April Chitter Chatter

[Ryrin]

 

We had a wonderful time at Passover. Today, we took dinner to my son and the other fireman. We are looking for a new truck for my son.

[LadyWordsmith]

That sounds great! I am sure they enjoyed it. I hope you are able to find a great truck. 

I am so very happy that Passover and Easter overlap on the calendar this year. (It always feels so wrong to me when they don't fall at least within an appropriate  count of days. Like the people who chose a calendar where Easter moves couldn't have just let it always fall on Passover like it's supposed to? Thank you early church ). I was also the kid who always thought it was weird that Easter kids movies weren't actually about the events we're celebrating, but then my favorite spring holiday movie is about Passover, so there is that. 

Things are about to get  really interesting here. Most of the State had to close tomorrow for the Teacher Walk Out. (We, being an online public school and paid by a company outside of Oklahoma, will still be doing testing this week because our kiddos NEED the ACT! And we don't get to choose that testing window). But a large majority of my teacher friends are out tomorrow and will be rallying at the Capitol. 

Edited April 2, 2018 by LadyWordsmith

[LilyElizabeth]

I've heard that there is a walkout going on, but I don't know anything. Why are they walking out? And how widespread is it?

[LadyWordsmith]

The teachers and school staff are walking out because there hasn't been a funded teacher and school staff raise in over a decade (We're at the bottom of the country in teacher wages and even annual 'cost of life' raises have not happened some years on top of that...) and they've cut the funding to public schools in the state consistently for that entire time (over...I believe it's 28% now. I can go confirm the figure but that will require double-checking a reference. That's the one I've seen consistently), and it's pretty much the  entire state public school system has shut down (the districts voted to close individually, with administrator approval for this). Today was a march on the capitol and the majority of districts plan to remain  closed tomorrow. Some have already declared closed to the end of the week. Today's march included not only teachers, but parents and students as well. Our public school system is desperate for funds and something has simply got to be done. 

 

Quick Edit: Found the reference, yes 28% funding cuts, despite rising enrollment, and 'no' raises in 10 years. 

 

The BBC did a fantastic story on this: http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-43578465/oklahoma-teacher-strike-i-have-29-textbooks-for-87-pupils

Edited April 3, 2018 by LadyWordsmith

[LilyElizabeth]

That's horrible. Teachers deserve a living wage more than most. What they do is critical to the success of our future generations. 

[LadyWordsmith]

Thank you! I agreed even before I became a teacher. I grew up in Virginia, in the DC area, and we had good public schools. Not perfect, but some of the best in the country (at the time). I had some excellent teachers (and even they were overworked in the 90s with 30 kids to a room because of population). The schools here have a pittance of any of that and it's got to stop because the kids deserve better, and they aren't going to get it when teachers and new educators keep leaving the state just so they can afford to live on their wages. The dramatic teacher shortages, the shortened weekdays, are because the state legislature has  consistently devalued and de-funded education to the point where it's this, or there will be no educational foundation for this students. 

I'm rather proud of the teachers in our state right now, and the students and the families and administrators that are supporting them in this. Despite what the mouthy trolls online are posting in the comments on some of the stuff I've seen, there are honestly some great people in this state. 

So it's been a very interesting week here so far! lol. Hopefully I'll get a nice raise out of it when it's all over, and the schools will be able to start restoring needed infrastructure and supplies. 

[Arie]

That is ridiculous. :( I'm so angry for those teachers right now! 

(we have really good schooling where I am, mostly because our taxes go to them. It's not perfect, but its certainly better than most..)

[Ryrin]

Teachers need to be paid. They are educated and responsible for educating our children. I’m proud of them for walking out but sad that it had to come to this.

[Arie]

Teachers are one of the backbones of our society. They keep the world from having dumber people in it. *sagenod*

[LadyWordsmith]

It's a terrible state of affairs and we're all sorry it had to come to this. Though Aria, I think you just summed up why I teach in public schools. I want a world where these kids know how to actually think and reason for themselves, and come to their own conclusions based on a good foundation. I teach English (which is the most badly named subject ever really lol), which means what I'm teaching them is primarily communication skills (how to communicate and reason effectively, and how to understand what other people are communicating), and I'm teaching this in one of the most conservative states in the US (Though I do love that I have a couple of WoT fans that I've had the pleasure of teaching for 3 years now, and other scifi and  fantasy lovers. The genre is growing so nicely into the mainstream through YA novels that my students now think I am reasonably cool.) 

The ironic statement of the day was when some State Senators claimed they could 'wait the teachers out' and 'they won't stay that long' (regarding when their next session is this week). We're all going "Umm... do you not understand who you're dealing with?" 

Thank you for all the awesome words of support.  It just floors me how little people still think of teachers as highly educated professionals in this state (the dinosaurs here still remember when teachers in OK were single women or women who were barely paid because it was a family 'supplementary income'.)  

I will say, if you get a chance to look at some of the images of protest signs from OKC online, teachers do come up with some of the most creative and awesome things.  And truly geeky. 

 

 

 

[Arie]

You guys deal with children day in and day out. Senate? Ha! That's playschool easy!

[Ryrin]

 

 

[JamesBrown]

My sister-in-law is a Special Ed teacher, and I learned over the weekend she hasn't had a raise in 9 years. Not even a cost-of-living adjustment.

 

Needless to say, she hates her job.

[LadyWordsmith]

I worked in Special Ed in Elementary for a year (as a Para, while I was getting my teacher certs for Secondary Ed. I used to teach at the college level), and your sister-in-law is a Saint. Anyone working in Special Ed as a profession deserves extra-love for the extra lengths they go to to help our kids. 
 

Going into day three of the teacher walk out. We'll see what happens today. Yesterday they had to close the capitol building because they crammed enough parents, teachers, and students inside it hit the firecode safety capacity.

 

[Ryrin]

  On 4/4/2018 at 11:52 AM, JamesBrown said:

My sister-in-law is a Special Ed teacher, and I learned over the weekend she hasn't had a raise in 9 years. Not even a cost-of-living adjustment.

 

Needless to say, she hates her job.

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It's so hard now, teaching in Special Education. All of the IEP's, other meetings, paperwork requirements etc. I feel for her. What type of disabilities do her students have?

 

  On 4/4/2018 at 1:47 PM, LadyWordsmith said:

I worked in Special Ed in Elementary for a year (as a Para, while I was getting my teacher certs for Secondary Ed. I used to teach at the college level), and your sister-in-law is a Saint. Anyone working in Special Ed as a profession deserves extra-love for the extra lengths they go to to help our kids. 
 

Going into day three of the teacher walk out. We'll see what happens today. Yesterday they had to close the capitol building because they crammed enough parents, teachers, and students inside it hit the firecode safety capacity.

 

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Keep us posted!

[JamesBrown]

  On 4/8/2018 at 3:33 AM, Ryrin said:

 

It's so hard now, teaching in Special Education. All of the IEP's, other meetings, paperwork requirements etc. I feel for her. What type of disabilities do her students have?

 

 

Keep us posted!

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I honestly never thought to ask. Shame on me for a lack of curiosity.

Paperwork is definitely one thing she mentioned as being a pain point. She once had to redo a form because her supervisor returned it due to an error. The error was, one of her sentences was followed by two spaces, instead of the required one.

 

She told my wife that she really, really wants to quit, but her husband won't let her until she qualifies for a pension a few years from now.

Edited April 8, 2018 by JamesBrown

[Ryrin]

So many people stay for the pension. I'm not placing blame. It's just that the job requirements are too much for one person to handle. It was the same in the job I just left.

[LadyWordsmith]

  On 4/8/2018 at 3:33 AM, Ryrin said:

Keep us posted!

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Will do! We are about to go into the 2nd week of the teacher walk-out. There are news reports that over 160 lawyers (all female) are planning to hit the Capitol on Monday to negotiate solutions with the government on behalf of the teachers on their own initiative. Most of the state schools continue to be closed Monday, and many have already closed through Tuesday or Wednesday. 

There's been a lot of support from local business and community services: offering free or super-discounted places for the kids to go during the day (locally the YMCA, the Arts Center our University runs is having kid classes, the libraries are helping serve lunches to kids who otherwise wouldn't get lunch because they're on free school lunches). A lot of places are giving teachers discounts. I even heard some teachers who rent have had landlords waive a month so they don't have to worry about not having enough money in April. 

Even at the Medieval Fair this weekend (the University in Norman sponsors a very large fair every year and has for 42 years now), I was buying a new Viking drinking horn for my son's SCA kit yesterday, and she asked "military, first responder, or teacher"...because she discounts for all of them. I was floored, and also rather pleased.  

 

[Ryrin]

The support sounds great!  Plus the SCA thing. :)

Edited April 8, 2018 by Ryrin

[LadyWordsmith]

It is! Hopefully it also means we'll get a resolution that works sooner. 

 

In the meantime, had a lovely evening at the touring production of The Sound of Music. Really great performance! 

[Ryrin]

I love The Sound of Music. Your siggy is good too. :)

 

We had a relaxing day. I went to swim laps at the gym. We took the dogs to the dog park and brought dinner home from the new Popeye's they just built.

[LadyWordsmith]

Sounds nice! I spent most of the week giving State Tests (and my son had to take his) so it was not relaxing. Though I spent most of last night (and will finish tonight) making khatchapuri and some other dishes for Ansteorra Coronation Feast tomorrow.

 

[LilyElizabeth]

Last night, my daughter and I were bringing in groceries and we couldn't get the door to the house open. The doorknob had broken! The worst part was the baby was inside. It finally opened and we had to leave it open (with a baby gate in place) while I ran out and bought a new knob. Naturally, I had things to do that got put off due to the crisis. 

 

Like that isn't enough for one day, I had a dental cleaning and they found a tooth where the filling I got two weeks ago had fallen out. I go in this morning (instead of to work...) and we'll get that taken care of. 

 

[Ryrin]

Our Barony’s anniversary celebration is at the end of the month. I had opted my son out of the state tests.

 

I once locked my youngest son in the truck. There was a small widow in the back that was open. I had someone at the bank watch him while I ran across the street to grab my 7 year old son out of school because he could fit through the window. We lived near the ocean so the weather was always cool.

[Ryrin]

What's everyone up to?