Then, one by one, I copied and pasted each encrypted screenshot into a separate email and sent it off to Ms. Weale. This took two days. I seemed obsessed with the amount of time this was taking. I felt guilty for taking time away from my classes. It was good that this was wrapping up because I need to work on some fresh units in History that would show some creative input on my behalf.
So now it was finished. It was hard for me to think of it as done after what amounted to several months of intense focus. I felt relieved almost as if I had undergone an intestinal evacuation. It was all gone. Now it was out of my control. And this felt good although after several days the mystery of the final outcome began to wear on me until every day went by as though I was wading through molasses. I would take lots of deep breaths when hearing an announcement over the intercom as I waited for my name to called out requesting my presence at the principal’s office. And at the end of each day I sighed with relief that I had not been called in. I was taking it a day at a time getting through it unscathed.
Then a little over a week after my last screen shot was sent to Ms. Weale, I received an encrypted message from her which I decrypted with my private key. The message read as follows:
Dear Mr. Overscore,
We are in receipt of your communications. Our staff is reviewing your information. We will keep you posted as to what actions we decide to take. Thank you for your dedication to education and the risks you have taken to let the truth be known.
Best regards,
The Guardian Education Staff
The weeks went by with no further word from The Guardian. I settled into the “nothing will be done” mode as I was before Guardian submission. The second semester went by with only a couple short missives from The Guardian saying that they hadn’t forgotten me and were still working on it. Graduation came as it always did and I settled into the ostensible reality that what I had done really was inconclusive and of no major significance.
I went home on summer break with really nothing planned. My involvement with the Guardian had been so consuming that the process of rebounding into finishing up the year was almost anticlimactic and done in such a flurry of activity that as most falling actions plunge into the sea lemming like to end the year.
The summer went quickly and usual with little thought as to the events that always are gestating in the bowels of the school district or the administrators who seem to be ceaselessly scheming and implementing programs.
Finally in August at the beginning of the next academic year I got the following encrypted email from The Guardian which I promptly decrypted with my private key:
Dear Mr. Overscore:
After a thorough preliminary investigation we have determined that there is some truth to the allegations that you have made concerning The Foundation and your evidence which establishes what is only a small part of a national educational conspiracy in the United States. However, there has been some controversy amongst our staff as to whether it is appropriate for The Guardian to become involved in the educational system in the United States. What’s more we are concerned about legal actions that may result in the publication of what up to this time has been confidential and privileged information only available to authorized administrators. The Foundation, as you have called it, is secretly indemnified by the highest levels of your federal government and as a result we must be cautious. Please stand by for our decision on this matter.
Most sincerely,
The Guardian Education Staff
Copyright © Barclay Totten 2019
Teacher Kickback 