Who is REALLY making Ozark School District look bad?

A series of billboard images running on Hwy 65 is calling community members’ attention to problems in the Ozark School District (www.saveozarkschools.org). 

This criticism is uncomfortable for some people. 

They find it distasteful and unconstructive. 

They suppose that shining a spotlight on an ugly situation is itself an ugly, and perhaps even hostile, act. 

It makes the perpetrator look bad.

Abraham Lincoln was once informed of the disloyalty of one of his Union generals and was asked what he was going to do about it.  He responded with a story of a farmer who once discovered that his prized oak tree was rotted out inside when a squirrel running around its trunk disappeared.  The farmer investigated the disappearance and found the opening that revealed the hollowness of the tree.  Lincoln concluded: “I wish I had never seen that squirrel.”

Some realities are uncomfortable for us. 

They require our action. 

They disrupt our tranquility. 

We are irritated at this new knowledge and the loss of the blissful ignorance we once enjoyed. 

Unfortunately, once we discover the truth, we are responsible for what we do about it.  Rather than accuse and deny, we must adjust ourselves to the new discovery. 

It is the responsible thing to do.