“My name is Stephen Beller and I am
a 5th grade elementary school teacher
drafted out of college and sent
to this school by the District.
I’m stuck here and am required
to stay under contract for seven years.
We have a bad team presently,
with each teacher interested only
in his or her own immediate goals. Nobody
cares about this school as a whole.
I want to transfer to another school
of my own choosing where my skills
will be appreciated by management,
fans, (my students,) and other teachers.
But I am not allowed to leave by order of
the District bosses who sit in their fancy offices
and say I must spend my professional life here,
and not make any career moves to a higher level.
The District insists me and my skills must stay.
My only recourse is to take a demotion
and become a teaching assistant.
Or I could take my teaching talents to Japan!
Why does the District have all this power
to treat me in such a cavalier manner?
If I object to their policy of serfdom
they might send me to another school
in Wyoming or some such far away place.
If enough teachers protest, the District
might take measures to close out the term
for as long as they deem necessary.
Why isn’t the general public outraged?
I need to get back into the game,
to the place where my kids, my fans,
love, cheer and respect me.
I want to be part of a winning team.
I want be in charge of my own destiny.”
THE POETRY OF THE GAME