Snake on the trail

My second day of actual retirement I decided to take a nice relaxing hike up Shaw Butte. It was clear, cool (well not hot), and beautiful up there. A thought kept running through my mind, “snake on the trail”. I don’t know why, but sure as summer temperatures go over 100, as the trail curved around the mountain a buzz startled me. At first that snake was invisible but when it finally moved a little it came into view. I took out my new phone/camera/internet connection/gps/entertainment center (and on and on) and took a picture. About that time another group of hikers came up and we all stood around amazed at how invisible it was. If not for that buzz I would have walked right past it.

One day left

Tomorrow is my last day with students. Nineteen years! It doesn’t seem that long but in some ways seems much longer. One of my first blog entries was about The Shawshank Redemption, digging through the prison walls, and grappling with being “institutionalized”.

My retirement party was Saturday but the feeling isn’t like Shawshank. There is no open white beach or endless blue sky. It is more like The Great Escape, free but still operating behind enemy lines. Freedom and eternity have their limits.

It’s like the feeling you get when you drive past the old high school. A melancholy mood permeates the car as you consider how much your life was shaped, for better or worse, inside that fence. I can’t help but think that those experiences will live with me forever.

Watching Socialism Crumble in Europe

Why couldn’t this have happened before the election of 2008? The “Joe the Plumber” moment would have destroyed our “spread the wealth” presidential candidate’s chances for election. Instead we are facing a huge growth in government entitlements that everyone deep down knows can’t be paid for and two more years of a guy who won’t sign bills that shut it down. I hope we make it through those years.

When trust dies

According to a PEW survey in March only one in five registered voters trust the government to “do the right thing”. It isn’t just here but in the EU there is pressure to bail out the Greeks. But does anyone doubt that they will renege on the deal? Watch the riots. The government says one thing but the people and history tell a different story.

I read an article on the Huffington Post about 10 myths involving the financial system. It used the argument that governments were different than states or individuals since they could print money and therefore could never run out. The solution for Greece, presumably, would be to free itself from the Euro and revert back to it’s original currency. Problem solved.

But who in their right mind would buy the debt? How could the currency hold any value? Would you take your pay in drachmas? The only thing saving a meltdown in Greece is faith in the Euro represented by those stronger economies securing it. But who believes the Greeks will “do the right thing”? The German people understand that they are going to get burned and don’t like it.

Banks aren’t giving loans to people now because values have dropped and they don’t trust that they will be repaid. Why does anyone expect that the government is any more trustworthy than the citizens? Is it because they say so and can print money?

If you can understand this you can understand politics.

I was talking to a teacher friend the other day who happens to be the president of the local teacher’s union in our district. She is a staunch Democrat and we go round and round often. The other day she was complaining about how little teachers make. I pointed out that she made nearly $4000 dollars a month. That stopped her.

Then I asked where it all went. Why were her checks not enough? Then I asked if she had the full $4000 could she spend it better than the government? I could tell by the look on her face that it hadn’t occurred to her. If a person can answer that question it will clarify their politics. And for a Democrat, in particular, it will help them understand the tea party movement.

Thoughts on Public Education

What will happen when I retire in a few days as a public school teacher and don’t have to listen to the constant stream of nonsense about how bad things are? There is a vote coming up in Arizona on a one cent sales tax two-thirds of which will go to schools. If it doesn’t pass teachers in my district will take a 2 1/2 percent cut in pay instead of a 1 1/2 percent cut. The truth is that most will still have a job in an economy that isn’t nearly as kind to private sector employees. Teachers take pay cuts and maybe increased class size, businesses close down.

I know how difficult the job is, I’ve done it for 19 years. The problem is that it has been made even tougher because of what we in Arizona public schools have to deal with. We get the yearly blame for insufficient Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) because our students don’t score high enough. Last year it came down to our ELL (English Language Learners) and Special Ed. The issue is that besides huge numbers of ELL (no border control), EH (emotionally handicapped), and volatile students (many with learning disabilities due to trauma) we also have a high teacher turn-over. Most teachers stick around for a year or two and then decide that they don’t want the job. That’s understandable. It isn’t a lack of good teachers, it’s burnout or disillusionment with the reality.

Good education should be an alliance with a family, teacher, and student. As a teacher it often feels more like a minefield than a classroom. You go to war every day not to a friendly learning environment where people value what you teach. Why is that?