I could be talking about what is happening in Libya, in Afghanistan,...in many places in the world. But I'm not.
I'm talking about what is happening here in this country. The war against educators and public education. This may seem a little extreme to you, but consider this. To me, being an educator feels like a vocation, a calling. Its the only career I've had or wanted. I don't much care what other people think about my choice, or at least that is what I thought. I feel successful even though I know the quote about "those who can't" being the teachers.
But it is getting harder to ignore how much the people of this country hate teachers.
This morning I heard a news story about Pennsylvania cutting the higher education budget in half. "Nice to have vs. need to have," is how it was described by the governor there. He says that public colleges are misusing the funds they are getting. I wonder whether he thinks his children need higher education or whether it would just be "nice to have."
Depressing.... Then I think maybe the people who voted for him deserve what they get. Not just him, but all the elected officials who are feeding into our country's hatred of teachers. The problem with democracy is that everyone else gets it too.
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In case you haven't been following the news about education, approximately 20,000 teachers got pink slips last week.
Also,you may know
"Brown's plan for closing the state's nearly $27 billion budget deficit seeks to maintain current K-12 spending levels by asking voters to extend temporary increases in the sales, personal income and vehicle taxes for five years."
Somehow I am not hopeful that the voters will do this. My colleagues tell me I am supposed to convince all my friends, family and neighbors to vote for this. I'm not even hopeful I can convince my closest friends and family to do this, much less the rest of the teacher-bashing public. I am so sad for the future....
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