Our children are the most vulnerable members of our society. And as those children someday will inherit the reins to that society, the education, preparation and examples we bestow on them now could well determine the direction in which they take our collective future. That is why the policies, programs and curricula our students receive now are of utmost importance, and why the widespread misbehavior and political posturing that plagues our schools is so tragic.
Too many people who have made their careers working at schools, both in the Rio GrandeValley and elsewhere, appear to have little regard for the very reason they have those jobs, and seem more interested in serving themselves instead of their students.
The ongoing scandal in the marketing and communications department at the McAllen Independent School District is just the latest example where school officials and employees seem more interested in building little fiefdoms, holding little regard not just for the children whose lives and futures they affect, but for the people with whom they work every day.
People working in the communications department, some of whom have left the district or moved to other MISD jobs, describe it as a department infused with pettiness, mistreatment, vulgarity and retribution.
Officials are still investigating the matter and all the facts aren’t known, but the allegations fall in line with similar complaints that have been heard at other districts over the years.
We have seen too many departments at our school districts rent by scandal and dissent. We have seen too many people run for school board positions, seeing them as political stepping stones rather than as a chance to make a positive impact on our society. We have seen too many school boards become fields of political gang warfare, where every change in political majority prompts in the replacement of a superintendent, with little regard to whether the person they fire is actually doing a good job. We have seen too many school officials take umbrage at the thought that they might have to be accountable to the people whose children depend on their work and whose taxes pay their salaries. One board currently seeks to intimidate the public by using their taxes to hire a law firm in order to threaten anyone so bold enough to comment on their policies and actions.
To be sure, many people working in our schools chose their careers for the right reasons. They recognize the value of their work helping students, their families and our communities as a whole by enabling them to set and achieve higher goals than the generations that went before them. Unfortunately, many of them will find themselves toiling under people who might be less qualified, but achieved their positions through schmoozing, pandering and political gamesmanship.
Our Valley has long been plagued by poverty and lack of personal and economic achievement that in large measure results from low educational achievement. Sadly, too many people who have taken jobs in education seem more willing to perpetuate those problems than to work toward fixing them.
