More Coffee, Please

Judge Tucker is rapidly becoming one of my favorite jurists—right up there with Atticus Finch. I appreciate any legal mind capable of seeing through bull and to the truth, right through obstructionism to what is right and proper.

In addition to acknowledging the obvious danger the current situation poses to the children and the district, he also completely rejected the claims of the Monadnock Taxpayer’s Association and their contention that he reconsider his motion. He rejected it out of hand, he rejected with the short language and the contempt the motion deserves.

It’s an excellent beginning to the school year. It’s also exactly the right action and the start of exactly what is needed. More than anything else, the same kind of short, curt, and dismissive attitude is precisely what is needed with everything brought forward by the Monadnock Taxpayer’s Association. As soon as the public becomes as aware and as knowledgeable of their actions as the justice system seems to have we’ll all be a lot better off.

Really, at a certain point, the lies and the hypocrisy does have to stop—either ended voluntarily, or more likely, the limits of courtesy the public is extending will be reached. I mean, another attempt at solving something by court action? How many times does that make? Why is an anti-government, anti-spending organization continuing to force the district to spend money on lawyers? Why, instead of working to find some sort of fair and equitable agreement, why instead of working with the town as part of the community, why instead is there a group of four or five¹ trying to obstruct every attempt at making the Monadnock region better?

Ah well—I won’t beat that horse, and I’m going to let it go.² The truth about the Monadnock Taxpayer’s Association has been documented over and over again, both here and elsewhere. As nasty and vile as their goals and methods are, they’re not wholly to blame for all that’s going on.

It’s funny. I’m looking at purchasing a home in the district. I’m looking at another year in the district. And I’m feeling very afraid to do either. The results of the March vote were such a huge surprise, such a huge disappointment—not for me, but a disappointment in the townspeople who I serve and work with.³ It was so very depressing, so very bleak to realize so many people were so very lost, so very confused, and so very unaware of the need for their involvement and their attention.

I’m scared. I’m scared that, on September 9th, the only voice heard will be, once again, the Monadnock Taxpayer’s Association. I’m scared that those little lying yellow fliers will go out, and the public will never hear the truth. I’m scared that, once again, the teachers and students will do nothing to get the truth out. I’m scared that, in the end, the vote will come back as a “no” and a building and a district already decimated by teacher turnover will lose the people who are struggling so valiantly to survive in the trenches.

I’m scared of being disappointed in my community again. I’m fine with realizing my community is not perfect, I’m fine with recognizing that my “larger family” has problems. I’m terrified to think they don’t care to fix them, that they’re not interested in making them go away.

So, I guess the real question is what will each of the stakeholders do this time around?

1. When will I get an email saying that teachers will be meeting at Hannafords and Shaws to hand out our own fliers, sharing the truth, sharing actual facts?

2. When will the mailings go out, and when will I be asked for a donation for stamps—something I’m very willing to do?

3. When will I hear about the students meeting on the town common after school, carrying signs before the vote as they so nobly did after the vote?

4. How do we guarantee this Deliberative session, this Saturday, August 9th, is packed not with the same vile bitterness and lies of the MTA but of people supporting this communities?

Most importantly, when will we the stakeholders own our responsibility to ourselves, our children, our community, and our collective future?

1 Of course, the MTA maintains they have far more members than that, but since they refuse to release a membership list, I’m forced to go with what I’ve seen. They could prove me wrong very simply and very easily, but I’m fairly sure they won’t do so—mainly because if they released a membership list, it would make it obvious how few and minor an element they actually are. But hey, if I’m wrong, let me know. I’m here for the truth. ↺

2 For today, anyway. ↺

3 Which is not to say that all, or even many, have not done amazing things for the community and the students. There are so many, active, engaged individuals who are truly saints working and living among us. The problem is the vast bulk who just don’t seem to want to invest the time to really learn what’s going on—how do we reach them? I firmly believe we have good people in good communities, badly led and badly informed. So how do we fix that? ↺

Gregarious

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