I’m not going to LA after all. Looks like my London trip probably won’t happen either. Boo.
I’ve had a cold for so long now, I’ve forgotten how it feels to be 100%. I’ve had a scratchy throat, stuffy nose and cough for over a month now. I’m seriously done-zo with feeling like shit.
Current events are making me feel…how to describe it? Well I guess I don’t really have to, you all already know what fresh hell is this. Each and every day I think it can’t get any worse, and then somehow, it does.
Two teachers at my school won’t be coming back after the break. They didn’t pass some portfolio requirement the state now has for new teachers. They are both GREAT teachers who are totally dedicated and have great rapport with the students. They are both devastated that they can’t come back. This was their dream. They’ve been working toward becoming fully credentialed teachers for years now. They’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours checking off the millions of boxes California requires for new teachers. This is their second year teaching at our school and they are loved by students and staff alike. But none of that matters because the powers that be don’t give a shit about what it really means to be a good teacher. They only care about bureaucratic bullshit.
I am incensed that California–a state that boasts a bigger economy than most countries, and yet spends less than most states in this nation, (which on average spends less than most other developed nations) on public education, puts ridiculous roadblocks in the way of recruiting good teachers. You already don’t pay us enough to live in this insanely expensive state, you ask us to teach in increasingly difficult situations, and then you make it extra-hard to become a public teacher. In 2-3 years, when the teacher shortage is even more dire, you will do away with this ridiculous requirement, but by then you will have already lost hundreds of amazing educators that you will never get back. Fuck you California Credentialing system. You are a fucking travesty.
By the time Betsy DeVos is done with public education in this system, none of this will matter anymore anyway. We are on a sinking ship, descending slowly into the icy waters of own demise.
It’s been that kind of day.
Teaching has always gotten the short end of the stick. It’s at its worst now, though, as the focus is on saving a select few money so they can line their coffins with it. The only way out of it is to unelect those that promote that agenda.
So keep up the good fight! Because I’m fighting along side of you, reminding those who have the current mentality of “let them eat cake” how exactly that one ended.
Thanks, Prop 13!
This sounds hard. I’ve also had a “mild cold” for about 3 weeks now and am very much done with it.