April 14, 2008
-
1 Well, somehow our entire caravan to Sacramento ended when our permit/authorization to hold the press conference was "preempted by a state official", leaving us with nowhere really to hold the conference.
2 I was under the impression it was for us to take our message to the Governor and to hold a press conference to bring attention to the present plight of education in California, and how it affects our own District in particular, and to remind them of the guarantees brought to education in 1988 with the passage of Proposition 98.
3 Suddenly that proposition doesn't exist; we can't be heard, and I'm not really sure what has happened because I've been so busy with so many things, but you can bet there's more going on here than meets the eye.
4 Pretty grim.
5 Tough times for everybody, not just education. I totally appreciate this.
6 To illustrate really quickly though, when we opened this school year, our counseling department needed around 40 of my students to work long days for three straight days just to get schedules into the hands of the students.
7 Without those students, I don't see how school would have opened. They would have needed to hire outside help. Later this year the same thing occurred with our new Freshmen enrollment. I had to stay until around 9 p.m. for three or four straight nights, after arriving in the morning at 7 a.m. We needed a full crew of student volunteers to help an already overworked counseling department.
8 No food could be provided because there was no money. I bought the students pizza, of course, but it got expensive.
9 That wasn't drama, or a sport or anything. That was basic enrollment, and at one of the more affluent schools in the District.
10 These cuts are going to go deep. People have no idea. The students will suffer, already with fewer choices for electives, but this will be enormous, and it's across the board.
11 So I don't know what happened to our planned caravan and appearance in Sacramento. It's been "postponed", but my feeling is that someone in Sacramento pulled the plug on education. I'm sure they had some technicality for not allowing this <coughs bad press> but they pulled our presence late yesterday.
12 They will still be bringing letters to the steps of Sacramento this morning, but it just won't be the same as showing up en masse.
13 Ironically I've been too busy to really get all the facts and figures out there for DN readers. I had a Food Fest, a Junior Prom, and this week Camp Everytown keeping me almost too busy to gather all the facts, but feel confident that these cuts in education are some of the scariest ever. All of us are looking off into a very uncertain future, and it isn't just our own
14 It's our children's futures that are being jeopardized.
15 Our support staff runs most of the schools, and they are staring at massive layoffs.
16 Changes in staff at every school in the state will cause damage to the human infrastructure of many schools, threats to libraries, career centers, after-school activities, sports, music, drama, tutoring, and the list goes on and on. We can't really list specific things because that could cause rumors and all the rest, but the bottom line is that Prop. 98 was supposed to assure some stability of funds for education, and our Governor has completely ignored that, as though it never passed.
17 As I said, it's tough times for everybody.
18 But education is an area that with 10% cuts will have nightmarish affects on every community in the state.
19 Normally I don't like staying this serious on the DN, but writing letters to the Governor would probably behoove all of us.
20 We suddenly have been hushed, and I don't really know why or how they silenced district admin, staff, teachers, students, parents, and supporters of education. Maybe we didn't fill out a form properly or some other rationale, but it looks more like a massive silencing.
21 They knew we were coming. Period. And they stuck their heads in the sand.
22 I feel a sense of outrage. This is our children's future, not some guy who didn't turn in all his forms.
23 Well thank you for listening.
24 It's going to get very interesting.
25 You have a great day. I'll get one more DN out this week, and then I'm taking a group up to the Santa Cruz Mountains for four days to learn about tolerance, stereotyping, Socratic learning, and yes, even relaxing and eating.
26 Enjoy your day, and help make education as good for our students as it was for you. They deserve every effort on our parts to give them the great times and tremendous learning opportunities that many of us have been lucky enough to have experienced.
27 Let 'em know.
28 Peace.
~H~
http://www.xanga.com/bharrington
Recent Comments