This

Is an open letter to teachers

Public schools seem to have the motto that "everyone wins"

Do you understand logic?

Everyone can't win!

If someone wins, it means someone else lost

            it's the same as saying everyone lost

            which means it was a tie

            and no one won

That is the nature of winning

And it's the way of the world.

Teaching it any other way

            is just dumb

Instead of teaching that everyone's a winner

            instead of giving everyone now meaningless trophies

Teach them to be good sports

Teach them to win gracefully and take losses in stride

True winners understand that they can lose

Losers can't understand why they can't win

And speaking of "everyone winning," how about "everyone's smart"

I want to know why dumb people take smart classes—why you let dumb people take smart classes

And I don't mean people who struggle in something

Because struggling means striving to achieve

No, I'm talking about the people who don't even try

I'm talking about the people that I

            constantly had to sit next to

Because somehow

            I'll be a good influence on them

Because somehow

            the student who's failing

            is supposed to be motivated

            by the person so far ahead of them

            I'm embarrassed by it

Because somehow

            having a 3.9 GPA

            after 2 honors and 3 AP classes

            means I'm the only one

            who can't sit by my friends

Because somehow

            the students who aren't even willing to try

            are more important

            than those who could be truly brilliant

            if the course-work was actually "rigorous"

See, no child left behind

            means that students like me

            are bored out of our skulls

            as the teacher explains

            for at least the third time

            something that we figured out weeks ago

When you did it to me

            I put up with it

            because honestly, I'm too nice for my own good

But now we're talking about my sister

            and she deserves better than this

            she deserves an environment

            that will challenge her to grow

            to learn something new

            not one that will challenge her patience

She does not deserve

            to sit next to the students

            who waste class time

            describing homecoming dresses

She does not deserve

            to sit next to those students

            who, now realizing they haven't an answer, have the gall to ask,

            "Hey ______, what'd you get?"

            because they aren't willing to try

Those are the kids I'm talking about

And when you brag

            about how many students

            are in honors or AP

            or so far ahead in math

            it sickens me

Because when so many people are "ahead"

            it becomes normal

And those of us who truly are

            or could be—if you ever felt like challenging us—

are left behind.