I went to see Kinky Friedman on Monday night at Barnes and Noble for his booksigning of "You Can Lead a Politician to Water but you Can't Make Him Think". I found him to be a very nice man, a loyal Texan who wants the best for Texas.
He talked about some of the reasons he lost the election, what he would do differently and how he stills feels about some issues. Take teachers for instance; he believes teachers should be paid more than they are and should be able to teach their chosen subjects rather than teach to the TACS test. About that very issue, my daughter Kathy just resigned from her teacher's position in the IISD because of the long hours and low pay. She taught in one of the best schools around for special ed students and her subjects were science and physics. She was sad to leave because she loves her students and the other teachers and loves teaching but the school system demanded more and more of her time which left nothing for her family. This is happening all over Texas. The lottery was formed here for the express purpose of helping the educational needs of the state but so far no money has gone to the school system.
Another problem is voter registration. Voters in Texas have to be registered six weeks in advance of elections. Why? Kinky thinks same day registration like they have in other states would have helped him get more votes. He was very, very popular with the young people and spoke at many college campuses, unfortunately when these students went to vote they found they weren't registered and couldn't register so he lost their votes.
I for one hope he runs again. His ideas should be put into practice and we should vote these self-serving politicians out of office.
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By the way that's Kinky Friedman with the cigar, the other one is me.
1 comment:
People think that teachers have summers off. Teachers go to conferences, training, teach summer school, work second jobs. Teachers spend nights, and weekends during the school year grading and preparing lessons for their students (at least the good ones do). We even go to conferences during the year. Teachers spend afternoons off the clock tutoring struggling students. Teachers spend "holidays", planning, grading, attempting to stay current in their content area. We attend staff meetings and department meetings and even those are on our time. I was working to help to make ends meet, however, my salary put us into a higher tax bracket. So half of the money I did make went to the IRS. Which meant basically I was working 65 to 70 hours a week for 20K. My school, The Academy of Irving is the best school in the area. I am grateful I was there and not in another school. We do more than most schools do for our students and it shows. The teachers care. The issue with education is not just about money, its the time factor, its about being treated as professionals, it is about having time to taking care of ourselves. 25 - 30 minutes wolfing down a frozen lunch is not healthy for teachers or students. Not drinking water all day because you know you'll have to leave the class for the bathroom is not healthy. No hot water in school bathrooms is not healthy, what kid wants to wash their hands in cold water. Why do we have people at the state level who are dictating from the top down when it would work better running the system bottom up. Teachers are in the trenches with the students not the legislators, or the school boards or superintendants. The state seems to think that they will give us a teachers an excellence grant (which I helped write) by proving everything that we do with as teachers with documentation. So dollars will be divided between all of the teachers. Unless written with all teachers in mind. Most of those grants are divisive to the faculty and tear down rather than build up moral. When the district gives us "bonus money" because of longevity with the stipulation that we get to attend yet more classes, it does not seem like a bonus. When I have 150 kids to take care of everyday, its almost impossible to have enough energy at the end of the day to take care of my own child and husband. I'm definitely going to miss my students because they always managed to somehow make my days good. However, it's time for me to take care of me and my family now.
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