Question

I’m the E.D. of Great Schools for America - http://greatschoolsforamerica.org/. I recently read your article on Huffington Post about “Financing Your Dream Business.” And today, a friend sent me a link to your involvement with Patriotic Millionaires. As I listened to you speak about the value of public schools in your life, I thought you might be able to help our organization. I have started a nonprofit organization to promote education equity. Currently, we are a group of volunteers, mostly educators, rolling a colossal rock up a very steep incline. We are fighting to save our public schools, and we need help rather urgently. This story is over eight years in the making, so please indulge me while I try to be as succinct as possible in telling it. First, a little background about me: If you google my name, you’ll find that I am the first teacher not to be protected by the landmark decision Tinker v. Des Moines – “It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” In my case (Mayer v. Monroe), the 7th Circuit decided that teachers do not have First Amendment rights at school, but instead, “a teacher’s speech is a commodity she sells to the school in exchange for a salary.” I lost my teaching position in Bloomington, Indiana for saying four little words: “I honk for peace” before the war in Iraq began. The irregularities in my case are astounding and the court’s ruling is, I believe, unconstitutional. I appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States but the high court declined to hear my case. (You can find out more about it if you are interested at freespeechnation.org. – sadly, in need of updating.) I’ve been mostly unemployed since. I lost my house, my car, my savings, my career, and a good deal of my dignity in fighting for my rights. I was blacklisted by the school district. Their attorney posted awful things about me on the Internet. I was called incompetent and unpatriotic. I am an excellent educator who cannot find work. I moved to Portland, Oregon to be near my sons. Without their support I would be homeless. I am a knowledgeable, highly effective, experienced educator collecting food stamps. I’m telling you this to explain why, at this time in my life, I find myself totally without resources to fund a business. But, these days I’m in good company with teachers losing their jobs and their rights everywhere. We are under attack nationwide, and our public schools are under siege. My question for you is how do we find funding to begin our work earnestly? We can’t expect our volunteers to do much more work without some compensation, and we need money for supplies. We find ourselves swimming against the current when approaching foundations for funding. Most don’t fund the travel and legal fees that will be important to our goals initially. Banks will not loan us money, not because we do not have a strong business plan, but because they do not agree with our agenda politically. (Besides, banks aren’t making loans to anyone I know.) We have many answers to our nation’s education woes. We think educators should be involved in the reform process. We want our voices to be heard. We can’t do it without a hand up. So called “education reformers” are doing real harm to children, so we don’t want to waste time. I would be happy to spend some time detailing our mission and projects, and answering any questions you may have. Oh, to be able to afford a Tweezerman again . . . sigh.

Submitted by Deb Mayer

Answer

Deb - As you might know I was a citizen diplomat and went over to Iraq and tried to at least abate or stop the violence over there if not the war.  So I applaud you for standing up and declaring how you felt about the Iraq War.  To hear you lost your job and so much more for declaring that you "honk for peace" is sad and frustrating.  I passed along your tale to a friend of mine at www.freespeechforpeople.org  His comment was "This is an outrageous story.  It highlights the climate we face today and the importance of fighting back."   I'm not an attorney but I would think you have a slander case against the attorney who posted things on the internet against you.  However I wouldn't bother.  All it does is cost money and get you little in return.   You say your organization needs help.  I assume you mean needs funding.  I have little advice about how to fund a non-profit short of raising money from people you know.  But your situation is too dire for you to be working as a volunteer for an organization that doesn't have funds.  You need  a job and if you can find one then perhaps sell your talent as a teacher - maybe start a tutoring business.  Myself I cannot get involved besides offering some advice with the stories and businesses that come my way because there are just too many and I have an overflowing plate of things to get done.