Robert Bentley may be the state’s top elected official, but that doesn’t mean he gets a free pass when he makes an occasional grammatical slip-up. At least that’s according to one report from AL.com, in which the governor received a tough lesson from one teacher who took exception with his criticism of Alabama’s education system.
“Our education system in this state sucks,” Bentley said at an event in early November. “When we are 51st on our NAEP scores in 4th grade math in this state…51st? And we ain’t got but 50 states? That’s pretty sad.”
In response, English teacher DayLee Downs told Bentley that his remarks disrespected the people of his state.
“The word suck is a transitive verb, which means that it requires a direct object. Let me give you an example. Like suck, played is a transitive verb,” Downs wrote in an email to the governor. “When I use the sentence ‘Mary played,’ I might leave you wondering what did Mary play? Mary might have played the piano, or she might have played cards… So, back to your statement: ‘our education system in this state sucks.’ Where is your direct object, Mr. Governor? Like I said before, what exactly do we suck? Do you know what you are implying through your use of this word? I find your statement downright immature, but as an English teacher, I find it dreadfully ignorant.”
She went on to suggest that the governor didn’t appreciate the sacrifices made by Alabama teachers.
” We suck time away from our families grading papers…we suck sleep away from our nights calling parents or attending ballgames to support the students we love…my job sometimes sucks the energy out of my day, and by the time I get home to my own family, I’m often too tired to cook dinner or play soccer in the backyard with my five year-old (but I do it any way),” Downs added.
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