Emily joins the club

My kids are learning valuable lessons about advocacy these days. Today after school a large group of the more socially conscious students gathered with teachers, parents and a couple of major teachers' union reps to protest our Principal's tyrannical policies and demand his firing. Two newspapers and Fox news were there.

I went even though I forgot my T-shirt because I'm not going to be scared. I've never been the kind of person who was afraid of expressing my opinion if I thought injustice was being done, and the more we've discussed Principal's complete disrespect for his employees and his students, the more I've realized I need to add my voice to the people speaking out. Because the more of us who speak out, the more power we take from him.

The coolest thing is how this is really energizing the kids. They are seeing how when you speak out you can accomplish great things, and they're learning about the power of the press, and what the word "fascism" means. I'm going to offer a free A in the class to any student who gets a letter published on any subject in the LA Times. I went from being ambivalent to thinking this is all kind of exciting.

So if you watch the news tonight you might catch a glimpse of me standing in the crowd smiling as I protest the existence of a man who authorizes my paychecks.

Tomorrow I'll be writing a tirade about the teachers at our school who suck.