If at first something seems hard...

"We did it!"

We’re big on Daniel Tiger at my house. Or at least we were. My baby is starting to outgrow it, so it was such a treat to have her read ME a bedtime story from the Daniel Tiger storybook last night. I love all of it. The normal day-to-day captured in sweet storytelling. The simple animation. The way my kid sometimes answers “No! I do not!” when Daniel asks, “Do you want to make-believe with me?”

There are so many great things about Daniel Tiger, but maybe the best part is the catchy songs that stay stuck in my head for days and somehow apply to my life too. I’ve spent a not insignificant amount of time thinking about how we need a Daniel Tiger-esque show for adults, especially white men, based around these songs. Can you imagine: “It helps to say what you’re feeling,” and “It can feel great when you stop to appreciate,” but with examples like mansplaining, emotional labor, and toxic masculinity?

So anyway, I was not surprised when the song/moral of the bedtime story was relevant to my own life. Or, rather, relevant to all of us.

🎶 “If at first something seems hard, try it a little bit at a time.” 🎶

It couldn’t be a more perfect soundtrack for this week.

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It’s been almost a year since I went public with my concern over the direction in which SLPS was headed by sharing my efforts to obtain basic records like minutes and agendas (part one, part two).

It was hard. I knew there would be some who’d call me a traitor or make excuses, but at some point enough was enough.

“I love SLPS and I am heartbroken that an institution that I love so much is not holding itself to the highest of standards. While I could allow my love for the district to serve as an excuse to look the other way or to worry that my critique will be seen as an attack, I realize that my love for the district carries an immense responsibility. If those who love SLPS do not demand excellence, then the district remains vulnerable to those who seek to destroy it. Every flaw that goes uncorrected, every trendline that falls, every year that passes without improvement serve as fodder for our opportunistic adversaries. Our love for SLPS cannot be a cloak that covers the indefensible, instead it must be the force that pushes the district to be its very best.”

In desperate need of sunshine, April 20, 2024

It wasn’t just the records that were a mess. Less than four months later, our superintendent was out on leave amid allegations of improper hiring and spending practices and from there it was never-ending cavalcade of issues. It seemed like the district was in free fall headed for a terrible crash.

Maybe it was. Maybe it still is. But on Tuesday night, power shifted in an instant. In a burst of hope that we might be able to avoid disaster we traded the simplest, most beautiful text messages, “We did it!” Our use of “we” standing in stark contrast to the self-congratulatory attitude of outgoing board leadership who never missed an opportunity to tell us how hard they work or how important, smart, and dedicated they are even as district morale and community trust plummeted under their watch.

So, what did we do and how did we do it?

Well, it seemed hard at first, but we tried to save the district a little bit at a time.

We each took the power that we have and combined it with that of others, working in our own usually small ways towards a common goal. A thousand little steps in the right direction that added up to cover the distance between the leadership we had and the leadership we wanted. No, the leadership we deserve.

It started with the invisible network of heroes that launched into action last spring, women who shared even the tiniest bits of information, fitting their puzzle pieces in with those held by others to assemble the full picture of what was going on.

And then that network grew, and grew, and GREW.

Teachers who pushed back on the administrative decisions to advocate for their students best interest, who walked out of meetings, who lobbied the board. Parents and caregivers who rejected claims that things were going well and everything was fine based on their first-hand experiences with transportation, special education services, and district communications. Candidates who stepped up to run knowing every single one of their life choices would be scrutinized. Citizens who rejected the desires of the union and other so-called authorities to do their own research and create their own slate of candidates that, if elected, would better represent our students interests. Members of the press who showed up to meetings, listened, and asked questions when stories didn’t add up.

But even those seem big in relation to other even tinier but more common things that played an important part. Hugging an educator who needed it at the end of a long day. Reading the newspaper or listening to the radio to stay up-to-date on SLPS. Talking to other parents on the playground at pick-up. Texts that said, “Don’t give up! This district needs you!” or “Keep going!” or “Thank you!”

We could have quit or looked the other way a thousand different times, but we chose to keep going, decided the risks were worth it, that our students and educators and City were worth it.

Disrupting the power grid is hard, but we did it. One tiny bit at a time.

But friends, elections aren’t an end. They are the beginning. The work we have ahead of us is likely harder than what we just went through. The goals of this phase of change are less clear so the means of achieving them are even murkier. I’m tired. You’re tired. We are all tired, but we can’t stop now. All those little teeny tiny things you’ve been doing to get us to this point? Keep doing them. Add in the bigger things when you’ve got the energy or when they align with your interests, expertise, or skills. With all that work and at least a little luck, we’ll be trading “We did it!” texts again soon.