The following tweet reminded me of how dedicated Mark Johnson really is in advocating for public schools here in North Carolina.

Every two years the Department of Public Instruction issues a Teacher Working Conditions Survey to get a sense of how public school teachers feel about their working environment.

Last year’s was the first one with Mark Johnson as the state superintendent. In a boost to get all teachers to answer the survey, State Supt. Mark Johnson sent out a video with a “sweet” incentive for teachers to fill out an already slanted survey.

 

If we as a state got %95 of teachers to complete the survey and were the top state as far as participation percentages were concerned, Mark Johnson said he would compete in the Krispy Kreme Challenge in Raleigh this year. We got %91, but that was close enough.

The race has participants run 2.5 miles to a destination,  eat one dozen doughnuts, and then run another 2.5 miles.

Mark Johnson will run that race and eat doughnuts for us.

Mark Johnson will literally throw up, yak, hurl, puke, upchuck, heave, vomit, and blow chunks for us.

As long as he does not have to really meet with us. Remember May 16th? Johnson ran that day – away from Raleigh. He rallied for school choice week, but did not rally for public schools during the class size chaos debacle. And he will have privately held events to make announcements for public education (Feb. 19th).

Oddly enough,  as a teacher I usually run around campus a distance of a few miles a day (according to my FitBit), eat in a rapid fashion because of time constraints around halfway through the “race” of a day, and listen to my students, parents, and fellow teachers in a personal manner without a survey or need for technology.

Daily.

But I do not use that as an incentive to get people to raise a percentage or to look like I am really going the extra mile.

Because, it’s the job.

Mark Johnson seems to think that he can incentivize teachers with eating doughnuts to make him look as if he can galvanize the public school teaching force into solidarity.

Actually, the best way he can incentivize teachers is by actually doing his job, fighting for more resources, standing up to the NCGA instead of bowing down to them, and  LISTENING to teachers authentically.

Because, that’s his job.

Besides many schools use Krispy Kreme doughnuts to raise needed money to keep vital activities running and get resources that Johnson should be fighting for.

But I did go ahead and decorate a dozen doughnuts for his consumption during the race.