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DON'T GIVE UP
A Teacher's Final Lesson
NEIFPE members remember our own Phyllis Bush as we read about this teacher's fight with "Cancer Schmantzer" and her parting words. We remember Phyllis’s call to stand up and fight for what we are passionate about. Don’t waste time on insignificant things...and don't give up.
From Curmudgucation
One positive outcome from having recurrent cancer was that it taught me to let go of the insignificant things and to just enjoy the people and places. After three recurrences, my body finally had enough and I passed away on Sunday, September 22, 2019 at the Cleveland Clinic.
I am extremely grateful for the life that I lived. I was fortunate to have a loving family, supportive friends, a stable and meaningful job, and a house to call my own. My wish for you is to stop letting insignificant situations stress you out. Do what is important to you. Relax and enjoy the company of those around you. What do you value in your life? In the end, that's what matters.
This obituary was written by Ashley preceding her passing as part of the many preparations to make the transition easier on her family.
YOUR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT TO HATE
Trump administration sides with Catholic school that fired gay teacher
The Catholic Church seems to be fine with accepting a religious tax exemption, and seems to be fine with accepting tax money through vouchers, but abiding by anti-discrimination laws is, apparently, a step too far.
From the Answer Sheet
The Trump administration is backing a Roman Catholic archbishop in Indiana who pushed a Catholic school to fire a gay teacher, saying in a legal document that the First Amendment protects the church’s right to make such decisions.
A HIGH STRESS JOB
Teachers Are More Stressed Out Than You Probably Think
From Gadflyonthewall Blog
When I was just a new teacher, I remember my doctor asking me if I had a high stress job.
I said that I taught middle school, as if that answered his question. But he took it to mean that I had it easy. After all – as he put it – I just played with children all day.
Now after 16 years in the classroom and a series of chronic medical conditions including heart disease, Crohn’s Disease and a recent battle with shingles though I’m only in my 40s, he knows better.
Teaching is one of the most stressful jobs you can have.
THERE IS NEVER ENOUGH TIME...THERE IS NEVER ENOUGH YOU
A Good Teacher Is Not Like A Candle
From Curmudgucation
This is a close relative of the hero teacher myth, and it shares the notion that someone becomes a teacher out of some outsized level of nobility and self-sacrifice. And there are all sorts of problems with this baloney.
One is that, of course, someone who is teaching out of noble impulses of heroic self-sacrifice couldn't possibly be worried about making a living wage or having decent benefits. It's people who buy this sort of baloney who get all pearl-clutchy over teachers who want a decent contract, as if the desire to be able to support a family is sullying their noble calling, distracting from their "personal mission." This model becomes an excuse to take and take and take from teachers-- their money, their time, because, hey, you want to give your all to the kids, right?
More importantly, this is the kind of crap that saddles young teachers with a huge pile of guilt. Six years ago I wrote a piece that is still the most-read piece I've ever written.
MUSIC IS BACK IN MILWAUKEE
Milwaukee School Board Votes to Restore Music Education in Every Public School!
From Diane Ravitch
A great victory for real education in Milwaukee, where the business community and politicians have been obsessed with “choice” for 30 years. From the FB page of the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association.
This is a victory for students!
This is a victory for real education!
TEACH, NOT TEST, IN BOSTON
Boston: New Superintendent Reduces Testing Overload!
From Diane Ravitch
The new superintendent of the Boston Public Schools Brenda Casellius announced a reduction of district tests.
This does not affect the state-mandated tests, but it is a welcome acknowledgement that students need more instruction, not more testing.
School Superintendent Brenda Cassellius has announced a moratorium on district-mandated standardized tests, according to a Sept. 19 memo to school leaders.
To read the memo, click here.
IT'S POVERTY
New Reports Confirm Persistent Child Poverty While Policymakers Blame Educators and Fail to Address Core Problem
Diane Ravitch comment, "Charters and Vouchers address none of these issues."
From Jan Resseger
The correlation of academic achievement with family income has been demonstrated now for half a century, but policymakers, like those in the Ohio legislature who are debating punitive school district takeovers, prefer to blame public school teachers and administrators instead of using the resources of government to assist struggling families who need better access to healthcare, quality childcare, better jobs, and food assistance.
Ohio’s school district grades arrived this week. At the same time, and with less fanfare, arrived a series of reports on the level of federal spending on children, reports documenting that, as Education Week‘s Andrew Uifusa explains: “The share of the federal budget that goes toward children, including education spending, dipped to just below 2 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product in 2018—the lowest level in the decade.”
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| "No one is too small to make a difference." -- Greta Thunberg |
THE WISDOM OF OUR CHILDREN
What Greta Thunberg Told the UN Today
From Diane Ravitch
And a little child shall lead them.
POLITICS AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Pennsylvania: Speaker of the House Berates Public Schools and Their Teachers, Praises Charters
Apparently "loving our public schools" is offensive to some. This Pennsylvania Representative, the Speaker of the Pennsylvania House, doesn't realize that supporting public schools is one of his jobs as a member of the Pennsylvania legislature...he needs to read the state Constitution.
From Diane Ravitch
Once again, we are reminded that charter schools are a Republican cause, and their champion is Betsy DeVos.
Mike Turzai, Republican Speaker of the House in Pennsylvania, was on his way to a meeting with Betsy DeVos when he encountered some public school teachers, who were picketing with signs saying they loved their public schools.
Turzai found this deeply offensive, and he proceeded to lambaste the teachers as a “special interest group” defending a “monopoly.”
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