I’m Tired On so many occasions, teachers and students have been intimidated and humiliated and oppressed because of the sheer fact that they are teachers and students. There comes a time when people get tired of being trampled upon. There comes a time when people get tired of being pushed. I’m tired of Collier County Schools fostering an atmosphere of intimidation and fear. I’m tired of people discouraging teachers and students from speaking out. I’m tired of our Superintendent’s methods that have violated our right to a free, fair and informed debate while posing to encourage it through managed meetings and open mic. I’m tired of the demagogic educational policies of Phyllis Schlafly, Phillip Schlechty and Willard Daggett. I’m tired of the factory model of schooling. I’m tired of people coming down here from Arkansas and Kentucky and Tennessee to tell us to do things their way. I’m tired of being treated like a plantation worker in the Old South. I’m tired of the FCAT and NCLB. I’m tired of people using these flawed measuring methods to tell us that we’re doing poorly. I’m tired of the community complaining that teachers do too little work for too much money. I’m sick and tired of people who work in this building thinking that they are smarter than all the rest of us. It’s time to stop Shaking Up the Schoolhouse. It’s time to stop saving money on the backs of teachers and students. It’s time to stop changing the schedule. It’s time to stop the cuts of teaching positions, guidance counselors, and ESE special assistants. It’s time to stop the Thompson 3-year Consolidation Plan. That our community would dare, here in this hall, sanctified by the name of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to place political and economic expediency above morality and to use craft and deceit to maintain authority and to carry out discriminatory policies is wholly reprehensible and deserves utter condemnation. We don’t need to reinvent our nation’s high schools. We don’t need to reinvent 9th Grade. We don’t need to restructure our schedule. We don’t even need any more money. What we do need is to sheathe the knife. Please, vote with Kathleen Curatolo to keep the block at the high school level. 375