Quiet Heroes

This is a copy of an email I sent to everyone who works in our District today:

DUSD Administrators, Teachers, and Staff,

I just wanted to share a few thoughts with you today as we come back after the horrible events that happened in Connecticut on Friday and all of the news coverage over the weekend.  Every shooting that we have had in this country has been a tragedy.   However, what happened on Friday is nothing that can even be processed.   Losing 20 six and seven years olds is beyond belief.   It seems that this has touched the core of everything that is right and wrong in our society today.

I don't believe that we will ever be able to fully understand or know why  Friday's massacre happened.    There will be all kinds of theories and all kind of reasons that politicians and the media will suggest caused this horrific event to happen.

I would like to share with you something that I feel strongly about and maybe one thing good can come out of this horrible day.   Public education has been neglected and put down by politicians and the media for quite sometime.    We have had to listen to people saying our schools are failing, teachers need to work harder, we have too many administrators, etc.  But I believe public education is the backbone of our society and has made this country what it is today.  Anyone here can get an education at any time, at any age.   This weekend, we heard about the heroic actions of many of the educators.  Some of them lost their lives trying to protect their children.   This did not surprise me at all.  I have been in education for many years and I don't know of an educator who wouldn't have done exactly the same thing faced with these circumstances!

As you work with the children in your schools today, please know that you are truly heroes in our society!  You come to school every day, walk into your classrooms or offices, and give our children the best that you can.  You do this under difficult circumstances, without adequate funding, and low salaries.  Public education must take every child who comes to us.  We can't be selective.

We hear how first responders are heroes and they are.  However, teachers and educators are the quiet heroes!    The DUSD administrators, teachers and support staff do an incredible job every day and I am proud to be a part of such a wonderful group of people!!!

You are all HEROES!!

Sheila