By Mark

I doubt this will ever fly, but it sure makes for good staff lunchroom conversation.

A CNN.com article reported that Florida State Rep. Kelli Stargel has presented a bill wherein "public school teachers would be required to grade the parents of students in kindergarten through the third grade." The three grading criteria:

• A child should be at school on time, prepared to learn after a good night's sleep, and have eaten a meal.

• A child should have the homework done and prepared for examinations.

• There should be regular communication between the parent and teacher.

At first I thought it was a joke, and now I think that this bill is more a social statement than an actual attempt at creating the law.

What's your take? Below is the video that accompanied the article, sorry about the commercials which precede it. 

By Mark

I have a short list of people who I feel comfortable turning my classroom over to. Yes, I'm a bit of a control freak. People close to me would say that it is a manifestation of a form of professional arrogance, as if only a select few people have the capacity to fill these size 13s. Maybe there's a touch of that, but I like to think that it has more to do with the fact that I believe every minute of time I can offer my students is critical; so sacred that I lament any potentially lost minutes of instruction or practice.

So when I do have to be out of the classroom–which with three small kids at home (germ-factories) and a handful of teacher-leader obligations, tends to be more often than I'd like–there is no greater relief than seeing the names of a certain few substitute teachers appear next to my room key on the sub table in the main office. 

The job of a substitute teacher is harder, I think, than the job of a regular contract teacher.

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By Mark

I was flipping through an old notebook of mine and found a doodle I had drawn during a summer inservice after my very first year of teaching. Since the original had real people's names on it, I recreated that doodle here (click on it to see the text). As soon as I saw it in that notebook, I instantly remembered everything about the situation which prompted that drawing.

When I drew that, I was thinking of one kid in particular for whom I had attended several staffing meetings the previous year. At nearly all of these meetings were all the kid's teachers, her mom, an administrator, and a counselor. The child's social worker and parole officer had also been in touch with some of us. We were all strategizing with the kid about how she could be more successful in school.

What are your goals? Where do you see yourself after high school? What do you want in life to be happy?

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It is very easy to do nothing. I challenge you, if your inclination is to do nothing, to instead do one thing.

Not sure how to make your voice heard in this legislative session, considering that there are about two billion dollars (~$2,000,000,000.00, or 2×10⁹ dollars) in proposed education cuts? You don't have to do everything, but every one of us ought to do at least one thing. Here are two easy ones:

1. Consider visiting the Washington Education Association Advocacy Headquarters website for ideas. There's even a super quick "click here to tell the Governor and your Legislators to protect our students" button that takes you to a quick and easy form that will guide you to make contact.

2. Set the tone for positive and productive discourse about education by expressing your voice to your local news. Again, WEA has a great portal to get you in touch. 

Seriously: they make it easy. So easy that not one of us has a good excuse to do nothing. Check out the setup at these links above.

By Mark

I was hired for my first teaching job when I was 23 years old. One of the first pieces of advice I received–which puzzled me–was to begin to plan immediately for retirement. More seasoned adults in my life were peppering me with questions like How much of my monthly salary was I willing to sock away? What was my personal savings plan? At what age did I want to retire?

Please, people!  I thought. I'm twenty-three. Retirement is thirty years away (if I'm lucky). Why do I need to be thinking that far into the future?

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By Mark

A lesson in cause and effect:

1. The economy tanks.
2. People lose jobs or feel cuts in pay.
3. People are less likely to have an income they are willing to spend; there are fewer sales to tax.
4. Less income means families wait to buy homes; the market floods and property values drop, taking property tax collections along for the ride.
5. Total tax revenue for the state collapses.
6. The inevitable cuts occur; schools are not spared.
7. Teachers are RIF'd; support services are slashed.
8. Class sizes skyrocket; materials cannot be replaced; technology stays broken.
9. Students receive less attention.
10. Questions go unanswered.
11. Learning gets harder.
12. Standards aren't met.
13. Tests aren't passed.
14. Schools are threatened: Perform or else.
15. Since tests matter to the powers, whatever resources left are devoted to test prep.
16. The arts, music, technology, skilled courses, PE, and vocational education dissolve.
17. Learning becomes test-prep, not critical thinking or life-enrichment.
18. Fewer students graduate; those who do can pass tests, but lack skills.
19. Trained to pass tests, those new to the labor market are unable to find jobs.
20. Businesses large and small suffer due to a lack of skilled or capable labor.
21. The economy tanks.

Anyone else see it? I see a clear choice that our policymakers and legislators can make, on or around step six.

If we want to turn our economy around for the long run, how decisions are made at step six will make all the difference. If the pleas about children and learning don't work, maybe we need to talk economics.