Life Is Good
Woke up, shut off the alarm, let the radio blare, and fell asleep. Forget what was playing, but woke 20 minutes later to the words: "they say I'm lazy but it takes all my time . . . life is good to me so far" and the song ended. Then I woke up, jumped out of bed, dragged a comb across my head.
Spent 4 hours in the Texas sun today. 3 hours with the kinder olympics - no good quotes from them. Had a coupla kids break down & cry because they "lost". In reality no one lost - they all got ribbons; but they seem to inherently know the difference between a blue ribbon and a yellow ribbon. The last hour, as always, was an hour as coach for the kinders. Let them have a free day since they worked so hard all morning.
My meanderings were on the differences of California, where I have taught, and Texas, where I teach now. In California, at the elementary level, the classroom teacher was responsible for the children to receive PE. There's a lot of wisdom there - it's much easier to control 30 kids than 90. That illusion of control allowed children to hear a bit more, and thus learn the rules of the game quicker. Most of us taught the rules in the classroom, then we went out to play PE. The acoustics were the same as when I taught math concepts, or language concepts - the kids could hear, and it never took long to learn the rules.
In Texas we stick them all in a large, empty room, a bit larger than the size of a regulation basketball court. With painted cinder block walls, and a ceiling some 20 feet high, with lots and lots of echoes. It takes one kid moaning quietly to completely disrupt a lesson so 1/2 the kids never hear the instructions. General chaos usually happens, and we try to make the best of it by keeping the kids moving and generally having a good time. What they don't learn is teamwork or individual responsibility. It doesn't take long each day to teach these concepts to a 5 year old - but if they are to learn, it is imperative that they hear. A large gymnasium with a coaches voice bouncing back from 5 directions is not a good acoustical situation for hearing.
So why do it? Well, the teachers get a break called "work time" to prepare lessons. That's actually a cool idea - in theory the teachers get paid for preparing lessons. I will attest that I didn't get prep time in California, and spent at least two hours after school preparing the next days activities and grading papers. I never complained, because that was a given when I took the job.
Reality? Well, now I get paid about 30% of what I got in California. The local excuse is the cost of living is higher in California. That's a bald-faced lie, but they won't believe it. My taxes are 300% higher in Texas, food costs exactly the same, gas prices are 15% cheaper here for some reason; but gas is not an issue for me either here or in California. The phone costs are higher here, as are gas and electric. Housing costs are very similar - a tiny house sells here for $180,000. So, they are lying to themselves about the "cost of living" as an excuse for why they pay teachers 70% less. I don't care myself simply because I enjoy teaching, and the money is secondary - but I see teachers struggling financially here a lot more than I did in California. I choose to live simply, so finances are not a struggle for me wherever I am.
One thing is very true in Texas - almost all the teachers are female. I am the only male teacher in my school, and at the next level there are no male teachers. That's not as true in California. As a result, teachers are not unionized here - even worse, it is illegal for them to unionize. That's difficult for me to believe - that a state can make it illegal for a specialized group to form a union. I had heard stories about the south - now I'm living it. When you grow up somewhere else, you think it's all exaggeration. The other thing that's very subtle, but obvious when looking in with an outsiders view; the teachers are "only women", and therefore do not deserve a living wage. I went to a board meeting and noticed the Superintendent, the Assistant Superintendent, and the entire School board is male. Women are not going to receive a living wage in a state that won't allow them to unionize or be members of the school board. However, it's okay to educate women because then they can teach.
My own personal belief is that there are no teachers anywhere getting paid what they are worth, so the entire point is useless to discuss. A simple example is a home day care center funded by the state can have 12 children, and charges $6 an hour for them, with no other obligation than to give them a snack and a lunch - the state pays the day care center what the parent cannot pay. Most children are left there for 10 hours - the parent drops them off on the way to work and picks them up on the way back. That's $72 an hour, or $720 a day. A teacher nets around $2000 a month after taxes and insurance, or $500 a week. And that includes the obligation of teaching the kids how to read, manipulate numbers, and write. Not 12, but 20+ kids. It has always been this way, and I don't expect it will change soon; but it does show how the government systematically teaches falsehoods in order to keep the status quo moving in the direction they choose (ie, the cost of living is cheaper; women aren't worth as much as men, etc).
Meandered far astray, as usual; but despite my sadness at the way people have decided to treat to the ones they have chosen to teach their children, I can still feel good enough to sing along with Joe Walsh: Life Is Good To Me, and today I was able to spend 4 hours in the Texas sunshine. Maybe he even said Life's Been Good, but I've been singing Life Is Good all day because that's what I heard when I dragged my consciousness out of the dream state I was entranced in.
Spent 4 hours in the Texas sun today. 3 hours with the kinder olympics - no good quotes from them. Had a coupla kids break down & cry because they "lost". In reality no one lost - they all got ribbons; but they seem to inherently know the difference between a blue ribbon and a yellow ribbon. The last hour, as always, was an hour as coach for the kinders. Let them have a free day since they worked so hard all morning.
My meanderings were on the differences of California, where I have taught, and Texas, where I teach now. In California, at the elementary level, the classroom teacher was responsible for the children to receive PE. There's a lot of wisdom there - it's much easier to control 30 kids than 90. That illusion of control allowed children to hear a bit more, and thus learn the rules of the game quicker. Most of us taught the rules in the classroom, then we went out to play PE. The acoustics were the same as when I taught math concepts, or language concepts - the kids could hear, and it never took long to learn the rules.
In Texas we stick them all in a large, empty room, a bit larger than the size of a regulation basketball court. With painted cinder block walls, and a ceiling some 20 feet high, with lots and lots of echoes. It takes one kid moaning quietly to completely disrupt a lesson so 1/2 the kids never hear the instructions. General chaos usually happens, and we try to make the best of it by keeping the kids moving and generally having a good time. What they don't learn is teamwork or individual responsibility. It doesn't take long each day to teach these concepts to a 5 year old - but if they are to learn, it is imperative that they hear. A large gymnasium with a coaches voice bouncing back from 5 directions is not a good acoustical situation for hearing.
So why do it? Well, the teachers get a break called "work time" to prepare lessons. That's actually a cool idea - in theory the teachers get paid for preparing lessons. I will attest that I didn't get prep time in California, and spent at least two hours after school preparing the next days activities and grading papers. I never complained, because that was a given when I took the job.
Reality? Well, now I get paid about 30% of what I got in California. The local excuse is the cost of living is higher in California. That's a bald-faced lie, but they won't believe it. My taxes are 300% higher in Texas, food costs exactly the same, gas prices are 15% cheaper here for some reason; but gas is not an issue for me either here or in California. The phone costs are higher here, as are gas and electric. Housing costs are very similar - a tiny house sells here for $180,000. So, they are lying to themselves about the "cost of living" as an excuse for why they pay teachers 70% less. I don't care myself simply because I enjoy teaching, and the money is secondary - but I see teachers struggling financially here a lot more than I did in California. I choose to live simply, so finances are not a struggle for me wherever I am.
One thing is very true in Texas - almost all the teachers are female. I am the only male teacher in my school, and at the next level there are no male teachers. That's not as true in California. As a result, teachers are not unionized here - even worse, it is illegal for them to unionize. That's difficult for me to believe - that a state can make it illegal for a specialized group to form a union. I had heard stories about the south - now I'm living it. When you grow up somewhere else, you think it's all exaggeration. The other thing that's very subtle, but obvious when looking in with an outsiders view; the teachers are "only women", and therefore do not deserve a living wage. I went to a board meeting and noticed the Superintendent, the Assistant Superintendent, and the entire School board is male. Women are not going to receive a living wage in a state that won't allow them to unionize or be members of the school board. However, it's okay to educate women because then they can teach.
My own personal belief is that there are no teachers anywhere getting paid what they are worth, so the entire point is useless to discuss. A simple example is a home day care center funded by the state can have 12 children, and charges $6 an hour for them, with no other obligation than to give them a snack and a lunch - the state pays the day care center what the parent cannot pay. Most children are left there for 10 hours - the parent drops them off on the way to work and picks them up on the way back. That's $72 an hour, or $720 a day. A teacher nets around $2000 a month after taxes and insurance, or $500 a week. And that includes the obligation of teaching the kids how to read, manipulate numbers, and write. Not 12, but 20+ kids. It has always been this way, and I don't expect it will change soon; but it does show how the government systematically teaches falsehoods in order to keep the status quo moving in the direction they choose (ie, the cost of living is cheaper; women aren't worth as much as men, etc).
Meandered far astray, as usual; but despite my sadness at the way people have decided to treat to the ones they have chosen to teach their children, I can still feel good enough to sing along with Joe Walsh: Life Is Good To Me, and today I was able to spend 4 hours in the Texas sunshine. Maybe he even said Life's Been Good, but I've been singing Life Is Good all day because that's what I heard when I dragged my consciousness out of the dream state I was entranced in.
posted by Cholla Needles | 10:40 PM
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