme? Knock yourself out. I might even help you.

But if you attempt time and time again to fail school budgets and fuck with my kids' education in order to make some impossible point, or for anything less than school board malpractice, then you're punishing children over your own political agenda.

That, my friends, is untenable.