A Greater Power

As adults we have a great power to instill equality, peace, love, and acceptance to future generations.

Pass it on.

Ellen did.

While Waiting for Tucker's Post

I promised that Tucker would make a post about the boys' canoe trip in Wyoming. Well, he hasn't done that yet.

While I am waiting for Tucker's post I've been busy doing some other posts on the new blog I am going to start once I get it up and going. It will mainly be for the tutoring business I hope to start running again, but it will also be a blog for elementary education.

I'm not ready to give you the site yet. I'm ready, however, to share a post that I put up last week. It is, of course, about LAUSD. Enjoy: 

Caring or Crime: LAUSD Goes Back to School

Robert F. Kennedy Education Complex

Los Angeles Unified School District opened its doors to over 700,000 students today. The local news stations portrayed this late school start as joyous and monumental. The late start was do to 14 mandatory furlough days implemented at the end of last school year while other furlough days will be taken throughout the year and for the last week of school. A new complex in downtown housing seven schools with a sticker price of $579 million also opened its glutinous gates with Mac equipped classrooms, state of the art educational supplies, and housing students with the lowest API scores in the nation including a 24% high school drop out rate.

In other times, I would praise new, safe schools. LAUSD's super intendent, Ramon Cortines, was interviewed yesterday morning saying how eager he was and how he made several advancements with a 60 million dollar budget this year, and "the layoffs of thousands of teachers," all said with a kindly smile across his face. I'm sorry but where am I wrong here? A $60 million budget? teacher layoffs? increased class sizes? What Mr. Cortines forgot to mention was: his personal scoffer (district paid), the $250,000 bonus he gave himself last year (after he laid off those thousands of teachers), that teachers at schools with an API scores of 800 or over receive no, I mean no, money for school supplies and spending freezes are placed on the offices of those schools so that no further supplies for the students could be purchased (thank heavens for the PTA), the district purchased a new completely ineffective math program (with many of the developers names being on LAUSD's board of directors), and to top the ice cream Mr. Cortines himself is rarely ever seen at an actual school site to see the real magic happening...learning (unless there is a camera crew or the UTLA is catching him at his latest "improvement").

I could be heavily opinionated on this subject because I was one of the thousands of new, fresh, talented teachers to be laid off. In the classroom, I see eager, sensitive, talented children whose image doesn't match the other side of the coin. Outside of that school safe zone hides villainous, money hungry bureaucrats reaping most, if not all, of the benefits that should be handed down into the classroom. LAUSD has just as much opportunity to excel as any other school district in our nation. Opportunity to excel is a long shot while the 2nd largest school district in the nation is in the hands of the wrong people whose minds are not on the best interest of the students, teachers, school staff, and schools.

Political quote, anyone?

I am not one for email forwards, but my dad sent me a list of political quotes that get the ol' thinker thinking.

"When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation."

CUTS HURT KIDS!

WARNING: ANGRY TEACHER POST

I work for Los Angeles Unified School District. The third largest school district in the nation with a slue of financial and educational faults. All the major newspapers and news stations have been covering the stories of health care cuts and mid-year teacher layoffs that the superintendent plans to do to stabilize the financial crisis from years of district over spending. It frightens me that people stand by and watch a big business, such as LAUSD, destroy the people from the bottom. In theory, they got themselves in a bind and the first place they take away from is the children and the schools. LAUSD owns a TV news station which only airs district meetings that costs $64 million a year, they own and run several (15) small local district buildings at 200+ million in yearly costs, and they paid superintendent Brewer $540 thousand to leave before his contract was up (there is much more to list but you'd be reading this all day). To compensate for their overspending the Big Wigs are threatening to make teachers pay $130 a month in HMO health care benefits and do a mid-year layoff of all 2,600 probationary teachers (which includes me) making class sizes increase to 25:1 (now is it 20:1 student-teacher ratio). With special permission from Arnold the 25:1 ratio WILL be carried through LAUSD and most likely the other California schools. The UTLA (United Teachers of Los Angeles) held a rally last Thursday in downtown Los Angeles. Where 10,000 teachers, staff, parents and community members marched from Pershing Square to Arnold's LA office. I am not going to stand by while my job and my students rights to a good education get ripped away. That is why Tucker and I joined those dedicated teachers and parents.

If you would like more information visit the CTA website or the UTLA website.

One Nation and Our Dreams

Rosa sat so that
Martin could walk so that

Obama could run so that

Our children could fly

Today is a day that my students will be able to remember forever. As they sat in the school auditorium with their peers, kids from all racial, ethnic and economic backgrounds, witnessed the first African American person being sworn into office. Some students bowed their heads in prayer while the pastors came to the podium, others cried out of joy that they too can one day become president if they wanted, some smiled when their new president took the stand, some stared at the TV in confusion about what was happening, most clapped, some were just plain bored. The beauty of the moment was seeing 80 7 and 8 year olds watching history being made together in one room, kids of all colors, languages, sizes and beliefs. No matter who you voted for in the election the fact that the crowd that I saw on the TV spread from the Capital Building clear across to the Washington Memorial should be enough to send chills through your body. We are now one nation under God, indivisible.

After the Inauguration festivities my class gave a Martin Luther King Jr. presentation to the whole school. The principal had asked us on Friday to lead the morning assembly. Without my consent the class agreed to it (surprisingly enough it doesn't matter what 2nd graders say they are just too cute to say no to). 10 of my students stood bravely in front of the school and delivered a beautiful exert about MLK. They also passed the mic along and told the school what dreams they had for the future. Some of their dreams read, I have a dream that the poor will have money, I have a dream to stop global warming, I have a dream that there was no violence, I have a dream that everyone will love one another. How can 7 and 8 year old children be so selfless? It is so inspiring to me that these young children are our future.

I'll leave you with a final note which is from one of my students speeches today.

Our class talked about our dreams for the future of America just like Martin Luther King Jr. did. Do you think that you are up to the challenge of making dreams come true?

In the Mail

Today we received a new print in the mail. The artist's name is Shepard Fairey. We have been collecting his art for a couple of years now. I have to equate him with the reason I graduated with my BA degree. The 12 page senior term paper I completed not only helped me understand his anti-propaganda views but also furthered my interest in the power of a simple message across America's "counter culture" youth. Fairey's street poster project began in NYC in the 80's and whose OBEY name in the 21st century has made a global industry. This numbered edition print, like others we have, hangs in our living room and we will continue to support the positive messages that Fairey portrays in his art projects.

Veteran's Day

My family comes from a long line of veterans, dating back to the Civil War. The Cashman family line has a exciting Irish history in itself which my Aunt Linda is researching extensively. I am proud to say that I have a grandfather, great grandfather, great great grandfather, great great great grandfather and a great uncle that have served for our country, for making it the free country we live in. Just as proud as Tuck and I are of his grandfather Bud Slagle who served in World War II.As I talked with my class about Veteran's Day they had numerous questions that I was not prepared for, such as, why do some army men live on water? Why do they wear army print? Why are there bad guys? etc. many questions I could answer others were sad and difficult.Nothing can make me as proud to know that when my grandfather passed away he had an American flag covering his casket. Thank you Veteran's for letting us experience the freedom we all have today. Below is a picture of my great, great, great grandfather (far left) in his Civil War uniform. An oldie but goodie!

In the picture below my grandfather (far right) is pictured with his brother and uncle.

VOTE

I can smell the change in the wind and it is truly invigorating. I am opposed to politics altogether. I believe that we judge one another too harshly based on our personal views. Whether we are Republican or Democrat, rich or poor, smart or uneducated, black or white, we all have the human right of equality. It was not long ago that woman couldn't vote, that African Americans couldn't go to school based on the color of their skin. We have evolved as a human race and as a country, one that is said to be the freest of them all. Please don't believe everything you hear just because it is posted on a website or said on a stations newscast. People can get dirty when it come to politics, this is why I keep my hands clean of it. But now more than ever it is time to have your voice heard. Vote!On one last note, because I am a new teacher I attended a conference today based on Laws, Rights, and Equity in the education system. Although the speaker spoke in monotone I heard some of his message. It is against the law to discriminate on the basis of age, sex, race, and religious beliefs and it is against the California Elementary Educational Code to teach about marriage in schools. It breaks my heart that people believe a teacher (any teacher) would even think about swaying a child's belief system in one way or another (i.e. Santa Claus). Teachers are not now, and never will be "required" to teach marriage in schools (we are "required" to only teach to the California Content Standards). Please use your judgement with idle hands and not forceful fists. It is a disgrace that ads are using a child's fragile education for political gain.