Shock of The Fall

Shocked.

To say I was anything other than that this past Tuesday night would be a lie. As I settled into my recliner to watch the election returns as I do every election night, I fully expected to watch the map color its self Blue as Hillary Clinton coasted her way to victory with the 270 needed electoral votes. Boy, was I wrong. I also was optimistic about some local election results, those turned out to be wrong as well. I’ve spent the last few days thinking about the results and looking at the numbers trying to make sense of what happened. This election, for better or for worse, has changed the direction of this nation and our community for some time.

National Election

For all the emotion that seemed to be swelling across the country for this election, it just didn’t seem to drive people to the polls. There were 4.6 million less votes cast in this election than were cast in 2012 and 6.5 million less votes cast this year than were cast in 2008. Mitt Romney received more votes (60,933,504 in 2012) than did Donald Trump (59,662,744). What is a significant difference about the votes in this election is from WHERE the votes came. Votes from the rural areas of the nation increased significantly over what they were for the past few presidential elections. Trump courted those voters vigorously and those voters responded. To me this indicates some frustration from rural America. For the past 50 years or so, American politics has been very focused on urban areas and the problems in the Big City, to the determent of rural America. So much focus has been on reducing crime rates in cities and reducing urban plight, meanwhile “hard core” drug use has skyrocketed in small town America, all the while many of these towns have not seen any significant infrastructure upgrades in decades. Furthermore, the free trade agreements that have largely benefited the large urban areas of the country have hurt the rural areas of the nation. Many people in rural America have felt abandoned and forgotten by their government. Until Donald Trump came along and openly courted them, parroting their thoughts, fears and concerns. Does Trump, a life-long big city denizen, truly share those same concerns or did he see an untapped electorate that he exploited? I guess only time will tell. What we do know for sure is that no one, not professional pollsters, not Democratic leaders, not even members of Trumps own election advisory team saw this election turning out the way it did. Shades of Truman-Dewey in 1948 for sure.

Who is to blame or, depending on your point of view, to take credit, for election? This is an interesting question to ponder because leading up to this election I was sure that my party, the GOP, was destined for a civil war between the moderate, old school, pragmatic conservatives such as myself, and the more radical, reactionary Tea Party Republicans who seemed to rally around Trump. However, it is now the Democratic Party that seems to be spiraling towards a civil war between the “New Democrats” of the Clinton ilk, and the liberal, more “progressive” wing of the party who supported Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. If I were to place blame on this election, or give credit depending on your point of view, I would have to place it squarely on the shoulders of the Democratic Party and the Clinton campaign team. I would place blame for this election on the Democrats because they decided to choose a very flawed and unappealing candidate in an election year where the choice was between two incredibly flawed and unappealing candidates.  Had the Democrats chosen a more dynamic, less flawed candidate I think they have this election in a walk. However, they chose Clinton because they felt it was her turn, she had paid her dues and the party owed her the nomination. Emails between the Democratic Party top bosses leaked this past summer revealed as much (ahhhh, those pesky emails. But that is another story altogether). Clinton and her team share a fair amount of blame in this as well. They seemed to ignore key states, believing that since they were reliable for Obama the past two election cycles, they would continue to be so for Clinton. So, their attention was focused on other states and in the waning weeks, they began to focus on states where they really never had any hope of winning. As I discussed above, the electorate does not like to be ignored. Voters like to at least feel they are important and their wants and needs are understood. Trump and his team seemed to get this, Clinton and her team did not. Had Trump lost this election, I believe the postmortem narrative for the Republicans would have been very similar to the Democrats.

We all know what happened this past Tuesday night. Whether we want to admit it or not, whether we like it or not, whether we revel in the outcome or are reviled by it the outcome is what it is. While he may not have won the popular vote, Trump won the electoral vote and that is all he needed to do. As you probably know Trump was not my choice to be my party’s nominee for president nor did he receive my vote to be president. However, I am, if nothing else, a realist. I accept the fact that Donald Trump will be our- check that- will be my president until at least 2020. I’m not thrilled at the prospect, but I’m not indignant either. This is how elections go. Sometimes elections turn out the way you want them to and sometimes the elections turn out the way you don’t want them to. The fact of the matter is this; this is the United States and we are Americans. We may not always agree with the outcome of elections but we always abide by their results. I have not been on the winning side of a presidential election for the last three presidential election. I haven’t liked the outcome of an election since 2004, but I’ve always accepted the results. We always have. And we should now. We should want our president to be successful and to always wish them well. Because when they succeed, we as a nation and its people succeed as well. And when the president fails or is otherwise unsuccessful, we all share that outcome. Did some hurtful, ill-intentioned, bad people vote and support Trump? Without a doubt. I am also positive that there were hurtful, ill-intentioned, bad people who voted for Clinton. I truly believe that the vast majority of people who supported and voted for Trump were good people who honestly believed that their vote was in the best interest of this nation and its people. Just as the vast majority of Clinton supporters and voters believed about their vote. In addition to being a realist, I am also an eternal optimist.

As a realist and an optimist, as well as being a student of American History I know that the United States has had far, far more bad and average presidents than it has had good to great presidents. And the nation has always survived and often thrived because of or in spite of its president. I believe the same will happen this time around as well. It just may take a while for the shock and the sting of Tuesday to wear off.

Local Election

At this time last year Jefferson County School District was basking in the warm afterglow of the recall. This year we looked to complete the victory by passing a sorely needed mill and bond for the school district and its students. Last year 60% of the voters agreed with those in the school district that the current school board majority were bad for education, for teachers, for the community and for students. This year 52% of the voters did not see a need to pass a mill or a bond. Last year many people worked tirelessly to recall the school board majority and were rewarded for their efforts. This year many people worked tirelessly to direct more money into the school district and were handed defeat. So, the question begs, why the different outcome? Over the past days I have come up with several different theories but probably no one definitive answer. It is also very possible that my theories are not even close to the correct answer. But at this point, all we really have are theories.

Not Enough People Walked- This is true. We had about ½ the number of walkers for this election as we did for the recall last year. In fact, the number of walkers this year is very close to the number we had when the board majority flipped in 2013. So, why did we have so few walkers?

Exhausted- People were just too worn out for the last three years. Constant conflict, constant turmoil, and constant uncertainty will wear people out. I know several people have told me that they were tired and worn out and just couldn’t do it this year. That they were tired of fighting, they were tired of begging for support and votes and they knew that they would be asked to do it all again next year. They just needed a break.

Okay, I get that. I’m tired as well. Despite the outcome of the election, I am looking forward to this Saturday because for the first time I don’t have to go walking, knocking and talking. That will be very nice. However, we have to realize this is our reality. Will we need to go out walking, knocking and talking next year?        

Sigh...yes, we will.

Angry About Pay- I would have loved to have been made whole after taking a pay cut and a pay freeze several years ago to help out the district. But because of the hair brained scheme cooked up by WNW, most of the money available to increase pay was used up moving people back onto a pay scale. I was disappointed in my salary increase as much as everyone else but I also knew that to see any sizeable increase in my pay would only come if the mill passed. It didn’t and I’m not sure where we go from here in terms of salary. This much I do know; never again will I vote to take a pay cut or freeze my pay.

Mistrust About Where the Money Will Go- Yeah, I understand that. Under WNW, the school board majority voted to use money in vastly different ways than was promised to the people in the district. To be sure, WNW were not the only board to divert money to places other than where it was supposed to go. I don’t know how to overcome this obstacle other than to say I know this board and they seem to be very open and transparent. I believe they will do what they promised.

It Was Held During a Presidential Election- Holding any type of election during a regular Presidential election is always risky business. The reason is very simple; a lot more people vote in a Presidential election than they do in other elections. We had double the number of people who voted on the Mill and Bond (303,358 for the Mill and 301,665 for the Bond) than voted in the Recall (averaged 181,000 votes) in 2015. Any increase in the number of people voting always brings with it so many different variables. If you hold an election in an off year, the chances of your issue passing increases, especially if your issue involves any type of tax increase. The reason for this is very simple; only those who are particularly interested in the issue will take the time to vote and if you are able to hone in on your base with a laser focus and drive them to vote your chances of passing your issue dramatically increases. We saw this happen recently when the APEX Recreation District held a special election asking voters for a tax increase. They were very focused and deliberate in who they targeted in their voting drive.

People are naturally averse to any type of tax increase, particularly one in which they will not receive any direct benefit. Most people do not have any children or grandchildren in JeffCo Public Schools, so they would not see any direct benefit to them, but they would certainly see an impact in their pocketbook. And the pocketbook is the number one determiner of how people vote. So, when you increase the number of voters because of the nature of the election, and you are asking for a tax increase voters who would otherwise not vote on your particular issue will vote and the likelihood of those voters voting for a tax increase is fairly low.

It Was Too Long of a Ballot- Yes. Yes, it was a very long ballot. Ballot fatigue is a very real thing. However, in this election it did not seem to make a difference. 3A and 3B averaged around 302,000 votes total and the total number of votes cast in the Presidential election was 320,087. What is curious however is that Clinton carried Jefferson County with 156, 689 votes while 3A attracted 144,883 votes and 3B received 142,076 votes. Somewhere, somehow we lost 11-12,000 votes from Clinton to the school measures.

The Price Tag Was Too High- It was a lot of money at stake on the ballot. However, it was money that was needed. JeffCo has operated for far too long on far too little and we have finally reached that tipping point. Either there had to be a drastic increase of money to address several growing and festering issues or Draconian cut were going to have to be made. Unfortunately, the community chose the latter and the not the former.

The Recall Victory Was About the Board Majority’s Behavior and Less About Its Politics- This is an interesting theory. We all remember the nasty, brutish, bullying tactics employed by the past board majority. Calling its own students “pawns”, insulting teachers and parents, breaking promises to the public, and in general destroying the morale of the district. WNW and their actions were offensive and alarming. The public agreed with the employees of the district and voted with us overwhelmingly, removing those three from power. However, the community did not back the mill and bond measure. Perhaps, we misread their support. Perhaps the community was less offended by the politics of WNW and more by their actions. This would help explain why many of these same people who supported the recall voted against the mill and bond this year. WNW were elected by fairly healthy margins in 2013 and were ousted by almost the same margins in 2015.

JeffCo has always struggled to pass any mill and bond measures. Whereas, voters in the Boulder Valley School District have never met a tax increase they didn’t like. Voters in BVSD also have never voted in an unsupportive board either. This is an interesting theory. One I hope is nothing more than that, a theory, otherwise the future of JeffCo Schools is a bleak one indeed.

I’m sure there are other issues that are out there that I missed or haven’t yet heard. The bottom line is this: Jefferson County Public Schools lost its bid to adequately address its problems. So, where do we go from here as a district? I’m not sure, it’s really not for me to say. Generally speaking some schools will have to be closed and consolidated, some schools will need to go to split sessions or adopt a year-round schedule to accommodate the overcrowding. School fees are set to increase, some after school programs and possibly athletic programs will be eliminated. Schools will continue to deteriorate and school budgets will be cut. School employees will not see their salaries appreciably increase and the loss of teachers and staff to surrounding districts with higher salaries and better benefits will continue.

Epilogue

The outcome of elections is always the same. Half of the people are very pleased and the other half are not happy. Many will be jubilant while others will be angry. Some will be ecstatic while others will be depressed. But one thing is certain, no matter the outcome tomorrow always comes. This government has been existed for 227 years and survived 57 Presidential elections. I have no doubt this will continue. We may not agree with election outcomes, we may even be angry, but we always accept the outcome. This is what we do. We do this because we are unique as a people. We do this because we are Americans.

In the end, it does not matter if you are liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat, Jewish or Muslim or Catholic or Protestant or Atheist. It does not matter if you are male or female, gay or straight, young or old, black or white. All that matters in the end is that we are all people. We are all Americans. A unique boiling mixture of beliefs, cultures, lifestyles, races and ethnicities. Our society shouldn’t work but against all odds, it thrives. On this day and every day moving forward, remember that. We may disagree with the outcome of the election but we must always abide by the outcome. We may disagree with the President but the President must become our President because ultimately their success is our success. We may be disheartened by the outcome of the mill and bond, but we cannot allow it to interfere with our work because what we do as educators is enormously important work and our students don’t really care that we are angry, bewildered or upset they just want us to be there for them and help them become better people.

Do not allow old grudges or new rivalries divide us to the point of paralysis. Be kind to one another. Treat each other fairly. We are all people. We are all Americans. All of us are entitled to certain unalienable rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Even those whose vote may be opposite of ours.

A Confession: I Voted And I Didn't Like It

I received my ballot this past Tuesday. I have since returned it. I used to wait until election day to actually vote, but not his year. I have always enjoyed voting on the actual election day, it feels very patriotic, very democratic, very…American to actually cast your vote at the exact same time as millions of other Americans were casting their ballots as we decided the course that our country would embark on over the next several years. I also used the extra time to ponder about various issues and candidates, to extrapolate the various implications and possible outcomes of my vote. Often, my mind was not truly made up on candidates and issues until I was standing in line, there have also been times that I changed my mind about issues on the ballot as I was voting. But not this year. This year, the issues were pretty clear for me. I was either for something on the ballot or against something on the ballot. No wavering, no pondering, nothing. This year I looked at the ballot and I knew exactly how I was going to vote.

My politics have stayed pretty much the same for years; fiscally/economically conservative, socially moderate shading a little towards conservative. I am a registered Republican and I have been since I turned 18. However, I have never in my life voted a straight Republican ticket. I vote for the candidate, not the party. Basing your vote upon the letter after the candidates last name is not only lazy but also irresponsible voting. Despite never voting a straight Republican ticket I did do something on this ballot I’ve never done before and never thought I would ever do- not vote Republican for president. Not only did I not vote for a Republican for president, I did something I never thought I would ever do- vote for a Democrat for president.

Now before my Republican friends castigate me and my Democrat friends praise me, let me be clear about this point: I did not vote FOR Hillary Clinton, I voted AGAINST Donald Trump. I have as many misgivings about Clinton being president as anyone else I don’t care for her, I do not trust her, I am not inspired by her. However, I do know she is smart, has a firm grasp of the issues, understands politics well, and is knowledgeable about the U.S. Constitution and how our government works. All of which is more than I can say about Donald Trump.

I have never been more horrified by a candidate from my party than I have been with Donald Trump. Aside from the fact that Trump seems to have very little, if any depth in his policy beliefs and seems to only speak in sharp soundbites designed to bring thunderous applause from his sycophants, there are other, just as troubling reasons why I could not cast a vote for this man to be my president. In addition to his horrific, disgusting comments concerning his views on how he thinks women should be treated (which really don’t need to be linked here in this column because I would prefer to keep this forum family friendly) there are numerous other instances and reasons that I simply cannot support Donald Trump for president.

The leader, the face of my party should never threaten, publicly or privately, member of his own party if they do not support his candidacy. Donald Trump did this to the Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. http://fortune.com/2016/03/01/donald-trump-threatens-paul-ryan/ The candidate for president from my party would never question the war hero status of POW’s such as John McCain. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/us/politics/trump-belittles-mccains-war-record.html?_r=0 Nor should my candidate question the toughness or resolve of combat veterans who suffer from PTSD. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/10/03/trump-ptsd-comments/91509626/ No candidate for president should ever tell the other candidate that if elected he is going to work to put the other in jail. Such remarks are what one would expect from a tin-pot, paper hat wearing, banana-republic dictator, not a candidate for president of the most powerful democracy the world has ever seen. http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/09/politics/eric-holder-nixon-trump-presidential-debate/ When a candidate declares in an open mic during a debate that their opponent is “such a nasty” person, this is not behavior I wish to have from my president. http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/09/politics/eric-holder-nixon-trump-presidential-debate/ When my party’s candidate begins claiming vote fraud before one vote has been counted http://www.nationalreview.com/article/441173/donald-trump-rigged-election-voter-fraud-claims-unfounded seems to indicate that he is laying the ground work to dispute a loss in the election. This belief is only emboldened when Trump refused to say if he would accept the outcome of the election. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-idUSKCN12J0ZM?il=0 Even Richard Nixon accepted the outcome of the 1960 election and refused to challenge it despite being encouraged to do so by members of his own party and had fairly substantial evidence that there was voter fraud in Chicago and Texas. As if all these above reasons were not enough for me and other Republicans to ostracize Trump as our candidate for president, the final nail in the coffin should be the fact that in 1985 Trump took out a full sized ad in the New York Times criticizing Ronald Reagan (one of my political idols) saying the same things that he is now claiming will happen if Clinton is elected. http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/10/donald-trump-ronald-reagan-213288 To criticize Reagan is anathema to Republicans (even though Reagan would be disowned by today’s Republican Party as a RINO) and Trump did just that in 1985. That alone should set Republicans hair on fire and cause them to disown him. Furthermore, Trump supported Clinton in 2008 saying she would “make a great president”, yet another reason for Republicans to disavow anything to do with him. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-in-2008-hillary-clinton-would-make-a-great-president/ And yet, here he remains. Bad hair, orange skin, hollow rhetoric, blustery arguments and all.

So, I begrudgingly cast my vote for Hillary Clinton. For the first time ever, I voted for a Democrat for president. It is truly disappointing that these two individuals are who we have to choose from. Had the Republicans run anyone of their candidates from the past few years- McCain of 2008, Romney, or even a 1992 George H.W. Bush-against Clinton, this election would have been wrapped up by the beginning of September. Conversely, had the Democrats run Kerry or Gore against Trump the election would be over by now as well. But, that didn’t happen and this is what we have; two choices and neither of them are all that desirable. So, yes I cast my vote for Clinton and dropped my ballot in the box. I didn’t like it, I’m not proud of my choice, and didn’t like either of my options. But then again, I haven’t liked, been proud of, or even felt good about my own party for several years now.

2020 can’t get here soon enough.

The First Tuesday After the First Monday of November

35.

35 days.

35 days until election day. That’s all there is. In 35 days we will choose a new president for our country (hopefully we choose wisely), we will vote for representatives in congress and the state legislature, we will decide if the tobacco tax should be increased, residents of Arvada will decide if city taxes should be increased for much needed infrastructure improvements, and voters in Jefferson County will decide whether or not to increase their property taxes for their schools. We all know the school district sorely needs the money in order to remain competitive with area school districts so this post will not be about why the Mill and Bond is needed, we are the proverbial choir- no preaching needed. But here is the thing; the voters in this district are largely uninformed about 3A/3B. Not so much in the way that they don’t know why the money is needed (although that is true as well), the voting public is uninformed in that they don’t even know the issue is even on the ballot! To compound that problem is the fact that this ballot is a LOOOOOOOOONG ballot and 3A/3B will very likely be at the end of the ballot. Voting fatigue is a real thing. Voters get either bored or exhausted while voting on a long ballot and very often they will not even bother to cast a vote on issues that are at the end of ballot. To ensure that 3A/3B passes it is up to us to inform voters 1) That there is a Mill and Bond measure on the ballot for JeffCo Schools and why it is needed and 2) to be sure to vote in favor of 3A/3B. But here is the rub- there have been very few of us out walking to ensure these two points happen this November. That is alarming, frightening, disconcerting, disheartening, and confusing all at once. We all want this to pass but it seems as though people believe “others” will get it passed. Guess what? The “others” are you, me, the school secretary, the kindergarten para, the facilities manager, and the teacher across the hall. 3A/3B won’t pass because I, Beth Low, or Lara Center, Paula Reed or John Ford walk, knocks and talks to voters. It will pass because YOU walk, knock and talk as well. That is the only way this ballot issue passes.

Now, I know there are lots of legitimate reasons why some people don’t feel compelled to walk so I’d like to take a moment to address those issues.

I’d Like To Walk, Knock and Talk But I Just Don’t Have The Time

Time is finite and we all have demands in our life that chews up our free time. I get this. I am currently teaching three different preps one of which is an AP class, I am getting my second Master’s Degree, I am a JCEA building rep, I am on the Board of Directors for JCEA, I also have a wife and two sons that I have to find time for. My time is extraordinarily limited between reading and writing papers, grading, lesson planning, meetings, responding to parent emails and phone calls and spending quality time with my family. I just do not have much time left after all that. However, I also know that 3A/3B is important for me, my education colleagues, my students and most importantly my own children. So I find the time to take a few hours out of my Saturday mornings to walk knock and talk. No one expects you to walk every single Saturday, I haven’t been able to, but one Saturday is all that is needed. If you can do more- GREAT! I truly believe that if something is important you can always make time for it. The passage of this Mill and Bond is very important in so many ways.

After The Last Few Years I Am So Exhausted And Worn Out

Yeah, I get this one as well. I am worn out as well. We were engaged in a literal fight for our professional lives the last few years. Fighting is exhausting and not all that much fun. It does wear you out. This is a legitimate complaint. However, this is not a fight. There really is not a lot of organized opposition on this issue. This is more about working for the culmination of a celebration that started last year at this time when we won a fight for the soul of our district. To complete the arc that we began last year, 3A/3B must pass.

I also understand the feeling that we went into education to work with students NOT to get involved in elections and politics. Believe me, all I want to do is go into my classroom, shut my door and teach. In a perfect world that is exactly what I would do. Unfortunately, we live in time where education seems to be a focal point of politics. Republicans have their education agenda as do Democrats. We can choose to sit back and allow what happens to our profession take place or we can become actively involved and try to steer public policy in a way that we know is best for education. I always want to have some control over what happens to me instead of just allowing things to happen to me.

We Have A Board Of Education That Once Again Respects Us Why Must We Go Out And Walk Again To Get Money

Yes, it is true we have a BOE that respects us and we worked hard to get a sane and respectful board. However, that only gave us a sane and respectful board. It did not solve the money problem that was exacerbated by the previous board. Other than having good people on the BOE, VERY LITTLE was solved with the election last year. Had the election last year not turned out as it did, we would not have the opportunity that we now have. The previous board would have never asked for a Mill and Bond increase. Remember, they were more than content to allow this district to languish and deteriorate to prove they were good stewards of tax money. If we don’t work to get this Mill and Bond passed, we will allow the previous board’s plan to come to fruition even though they are no longer around. We can choose to work to validate the board we helped get elected or we can choose to allow WNW win despite their loss a year ago.

I Am So Angry/Disappointed/Frustrated With My Raise! I Sacrificed For This District 6 Years Ago And This Is How I’m Rewarded?

I too am very frustrated and disappointed in my raise. $34 extra a month is just not cutting it! I willingly took a pay cut and freeze several years ago to help the district out and to keep cuts away from my students and I’ve patiently waited for six years for my salary to recover, meanwhile, my living expenses have steadily increased. You should be angry. Oh sure, we will get a nice bonus check at the end of this month and our pay will end up being 4% more than last year, however next year we may be back to our minimal increase without the additional 4%. This will most probably happen IF 3A/3B does not pass. If we want the 4% to be ongoing and not a nice Christmas bonus, the Mill and Bond must pass.

On a side note, our anger cannot be directed at our JCEA negotiations team; it should be at the district negotiations team. Remember, last year the district floated the idea of giving all teachers a $500 bonus and then they came to the table with a 1% increase.  JCEA pushed and pushed until they got the district to agree to give all teachers 4% more this year than last. Most did not get a 4% raise, but we are all going to get 4% more this year than we did last year. Again, if we want this be ongoing, we have to work to get 3A/3B passed.

I think I’ve addressed all of the reasons I’ve heard from people about why they haven’t walked or don’t want to walk. For the next portion of the show, I would like to discuss what will happen if 3A/3B passes or if it fails. I’m a firm believer in saving the best for last, so let’s look first at what will happen if it does not pass.

What Will Happen if 3A/3B Does Not Pass?

Dark, bleak times in JeffCo is what will happen. School closures, school consolidations, redrawing of boundaries, draconian cuts in SBB, elimination of after school activities and programs, staff reductions, continued exodus of education professionals, continued overcrowding in elementary schools, continued deterioration of buildings.

My kids, your kids will suffer mightily. I can’t believe that any of us want these things to happen, so I must also believe that we all want 3A/3B to pass and we all know what it will take for that to happen…. WALK, KNOCK AND TALK!

And now for the fun part…

What Will Happen if 3A/3B DOES Pass?

I would like to say that we will march triumphantly into broad, sunlight lands and all of our troubles will melt away as we live happily ever after. While this is not going to happen, our lives will improve.

Our salaries will increase! Yes! I would like to yell from the mountain top to the district as negotiations begin this spring “NOT ONE THIN DIME, NOT ONE RED CENT FOR ANY DISTRICT PROGRAMS OR INITIATIVEs, EITHER NEW OR EXISTING, UNTIL WE ADDRESS COMPENSATION!” I don’t know about you, but I’m so tired of the district paying for various programs and initiatives (I’m looking at you PLC’s) first and then kicking the remainder to educators. How about we flip that script. We took a pay cut and freeze six years ago. If we were one of the first places the district came six years ago looking to reduce costs, then we should be among the first things to be addressed if additional revenue is forthcoming. Programs and initiatives do not work unless they are implemented and maintained by quality, knowledgeable people. You attract and retain quality and knowledgeable people by compensating them well.

Furthermore, if the Mill and Bond pass, we can begin to address so many of the needed building issues and upgrades that our schools sorely need. School based programming will remain intact. Some neighborhood schools will remain open. Teaching materials and conditions will be upgraded. And best of all, the greatest beneficiaries of all of these benefits will be the students in our district.

So please, sometime over the course of the next 35 days, carve out a little bit of time to walk, knock and talk for 3A/3B. Imagine the feeling on election night when we win and you have the satisfaction of knowing you helped in that win. Our students deserve it, my kids deserve it, your kids deserve it. 

Data and other dirty words

It’s right there. Staring us down like a hungry lion eyeing a herd of gazelles watering themselves down at the pond. August 11^th is barreling its way towards us faster than any of us would like to admit. It’s right there.

Don’t get me wrong, I actually kinda look forward to returning to school. About the middle of July, I start getting bored and am ready to return to the classroom.  I truly love what I do. During the school year I go to bed excited about what I’ll be doing the next day in class and I wake up the next morning looking forward to the day. Honestly! I tell my students all the time ‘If you do something that you love, you never have to go to work.’ I haven’t worked in over 18 years.

So, why do I look at August 11^th with such trepidation? It’s an easy answer. Actually, its multiple answers. Multiple, easy answers.

Data, Acronyms, Eduspeak, and the roll out of the latest, greatest, “best practices” initiative. These are the reasons I do not look forward to August 11^th. I’ve grown to hate these staples of education. I loathe them. Let me tell you why.

Data: If you have known me for any length of time, you know I hate this word. Actually, it’s not the word I hate, it is the baggage the word lugs along with it. Data. Ugh! There are few sentences in education worse than those that begin with “Let’s look at the data….”, or “The data tells us…” or “We’re going to dig into the data…”, or an oldie but a goodie “We’re going to do a data walk…”  To tell the truth, I’d rather chew on aluminum foil and shave my head with a cheese grater than to have anything to do with data. Mark Twain once said, “There are lies, there are damned lies and then there are statistics.” That pretty much sums up my view on data. Data is nothing more than numbers. Numbers can be manipulated; you can make numbers tell you anything you want them to tell you.  A lot of it depends on the context in which you place these numbers. For instance, let’s say a high school has 150 students in its Senior class and 130 of them graduated on time. Depending on what you want the data to represent you can present the numbers to support your cause. If you want the data to say ‘Wow! We need to do better. The teachers/school/school system has failed these students’ you could show the data that a whopping 13% of the senior class did not graduate on time! WHAT!!!! Those are some eye-popping numbers! If we had 13% unemployment or if we only got paid 13% of the time, that would be alarming to us and probably look for ways to fix those numbers. However, if your mission is to say ‘Gosh, what a wonderful school this is, look at how good our teachers are, how hard our students work’ you could extoll how 87% of our students graduate on time! 87%?!?!?!?! Wow! If a batter in baseball was successful 87% of the time, he’d be the greatest batter of all time and the second best batter wouldn’t even be close. If we could gamble and win 87% of the time, we’d all be living in the casinos of Blackhawk, Central City and Las Vegas. 87% success rate is an amazing rate.

See, I used the same data, each time and made it say whatever I wanted it to say. It was just data, numbers on a page. It didn’t tell you anything REAL about those numbers. How many of those students- in either data set- were kids that some sort of learning disability? How many students lived in poverty, or came from an affluent home? For how many of those students is English their secondary language and their only exposure to English is when they are at school? Data doesn’t tell you that. Data doesn’t tell you anything about individual students, it just gives you information on dehumanized data points. It doesn’t give you the personal struggles, successes, frustrations, and victories of the individual students. Classroom teachers know those, which is one of the reasons why I despise data. It’s too cold, too impersonal, too dehumanizing, too mechanical.

Another reason I hate data is because most of us have never been trained to analyze data. Honestly, I have no clue what I’m doing when I’m asked to look at data and then come to some conclusions about the numbers.

             “So, fourth grade reading scores are down from last year.”

            “Why is that?”

            “Great question! Here’s the data, let’s do a data -dig and find out why. And we’ll make decisions about how to fix that slide.”

            “…. wha…. what just happened here?”

And I know I’m not alone. A great number of teachers I’ve spoken with while we do the dreaded “data-dig” have shared the same frustrations. Ask me to explain the causes and the outcomes of the American Revolution and I can do that to exhaustion. Ask a 3^rd grade teacher to present a lesson on vowels and within 15 minutes she will be have a mind-blowing lesson. Present a World Language teacher data on 9^th grade math scores and ask him to analyze it, you might as well ask him what the letter Q smells like. I despise the word data and all that goes with it.

Acronyms/Eduspeak: Why is it education has never met an acronym it doesn’t like? Every new committee, initiative, policy must have an acronym. People in education even go out of their way to create acronyms. I remember sitting in a meeting discussing a change to school policy and we spent over half of the meeting NOT discussing the change that was needed, or if it was needed. No, we spent over half the meeting naming the policy so it could be turned into an acronym. I. Kid. You. Not. Eduwonks will tell you that acronyms help people remember information and they will tell you that teachers use these mnemonic devices in their classrooms to help students remember information. While this may be true, we don’t do it for every lesson and every topic! That would overwhelm students! And overwhelmed is what I’ve become with acronyms. I can’t remember any of them because there are too many of them. What’s wrong with just saying what it is? What’s wrong with calling something by its name? Why does everything need an acronym? Because it doesn’t help me to remember it, as soon as I hear an acronym I forget it along with the other 1,000 acronyms education creates. So please, make things simple and call programs, initiatives, policies, committees what they are otherwise I’m going to go to an IEP for LAT to discuss my IEG with my DL about my IL because I am PO’d! Knock it off!

Also, can we stop with all of the best practices. As teachers, we know what are best practices. We’ve been doing it for years, we don’t need someone who wrote a book to tell us about best practices. Sometimes I hear things and I say to myself “Hmmm, I’ve known that for years I’ve just been too busy teaching to actually do a study to prove that.” And sometimes I say “Hmmmmm, this ‘researcher’ obviously hasn’t been in the classroom in years.” Remember the “open classroom” concept? That was a best practice and would revolutionize education and enhance student learning. I was in school during those years and all it revolutionized was for teachers to put up bookcases and cubbyhole units around the classroom to block off their classroom from the next. Teachers know what are “best practices” and what aren’t, it’s just that most of us are too busy in the classroom teaching to actually take the time to do an actual study and write a book.

So, as we roll towards August 11^th here is my plea to the school district and all administrators across the country. What teachers really need and want is to be left alone. We are professionals, we know what needs to be done. We want to meet with our departments and teams, not spend hours and days sitting in the library at the beginning of the school year. We will help the newbie teachers with what they need to do and what they need to learn. Do not bombard us with eduspeak, data, and acronyms. Tell us what we need to know, and be simple and succinct. I know of no other way help my students learn and succeed than to actually be in the classroom with them. My school (shout out to Pomona High School) is VERY good at allowing teachers to work together and be in their classrooms instead of sitting in mind-numbing meetings filled with data and eduspeak. Oh, we meet, don’t get me wrong, but the information is a direct, here's-what-you-need approach and teacher time is maximized. Because of that, the teachers at Pomona actually use the time to meet and plan for the coming year. Sadly, I know this is not the case in many if not most of the schools in the district, state and probably throughout the nation. If you want to improve education; leave teachers alone and let them do what they do best- teach.

Making America Great Always: A Love Letter

I have a confession to make.

I have a confession to make about something I’ve done in my classroom for the past 17 years.

Every single year in every single American History class or AP US History class I’ve ever taught I’ve always given the same disclaimer and I reiterate the disclaimer throughout the semester: “I am an American Exceptionalist. I truly believe that there is something special about the United States that sets it apart from the rest of the world. I believe that the US is the greatest nation that has ever graced the face of this Earth. That is not to say that the US has not done some bad things. We have. We have done some very bad things, and we will discuss and learn about those very bad things during the course of the class. But I believe that the good the US and its people have done for the world far outweighs the bad that the US and its people have done.”

There, I admitted to it. I’ve given some variation of this speech to probably thousands of students over the past 17 years. Ask any student who has been in one of my American History classes and they will confirm as much is true. I am an American Exceptionalist. I love my country. I would not want to live anywhere else in the world. I remember hearing Oprah Winfrey once say “If you were born in the United States, especially if you are a woman who was born in the United States, you should consider yourself extraordinarily lucky.” I couldn’t agree more. I do consider myself very lucky.

However, I’ve often thought about WHY is America an exceptional place? What is it that sets Americans apart from the rest of the world? Over the years I’ve come up with many answers to that query only to dismiss my thoughts after I had reflected on them. Until recently. I’ve arrived at an answer that I really can’t debunk. The answer to why I believe America is a truly exceptional place is pretty simple: OPTIMISM.

America and its people are truly optimistic. We believe, and always have, that tomorrow will be better than today. That next week will be better than this week. That if we happen to find ourselves in bad times, we know that eventually, we will find a solution to our problems. Americans are naturally optimistic. That trait is what sets us apart. That core belief is what makes Americans exceptional. We believe that we can overcome any obstacle set before us, and more often than not, we succeed in overcoming that obstacle. Be it a physical impediment or ideological, a social obstacle or political problem, Americans seem to relish the opportunity to try and solve these problems and we always believe we can overcome any barrier set before us. We are, if anything, optimistic to a fault.

The noted American historian, Fredrick Jackson Turner, noted in his masterpiece 1898 essay The Significance of the Frontier in American History, something similar in the makeup of the American psyche. He argued that it was the frontier that shaped the American identity, setting us apart from the rest of the world. Americans, from the earliest days, were confronted with a barrier that constantly challenged them mentally, physically and emotionally. A barrier that others around the world (especially Europeans) had long since faced and conquered in their homeland- a Frontier. A wilderness of unknown land containing unknown beasts and unknown enemies as well as untapped possibilities. As American settlers continued their push west, first from the Atlantic seaboard to the Appalachian Mountains, then to the Mississippi River, to the Rocky Mountains and eventually reaching the Pacific Ocean they were constantly having the overcome any number of unknown obstacles. More often than not, they had to do this alone. And yet, American settlers seemed undaunted and continued their push into the unknown. Constantly believing that beyond that rock, past that ridge, down in that valley it was most certainly better there than it was here. And if it was not better, then certainly whatever lay ahead would be an improvement. That experience is what made Americans different. That experience is what instilled into the American character our unrelenting sense of optimism. That virtue shaped us into who we are today and we continue to nurture that belief generation after generation.

In addition to our unflinching, persistent challenging of our very real frontier, we faced other crises and believed that we could persevere. Americans challenged the greatest, most dominate nation the world had ever known so that we might be independent. We should not have won, but we were optimistic and eventually we succeeded. England, as well as the rest of Europe, believed that our independence would be short-lived. We believed otherwise. The story of America is littered with similar stories of optimism. The American people have proven time and again, that we are an exceptional people because of our core belief that the future is far brighter than any darkness the present may now cast.

In 1800, a bitter, nasty election took place tinged with such overt partisanship that even by today’s standards we would find it shocking. Vice President Thomas Jefferson had just defeated the incumbent and his longtime friend John Adams for the Presidency. Indeed, it can be argued this election bore the two-party system that we know so well today. The world held its collective breath. Never before had there been a peaceful transfer of power from one political group to another. Surely, the American Experiment was about to end just as it was beginning.  However, Adams and his Federalist Party handed over power to Jefferson and his Republican Party [this is not the modern day Republican Party, the modern day Republican Party would be created in 1856] without incident. There was no bloodshed, absent was the dramatic storming of the White House by Jefferson as Adams and the Federalists barricaded themselves inside, no riots, nothing. Aside from what we would call some “dirty tricks” by way of some midnight appointments of Federalists to judgeship's on his way out of office, John Adams peacefully handed over the reins of government to his onetime closest confidant now most hated rival, Thomas Jefferson. There were not any mass defections of disgruntled Federalists to Europe or Canada or the French-owned Louisiana Territory. No, Federalists were optimistic that another election was coming and then they may again regain power. Or they believed that although the present was not very good, the future certainly would be better. So the Federalists stayed content with their optimism for tomorrow. Today, despite the threats from the left of mass defections to Canada should Donald Trump be elected, and the equal threats from the right should Hillary Clinton be elected, we know better. There will probably not be mass defections out of the country because we have faith that although we may not like the present certainly the future will be better.

During the 1970’s, Americans seemed to begin to lose their optimism. We had failed miserably in Vietnam, gas prices skyrocketed, Watergate only confirmed the notion that ‘all government is inherently corrupt’, crime was increasing, the dollar was decreasing, Americans were taken hostage in Iran and we could not seem to figure out a way to get them back, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and our best response was we would not participate in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Americans did not feel optimistic. Polls showed that for the first time in American history Americans believed that their children’s lives would be worse than their own. In essence, the majority of Americans did not believe that the future would be better. The core value of the United States was dying. Ronald Reagan reignited that core value. Reagan believed that tomorrow could be, should be, and would be better than today. That the future held far more promise than the past. Indeed, his campaign slogan reflected that unique American optimism; “It’s Morning Again In America”. Reagan captured the American imagination and the American electorate rewarded him with two resounding victories. Since then, American presidential candidates have tried to reflect American optimism into their campaigns. The most notable example of this is Barrack Obama’s simple “Hope” slogan. Americans love to believe that the future will be better than the past.

Perhaps the greatest example of American Optimism and Exceptionalism is in our examination of our past failures. We are not a perfect people, we are not a perfect country, we are not a perfect society. Far from it. And this brings me back to the point I have told all my American history students for the past 17 years; America has done some very bad things in its past. The most notable and obvious failures in American history is our shameful experience with slavery and our treatment of the American Indian. It is inexcusable to hold another person in bondage simply because they look different than you. It is inexcusable to believe that the “Only good Indian is a dead Indian”. These are shameful moments in American history. There are other equally appalling episodes in American History: Sand Creek Massacre, My Lai Massacre, Japanese Internment, racism, xenophobia, the Red Scare and McCarthyism. All of these exposed the very worst in America. However, I believe that all of these also point to that which makes America exceptional. America does not shy away from these incidents. These events are taught in schools across America with as much fervor as the teaching of the Bill of Rights, the Progressive Movement, the Berlin Airlift or the Marshal Plan. Americans do not shy away from our failures, we tend to embrace them. This is unlike many countries around the world. I once had a German exchange student. She was a very bright, delightful young lady. However, she was shocked to learn of the widespread atrocities of Nazi Germany. She admitted that this was not a subject widely taught or spoken of in Germany. Japanese textbooks routinely omit the horrendous crimes against humanity committed by Japan in the Pacific during WWII. America embraces our failures as much as we do our successes. Therein lies our nod towards American Exceptionalism and Optimism. When America realizes it has committed a mistake it does not cover it up, but rather it exposes that mistake with the hope that we can learn from our past so that the future will be better. That is different. That is American Optimism at its finest.

So on this July 4^th, I am proud to say that I do subscribe to American Exceptionalism. I do firmly believe that we are different from the rest of the world. There really is not any binding commonality that we have as Americans. We do not share a common nationality, ethnicity, race or religion.  We have differing views on politics, society, and economics. The only thing that binds us together into a cohesive unit as “Americans” is our core belief that tomorrow will always be better than today. We strongly believe that together we can make things better. In our hearts, we all share that core characteristic; OPTIMISM. Whatever hardships we, as Americans, face they can be defeated and we will prevail. I’m optimistic. I'm an American. 

"A Confounding Collection of Contradictions" or "How I Became Me"

Pretty much everything in my background would tell you that I shouldn't have the outlook on the world that I do.  I grew up in a solid middle class, blue-collar family. We lived in a solid, middle class, blue-collar neighborhood. The highest level of education that either of my parents completed was the 11th grade; that was my mother. The highest level of education my dad completed was the 9th grade. I was raised Catholic, in fact at one point in my life I seriously contemplated becoming a priest. I, of course, ended up becoming a high school social studies teacher and am a proud member of the teachers union. So, everything seems to point to my being a true blue, through and through Democrat, right? Middle-class blue collar upbringing, born and raised Catholic, parents never graduated high school, educator, active member of the teachers union. It all seems to fit the mold for a solid, loyal, faithful Democrat. This is where the stereotype begins to fall apart.

Despite the fact that my parents are Baby boomers (although my dad will insist that he is not a Baby Boomer since he was born in 1944 and technically he would be correct as the Baby Boomer generation are those born between 1945-1964, I still consider him to be a Baby Boomer) neither one of them ever identified with the social and political unrest that resonated throughout the mid to late 1960's. My dad was in the military at that time, my mom was attending Lincoln High School and neither of them were at all enamored with the protests, civil unrest, hippy movement, rejection of American life and standards that seemed to be oozing from the pores of their peers. My mom's brother served two tours of duty in Vietnam as a Green Beret and she bristled at the accusations that her brother was a criminal.When my dad came home from the military in 1968 he was shocked and dismayed that he was called a "baby killer" by fellow Americans because during his two years of deployment in Germany he had never killed a rat let alone a person or a baby. To my parents, this was a very uncomfortable time featuring politics that they never subscribed to. Luckily, they managed to find one another, because it certainly didn't seem in 1968-69 that anyone else their age were looking for them.  Their shock and horror at the seeming disrespect of America and its institutions shaped my parents political views. And of course, children either become reflections of their parents politics or in a fit of rebellion, the antithesis of their politics. I choose to be a reflection.

The 1970's brought my brother and I to my parents along with a weakening economy and a government in taters from endless scandals and ineptness. My parents bought the house I grew up in in 1976 and because of their good credit history had an interest rate of 9% on their mortgage. My parents were convinced that the good times were over for good in America. In 1979, I was just beginning to develop some very basic, simple political beliefs when the American hostages were taken in Tehran and the American government under Jimmy Carter seemed extraordinarily incompetent. How can this be? I thought. Why is this happening? I wondered. Perhaps my parents were correct, the good times really are over for good.

My real political awakening took place in 1980-81 with the candidacy and election of Ronald Reagan. My parents were excited which made me excited. It felt good to be an American, I was proud to be an American. This was great! I remember watching the inauguration and then literally minutes later the hostages were released. What presidency ever started off that well? I believe it was in that moment that I decided I was a Republican. I was 9 years old and I had become Alex P. Keaton before there was such a character. I was truly a product of the Reagan presidency. It's funny, people my age who grew up in the 1980's have the same feelings about Reagan that people who grew up in the 1930's had about FDR; they either revere him or revile him. I revered him. He shaped my views of the world and politics. One of Reagan's core beliefs has become one of my mantra's "Government is rarely the solution, it is usually part of the problem."

Over time, my political views have softened, I am no where near as conservative as I once was. My political views have become more nuanced and my political leanings have moved to a more moderate stance. I support gay rights, I support universal background checks for gun sales, and my views on welfare are more in line with Bill Clinton than they are with Reagan.

I am a registered Republican and I have been since I turned 18. However, I have begun to feel as though my party has abandoned me because it has been hijacked by extreme idealists in the Tea Party (but that is a totally different discussion). The crazy thing is, that in today's Republican Party, Reagan would be ostracized and labeled a RINO. Very weird... I have never voted a straight party line ticket. I usually vote for Republicans in national elections (although not always) and I usually vote for Democrats in state elections (because unfortunately since the time of Al Meiklejohn, state Republicans have cared very little about public education). This year will be the first time ever that I have not voted for the Republican nominee for president. I'm also not going to vote for Hillary. I am going to vote, I just don't know who yet.

So, that is a short (or as short as I could make it) explanation of my political beliefs, influences and evolution. If you made it this far, yea for you (or maybe I'm sorry- you decide). I know I am a ball of contradictions but aren't we all?