In Action

The Executive Board of my union chose not to come out in support of tax extensions that would, potentially, have saved a number of teaching jobs. Instead they chose to promote the idea that there are plenty of individuals and corporations that should be taxed more in order that they pay "their fair share." A principled stand, but one that has the rest of us not serving on that Executive Board scratching our collective heads.
There is a lengthy discussion and a debate that will consume the next decade about how we pay for the services that we expect, but discussing where we get the water to put out the fire that is burning our barn down seems like wasted effort. We have five years of tax extensions, not increases, on the table. This won't save everyone's job. On the contrary. It will only forestall the inevitable. The difference is having two or three teachers laid off at a school or five. It is the difference between filling every single seat in a classroom and bringing in a few more desks to just filling up the seats. It means more papers to grade, more noses to wipe, more report cards to fill out. That's for those of us lucky enough to have jobs. For those who came to the teaching game in the past few years, the message is pretty clear: Sorry, we just can't afford you. It doesn't matter how qualified or committed you are. It doesn't matter that you were part of a staff that moved a school out of program improvement and educated young minds. You'll have to look elsewhere.
My union wants us all to flock to Sacramento for a Day of Action. It would be a show of strength, we are told. Raise our voices. Vent our spleens. Then come home and check the mailbox for a pink slip. I'm prepared to carry on the fight, but if we don't all agree on what the solution is, then it's a wasted effort. I went on strike a year ago to protest the contract that was imposed on my by the school board. That seems like a hundred years ago. Before teachers were money-grubbing thieves. Before education became optional.
The school at which I work, for now, is named for the father of public education, Horace Mann. He said, "Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance-wheel of the social machinery." On March 14, I will be manning my station on that balance wheel, in my classroom.

Suspicion Breeds Confidence

There has been a lot of hue and cry about the "radicalization of Islam in America." New York Representative Peter King, who is not the Sports Illustrated writer, would like to continue a discussion about homegrown terrorism. Mister King believes "Homegrown radicalization is part of al-Qaida's strategy to continue attacking the United States." He has also suggested that it would be a whole lot easier, if you happened to be a Muslim, that you would take the time to turn all your radical, suicide bomber friends and associates. In Terry Gilliam's film about homegrown terrorists, "Brazil," you can see posters that remind us: "Don't suspect a friend, turn them in."
We are assured by National Intelligence Director James Clapper 2010 saw more plots involving homegrown Sunni extremists, those ideologically aligned with al-Qaida, than in the previous year. Just exactly what "more" means is a closely guarded secret. On the other hand, a two-year study of this phenomenon showed that terrorist threats from inside our borders is a concern, it is not the epidemic that many envision. The researchers, from Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, concluded that anti-terrorism policies that alienate American Muslim communities may make the problem worse.
Meanwhile, Ted Kaczynski and Scott Roeder sit in jail cells as part of an unrelated issue. A lot of people are angry out there. Some of them happen to be Muslim. Some of them are Christian. Some of them are armed. Keep your heads down, folks.

A Day For An Apple

I had an apple in my lunch Wednesday. That wasn't the big treat. I have an apple in my lunch just about every day. Every day that I'm at school, anyway. What made this apple special was how nice and red and almost stereotypically apple-ish it was. It was the very picture of what you find when you look up "A is for Apple," as I do on a regular occasion when I am working with kindergartners.
Maybe that has something to do with why Ginnie gave me the apple while she was standing in line, waiting for the morning bell to ring. Ginnie has been very free with her enthusiasm for my computer class. She has told me numerous times that computers are her favorite class and has told me, not too discretely, that I am her favorite teacher. I try not to let on that I know that I am the second teacher she's ever had, right after the lady who teaches her all the rest of the hours of the week, her kindergarten teacher.
As the computer teacher and part-time PE coach, I have a very nice gig. It's not unlike being the uncle who takes the kids out and gets them all sugared up and then deposits them back on the front porch of the parents who will have to deal with all the "fun" that I have been able to have with them. I try to keep things real by showing up wherever possible as additional authority: "Hey, don't run in the halls," or "Don't lean on the bulletin boards." By the time kids make it to fourth and fifth grade, they tend to roll their eyes a lot, and mutter "Oh my god!" under their breath. It's part of the package.
But for now, Ginnie thinks I'm great. She handed me the apple and told me with quiet assurance, "I brought this for you." I try not to think about the fact that she has just found out that she has a substitute for the day. That apple is still very sweet.

Missed Opportunity

Just a few weeks ago, Muammar Gaddafi has told the BBC he is loved by all his people and has denied there have been any protests in Tripoli. At this point, he may be willing to reevaluate his position. There may be a few Libyans who aren't sending holiday fruitcakes to the palace anymore, probably since that would be redundant, and because "his people" aren't. They want him gone.
It could have been so different. Just up the road a little bit, preparations continue for the wedding of the century. In Britain the monarchy is about to throw a great big party, and everyone's invited. Sort of. The price tag is estimated to be somewhere between twenty and seventy-five billion dollars, and even if it were only ten million, it still shows how powerful a monarchy can be. In the middle of a worldwide economic death-spiral, William and Kate are going to celebrate their nuptials in grand style. If only Muammar could have taken his cue from the Royal Family and given up his power to keep his epaulets and medals. And his money.
He could have been the guy up on the balcony on days of celebration and misery, waving to the throngs, issuing statements of support or condemnation, while a constitutional parliament worked out all the details. I know, the colonel is not nearly as photogenic as young Willy and his comely bride. There is bound to be some backlash, right? For that, I have only two words: Prince Charles. Ah, what might have been.

Putting the Shun In Prostitution

I know, I know. What happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas, but this is just odd enough that maybe that rule shouldn't apply. Last month, Harry Reid brought up the idea of abolishing prostitution in Nevada. It was one line in an eight-page speech, but the senator's words got a lot of other people agitated. Nevada allows brothels in counties with fewer than four hundred thousand residents. That means that Clark County, in which Las Vegas is located, is left out of that deal. Specifically, Reid said, adding his concern was prompted by a visit by a technology firm to rural Storey County, "Nevada needs to be known as the first place for innovation and investment, not as the last place where prostitution is still legal."
Current Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman headed in the opposite direction, repeating an idea he has floated more than once in his nearly twelve years in office: make prostitution legal in the city and create a Wild West version of Amsterdam. Since Goodman cannot run again in the next election because of term limits, it has become an issue in the city's mayoral race. Having a position on legalizing prostitution has become a talking point. The candidates don't want to step on any toes, or any other body parts for that matter.
Nevada state senator Ruben Kihuen said, "I've heard people say, 'If we didn't have the image of sex, more companies would want to come to Nevada.' But others say that it's why people come here." If they outlaw the all-you-can-eat buffet, all bets are off. If you know what I mean.

The Lincoln Logs

I'm a big fan of history. It's a lot like watching movies without transforming robots or hunky vampires. That's why it's always interesting when somebody somewhere comes up with a new story to tell, even if it doesn't have Optimus Prime in it. It adds to our collective base of knowledge, and gives Steven Spielberg more material for his epic side. Of course, this past weekend's revelations might make the director of the upcoming biopic of Abraham Lincoln flinch. According to a new book by Philip Magness and Sebastian Page, researchers at George Mason University, old Abe may have had less than honorable ideas about resettling freed slaves in foreign countries on the belief that whites and blacks could not coexist in the same nation. "For the sake of your race, you should sacrifice something of your present comfort for the purpose of being as grand in that respect as the white people," Lincoln said. Maybe that's not the version you read back in eighth grade, but professors Magness and Page want us to know a "more interesting" Abe. Instead of the more traditional "honest."
John Kennedy was a womanizer. Ronald Reagan raised taxes. It turns out Richard Nixon was quite the liberal. Given enough time and perspective, up could be down and left will probably be right. That's probably why the ancient Egyptian pharaohs buried all their important papers and most of their staff in their tombs with them. Legacies are what people should remember, not what they can dig up.

Quelle Scandal!

A few mornings back, the morning show folks on the radio gave a little quiz: Charlie Sheen versus Muammar Gaddafi quotes. The idea was to try and determine which crazy person said what. Not the least of these was "The US commission report on 9/11 was 'an absolute fairytale, a complete work of fiction.'" If you've been following the media circuses that surrounds these two rock stars from Mars, then you know this came out of the mouth of the son of U.S. President Martin Sheen. It made me think about how much press you can attract if you really are just plain loco.
Sure, there's an occasional story here and there about some upstanding citizen who made good choices and fought the good fight. Those are the exception. What we really want to know about, or perhaps what the media powers that be want to tell us about are the borderline cases and the aberrant behavior. Come to think of it, I didn't really need to see pictures of Oregon congressman David Wu in a tiger suit. I am also still scouring my retinas of the image of a shirtless Representative from New York who happens to have the same name as one of my favorite Draculas. I knew it couldn't be the same Christopher Lee, since I'm pretty sure he has an extra nipple.
It's all so very tawdry, really. Lindsay Lohan spends more time in jail and rehab than movie sets and we seem to like it that way. Brett Favre's legacy will not end with an interception, but with an incomplete pass. And then there's Brandon Davies, star of Brigham Young's basketball program who was bounced from the team for having consensual sex with his girlfriend. Apparently this is a violation of BYU's honor code. Congratulations, Brandon. You made the news because you told the truth. But that won't get you your own line of shoes or reality TV show. Alas.