Proud to be a "Public Servant"

The recent debate in Washington D.C. concerning raising the debt ceiling enlightened me on a few things.  First, the amount of cynicism that politicians have for their own occupation is amazing. If they dislike what they do so much and they have so little respect for their profession then I question why they have even chose their occupation.  As a guidance counselor I always told students that they should follow their passion and spend the rest of their lives doing something they loved.  The rhetoric from the politicians in D.C. does not lead me to believe they love their job.   As I followed the debt ceiling debacle I heard many politicians start their interviews with “Those people in Washington “; I think they have forgotten that they are those people in Washington.  Have they forgotten that they are public servants elected to do the work of the people?  I have spent my entire working career as a public servant and I am proud that I have given my blood sweat and tears for public education.

I am happy that I have not worked in any industry whose goal is to create profits by cheating tax payers (Enron).  I am glad that I have not had to create incredibly confusing financial deals to make fake profits (Lehman Brothers).  I am proud that I work with local community members on a daily basis to try to make their life better.  I am overjoyed that I work with local small businesses to create solutions to problems that benefit everyone involved including the community.  I am proud that I work with the most democratic government entity in the United States…the local school board.  The decisions made by school boards are immediately felt in their local community.  If the school board makes a decision that someone questions they will hear about it while they shop at the local grocery store or when they are out in the community.  In other words, they are immediately responsible for the decisions they make.

School board members give their time to improve the lives of students.  Every school board that I have worked with was filled with people that had a passion to help students and the community.  Sure, different board members have differing opinions and there are moments of discord; but that is what democracy is all about.  The art of compromise occurs all of the time on school boards that I have worked with.  I look forward to working with the Penn-Trafford school board as we work with the community to provide the best learning experiences for our children.  This is why I am a public servant and this is why I am proud to be in this profession.