On Open Letter to our State Legislators, especially Representative Mike Turner

Good Afternoon Representative Turner,

As the District 81 Representative you represent my family, community, and school system. I invite you to visit my classroom at school anytime: Edmond Memorial High School! We have great kids, great teachers, and great administrators, and as a school and district we are always trying to do what is best for our kids.

However, I have to disagree with your assessment of how important education is for our children. The Rally for Education that is scheduled for the 31st March is about more than one day – it is about our future. The future for our children (my kids go to Deer Creek who you also represent) is what this rally is all about. How can we get our kids ready for the future if we are stuck in the past? How will our business community grow if they see that we are not investing in education? Strong educational communities benefit society and promote citizenship. How can you go against this? Testing our kids non-stop and throwing millions of dollars at the testing companies is the place where we should start looking at saving some money. Hold me accountable! Give me a finish line, but do not take away my funding and move the finish line!

And I also would like to make you aware that as an employee of Edmond Public Schools, I am not an employee of the State of Oklahoma. I did not negotiate with the State for my contract, I do not receive the same benefits that you receive as my representative and my retirement comes from a different place than your retirement comes from.

I will be at the rally on March 31 and I would love to have some time to visit with you about these things. I am passionate about what I do and I love that we live in a democracy where we have the opportunity to rally with others who share our beliefs. This fundamental right is what makes this nation great!
Thank you for your time!

Scott M. Haselwood
National Board Certified Teacher
PreAP Precalculus, Calculus
Varsity/JV Women’s Soccer
Edmond Memorial High School