Letter #3

Dear Board of Education:

I am a proud parent of five beautiful children who also happen to be successful products of Jefferson County Public Schools. My children attended Belmar Elementary, South Lakewood Elementary, Creighton Middle School, Lakewood High School and Brady Exploration. Currently my three daughters are twenty-three and my two sons are twenty. The educational foundation they received from their teachers in Jeffco helped shape them into the unbelievable young people they are today. My oldest daughter has graduated with her AA from the Community College of Denver and will be pursuing her certification in American Sign Language. My middle daughter has her AA in culinary arts and AS in business from Red Rocks Community College. My youngest daughter is a pre-school teacher, shaping our youngest minds. My oldest son is a landscaper. My youngest son is a supervisor for Land Air Express. They have asked me about the current problems in Jeffco. I have explained to them the lack of respect for teachers and the desire of some individuals to follow in the footsteps of Douglas County. For instance, paying elective teachers less money because their content is less important then the content of math or science teachers. Since their mom is an elective teacher, whose salary has been frozen for five years, you can imagine this went over like the proverbial lead balloon. I will share their comments with you verbatim:

Oldest daughter: "Wow, that's crazy!"
Middle daughter: "Really?! Most of my favorite teachers were elective teachers."
Youngest daughter: "You're kidding me, right? They're going to complain that there's an increase in obese kids and teens, but then tell you teaching them how to be healthy isn't important? Because that makes sense."
Oldest son: "Are they crazy?"
Youngest son: "That's insane! The only reason I liked middle school is PE with Ms. Thompson."

I think you get the gist.

My children know first hand the financial struggles we faced daily because mom's salary had been frozen. I have worked additional jobs to provide my family with the most basic needs. I have worked as a Lot Tech for Toyota, coached for the City of Lakewood and most recently, I worked construction this past summer as a laborer for Spacecon. How dare you dismiss my twenty-two years of experience and two Master's degrees, in favor of promoting your own agenda. Please do not assume I am not improving my craft when you have NEVER met me personally or been in my classroom. I choose to work in a Title I school because I love the community and I desire to provide them with the best education possible. I acquired over eight thousand dollars in grant money last year to increase the available technology for my students. I will continue to do my best for my students, even though you continuously choose not to do your best for me or my fellow teachers.

I asked my children to give a shout out to some of the teachers they felt impacted them the most. I expected maybe one or two names, what they gave me was so much more. I can always count on my children to exceed the expectations. My children wish to thank the following individuals for guiding them on their respective paths to success: Ms. Murray, Ms. Weimer, Ms. D, Mr. Woods, Mr. Tamburrino, Mr. Bock, Mr. Mandelstam, Mr. Alameddin, Ms. Thompson, Ms. Horky, Ms. Thompson, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Sharp, Mr. Mauff, Ms. Botkins, Ms. Baker, Ms. Sarnow, Ms. Bradford, Ms. Brunjak, Ms. Degenhart, Ms. Ivy and Mr. Peterson.

Jamie A. Leeburg
O'Connell Middle School-an IB World School
303-982-8399
Physical Education Teacher
"Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan. The key is discipline. Without it, there is no morale." Tom Landry