Disclaimer / Explanation about the picture above. The photo was chosen because I believe much of education/educators reflect the percentages found at Harvard. My article is not about “Harvard.” My article is encouraging the teaching profession to return to more of a balance between the numbers of Democrats (Liberals) / Republicans (Conservatives) / Independents and at the same time encouraging conservative teachers to reach out to a new “alliance.”
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When I began teaching in Nineteen-Hundred-and-Eighty-Nine – or in the Twentieth Century – how would I know where I would be today? I didn’t and, there is a very good chance for you 23 year-olds, 36 years from now, you may not know where you will be either.
Oh, yes.
You may have dreams of being married, two children, two-car garage, nice house, etc., etc., etc. Whatever you dream, there is a chance 36 years from now that dream is going to be just a wee-bit different. Well, I wish you the best.
So much has changed in 36 years
I did the following search. Please take a look at it. I was taken aback from all that has happened since 1989! In 1989, how could I have ever thought that my dream would be the same or have happened. Nowhere did I dream that I would be an award winning teacher with many incredible students / scholars, married to the same LADY since March 30, 1991, have children, a daughter-in-law, son-in-law, grandchildren and much more. Then, all of the sudden beginning in December 2007, life would be full of potholes. Unexpected and really – unwanted events.
What Happened?
What happened is, I didn’t change. No. I didn’t. In my previous article (written five weeks ago), I mentioned a favorite meme from Elon Musk. (And talk about being affected by change! He was once the liberals’ hero. Now, due to his support of President Trump = Liberals’ Villain. Only to now be President Trump’s nemesis. MY GOODNESS!)
Look at the meme and I think you will get my point.
I did NOT change. I didn’t embrace what the “search” showed about families. Being the son of a divorced couple, I still believe the BEST family is one with a male dad, female mom, and child or two. No one is going to convince me there is another better family structure.
Can other family structures exist? OF COURSE! I just wrote, I am the son of a divorced couple. Raised by an alcoholic mom and her non-alcoholic sister (my aunt). And, before you assume something, Anne is the actual biological sister of my mom. She is my biological Aunt. Just needed to clarify.
Political Polarization
Absolutely impacted my career! In fact, April 29, 2024 (three years following my resignation), the HR director for the district I resigned from told my wife, “What happened to Paul was political. I am sorry that happened.” I have always been “center-right.” Probably due to the chaos of being raised by an alcoholic mom, I love structure and being conservative helps me with that structure.
No one until January 20, 2017, gave a rip about my political stance. Probably because until that day (by the way, I voted for me to be President. Not for President Trump or Secretary Clinton.), teachers were still open to the idea that we needed both liberals and conservatives on campus. Not today. Here is an article about teachers and political parties.
My colleagues, family members and friends who voted for the democrats, I have been shunned, lost business, and called names; that is real.
Since 1989, What Has Stayed The Same?
FREEDOM OF CHOICE! No doubt. I have chosen to be who I am and that choice has led to responses: break-ups, loss of jobs, and finding / making new friends.
Almost every time I have lost connections with a family member, friend, job, it has hurt. Every time. No joke. Those who “follow” me or have read my blog articles are well aware of the sacrifices I have made.
Yet, thanks to my ever-growing relationship with Jesus Christ, I am making new friends! Even getting new jobs. Friends who are aligned with the teachings of Jesus Christ.
One comment from a person: “Paul, here’s your problem. You want everybody to be like you / think like you! That’s YOUR problem.” A great example of the quote, “An opinion disguised as a fact is an invitation for an argument.” It is funny how those who say that to me (“You want everybody to be like you / think like you”) are the people who have walked away from me. Maybe they walking away from he is “projection?”
What I do want is everybody to live according to what was the “National Book” – The Bible.
AND for the umpteenth time, I do NOT want to live in a ‘theocracy.’ I love living in the USA because there is evidence it was founded on Biblical principles and those Biblical principles support freedom and liberty! I would love to see more people practice a faith. Commit themselves to a faith! Would I love to see more people live as Christians? Yes! Can I work with those who are NOT Christians? 100% YES! (With exceptions: mock my Christian faith; expect me to accept EVERYTHING about them; flippin’ mean; no sense of “TRUTH” e.g., females and males are different = Truth). The difference is many non-Christians cannot work with us Christians because, ironically, they expect us (Christians) to accept everything thing about them. FUNNY – sort of.
Point of Article – Free. Moral. Upright.
The picture: Left to Right next to me: Chris, A School Board Member from his District and Tom. All three of these gentlemen are from Colorado. Chris & Tom? BAND DIRECTORS!! See. There are conservative band directors / musicians.
For the the second year, I attended the Teacher Freedom Alliance Summit. This year it was in Washington, DC. The “Alliance” was started in the hopes of specifically helping teachers opt out of the unions. While attending this “Summit” I felt so loved and appreciated; two parts of my life I need and had until prior to January 20, 2017. At the “Summit,” people share similar stories about family members, colleagues, and even their NEA / AFT or those unions’ “cousins” turn their backs on them. Very sad stories.
There were excellent sessions on “Student Discipline & Behavior,” “First Amendment Rights & Janus Decision,” “Restoring Our Republic One Classroom at a time,” and “Explicit Instruction.” 
There were FANTASTIC SPEAKERS including Yeonmi Park and Tiffany Justice.
You Can Be a Conservative Teacher in a “MOST” Liberal Profession
Our profession needs to have both Liberal and Conservative thinkers. When you (conservative teacher) feel like you are alone or being beaten up, look to organizations such as this new one: TEACHER FREEDOM ALLIANCE. You are not alone! Decent / Cognitive Thinking Liberal teachers will agree and support the idea to get to all a students, we need liberal and conservative thinking teachers.
Do not be like me and walk away. Stay strong. The conservative students / families need conservative thinking teachers.
If you want more information about “Teacher Freedom Alliance” or opting out of the union, visit the websites.
Also, you can contact me band2gether@comcast.net
Thank you Aaron Withe and Freedom Foundation for founding and supporting this wonderful option for the conservative teacher (btw – there were democrats and independent voters attending the conference; good for them).
Mark Janus and me Aaron Withe and me