My Mother the Terrorist

I'm back home in Austin, Texas. I decided to post a little essay I wrote after Education Secretary Rod Paige called the National Education Association a terrorist organization.

I was embarrassed by the tepid response of the leadership of the NEA and put the following essay together. Both of my parents built careers as teachers at public schools and both have been active members of the Education Association for a long time.

My Mother the Terrorist

My mother lives a quiet life as a fourth grade teacher and church choir member in a small rural town on the Minnesota prairie. Imagine my surprise when I heard the Secretary of Education say he believes my mother is a member of a terrorist organization.

I guess different people have different perspectives as to who my mother is. Let me offer you my perspective.

I see mom as a loving guide that is always there to help me on life’s journey. I see her as mentor I want to impress and please. I see her as safety and protection from the parts of the world that are still sometimes a bit scary – even for a 34-year-old man. I see her as a friend that spent many years showing me this wonderful world and then graciously watched as I set off to explore on my own. (If only I had her grace at that moment.)

My mother is also a schoolteacher. She spends her days at work with a room full of fourth graders. She teaches them to read and write. She teaches them history and science and math. She teaches them about our country and what it means to live in the world’s greatest nation. She teaches them about working and playing with others. She celebrates their accomplishments and stays awake at night worrying about their problems.

My mother is also an active leader in her union, which is an affiliate of the National Education Association. She advocates for smaller class sizes so that she and her colleagues can give each child more individual attention. She stands beside her fellow teachers when they feel poorly treated by management. She spends hours working with the school board to negotiate fair contracts. She advocates for better health care coverage.

Rod Paige, the US Secretary of Education, has a very different view of my mother. He believes the National Education Association is a terrorist organization. He evidently believes my mother is best compared to Osama bin Laden. My mother? A terrorist? Only someone completely detached from reality could make such a comparison.

My mother isn’t a terrorist. My mother is a woman who cares passionately about her family, her co-workers, her community, her state and her country. She believes that we all should leave the world in better shape than we found it. To do so my mother has devoted her career to teaching the kids in her community. She has devoted a significant amount of time and energy to caring for the needs of her co-workers. She has labored as a secretary, a waitress and a teacher all while working with my father to raise their two children.

The President needs to fire Rod Paige. He should not be given the dignity of being allowed to resign. In 2004, our Secretary of Education should certainly know the difference between a terrorist and a teacher.