A what a busy month it was. Lots of new developments in the household. The kids are getting bigger everyday. Lucy is taller than some of the kindergardeners on my campus, and Tommy is just a few weeks from taking his first steps.
On the business end of things, the downward spiral continues. Katie's position at her school is getting knocked down, and a position for next year waits in the hands of her school board. They vote tomorrow on what exactly they feel the students DON'T need at school anymore (librarians are apparently not important to have in schools), and her fate should be decided in the very near future. My job is, for now, safe. I have enough years in the district to be spared from the reduction list. However, other things are going. Pay cuts, class size increases, fewer materials, and the possibility of junior high sports cuts.
I love how the state of AZ always complains about being ranked in the bottom two states in the country in test scores and per student spending. People bitch about how we can't get good, quality teachers in our classrooms. Well, take a look around. When you treat your teachers like this, they're going to see the light. Pay us nothing, give us nothing to work with, stuff our classrooms to the brim with students who don't care about anything except their cell phones and IPods, and make us deal with parents who think they know more than the entire campus combined.
Huh...why can't we get teachers in this state? I can't see the logic in why experienced teachers aren't busting down our doors wanting to work in AZ. Now I know it's not just Arizona teachers getting the shaft here. It's everywhere. But all I see are glum faces on my campus, and no one wants to give us answers. Good teachers are getting booted (my wife is one hell of a teacher, and she may be jobless, too), and nobody is stepping up to help. We were told by our own state legislators that they will only listen to the complaints of the parents. They won't listen to a word that we teachers say.
The thing is though, the parents are too busy complaining about everything else at school except what really matters: their child's education. So if you are a parent out there with a child in public education who remotely cares about the educational future of your child, PLEASE call or write your legislator and tell them that your child should not suffer because they got greedy with their spending.
