Didaskalovertitaphobia – the actual fear of schools based on Greek roots found in the list of phobias

In the wake of last week’s demonstration organized by Organize 2020 where 14 educators were arrested, I have wondered exactly how many times Gov. McCrory has willingly met with teachers who have asked for a meeting.

Those teachers who rallied with that march last week had sent a letter to the governor requesting a face-to-face dialogue. He never answered back.

My guess is that he didn’t want to have that conversation. If McCrory’s has an inability to defend HB2 in person to those who disagree with it, then I can see why he avoided meeting with these teachers. Look at what has happened under his watch to public education in North Carolina.

I can’t ever recall a time when McCrory actually opened his doors to teachers to discuss public education. There have been times when he has had press conferences at schools like his alma mater Ragsdale High School to announce rehearsed and craftily spun proposals, but has he ever in the last three years met with representatives from NCAE or other teacher advocacy groups? Has he ever sat down with a group of teachers, educators, support staff, and administrators and actually took what they had to say?

I don’t know of one, at least one that has ever been publicized.

It seems weird that someone who went to college to study to become a teacher and even student taught himself would be “afraid” to talk with teachers.

Is he afraid to talk to teachers as a whole? Public school teachers only? Is he afraid of hearing the truth?

Or is he afraid of hearing the truth from public school teachers? I think he is and there needs to be a clinical diagnosis for that fear. Consider the following:

Didaskalos – Greek for “teacher”

Demosios – Greek for “public”

Alitheia – Greek for “truth

Combine these and we get Didaskalithedemosiophobia – the fear of conversing with public school teachers for fear that your policies on public education just might be wrong and harmful.

It’s a long clinical sounding word. And it’s hard to pronounce; therefore, it’s a serious condition.

And there is only one remedy for it – facing that fear and actually listening to public school teachers. The more one puts it off, the more powerful the phobia.

If the governor really wants to get reelected he will have to get over this fear.

North Carolina has 100 counties, each with a county public school system. According to the Labor and Economic Analysis Division of the NC Dept. of Commerce, the public schools are at least the second-largest employers in nearly 90 of them—and the largest employer, period, in 66. That means teachers represent a base for most communities, the public school system.  And they are strong in numbers.

And people will be showing up this November. Too much going on.

Who wouldn’t want to have a say in the Trump/Clinton election?

Who wouldn’t want to vote in the McCrory / Cooper gubernatorial election? At least one of those candidates doesn’t suffer from didaskalithedemosiophobia.

Why? Because didaskalithedemosiophobia can really hurt public education.