This is why we do what we do.

The following is from an email by Dr. Richard Abernathy, Executive Director of the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators, to his members urging their opposition to HB1040, which would create an independent Charter School Commission for Arkansas.

“AAEA (Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators), ASBA (Arkansas School Boards Association), Rural Education, and AEA (Arkansas Education Association) have spent many hours on this legislation due to the magnitude of the potential changes.”

“…if you believe that losing control of your local school is a bad thing, you need to contact your legislator and have your teachers, board members, and other employees (his emphasis) contact their legislator.”

While they do control, and have for years, it’s not their local school. It’s yours – parents, employers, citizens – on behalf of our students.

In order to put students first over the agendas of self-interested adults, this is a fight worth fighting.

In The Art of War, Sun Tzu wrote, “Know your enemy.”

Dr. Abernathy and the AAEA certainly do. It’s time we did as well.