why mr. moore rocks...
i was watching the news, they were talking about the teacher's strike, and i saw berka on it. so i decided to check out mr. moore's website and this is what he had posted on it:
To my students (past, present and future)-
Last night I voted for a strike. This was a very hard thing for me to do. Not because I didn't think it was right, but because of the questions it will raise about my integrity, about my honesty and about my priorities. Mostly though, because I wasn't able to, in that moment, explain to you why I (and many of my colleagues) did what we did. That is why I write this letter, to explain, to teach, because that is what I do.
My whole being aches to be in the classroom instead of on the picket line, however, it is because of that passion, that I could not reconcile accepting the contract offered and the current state of education in our district. You deserve the absolute best and our district is losing too many good teachers. As you well know, I am in this business because of and for you. I am in this business because I believe the education of our youth is the most important function of civil society. I am in education because I believe I can make it better.
You know that in my classroom I strive to not just make you memorize facts or places on a map (though that is part of what I do) but instead to bring the world into the classroom. I work to show you the connection between events half way around the world, one hundred years ago and your life today, here and now. I struggle to give you a glimpse of the ideas, people and events that have profoundly shaped the way we eat, think and work. Above all, I seek to give voices to the views and beliefs of peoples that are underrepresented, that are oppressed, that are shut out of the history books.
Why?
All the sappy reasons: To help you reach your dreams, to help you become a better person, to help you become a better citizen, to help you live life to the fullest.
And one other reason: To show you that, education, coupled with action, is power.
Power to improve the human condition.
Power to reach out and make history.
Power to overthrow those that are cruel and corrupt.
Power to oppose those that would otherwise oppress.
Power to bring about a new day and a new way.
Education and knowledge are powerful, but they are nothing without action.
We have all been given an area in this world where we can change things for the better today and tomorrow. That is why I teach.
And I will strike because my corner needs changing and because through this action I will be instructing. If I did not stand up now for this belief, I would have no basis for ever telling you to stand up and change your corner. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said that the "ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
I know that the challenge and controversy that we face in our little corner, is not that of what he and millions of others faced, but it is a significant point in the education of all in our district. If my fellow teachers and I do not stand up for you and for our profession now, what will that say about us? How would we be measured?
That is why I strike, because I want to measure up to the challenge and to your worth and to your potential and to be worthy of you.
Either way our actions would be a lesson to you.
To not strike, I fear, would teach you to settle for average; to give in, even if you are right, when the pressure is on; to ignore injustice, because it would be more convenient; to bend to authority, even if it is wrong.
I cannot and will not teach you that lesson. Instead I will teach you that people matter more than money; that there is power in unity; that there is hope where there is injustice and that, above all, you can count on me to stand up for you.
Sincerely,
Mr. Moore
Proud Issaquah High School Teacher
mr. moore is awesome, a great, one of the best people i've had the pleasure of knowing.
To my students (past, present and future)-
Last night I voted for a strike. This was a very hard thing for me to do. Not because I didn't think it was right, but because of the questions it will raise about my integrity, about my honesty and about my priorities. Mostly though, because I wasn't able to, in that moment, explain to you why I (and many of my colleagues) did what we did. That is why I write this letter, to explain, to teach, because that is what I do.
My whole being aches to be in the classroom instead of on the picket line, however, it is because of that passion, that I could not reconcile accepting the contract offered and the current state of education in our district. You deserve the absolute best and our district is losing too many good teachers. As you well know, I am in this business because of and for you. I am in this business because I believe the education of our youth is the most important function of civil society. I am in education because I believe I can make it better.
You know that in my classroom I strive to not just make you memorize facts or places on a map (though that is part of what I do) but instead to bring the world into the classroom. I work to show you the connection between events half way around the world, one hundred years ago and your life today, here and now. I struggle to give you a glimpse of the ideas, people and events that have profoundly shaped the way we eat, think and work. Above all, I seek to give voices to the views and beliefs of peoples that are underrepresented, that are oppressed, that are shut out of the history books.
Why?
All the sappy reasons: To help you reach your dreams, to help you become a better person, to help you become a better citizen, to help you live life to the fullest.
And one other reason: To show you that, education, coupled with action, is power.
Power to improve the human condition.
Power to reach out and make history.
Power to overthrow those that are cruel and corrupt.
Power to oppose those that would otherwise oppress.
Power to bring about a new day and a new way.
Education and knowledge are powerful, but they are nothing without action.
We have all been given an area in this world where we can change things for the better today and tomorrow. That is why I teach.
And I will strike because my corner needs changing and because through this action I will be instructing. If I did not stand up now for this belief, I would have no basis for ever telling you to stand up and change your corner. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said that the "ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
I know that the challenge and controversy that we face in our little corner, is not that of what he and millions of others faced, but it is a significant point in the education of all in our district. If my fellow teachers and I do not stand up for you and for our profession now, what will that say about us? How would we be measured?
That is why I strike, because I want to measure up to the challenge and to your worth and to your potential and to be worthy of you.
Either way our actions would be a lesson to you.
To not strike, I fear, would teach you to settle for average; to give in, even if you are right, when the pressure is on; to ignore injustice, because it would be more convenient; to bend to authority, even if it is wrong.
I cannot and will not teach you that lesson. Instead I will teach you that people matter more than money; that there is power in unity; that there is hope where there is injustice and that, above all, you can count on me to stand up for you.
Sincerely,
Mr. Moore
Proud Issaquah High School Teacher
mr. moore is awesome, a great, one of the best people i've had the pleasure of knowing.