Data-Driven Supervision

Data-Driven Supervision

Said the miser to the river,
“How beautiful you are!
I will keep you in my basement,
To look at, in a jar.”

Said the river to the miser,
“You can watch me as I flow.
If you try to catch and keep me,
There'll be nothing left to show.”

******

Said the scholar to the flower,
“I like the way you look.
Allow me now to pluck you
And to put you in my book.”

Said the flower to the scholar,
“You can look at me, my friend.
But if you try to pluck me,
Then our friendship's at an end.”

******
 
The worlds of suits and ties and those
Of workers rarely mingle.
But “Data-Driven Supervision”
Is suited for a jingle.

How many ways to make men work,
How many ways to lie...
But rather than be docile slaves,
It's better, far, to die...

******

Said the bosses to the workers,
Who were toiling at the schools,
“You will work for less and faster.
We will measure you with rules.”

Said the workers to the bosses,
“All your rules make little sense.
If you think that we are asses,
Then let's stop with this pretense.”

******

You can write upon the water,
You can try to net the air,
You can measure love and caring.
You can ask us if we care.

You can supervise the infant
Or the boy who's running wild.
But if you rule the adult,
You will make, of him, a child.

2013 June 6th, Thu. *
New Utrecht High School
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, NY

* formerly “Brooklyn-Queens Day”, but now
“Staff Professional Development Day for
Schools in Brooklyn and Queens”, for the 
New York City Department of Education