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Monday, July 18, 2011

A tale of two suits


A tale of two men
As Secretary of Education Arne Duncan goes about his work in DC he meets with the powerful, the mighty, the wealthy. He wears his Giorgio Armani suits, and plays the occasional pick up basketball games with congressional leaders, Senators, and even with the President. He goes about his day wheeling and dealing billions of our tax dollars. He is a busy man far too important to spend any real time with teachers, parents, and children. When his day is done he smiles thinking about the important deals he made.
While Arne wines and dines the Corporate Elite I give out plastic medals to struggling readers, wear silly hats, participate in Readers Theater, sit on the floor and read with children and teachers. Tonight after work I Brought 720 lollipops, 200 hundred “ I’m a good reader stickers, borrowed some 2 dozen beach blankets, 9 beach chairs, and organized 28 adult volunteers for the New Britain Reads Read-A-Thon at the Public Library tomorrow. This day began at 5:PM, and at 10:PM is only now winding down. I have no Giorgio Armani suits, but I do wear the best that Sears has to offer.
As Arne fiddles the rest of us fight the good fight against illiteracy every single day. When my day is done I think about the many hours of hard work put in by my teachers and our children, and celebrate every new letter, new word, new story, and every smile that came my way today. I am marching to DC just to tell Secretary Duncan that children are more than test scores.
See you in DC,
Jesse

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