This song is dedicated to all my public school teachers out there. If you live in the U.S. it’s probably the same in your town as it is here in NYC – it’s cutback time. Hard times means less employed people means less taxes collected means the government has less money means it’s time to start laying off government employees. They say they may have to lay off as many as 10,000 teachers here, and they keep debating in the news which types of teachers should get fired. Union policy says the newest hires lose their jobs. The mayor (Bloomberg) wants schools to be able to decide for themselves.

If the former happens then a large number of talented and energetic people will be plucked out the system. If the latter happens, experienced teachers will be easy targets for firing because they get paid more, so schools will have an extra incentive for firing them. Essentially the schools are in an impossible situation, with the teachers (and not to mention the students) caught in the middle. I have friends and family who are new hires. I have friends and family who are experienced teachers. So no matter what happens, I might have to pull a Pharoahe Monch on Bloomberg.

“We’ll never miss you in the streets / Understanding that you made it hard to eat.”