Another Slice of American Pie

Another Slice of "American Pie" (a variation on the lyrics of Don McLean) 

A long, long time ago
I can still remember how that teaching used to make me smile
And, I knew if I had my turn that I could make those people learn, and...
Maybe they'd be studying a while
But, February made me shiver with every test score I'd deliver
Bad news on the scantron - It made me want to rant on
I can't remember if I cried when I read about a cheating tide
Something touched me deep inside the day the teaching died

So, bye bye Miss American Pie
Took my marker to the whiteboard but the marker was dry
Them good ol' boys were listening to some lie, singing...
This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Did you write the Book of Love and do you have faith in God, above?
If the Bible tells you so
Now, do you believe in ABCs? Should you learn to swallow some bees? And...
please don't teach me how to be Michelle Rhee
Well, I know that you just want to teach, but all your dreams are now out of reach
Hedge-fund managers rule - man, they're trying to kill my school
I was a lonely, teacher workin' hard with a pink eraser and a metro card, but...
I knew I'd been fed some lard the day the teaching died

I started singing, bye bye Miss American Pie

Took my marker to the whiteboard but the marker was dry
Them good ol' boys were listening to some lie...Singing,
This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Now, for ten years we've been so degraded, "scapegoated" and evaluated, but...
That's not how it used to be
When the Chancellor sang for Duncan and Rhee in a coat he stole from you and me
With billionaire's dollars from Bloomie
Oh, and while we all were looking down the Chancellor stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned - no contract was returned
And, while Rhee clapped for erased marks, the Union chanted in the park, and...
We sang dirges in the dark the day the teaching died

We were singing, bye bye Miss American Pie
Took my marker to the whiteboard, but the marker was dry
Them good ol' boys were listening to some lie...Singing
This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Helter Skelter in the wake of Sandy - we looked to the A.F.T. and Randy
Pearson's making profits fast
Older teachers are harassed
The Charters had ensured all kids pass by kicking out half the kindergarten class
Now, the lunchtime air was sweet perfume while Michelle taped our mouths shut too soon
We all got up to eat, but Rhee with her broom had us beat
'Cause the teachers tried to save their school - billionaires passed an unfair rule
Do you recall who was their tool the day the teaching died?

We started singing, bye bye Miss American Pie
Took my marker to the whiteboard, but the marker was dry
Them good ol' boys were listening to some lie, singing...
This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Oh, in there we were, all in one store - with only one choice, common core
With no time left to speak our mind
So, come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick - Jack Flash sat on a mem'ry stick, 'cause...
Data is the Devil's only friend
And, as I watched him on the stage my hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in Hell could break that Satan's spell
And, as the flames climbed high into the night to light the sacrificial rite, I saw...
Satan laughing with delight the day the teaching died

He was singing, bye bye Miss American Pie
Took my marker to the whiteboard but the marker was dry
Them good ol' boys were listening to some lie, singing...
This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

I met a guy who sang the Blues, and I asked him for some happy news
He just smiled and turned away
I went down to the old classroom when I'd heard that tenure met its doom, but...
The man there said that teaching wouldn't pay
And, in the streets the children screamed, the lover's cried, and the poets dreamed, but...
Not a word was spoken - the school bells all were broken
And, the three men I admire most: the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, they...
Caught the cheese bus for the coast the day the teaching died

And, they were singing, bye bye Miss American Pie
Took my marker to the whiteboard, but the marker was dry
Them good ol' boys were listening to some lie, singing...
This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

They were singing, bye bye Miss American Pie
Took my marker to the whiteboard but the marker was dry
Them good ol' boys were listening to some lie, singing...
This'll be the day that I die