#billobard

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PHIL: A philboard

No one likes that guy who takes an entire argument and only points out grammatical errors.  Don’t get me wrong, there are only so many mistakes that are reasonably tolerable in any position, but content is ultimately what counts.

That being said, I have a grammar bone to pick.  And no, it’s not some Facebook or Amazon review.  Plenty of us make mistakes ranting about an awful movie on the comment boards.  However, most people don’t have editors looking over their posts before they’re up for public consumption.  Generally, the things that end up on billboards have at least a few pairs of eyes that must give their approval.  

Yet, every time I come upon this billboard, an unreasonable anger rises up in me.  The offending content is below.  

What is it?  It’s a statement against New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s education policy by New York State Unionized Teachers (NYSUT).  It says simply “You talk about teachers.  Try listening to them.”  Great!  That looks grammatically correct, right?  Well, technically it is.  However, to try and make a more pointed statement, two words in that blurb are italicized, “about” and “listening.”

This billboard is located on a major route in New York’s capital city.  Thousands of people see this message every day.  Frankly, I think they go it wrong.  I’m not sure NYSUT is concerned with how Cuomo “abouts” and “listens”, however, their billboard would indicate that they are.  Italicizing “about” and “listening” suggests that those two words are comparative, that emphasis should be placed on their importance in the sentences.  Cuomo’s “abouting” skills may be just as lacking as his “listening” skills, however, I don’t generally go around abouting.  Much less do I listen to anyone who is abouting.  

I believe the point would be clearer if the billboard read “You talk about teachers.  Try listening to them.”  Hey!  In that version, the two italicized and comparative words make sense!  We want Cuomo to stop talking and start listening!

The reason this burns me the way it does (aside from the grammar nazi that lives inside my heart) is because these were educators, likely several of which, that saw this mocked up before it went out and gave their approval.  What does it say about the people teaching our children?  To me it says “we didn’t proof read,” “we don’t know what italics are used for,” or “word association is hard.”  I’m not okay with any of those scenarios being true for educators in the classroom.

Additionally, it also hurts their position in my eyes.  Teachers want more funding and less testing.  They don’t want their performance to be based too much on student performance.  They want more support in the classroom.  For the most part, I agree with these demands (I don’t on some testing, students need to learn how to perform on the spot at times, and teachers need to prepare students to do so).  However, when I see a grammatical error on a billboard that is supposed to criticize the governor’s response to teachers, I can’t help but think it’s no wonder he’s not listening.  It’s not right by any means, educators have a better idea about classrooms than executives and they should be heard.  But if you can’t manage to put together a billboard without mistakes, what are you doing teaching english and grammar to our youth?  It sends a terrible signal.