How can I get any work done when there's so much work to be done?

So I've come to a realization over the past few months: I can't work at home. I've never been good at it, and last year I'd often bring papers home to grade, then never got to them, or at least not until Sunday night. But with papers, I could usually just stay late and get caught up at school, so that wasn't so bad. It's really become a problem, however, with these two classes I've had to take to renew my certification. I made the mistake of taking them as correspondence courses. Yup, two five-credit classes, I had a year to take them in my spare time, and I can't do them at home. Go fig.

I signed up for these courses last winter, once my situation stabilized, because I thought they'd give me the flexibility I needed with no spring vacation and a lot of Saturdays taken up. Good in theory, but when I got home each night, I didn't feel much like working on my classes when there was so much other stuff to be done around the house. Yup, I'm one of those rare guys who does his share of cooking, cleaning, laundry, and the like, and if something sits around too long, I'll get to it before too long. It also didn't help my classes that I have lots of books to read, movies to watch, and a TV to watch. In other words, it just became too easy to find something else to do, and it was usually more urgent or more fun (or both). I did eventually chip away quite a bit at my first class, but it was all one big reason why I got myself into this mess in the first place. Once I realized I wasn't going to make it, I decided to cut my losses and get out of Marysville, since I wouldn't be able to teach there past June 30 anyway (guess when my last certificate expired?).

Fortunately, Laura came up with something that helps the situation immensely. She had been wanting a laptop computer for a very long time, but when the time came to get one, my dad gave her his old one! So, Laura said I should get one instead. I was hesitant at first, but she talked me into it, and last spring I got myself a very nice Macintosh PowerBook G4. It certainly runs rings around my old iMac, and is portable as well. Laura set up a wi-fi network at our house as well, so we can get on the internet anywhere at home. For my classroom management class, I used it to play the CD-ROM while doing the work on my iMac, which made things go faster as I didn't have to swap between the CD-ROM and the word processor every few minutes, and I could check something on the CD-ROM without losing my train of thought. So once I was done with that class and it came time to start my second class (integrating language arts into teaching math, for those who are curious), I decided to do all of the work on the PowerBook, as that class didn't have a CD-ROM. Very wise choice on my part. Sure, I did some of it at home, but I ran into my usual problem of too many distractions at home. So I tried something radical -- not doing my work at home. I started carting my computer down to my folks' place in north Seattle and doing the work there instead, and it's proven to be a blessing, as I'm actually getting it done. In fact, I'm down at their place right now, typing this up as a reward to myself after completing the latest component of my class. One day, I even did some of my work at my mechanic's place while he was putting new brake pads on my car. Having laptops has also been a boon when we travel, as Laura and I were able to stay in touch during our trip to California last summer. At the Wizard of Oz convention I was at, I was even able to update my website the moment my friend and co-author, Karyl Carlson, won an award, and help out with a presentation on Oz items on eBay, all because I had my computer there and the chairman had wired up the room for wi-fi.

Coming to my parents' place to work on my class is not 100% foolproof, as I still have some distractions here at my folks' place. They have a wi-fi connection here, too, and so I take the more-occasional-than-I-should break to check e-mail or websites, or play one of the few games I have on this machine, but overall it's worked very well, and I anticipate being able to finish this class next week some time (touch wood). And I think, in the future, I'm going to avoid taking correspondence courses unless it's one at a time with no looming deadline.

It's odd that I can't do my work at home, because I usually didn't have that problem in high school or college, although I certainly had my moments of doing an entire weekend's worth of work Sunday evening. I suspect it has something to do with being a homeowner and having more responsibilities now. I've found I'm doing the same thing with reading. If I sit down to read something for fun, I find my mind wandering to tasks that need to get done around the house, and at a handy break I'll empty the dishwasher or update my website or something, and I don't get as much read. But I don't have this problem when I'm reading somewhere else.

Gee, I meant this entry to be about not being able to work at home, and instead it's become something of a love letter to my computer. Oh, well, I think I got all I wanted to out anyway (and a little more as well). It is a nice little computer, and it really has helped me a lot with both courses.

Cross those fingers!

What should be the final piece of paperwork to get my substitute certificate arrived on Saturday, and I made copies of all of them yesterday to send to Olympia. Later this morning, I'll drop the letter off at the post office, and then it's in the hands of the Office of Proffesional Practices again. I hope it's enough, I hope they don't take their time about it, and I hope they actually tell me if there's something else they need (although I'm not sure what else I could provide). Since it's Thanksgiving this week, however, I'm sure not a lot will happen until next week. That's fine with me, that will give me a few more days to finally finish this last class and submit all of the paperwork. I just hope they can grade it quick, so I can get my transcript quick, so I can apply for my continuing certificate and possibly start the whole merry-go-round all over again...

So, did you miss me?

Well, it's been a while since I was actually able to post anything here, so I thought I'd get everyone caught up with what's been going on with my teaching career. It's not been pretty, but it has been instructional.

First off, because my certificate expired at the end of June, and school went on into July, I ended up not finishing the whole school year. Yup, I missed the last three weeks or so, since I legally couldn't teach. To be honest, however, that was fine with me. I was not doing well anyway, the stress was getting to me, and I just felt it would be better for everyone involved if I just left. (I did end up having to go back for a couple of days to take care of some administrative stuff, but that was all right, I didn't mind.) And my other employer, the local Sylvan Learning Center, said, "Sure, no problem, we can use you this summer," so I was able to get some work in there to make up for the money I suddently wouldn't be getting from Marysville.

My goal was to finish up my classes over the summer and apply for my new continuing certificate. I didn't think I'd be able to get a full time job again so close to the start of the school year, but districts do hire in late September and into October, and I could always go back to subbing. (After the debacle of Marysville, subbing suddenly didn't look so bad at all!) But one thing I learned this summer was that I don't do well taking a class at home. There are too many distractions, like the TV and the internet, and even if I did get going on something, part of me would be thinking about things that needed to get done around the house, and I'd end up dealing with dirty dishes or something. This, coupled with working at Sylvan and my annual trip to the Winkie Convention in California and all of the Olympics I watched, meant I didn't get terribly far on my classes. In hindsight, I think taking two correspondence classes with the intent of finishing them both within a pretty short timeframe was a mistake -- especially during a school year when I had almost no breaks and was also working Saturdays.

So once I realized that I wasn't going to make it, I applied for a substitute certificate. I figured I'd be able to get some hours subbing in while I finished the classes and worked at Sylvan in the evenings. I applied at the start of September, thinking to take a little badly needed time off before getting to work. Well, it hasn't worked out quite that smoothly. Last spring, I had an ugly episode involving a student who wouldn't take off his hood in class. So I went over and pulled it off for him. Bad move, I know, and I regretted it the moment I did it. But in doing so, I accidentally pulled a littler harder than I intended, and choked him a little. No, I was not having a good day. So the district, quite rightly, suspended me with pay while they investigated. Then they forgot about it for a week, and didn't actually do any investigating until I called to find out what was going on! At least I got some time off... Once they looked into things, they basically gave me a slap on the wrist, and asked that I attend an anger management class and talk to a counselor. I was glad to do so, and actually got a lot out of both.

Now, fast forward to my application for my substitute certificate. It asked me if I'd ever been part of any investigation, disciplinary action, etc. Being the honest soul that I am, I said yes. Some may be thinking I should have lied, but I know that if I had, it would have come back to haunt me later. Besides, I had no way of knowing what was to come. Anyway, a few weeks after I applied, I got a note from the state asking for more details about the incident, and so I filled out the form they sent, thinking it would be the end of it. So I waited for my new certificate to arrive. And I waited. And waited. And waited...

Finally, I did what anyone else would do: I checked into what was going on. It took me some time to actually get a person down in Olympia and not a voice mail box (and I don't think anybody ever ready any of the e-mails I also sent, since I never got a reply to any of them), but after a few weeks I was told that the Office of Professional Practices was holding it up. So I attempted to call OPP, left a few more voice mails that were never answered, and tried to e-mail their address listed on the OSPI website, which it turns out is invalid, as it was bounced back to me. After a couple of weeks, I finally managed to get a real person, and was told that all they needed was some proof that I went through the anger management and counseling. Is that all? I thought, while also wondering to myself why didn't you get this stuff from the Marysville School District, and when were you ever planning on actually telling me this?

Back on the phones and e-mails again... I contacted some of the folks at the MSD central office who were involved in my disciplinary action, and finally got a response a week and a half later, and was told sure, they'd be glad to send me that information. But all I got back was a letter stating that I'd taken the anger management class. Good thing I had taken it, because it was all coming in very handy now! So I got back to them and asked about the counseling, and they gave me the number of the company that referred me. So I contacted them, and they sent me a release form so I could get my records -- only to find that they don't have my records (and, for that matter, the person I had just talked to two days earlier and had sent me the form didn't remember a thing about me -- but that, at least, I can understand, as I'm sure those poor folks must talk to dozens of people a day). At least they were able to give me the contact info for my counselor, and right now I'm just waiting for a call from him (he called last night while I was at Sylvan) to tell the whole story yet again so I can get what I hope will be the last piece of paperwork so I can finally get my substitute certificate.

The irony of all this is, once I realized it was going to take a while still, I jumped in and worked my hardest on my second class -- and I went down to my parents' place to actually get the work done, avoiding most of the distractions at home. So by the time I actually get my substitute certificate, I may just be turning around and goiong back to apply for my continuing certificate.

But the good news is thanks to the job last year, Laura and I were able to refinance our house and give ourselves a little cushion for just such an emergency, so despite my only working part time right now we're doing all right financially, although it's going to be yet another lean Christmas. And I've not only gotten most of my classes done, I've done some badly needed updates to my Wizard of Oz website and cleaned up bits of the house that badly needed it. And after fourteen straight years of teaching, I probably need the break anyway.

So what does the future hold? Hard to say, of course. I thought I'd gotten my dream job last year, but it turned out to be a nightmare. But I realize that last year was also a fluke of bad fortune, and my next job will probably be a lot better. So once I get my substitute certificate, I will jump back into the subbing pool. The Northshore district has already said they'd like to have me back. I'm also trying to finish this last class, and will apply for my continuing certificate the moment I get my transcript. Then I'm going to take a little time off from classes, just because I had to deal with so many this year -- but starting in 2006, I'll be taking them again on a more regular basis, even if I think I can't afford to, so I don't get stuck in this jam again. And once I finish my current class, it will be time to polish up my résumé and start applying for jobs. I hope I can get something full time again, but this time it will be on my terms. One of the questions I plan to ask in interviews from now on is, "Is there currently a contract between the district and the union?" If there isn't, and I'm offered a job, I may do some serious research before accepting.

Anyway, wish me luck. I can't guarantee that I'll be much of a blogger, but I hope I can at least pop in from time to time with information. So I hope you'll keep taking a look at how things shape up here.

Here's the Latest

Eric needs to finish another class before he can get his certification back (poor planning combined with the ridiculous run of no time off in Marysville did him in), so it looks like he'll be subbing for at least the beginning of the year. He's still doing a lot of work at Sylvan Learning Center, and he seems to be doing great there except for the long hours when he needs to be finishing his class.

In the meantime, I'm trying to land a library job in the Northshore School District, but am having trouble with my resume. And the application, to be honest. Wish us luck, and I'll try to update this once school starts around here.

Another Update

Eric knows for sure know that he won't be returning to MJHS, but still doesn't know if Marysville itself will have any openings. That leaves him in a serious jam. Not only does he not know if he has a job next year, but he has to work full-time until July 19th so finding a new position is not going to be easy...

The school district we actually live in, Northshore, seems to have sorted out its problems between the union and management, inspired in part by Marysville's nastiness. Eric would really like to work in Northshore. We have to hope that they are looking for math teachers.

Anyway, if you feel like giving Eric some encouragement for his remaining FOUR MORE WEEKS OF SCHOOOL, please feel free to drop in a comment. I'll make sure he reads them.

Another Update on Marysville

Yeah! The teachers have voted "yes" on the latest contract! Doesn't really help us that much, since we have no idea if Eric is returning or not, but it does mean that progress is being made. Always a good sign after a mess like that. Congrats to the teachers and students of Marysville.

I hope this works out for the best. The contract still has to be approved by the school board, but that seems pretty likely. It doesn't give the teachers anything this year, but it doesn't force them to work unpaid overtime and reduce their salaries, either, so it's an improvement on everything the district had offered before.

Update on Marysville

As you may know, the teachers in the Marysville School District still don't have a contract. And now the S-word has come up again... The Seattle Times has some details about the current negotiations. Everyone is still optimistic, but how long can they stay that way?

At least it now looks likely that Eric won't return to Marysville for next year. He's already been told the chances of him returning to the Junior High are nil, so unless the district decides to find him another spot, we'll be out of the quagmire that is Marysville on July 19th. If anyone local knows of any openings, please let us know. He's a math teacher qualified to teach at just about any level, with some computer lab experience, drama and track experience, and an active and creative mind.

Another Update

I know, you probably aren't expecting anything now. That's ok, I know a few folks still visit. This is the wife, again, letting you know what's up with Eric.

Let's see, very, very busy. He's got to take several classes for his continuing certificate by June, and since he's also teaching full-time, it's a bit of a struggle. In addition, Marysville School District just sent out notices to all first year teachers that say they won't be renewing any contracts. In other words, there's a good chance he's out of a job.

So not only does he have to earn enough credits to keep his certification, he also has to hunt for a new job while teaching full-time until July 19th. Ouch.

Needless to say, you aren't likely to see a post by Eric here anytime soon. Wish him luck, and I'll make sure he checks it out, but please don't expect much more from him.

Just an Update

Eric's wife here. Just to let you know, Eric is alive and well... just really really busy. School went through most of Christmas break, turning it into two five-day weekends instead of a proper break. Then snow cancelled school for a day, moving the final day of school out to July 19th. This Saturday is also a school day. So Eric's been avalanched under the workload, and since blogging was never really his thing in the first place, the blog is one of the last things on his mind. I thought I'd just let you all know, in case you were wondering.

And, by the way, it's his birthday today... feel free to wish him a happy day in the comments, if anyone is still reading.

Oh, dear...

My wife is at the school board meeting tonight. She called me right before it started and said she had signed up to speak. I'm suddenly a bit frightened...

Can you believe this?

Last night, the Marysville school board — the old one, three-fifths of which is on its way out in a couple of weeks, did something very foolish. They extended the contract of the superintendent. This is the same super who received a vote of no confidence a couple of years ago, who now has eight executive assistants who make over $100,000 each, who has alienated many teachers, who has ousted many popular district teachers and principals, who hired an expensive (and, to many, abrasive) PR spokesperson instead of speaking for herself, who doesn't actually live in the district, and who oversaw the longest teacher strike in Washington state history.

Why were my colleagues surprised at this move? Seeing how this board works, I wasn't surprised a bit.

Well, that retirement wasn't that long, was it?

I've had a good hard think about this blog, and I've decided that cutting it off entirely was throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I still have things to say, but I've decided that I'm not going to worry about blogging every day. I'll just post when there's something to say. And boy, this week has been busy.

First off, my job is safe! Our principal pulled some strings and called in favors, and managed to keep my position. And no, it wasn't to help me out (although I'm grateful), but so that the school could preserve its eight-periods-spread-out-over-two-days schedule, which has been extremely successful and helped the school get its Gates grant. So I won't have that hanging over my head. But we are still losing one PE teacher, an open English position won't be filled, and there will be a lot of reshuffling of schedules. (And the poor counselors are going to have to do it all by hand…)

On the grading front, I'm glad I pulled that all-afternooner last week. I'm falling a little behind again, but it's nothing too serious, as I'll be able to get caught up again this week. (I'd say this weekend, but there's too much other stuff going on that I doubt I'll find the time.) And this is proving to be a good thing, as the mid-quarter progress reports are going to be due very soon, and several of my colleagues are still behind where I am. So I would have every right to feel smug if I were that petty.

We've gotten all of that start-of-the-year stuff out of the way, so now things have fallen into a familiar pattern. (This is another reason I'm not going to try to blog every day, as most entries would be something like, "Taught math today." Real exciting, huh?) Unfortunately it also means that the initial excitement of the start of the school year is over, and a lot of students are now showing their true colors in class. Most of my students are pretty good, but I do have one class that's proving to be a bit chatty. As a result, they've fallen a bit behind once or twice, and we've had to play catch-up. (No, I'm not considering just letting them stay behind. I'm having enough trouble keeping track of two sets of plans, I'd rather not do three. Besides, I don't want them to think that their behavior results in the reward of not having to do the work.) We had a class discussion about the issue yesterday, however, and they came up with some ideas, and I expressed my concerns. It went well, and I think we can work together to keep it from becoming a big problem again. Of course, this could all go out the window if schedules get shuffled too radically.

Thursday afternoon, we voted on the new calendar for this school year. It's not perfect, as many teachers were not happy about working Saturdays (five in all, two with students — one Jewish teacher was very upset about that, not that I blame her), working two days between Christmas and New Year's Day (December 29 and 30, which I figure could be a quick two-day unit that won't affect things much, as many students will be gone anyway), and various other issues. But with so much time to make up, I don't think we could have done any better, and we're out on July 16, so we'll at least be able to salvage some summer. (I hope that when real contract negotiations begin, they consider starting the 2004-05 school year a week late, just to extend this year's summer break a little bit.) The calendar was overwhelmingly approved by voice vote. Now let's just hope that there isn't snow so bad that school has to be cancelled! We'd have to make those days up beginning July 19!

You'd think that, after having turned in all my paperwork in August, we'd have our benefits allstraightened out by now. But apparently the district didn't do anything with it during the strike (even though they paid the various providers!), so there are a lot of teachers without their cards or other information that they need. But it looks like it's going to get straightened out soon. Good thing, as I have an appointment with my doctor for a check-up Friday morning, and my dentist that afternoon. It sure would be nice to not have to pay the whole thing for once!

So long, farewell

It is with great reluctance but a sense of relief that I have decided to end this blog. This will be my final entry.

I'm ending this for a number of reasons, but the main one is that I just don't have the time. Sure, it's a nice idea, but the reality of teaching is that I don't have a lot of extra time. Even this weekend, I went to Sylvan this morning, and last night my family sprung an early Thanksgiving on us tomorrow (while my aunt is in town). This means that I now have to cram all the grading and ironing I was planning to do this weekend into this afternoon and evening. The next few weekends are already filling up, so I'm going to have little time for myself. On top of that, I'm expected to take care of dinner tonight. Something has to give, and this is one of them.

I've come to realize that blogging isn't really my thing, anyway. I'm not that interested in sharing myself with the world, and I haven't been terribly proficient at it. It's all been a case of prioritizing my time, and this blog has been pretty low on the list. But I've felt bad that I've had to ignore it, as I know there are a couple of you who read this. So I figure by ending it, that's one less thing for me to worry about, and my readers can get on with doing something else.

I'll end, however, with the saga of the last couple of days. Thursday morning, I had a student get very angry with me. What did I do? I asked her to put away her fashion magazine and get out her math. When she started yelling at me, I asked her to step out into the hall to give her and me a chance to calm down. That didn't go over well, of course, and she called me all kinds of names I won't reprint here before storming out. Needless to say my mood turned a bit sour for a while. I eventually went out to see what was up, but she was still fuming at me, so I let her stew a while longer. Eventually, one of her friends in the class went out, talked to her, and brought her back in. Yup, my first big conflict with a student of the year. However, I was in a generally good mood that day, and I didn't let it ruffle me much. Later that day, I also got my first student saying, "This is my favorite class." That certainly helped. The next day, I was in an even better mood — being Friday helped — and I even had my first "You're my favorite teacher." The student who had gotten mad yesterday was also not only in a much better mood, she was even doing math, and I had a brief, quiet talk with her to let her know that I wanted her to succeed, and would help her out as best I could.

Of course, all that good mood and good will meant that the silver cloud had a dark lining. The principal called me in later that day to let me know that I may be out of a job. Thanks (at least in part) to the strike, enrollment districtwide is way down, and every school is likley going to lose positions. One of the math positions will probably be lost at the junior high, and as the teacher with the least seniority it's me. Now, the good news is that I still have a contract with the district, and so I'll still get my salary and benefits, and will be slotted into some other spot if something opens up. But if this all happens — and it's still all in the very early stages, a lot can happen in the next few weeks — I could also wind up being at the top of the substitute list. Sure, I'll be working, but as a freaking substitute!!! I thought that was finally all behind me! I may be permanently assigned to the junior high, so at least I'll know the staff and students, but nothing's been decided yet.

It's been fun, everyone, but now I'm going to put my ten-gallon hat on my head and ride Old Paint off into the sunset. Happy trails! (If you want to keep up with what's happening with me, I'm sure my wife will give updates on her blog, as she's able to spend a lot more time online than I am.)

Catching up, and some VERY good news!

Well, I put in an all-afternooner (?!) today and got all of the papers I've been sitting on graded. That was a big weight off my shoulders. I've only entered two of the classes into Grade Machine, but I'm definitely in better shape now than I was last night! I should be able to stay on top of things now — until I get behind again, of course…

The early election returns are in, and it looks like the Marysville School District will have a whole new board, or at least close enough. All three of the incumbents are going down to inglorious defeat, so there will be a majority of new members on the board very soon. This should result in a contract at last, and a lot of damage control can start up. And there is a lot of it to take care of!

Time management questions

Any teachers out there reading this, can you help me out? I'm having a really hard time figuring out how to use my time wisely and efficiently. I have a stack of papers to grade, but it's Sunday night already, and I have no idea when I'll be able to do these. Granted, it's still early in the school year, and I'm still trying to play catch-up — I think I finally have everything I need in Grade Machine — but the conflict between work life and home life is getting to be big. Any tips any teachers out there can give me (click on the comments at the end of this entry to leave ideas) would be greatly appreciated.

If you live and vote in Marysville (or anywhere else, for that matter), don't forget that Election Day is coming up on Tuesday. If you haven't already done so by absentee ballot, be sure to vote for those candidates who you think will do the best job for the community. In Marysville, this school board election is crucial, and will very likely determine the future of the district for years to come, so vote carefully and wisely. And remember, if you don't vote, you can't really complain much about who gets elected.

Is it really insomnia if I'm not tired?

Since school began, I've been having trouble staying asleep. Oh, sure, I go to bed at 10-ish, maybe do a little light reading, then go to sleep. But my body has been waking itself up at extremely early times, often around 3:30 or 4:00. My alarm is set for 5:00, but I don't think I've had the chance to let it ring all year so far (with the exception of last Saturday, when I had to be up to get to Sylvan). This sort of thing usually only happens if I've had too much caffeine late and/or I take a nap during the day. But I haven't been doing that. Nevertheless, I've been doing just fine, getting all my work done, actually being productive during my prep time, and not hitting the couch as soon as I get home. I'm expecting to hit the wall any moment now and get a sound night's sleep, but it doesn't seem to have happened yet.

On a plus note, I think I finally got Grade Machine up and running to the point where I can just update it when I have new scores I have to enter, and not worry about updating or tweeking it as well. For those who don't know about it, Grade Machine is a terrific computer program — locally made — that can do all the functions of a grade book, withot all that tedious mucking around with actually doing the math. I learned how to use it a few years ago when I was teaching part-time at Lake Washington High School, and I'm glad Marysville uses it as well. Tonight, I use it to make some badly-needed seating charts!

Planning ahead

Based on my own experiences in getting a job, I decided to try a little exercise today. I asked my classes to put down some career they'd like to have, then what they thought they had to do to accomplish their goals — and I told them that just saying "Go to college" wasn't enough, they needed to figure out what they were going to study there. I realize this is all pretty far-out stuff for eighth graders, but I figured I'd better get them thinking about their goals and how to accomplish them now, rather than wait around for over a decade like I ended up doing. To make it more immediate, I also asked them to give a goal for the class and what they needed to do for that. I've asked them to share what they've written with their parents or other adults in their lives, have them signed, and turn them in tomorrow. It should be interesting to see what's there.

What a long, strange week it's been

I'm sorry that I haven't posted for a while. But it's been a busy weekend — I still have a lot to do, so I'll keep this short — and unlike my wife, I don't have "Blog every day" as a goal. Now that I'm at work at last, I'll be blogging when I can get to it and there's something to say. Since this is a blog about teaching, I'm also now going to limit my comments to teaching, not labor problems. Of course if there are any developments, such as school board election results or a contract settlement, I'll post them here.

Friday afternoon, looking back on the week, it seemed so surreal. Monday we voted to go back to work, which had been only four days earlier, but it seemed like four weeks. And yet the week flew by. I guess there was just so much going on that, while it felt like time was passing normally at the time, so much happened that looking back it seemed longer.

One other delightful phenomenon I've noticed this week: My evenings are so much more relaxed! When I was substituting, I had to wait by the phone and/or keep checking the web to get a job the next day — or risk not getting a job, or at least being woken up at 5:00 the next morning for a job. Now, I can do whatever I want in the evening! I can go out (if I'm not exhausted)! I can do work on my computer without worrying about interruption! I can update this blog! I can get used to this!

Getting settled in

Well, it's only the second day of school, but I already feel like I'm getting settled in. It's feeling pretty good, and going more smoothly than I'd expect. The classes are still pretty good — and yes, I know that this is still the honeymoon, things will be different within two weeks. I think my other big class (not the real chatty one) could turn out to be a great mix, they worked really well together today on a short in-class project. Of course, I'm enjoying working with all of them so far. I'm not sure how other teachers can remember the names of 120 students every year, though! The last time I was in this sort of situation, I only had two classes, so that was only about sixty to keep straight.

One other exciting thing happening this week is that I've started my first class. I still need to get in over 130 clock hours by the end of June to keep my certification going, so I figured I'd better get started. The first class I'm doing is about web-based resources for math students — and it's all online. This could be fascinating, just seeing how the students and instructor interact with each other without ever actually meeting face to face. The ESD is also offering a class on the TI-83 calculator, which is probably a must-take for me.

And finally, I'm getting to try out my new wardrobe at last! It's been lying around for almost eight weeks! These shoes are very comfortable!

Day 1 — AT LAST!

Wow, what a trip! It really hit me this morning, driving to work, that my dreams were finally coming true. I made it, I was teaching a subject that I enjoy, to students at a level I like teaching, in a great school with a terrific staff. The previous seven weeks were a pain in the neck (and no, it's not over yet, just off to the side a bit), but it's all been worth the wait!

Too bad I got off to a bad start! Today was my day to travel from room to room, so of course I left several things in my desk! Fortunately I was able to get them before class began, but it was close. It's a little odd, in that my first two classes were pretty small (fifteen and twenty students), then the next two were huge (thirty-five and almost forty). I'm not the only one in that pickle, however, and I warned all of my classes (ooh, let me say that again — my classes!) that there would likely be some shuffling around over the next few days. Further complicating matters, the English lab class which comes to me halfway through one period wasn't dismissed for a long time (there were some opening day teething problems with the bells), so I ended up getting them for only twenty minutes instead of the forty I should have had them. Nevertheless, I did accomplish the one big thing I needed to do with them — going through the course outline, of course.

Being the first day, we didn't actually get to do a lof of math, but that all changes tomorrow. Two of the classes, however (my non-labs), got some poster-sized paper with math topics written at the top and brainstormed ideas to go with those topics. First period was a bit rusty, as it was a small class, my students were tired (ooh, let me say that again — my students!), and I think they were just a bit still in shock at finally being back in school. Fourth period, however, went to town (larger class right after lunch), and came up with some good stuff, even for "Exponential Growth," which as I suspected was the real head-scratcher.

The real highlight of my day, however, came during the drive up to work. Yesterday I e-mailed Kent and Alan, a local DJ team, to play Chumbawumba's "Tubthumping" as a dedication to everyone in the Marysville School District, especially my colleagues at MJHS. They read my letter on the air (abridged, of course — in case you haven't already noticed, I can write up a storm once I get going), played the song (I cranked it up all the way), and made some really nice comments. Another teacher called in and thanked them and me for the song, as it made her feel good. Laura was able to capture the whole thing on her computer, and I gather that they kept talking about it. Laura even talked to Alan later (off air) and thanked them, and he told her that they were getting lots of positive calls from supporting teachers, and wishing my colleagues and me luck. Many of my colleagues also heard it, and congratulated me when I came in. Even the principal heard it, and she admitted that when she first figured out it was me, she was worried about what the song might be, but she heartily approved of the final result.

Okay, I'd better stop now, or I won't have anything to say tomorrow!

I am nervous and excited

Oh, man, I forgot to do an entry for yesterday! Well, not much to tell, I just puttered around the house, got back-to-school haircut #2, made sure I know what I'm doing today, and that's about it.

Today, on the other hand, ought to be exciting. I'm not sure what kind of attitude to expect from students and parents — a little of everything, I expect. I'm just going to put on my best game face and be happy that I'm finally there. Of course, I'll post a full report this evening.

It's over

After more than three hours of talk, explanation, debate, and questions, tonight the Marysville Education Association voted, 69% to 31%, to go back to work. Frankly, I thought it would be a lot closer, nor was I really sure which way it would go. (And no, I'm not going to tell you how I voted, because I'm still not sure if I voted the right way. So if I'm second guessing myself, I don't want others to do the same.)

The district, of course, will crow about this tomorrow, but they haven't really won. We still need a contract, and we're still not going to settle for what they're offering. But many teachers seemed to realize that continuing to strike wouldn't accomplish much, and would likely hurt the already delicate relations with the community.

Tomorrow, I sleep in, then start getting ready for my first day of teaching on Wednesday. And this blog can stop being about a strike and start being about what it was originally intended, a teacher.

Day 49

The judge has ruled that we need to go back to work, with classes beginning Wednesday. She has yet to say anything about what will happen if we don't.

The union president expects us to vote to stay on strike, but she may be surprised if the e-mails I'm getting are any indication. I think most teachers would be happy to go back if both sides were willing to accept binding arbitration. It's becoming clear that this strike is doing no good at all. The district just isn't paying any attention, and there really needs to be an outside force taking charge.

We meet at 6:30 tonight to get the full story, debate, and finally vote. Of course I'll let you know what happens as soon as I can.

Day 48

The folks the governor sent in to investigate things have come out with a preliminary report, and apparently they take both sides to task for not doing a lot of budging (which, I gather, is how today's negotiations went, as well, what a shock). But I also gather that the district got the worst of it. Anyway, tomorrow morning the judge rules on whether or not there will be an injunction to get us back to work, and then we'll see what happens. Right now, I think this could go in one of many, many directions, but it wouldn't surprise me if some sort of binding arbitration eventually gets involved. And I'll be honest, that may be exactly what this needs.

Day 47

Nope, no word yet, but I gather that the district is still trying their usual dig-your-heels-in-and-stall technique.

This whole mess has gotten Laura and me interested in what our own local school board is up to, so we will very likely attend the next board meeting. (Good point on their side: They actually meet!) We don't want to see our property taxes go towards the same sorts of shenanigans that are going on in Marysville. We're also thinking about making some proposals to our state legislators, although I have the suspicion that we will be far from the only ones.

Taught at Sylvan again this morning. Then went down to my in-laws to celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday ("Hi, Lisa!") but fell asleep on the waterbed as soon as I walked in the door. I am having this tendancy to a good stiff nap on Saturday afternoons.

Blogroll Update

Hi, Laura here. I just updated Eric's blogroll to include a number of other educational blogs that I just discovered because of links to his page. Thank you Downes' referrer and Sitemeter! Please check out the new blogs listed: assigned seat, AssortedStuff, Hedgetoad, so you want to be a science teacher..., Ms. Frizzle, From Behind The Teacher's Desk, and EdBlogger Praxis.

Day 46

Not much to tell. They met yesterday, they're supposed to be meeting today, and there's been no word from anybody yet. Lots of people are saying the district will just stonewall in the hopes that the judge will order the teachers back to work Monday morning anyway, but I suspect she'd see right through that.

What bugs me is that a lot of people are complaining and/or assuming that the district will stonewall because they've already announced that school has been cancelled through Monday. I'm sorry, I don't see the connection. I may not get most of what the district has been doing lately, but this, at least, I understand. Let's say that an agreement is reached this weekend. Well, before everyone can go back to work, three things have to happen:

1. The judge has to deal with any final issues.
   
2. The union has to vote on and approve the contract.
   
3. The district has to notify the students and families, get the buses rolling, get ready to make all those hot lunches, and probably about a thousand other things I haven't even thought of.
   

All of those will probably get taken care of quickly, but not instantly. (I've heard reports that the bus drivers have stated they need forty-eight hours to get going.) And with negotiations going on through the weekend, I find it very unlikely that all of the above can be taken care of before Monday. Even if we were able to ratify the contract, say, tomorrow, it's been going on long enough that Monday could be used as an extra prep day. (Hey, it's been seven weeks now, one more day won't make much of a difference.) So the naysayers complaining that no possibility of school on Monday means the district won't bargain in good faith are not thinking this through, it seems to me. The district has done a pretty good job of not bargaining anyway without giving out these sorts of clues…

Day 45

The Dave Ross stuff was interesting. I never went to the park to see the crowd, but we could hear them quite a few times! Unlike many radio talk show hosts, Ross tried to give everyone equal time — and grilled them all equally, as well! The school board member who was there (wow, they do make public appearances after all!) did not do terribly well. He was uninformed about a lot of stuff that was happening in the district, often was caught without much of an answer, tried to evade many topics (Ross usually asked again, at least), and in general dropped the ball more often than he caught it, I thought. The union president did much better, but she wasn't batting a thousand (to mangle my sports metaphors a bit), either. One of the challengers running for school board got off to a poor start, but did much better after that, and came across as having a good grasp of the issues and what they meant for the district. Overall, I thought the whole exercise did a good job of presenting the issues, and the concerns the teachers had. While I doubt it changed a lot of minds — by now I'm sure everyone is either pro-district, pro-teacher, or just sick and tired of the whole thing and can we just get the kids to school, please? — at least I hope more people understand why this strike started and is still going on after so long.

For me, the big story was actually the weather. We have a big storm system moving through right now. Fortunately it didn't rain much in Marysville, but there sure was a lot of wind! It was hard to manage the sign a few times, especially at the one corner we turn. I had an extra hard time of it, as I was also handling my radio. I accidentally clonked a few of my colleagues with my sign, it was blowing around so much — and even managed to hit myself a couple of times!

Tomorrow is a rest day. We've been through a lot this week, and now it's time to refresh ourselves for whatever comes next week. When we were told this on the line, I added, "Yeah, we might actually be in our classrooms next week." Then again, I've been this optimistic more than once in the last few weeks…

Things ought to be interesting today!

Dave Ross, who hosts a radio talk show on KIRO, has been trying to get ahold of the superintendent or some school board members for some time now, with no results. So he's bringing his show to Marysville today to let anyone talk about the strike. And he's setting up shop in the gazebo in the park just a couple of blocks from my school. And his show is on from 9:00 a.m. to noon — which also happen to be the hours we're walking the picket line today. This ought to be interesting, especially if anyone from the district does eventually take part.

Then this afternoon, I'm working at our local comic shop, as the owner is feeling really sick, and I've worked there before. The timing works out perfectly, as it opens at 1:00.

Also, court-mandated marathon bargaining begins today. Let's see if we can finally see some progress.

Day 44, and there does indeed seem to be justice in the world!

I haven't heard anything official yet, but it sounds like a defeat for the school district in court today. I gather that the judge basically ripped into both sides, but especially the district, for not negotiating very much since this whole @#$%ing mess began. So she's ordered both sides to meet for the next four days (through Sunday), eight hours every day, until either there's a settlement or she makes another decision Monday morning. I'll keep adding updates as often as there's something to add or clarify, of course, but I really feel that someone gets it at last!

Day 43

I am on a real emotional roller coaster right now. My colleagues are either more fired up about this than ever before, or getting even more down, or both. I know just what they're going through, as I'm feeling the same way. Not much else to say, I guess, I'm just emotionally spent. Tomorrow there will be no picketing, but the teachers will be at the Snohomish County court house to hear what the judge has to say — and if we're ordered back to work, we'll meet on Thursday to decide if we will go back or not. (Personally, I've decided not to go to the court house, as there will very likely be enough teachers there without me. The room only holds about one hundred, and there are, what, almost seven hundred of us? Plus the parents, students, lawyers, media… I wonder if the judge will actually be able to find a place to sit?)

An interesting development: My wife reported the guy who is harassing her at work to the forums at the Everett Herald website. As a result, the Herald has shut down talk about the strike. I think things are getting just a little bit too heated now…

Tonight, the League of Women Voters is holding a candidate forum for all the Marysville races. It will be interesting to hear which school board candidates are actually there, and how they answer some of the hard questions I know they're going to get.

Last night's rally

Oh, man, what a rush! We really needed that. Last night, much of the MEA, plus some of our colleagues from around the state, gathered in Everett to talk about our experiences so far, our goals, and to reaffirm that we're doing the right thing. Many Marysville teachers talked about why they were out and would remain out, how the strike has reaffirmed their love of teaching and the relations with their colleagues, how they've seen the district plummet downhill over the last couple of years, and so forth. The real affirming talks, however, came from teachers in other districts. They came from nearby — Everett, Arlington, Granite Falls, Sultan, Edmonds, Northshore — and from far away — Seattle, Bellingham, Lake Washington, Hoquiam, Central Kitsap, Sequim, Port Angeles, even Spokane. All came to tell us to hang in there, as we're not fighting just for Marysville, but teachers all over the state. They don't want to see other districts fall into the same mess Marysville is in.

What's truly impressive, however, is that now we're having an impact outside the state. A group of teachers in Colorado sent the union money yesterday, and we've gotten noticed in that other Washington, as the state delegation to Congress is keeping track of things and seeing what they can do to help. The biggest news, however, came from representatives of the British Columbia Teacher's Federation, who came down from Canada on their Thanksgiving to show their support, and annouce a pledge of $10,000. (Okay, that's Canadian, so with the screwy exchange rate, it's a lot less, but it's still an impressive gesture.) The WEA also promised that there would be money to keep us going, so we won't have to be forced back to work for economic reasons.

Today probably will feel a bit anticlimactic, although I gather someone is coming from the NEA. Tomorrow will be the big test, as a judge is expected to make a ruling in the lawsuits seeking injunctions against us. Should the ruling go against the teachers, I do have an idea that would end up being a pretty impressive show of unity, if it can be pulled off…

Day 42

We got the gist of the current proposals from both the district and union today. They're still far apart, and the district is still trying to sell the snake oil they've been offering since this whole mess began. On the off, off, off chance any member of the Marysville School Board is reading this: Hey! Lay off the whole switch to the state salary schedule idea! There is no way you are going to convince the teachers to ratify a new contract if this is in it! And I still haven't heard a satisfactory answer as to why you want us all to switch to that one anyway… And while I'm ranting, lay off the extra time being directed from an outside source, the district or the principals or something like that. We do enough on our own time already, thank you. We don't need to add that much extra time to the school year, and certainly not this year, which will probably go into July as it is.

The district joined one of the parents' groups today in filing a cross claim on the injunction filed last week, even though the district is named as a plaintiff in that suit. Huh? What it all boils down to is, they were unable to browbeat us into accepting their offer at the table, so they're going to make a judge make us accept it, or something like that. It won't work.

Finally, some jerk found out where my wife worked, and e-mailed them making claims about her sanity and fitness to do her job. Of course, my wife has been pretty active on the AIMS message board. Hey, buddy, if I ever find out who you are, I will do whatever I can, within the limits of the law, to make your life miserable. If you've got a beef with the teachers, fine, that I can understand. But leave my family out of it. She is expressing her right to voice her opinion, just as you should be expressing yours in a more mature and grown-up way.

Day 41

The two sides met for only two hours yesterday, which probably isn't a good sign — but they're actually meeting again today, which probably is. Now that the logjam seems to have finally been broken, the most frustrating part is the waiting, to see if there will be any progress made or not. Meanwhile, the district is using their fancy automated phone-dialing system to tell everyone that school will start tomorrow, when there's absolutely no chance of that actually happening, as the teachers won't even see any sort of agreement, let alone get to vote on one, until tomorrow.

This is getting ridiculous

The district's spokesperson (who has been caught in a number of lies and is generally loathed by every teacher in the district) has been telling the press all the details about the district's latest offer, despite the fact that nothing has been decided or agreed upon yet.

The union reps have stated that they will not say anything until they can share the offer with the teachers.

The union is being blasted by the district for actually playing fair and keeping the whole negotiation process behind closed doors, as it should be.

What's wrong with this picture???

My other job

Still no word on how negotiations are going today, but just the fact that the district has finally blinked is encouraging…

Anyway, I worked at Sylvan today, for the first time in two weeks. It was actually good to be there today, maybe because I haven't taught anything for two weeks. They put us off into another room, usually used for small group instruction during the week, and I think that helped, as we didn't have to worry so much about keeping things quiet for those who were testing. It was just me and my students, but I did have to pop over to the main room once in a while to get some supplies or materials. I gather this was only the second time that room was used for regular classes, so there are obviously a few kinks to iron out. I'm still not 100% convinced that I want to keep teaching at Sylvan on Saturdays, but with our finances the way they are right now, I can't complain too loudly.

Day 40

It looks like the district is still insisting on going to the state salary schedule — next year. They're also easing off a bit, but are still insisting on more district-directed time without more pay. However, there are more talks scheduled for today, and nothing has been finalized yet. I suspect we'll get the chance to vote on something on Monday.

Update

Details are still sketchy at this point, but it appears that the district finally has moved — sort of. The current deal seems to be to extend the old contract for one year, and set up a join teacher/administration committee to look into going to the state schedule and other issues. Whether or not this issue will decide if or how to make changes will likely be the big sticking point. If it's just exploratory, the union will likely go for it. But if it's just to figure out how to do it, then that becomes a bigger problem.

Day 39

As I type this right now, last I heard the two sides were still negotiating, which is at least a tiny bit encouraging as talks didn't end twenty minutes after they began. The big news, howerver, is that State Attorney General Christine Gregoire has stepped in, and is threatening legal action to get school started again. With Governor Locke going to trade meetings in China this weekend, it's now looking like she'll be the focus of things over the next few days. (As a side note, Locke is not running for reelection — and Gregoire is running to take his place. If she forces teachers back to work, I can tell her right now that she won't get a lot of support from teachers around this state.)

Lost in all the shuffle, there is one person that I believe the governor and AG need to talk to to get the real picture of what is going on — the mediator! He has been in on this for weeks now, he is familiar with what's happening on both sides and their actual positions, and he is (or at least should be) a neutral party. Gregoire should really ask him what the real story is, because then she's likely actually get it!

I suspect there will be a few of these quick little updates throughout this weekend. Fingers crossed, everybody!

Day 38

Today we broke the record for longest teachers' strike in Washington state history. You'll forgive me if I don't do any celebrating…

The governor was no help. After meeting with some teachers today, he basically said, "Go back to work on Monday or I'm going to do something unpleasant." I can tell him that, unless something changes in tomorrow's negotiations, that's not going to work. The teachers are too angry and too determined to go back to work without a contract. The central administration has made it very clear that they don't care about teachers or students, and that going back to work will not be the end of this.

I feel sick to my guts. This is going to get extremely ugly in the next few days.

Late breaking news

This just in: Governor Locke met with the Marysville School Board (and, for some reason I can't quite fathom, the district spokesperson) today in Olympia, in an effort to get things moving, and he's meeting with union representatives tomorrow morning. Gads, I hope he can make everyone see some sense...

Day 37: We've tied the record

Today is day 37 of our strike. We tied the state record set a few years ago in Fife, and with no new talks scheduled for two more days (not that anyone expects anything to actually happen then anyway), we will break it. Thanks a lot, Marysville school board!

A few items:

• My colleague who got a ticket a few weeks ago for honking his horn in support of us as we picketed the district office? All chargers were dropped. But he has started a new group called Honk-Anon.
  
  
• The union is cautiously optimistic that they can beat the rap in next week's hearings on an injunction. This is the first time something like this has been tried by a parent group instead of the district, so we may be setting some precedents. The fact that is is a parent group, and therefore not directly involved in the situation, and that the district has not been negotiating in good faith appear to make this a difficult one to decide against us. Apparently the fact that penalties are specified only for the teachers and not the board members and superintendent, despite the fact that the district is named as a defendant, may also be a factor.
  
  
• I gather that radio talk show host John Carlson came out last week and told the school board that this strike is their fault, as they knew how the teachers felt but still didn't do anything about it. What makes this so surprising, however, is that Carlson is a conservative, who usually is not a fan of unions, teachers, or public education. So if a guy on the same radio station that plays Rush Limbaugh can see what's actually going on, why can't the board itself? It would only take three members of the board to tell the negotiators to back off and actually do their job to get us back to work.
  
  
• Teachers and parents are starting to picket in front of board members' homes and businesses. One of my colleagues picketed at dawn at one of the board member's homes, and found lots of yard signs at the neighbors supporting his opponent in next month's election. One of the neighbors also brought them donuts. At a clinic co-owned by another board member, picketers were threatened with police action if they impeded any of the patients, but since the gripe wasn't with the patients, the police never had to get involved.
  
  
• Next Monday, educators from around the state are gathering in Everett to cheer us on in a Day of Commitment — essentially, a big pep rally. Should be something to see.
  

And I guess that's about it. More tomorrow, and I hope there's some good news coming some time before long.

A well-needed Day 36 off

At the last minute, I decided not to go up today. This was mostly to support my wife, who has been suffering some severe depression lately (the stress of the strike seems to have just made it worse), but I sure felt a lot better myself once I made the decision. I'm becoming less and less convinced that our actually marching in front of our building is really doing anyone any good, especially since the people who can actually do anything to end this don't seem to be taking any sort of responsibility.

I'm hearing that some teachers marched in front of the district HQ again today — and they were being videotaped. But the truly alarming story is that some of them were deliberately run over! I hope it's not true, or at least greatly exaggerated, but I've got to wonder, what is everyone thinking? Yeah, we're all getting stressed out, but even with tying the state record for longest teachers' strike tomorrow, things have at least been pretty civil so far. If it's gotten to the point of violence, I'm not sure I can support this strike or this district any more.

Day 35, and this is looking REALLY bad

The two sides met yet again today in the hopes of finally breaking the impasse. One guess as to the result.Yup, after a little over three hours they broke off talks again. They'll meet again on FRIDAY!!!

What in the @#$%!! is going on? Besides this garbage, a group of parents filed a lawsuit to get school going again. All well and good, and they claim that they're not taking sides and suing both the district and the union — except that all I've heard is that this is to force the teachers back to work, and that it's the teachers who will have to pay $250 each a day in fines if they don't go back to work. What about the school board and superintendent? They haven't been doing their job, either, during this time. The board refuses to meet again until the strike is settled, and nobody's seen hide nor hair of the superintendent for the last month. But nothing in the suit, so far as I know, forces them back to work or fines them if they don't. At least there won't be anything happening with that until next Wednesday, so maybe someone will come to their senses in that time (but based on how things have gone until now, I wouldn't bet on it).

If the economy weren't so crappy right now and I were qualified to do something else, I would seriously consider getting out of teaching right now. This is just getting disgusting, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it.

A wekend away from it all

This past weekend, I went to Anglicon, a local sci-fi/British media convention that Laura and I have attended for the last twelve years or so now. In fact, that's where Laura and I first met in person. (Laura wasn't able to make it for most of the weekend, however, as she had to work — at a LEGO convention, no less!) It was great to get away from the stress of my normal life for a few days, but of course I got lots of congratulations on my new job, and sympathy for being on strike. Sci-fi fans are a generally thoughtful and well-read lot, however, and were overwhelmingly supportive of my situation. (I just have to remember that this week, as we're expecting tensions to get even higher, and lots of abuse hurled our way.)

Back to the picket line tomorrow morning…

Day 32, and there will be many more now...

Right before we finished on the picket line today, we were told that the district cancelled school for all of next week. If we do indeed go that long, it will be the longest education work stoppage in Washington state history. (The old record was thirty-seven days, some time in the early '90s in Fife if I recall correctly.) While discouraging, I may take advantage of the time off to take some classes so I don't have to scramble so bad for my clock hours next spring.

Someone finally figured out why the district is so gung-ho to get the district onto the state schedule: There would no longer be any collective bargaining! Under the state schedule, it's the legislature that calls the shots, not the local district, so there's not a lot a union can do to influence how teachers get paid. Man, I am NOT happy about this!

Day 31

Not much to tell at all! We marched, we found out there's not much that can be done that we're not already doing, we went home. I did suggest that maybe the union needs to appear to take the first step and come down a bit, just to show everyone that our side is willing to negotiate; but it was pointed out that that's already been done, but never got out because of the gag order. It's my understanding that the official offer is currently still 11% over three years.

It was mentioned that of the three items still on the table, two of the union's proposal would not cause the district to lose money! (I don't think anyone thought of this until after yesterday's negotiations ended, so it didn't come out in the talks yet.) The salary schedule,as I think I've pointed out, would not alter how much money the district gets from the state. And if the district didn't make us work for an extra eight days, then they wouldn't have to open buildings and hire instructors to run the workshops they want us to attend. Hmm...

Day 30, and there will be more

The two sides met again today, only to be dismissed an hour later and told to come back Monday. It seems the district was supposed to come in with a new proposal, but didn't. Um, guys? This is the same proposal you've been bringing to the table since APRIL, and the union still isn't accepting it. The union has already said they'll negotiate if you give them something to negotiate with, but digging your heels in at this late date is just getting ridiculous!

In other developments, the union is finally going on the offensive, getting the word out as to why this strike is still going on. Not only are they mailing out a flyer to the community, they also bought a full page ad in the Everett Herald, and are passing the flyers out in person as well starting today or tomorrow. But the big development seems to be Ken Shram's commentary on KOMO last night (you can read the text of it here). He's been doing this sort of commentary for a long time, and can often be a bit brusque, but he generally knows what he's talking about. He basically told the district off for "negotiating" through manipulating public opinion, and that that is not how schools are supposed to work. Well, I gather it had a bit of a domino effect, because not only KOMO, but also KING and KCPQ, at least from what I hear, are covering the strike again, with a more pro-teacher slant. I did see KING up at the high school today interviewing the union president, so we'll see if the general tide might be turning.

One more item to add: Monday, the next day that negotiations are supposed to start, will be day 35 of this strike. The longest teacher strike in Washington state history was 37 days. Unless the district sees the handwriting on the wall over the weekend, I suspect we'll break that record. What a way to start my new teaching career...

Day 29 — but at least I got paid!

Again, not a lot happened on the picket line today. We did have quite a few extra teachers marching with us, however, as we had the staff from several other schools join us today. The big news is that the union is finally getting its side out. Several teachers were handing out a notice to any motorist who would take one, while others were stuffing and sealing envelopes to send the flyer out to members of the community. My summary of the issues in yesterday's post seems to pretty much be accurate, with the exception that the union is also pushing for more local contributions for benefits, not just salary.

The big news for myself, however, had nothing to do with being up at MJHS. Waiting for me when I got home was a paycheck! To be sure, it wasn't much — $336.46, if you really need to know — but at least it's official, I'm an employee of the Marysville School District! This reflects the time I put in during August, before the strike began. I actually came out pretty good, as I had five additional days for the school-wide workshop and one additional day as a new district employee, on top of the one prep day everyone in the district worked. However, I also got a bill yesterday from the district for part of my medical deductions that, for some reason, the district couldn't deduct — so the district paid it anyway, and I just have to pay them when I can. I guess they're not all bad.

Tomorrow, a new venue! All of us from the junior high are moving up to Marysville-Pilchuck High School.

Day 28

It seems the gag order has been lifted now, because we got word that of the thirty issues brought to the table, twenty-seven have now been settled. Unfortunately, that leaves three to go, and they are big ones:

• Salary schedule: The district still wants to put the teachers on the state's salary schedule instead of revising the old one that the district has always used, and has been grandfathered in. Going to the state schedule will result in the shots being called in Olympia rather than locally, and also many of the most experienced teachers losing money (see next item). Even if the district goes to the state schedule, the district will still get a little more money because of the way things are set up, which makes me think this is a bit fishy. The district has never explained why they want to go to the state schedule, but they're insisting on it, and not backing down.
  
  
• Salary: The district has at least agreed not to cut anyone's salary — but they won't increase them, either, until the state schedule catches up with where the teacher is. A lot of teachers are not at all happy about the prospect of no salary increase at all for an unknown number of years. At any rate, the union is asking for an eleven percent increase spread out over three years, but has also stated that that is negotiable. The district is insistent that the highest paid teachers essentially take a pay cut.
  
  
• TRI: If those two weren't big enough, this may be the biggest sticking point for teachers. TRI means time, responsibility, and incentive payment, and is essentially what the district raises and pays to the teachers, on top of the state-funded salary money, as a bonus in recognition that this is a more expensive part of the state to live in, and that the teachers put in more work than is truly covered by their base salary. In the past, so long as Marysville teachers can document that they've put in a certain number of hours of extra work beyond their normal school day, they've gotten the TRI. (This is not an uncommon practice, I've seen it at work in several other districts in this area.) For this contract, however, the district is basically saying, "Fine, you want to be paid for ten days of extra work? Then you need to be here for ten extra days." The district wants to put in ten extra days in the calendar for the teachers to work — but the district gets to call the shots on eight of them, and tell the teachers what to do those days, which would very likely mean workshops or other inservices, which defeats the whole purpose of TRI, since teachers in workshops can't be grading papers, planning lessons, or anything else that they need to do for their students. The union, naturally, doesn't want the teachers to be micromanaged in that way.
  

In addition, the district is insisting on a three year contract, most likely so that even if the board is overturned after the November elections, they will still have some sort of hold over how things are being run. The union, I suspect, is hoping for a shorter contract and an intervening regime change so that the next contract negotiations are nowhere near as fractious.

In other news, Governor Locke phoned the head of the union and asked what the issues were and what he could do to help. Apparently she gave him the number of all of the school board members.

And that's about it. Short shifts the rest of this week (tomorrow through Thursday, at least, as Friday has yet to be decided), and they're mixing the sites up a bit to give everyone some variety in both where they go and who they see. Some other schools are going to picket with us tomorrow, and Wednesday we're going up to the high school.

Technical stuff

It seems that Blogger is not the best at handling archives, so my technical expert is moving the older entries off to another site. Please be patient, and should you click on a link that takes you to an adult movie website, that's not my fault! (And let me know so that it can be fixed ASAP.)

The parents in Marysville have set up a message board to discuss what can be done about the mess, and it makes for some enlightening yet frustrating reading. The address is http://pub17.ezboard.com/bisupportmarysvilleteachers, and someone even found my blog and has provided a link back to here.

Day 26 (see, I can count again!), and boy, is THIS a bombshell!

What I'm reporting is second- and third-hand stuff, but if it's true, it could really put an interesting spin on things.

From what I gather, the district sent yet another letter out to the community yesterday, and it started arriving today. Now, they've been doing this from the start, putting their spin on things. Basically, they're trying to get the community on their side, but so far it's not really been working. Well, this last letter includes details of this week's negotiations — which the mediator told everyone to keep quiet about! If the district is trying to make itself look good, they're doing a very poor job of it!

Oh, yeah, and today was my second Saturday at Sylvan. It did not go well, as I was tired and cranky, I had kids talking back to me, and the secretary came over and told me to calm down. When I'm upset, about the worst thing anyone can do is tell me to calm down! I almost walked out, and I'm seriously thinking about quitting. (Of course, if this strike goes on much longer, I may have to quit anyway, if the district has to start making days up on Saturdays.) I'd rather not be there anyway, but I do need the money...

Day 25 (I think...I've lost count of the days!)

No striking today, so not much to say, except that yesterday we were visited by supporters from all over the state picketing with us. Also, a bunch of students went down to Olympia to talk to the governor and the state superintendent to see what can be done. Not much at the state level, it seems, but the governor did encourage them to keep up the pressure and get the word out to the media. (This last bit of advice seemed a little redundant, as it was being broadcast over one of the local television stations...)

Day 25, and there will be no classes this month!

We are all taking a well-deserved break today, so no teachers will be picketing today. I thought this was a good thing, as it looked like progress was being made at least in the talks anyway, and our marching in front of our schools wasn't needed any more. After three consecutive days of talks, lasting at least eight hours each day, I figured something was happening. Well, if it did happen, it didn't last! Last night, the mediator called off talks, and they won't start up again until next Wednesday — October 1! So much for my Pollyanna-esque sense of optimism. I'm going back to bed...

Day 24

Not much to tell. Marched on the line for two and a half hours, came home. Negotiations went on for ten hours yesterday and are continuing today, so at long last there's some movement! (Why they couldn't be this productive a few weeks ago, however, I'll never understand.) The parents' "meeting" with the school board (none of who showed up, surprise surprise) last night was so full, they had to go to another building. Still no board members...

Tomorrow, we're getting a day off from picketing at last. So I'm not sure what I'll write about...

Day 23, and I don't feel so good

I'm not on the line today, the first day since the strike began that I haven't been up there supporting my colleagues. I woke up in the middle of the night with an intestinal bug, and spent much of my time dealing with that. I think the worst of it is over, but I think it's a good idea to just rest today anyway.

Negotiations should have started up again right about now. Let's hope there are answers soon.

The kids doing the sit-in? Of course the district wouldn't let them camp out overnight on district property. So some homeowners across the street let them sleep on their lawns last night. This is a very cool district to work in, I just hope I can get to work soon.

Negotiations update

Both sides met for eight hours today, and are scheduled to meet again at 11:00 tomorrow. Wow, two days in a row with talks! Progress at last! However, all sides have agreed not to discuss anything until there's an actual agreement.

Meanwhile, the kids at the sit-in are all over the news. Some seem to be pro-teacher, but the mood is generally, "We want to start school!" So do I, guys...

Day 22

As I type, the two sides are meeting in a motel down the road in Everett. Let's hope there's actual negotiating going on, and not the shenanigans the district has pulled earlier. In the mean time, about a hundred students are staging a sit-in in front of the district office. On the news report, it looks like they're having fun, but they're also taking it seriously. One student, however, blames the strike on the teachers' greed, which tells me that the union is not doing a good job of getting the word out as to what the actual issues are, or how the district has been botching their job. It was the district that waited nearly two weeks to offer a counterproposal, not the teachers. It is the district, not the teachers, who are trying to end this strike through propaganda and intimidation. It is the district, not the teachers, who claim there's no money while giving the central office staff huge raises and extravagant perks. Trust me, kid, we want to get back to work, but not under the conditions the district is trying to impose on us!

Yesterday, while I was out on the line, the Seattle school district called to see if I was available to substitute there. I haven't worked in Seattle for over four years! Things must be bad there if they're calling me after all this time. When Laura said that I got a full-time job in Marysville, the reply on the other end was, "Oh, the poor man!" I will be if this strike goes on for much longer...

A few quick items I left out earlier

The strike is over — in Lake Stevens. They settled over the weekend and went back to school today after a two week strike.

Sylvan called. They need me tomorrow after all. But at least it's for teaching, not pulling. So I can just sit and teach.

And the teacher who got the ticket for honking on Friday? He will probably still have to go to court and pay a fine, but the union has stepped in on his behalf, and the fine will in all likelihood be greatly reduced.

Day 21

Thank goodness, they don't need me at Sylvan this week until Thursday! Now maybe I can get some rest!

Not much to tell, again. We marched at the school for three hours, then went up to the service center and marched there for two more. And that was it. No major developments, but I did find out that we are one of only three districts in the whole country currently on strike (and a big hello and "hang in there!" to my striking brethren in Somerset, Pennsylvania and Benton, Illinois). Tomorrow should be interesting, when the students' sit-in begins. I hear they're going to have tents and sleeping bags and porta-potties and the like. Should be fun watching the news reports. And me, I only have to be there for two and a half hours tomorrow.

Yet another week without school...

Sorry I've been so lax on posting lately, but I've been very busy and/or tired. I had hoped to get a lot done this weekend, but two big family events came up suddenly — one of them being a baby shower for my sister visiting from West Virginia, and the other being Laura's brother's wife coming from Maryland for a visit with our latest nephew. He's very charming. On top of that, I've been working hard at Sylvan, but fortunately they gave me Saturday off so I could get some badly needed rest.

"All well and good," I can hear you say, "but what about the strike?" Oh, lots of developments there! Thursday proved to be not much, just our usual picket line at the school. Friday was more interesting, as we finally started picketing the central administration office. This actually started Thursday, but they're rotating schools in and out, so our first shift was Friday morning. We were there for two hours, then as we left, many of us honked our horns to those still there. Well apparently one of my colleagues honked a little two eagerly, and too near the cop who had come to keep us all orderly, as he got pulled over and given a ticket. Of course, word got back to the line, and by the time the cop had written the ticket, over $100 had been collected to pay his fine! I really like the teachers in this district!

Talks continued for another six hours on Thursday, but it sounds like not a lot happened. The district is still offering the same money, just shifting it around so a different group gets their pay cut. The district has already cancelled school for all of this week, and talks aren't scheduled to resume again until Tuesday, so I doubt I'll be back to work any time soon.

Now the students are getting involved. One student at the high school, who wanted to go back to school, went to the district and got their latest proposal, and did some number crunching. Sure enough, he found that the teachers would be losing money. He's now in favor of the strike. And the ASB president at the high school has started organizing a sit in at the district headquarters to get everyone back to talking. I have no idea how effective that will be, but anyone who claims that the students aren't learning anything from this strike should think about what these students are doing.

The parents, meanwhile, decided not to try to meet with the school board yesterday. Instead, they've scheduled a meeting for Wednesday night, and basically told the board, be there or else. I don't hold out a lot of hope for that, however, as the board has made it very clear that they're not going to meet with anyone until the strike is settled. Yeah, that's a real mature way to handle conflicts...

One of the board members lives right across the street from one of the elementary schools, and seems to be cracking a bit. He called the cops to ticket teachers' cars near his house because they were blocking mailboxes! The police came out, took one look, and said there was no illegal activity going on.

The MEA's office was vandalized. Someone threw a brick through the window.

One of the district's latest tactics? They're accusing the strike of being all part of a conspiracy by the state union, the WEA. Uh-huh, yeah. I don't see how you can convince 98% of the teachers in a district to be part of a conspiracy. But if it is a conspiracy, I wish someone would actually tell me so that I can start denying that there's a conspiracy.

And finally, the one school board position that had no one file now has candidates. The incumbent, who told people how much she hated the job and didn't want to do it anymore, filed, along with two challengers. This all happened after the primary, so there will actually be three candidates on the November ballot. One of the candidates — not the incumbent — was at district HQ on Friday passing out campaign leaflets and envelopes for contributions. I'm sure she'll be getting some money from teachers for her campaign (I just wish I could contribute). For those keeping score, there are five seats on the school board, and three of them are up for election in November. If the results of the primary are anything to go by, there could very well be three brand new school board members come November.

Day 16, ho hum...

Not much happened today. We picketed for a couple of hours, some guy came up and started yelling at some of us but left before security could come, and that was about it! Tomorrow promises to be something different, but all we've been told is to arrive at the school at 8:00. I suspect we're actually going to picket at the district service center...

BTW, the school board has resorted to not answering their phones any more because of all the negative comments they're getting from the community — the same community, I might add, that elected them to office and that they are supposed to be serving. So what does this mean? The principals are having to field all the angry calls, that's what. Yeah, like they're not already caught in the middle as it is...

Yesterday's very interesting developments

• Negotiations not only started yesterday, they actually went on for six hours! I think that's longer than all other negotiations combined since the strike began. No, no settlement yet, but the next session is tomorrow, so maybe something will happen sooner than later.

• In the one primary election for a member of the Marysville school board, the MEA-backed challenger defeated the incumbent 57% to 27%. There was a third candidate who will be dropped for the general election in November, but hey, what kind of message does that send to the board?

Day 15, and things are wearing thin...

Today, we had our first real setback in keeping it all together. Our picket captain and another teacher got into a big shouting match, right on the corner where all of us and all the traffic whizzing by could see it. I don't really know what the issue was, and I frankly don't care. I understand that nerves are getting frayed and we're all tense, and it has to get out at some point. But that was not the place to handle it! The district is trying to break us apart, and right there, we handed them the first crack on a silver platter. We expect our students to resolve their differences in a mature way, so why couldn't they? To make matters worse, a handful of other teachers were also getting in on it, adding their input, while the rest of us did our best to avoid the situation. Me, I was so disgusted by the display and all the negative energy that I just stayed at the other end of the street for a while. At least those two later calmed down enough to part, then it looked like they later got back together, away from prying eyes, and calmly talked it out and ironed things out, but it still left a sour taste in my mouth.

Later on, we all — and I mean all — went to a local farm for a pep rally. Yes, every teacher in the MEA was invited, and it was the first time so many of the teachers had gotten together since the strike vote was taken over two weeks ago. It was a lot of fun, we got pep talks from union presidents from all over the area, the WEA, and others. And we sang protest songs — one of which was contributed by my very own wife, Laura! It was impressive hearing all those teachers singing the Marysville Redux version of "Solidarity Forever," but it was even more impressive seeing it on the news later that afternoon! (Oh, yeah, you can also catch a glimpse of me marching in front of my school at one point.)

Anyway, a "new" proposal is on the table later today — the bargaining teams are meeting right now as I type — and a short shift tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll be at Sylvan pulling books this evening as our regular puller sprained her ankle...

Day 14 of the strike

Okay, word of explanation time first. I've renumbered the strike days to take weekends into account, as that's how it seems to be done traditionally in this state. It was two weeks ago today that the MEA voted to walk out, with 98% voting yes. Let me just say that again: ninety-eight per cent! To get that percentage of nearly six hundred teachers to agree on something this big, it must be needed. Too bad the district didn't get the message right away...

Anyway, today was a very bipolar day for me. I went in feeling very useless, and that we weren't making any difference at all, and why were we on the picket line if the district wasn't even going to talk until Thursday? Well, I felt a lot better today after the next session was moved up to tomorrow afternoon. Hmm, and tomorrow is primary election day, and one of the board members has two challengers... Anyway, this session may not result in anything, but at least there's something going on!

Tomorrow, we're marching for two hours (and since our school is also a polling place, we're just sticking to the main drag, and not in front of the building), then going to a nearby farm for a rally with the entire MEA. The media will be there, and maybe our side will come out at last. We're still getting all kinds of nasty accusations about being greedy and hurting the children and all that, but there's also a lot of pressure being put on the superintendent and the school board by parents. That, ultimately, will very likely bring about the end of this. I just hope it's soon...

My other teaching job, day 1

Well, since this is a blog about teaching, and not just a strike, I may as well mention my other teaching job, which officially started today. For the first time, the Sylvan I've been working at the last two years is offering Saturday morning classes, and I offered to teach then, as I thought I'd be too busy during the week to work any evenings during the week. (As long as I'm on strike, however, I've made myself available for evenings, and they've atually been using me.) Today was the first day of Saturday morning classes, and I was the only teacher there. (Okay, not quite true. Sharon, our head teacher, was also there, but she wasn't teaching, but administering tests. I was the only teacher there doing any teaching.) It was even more laid back than Sylvan usually is, as there was only our small group each hour. Of course, this also meant that if I needed a book or take care of some other little task, I had to take care of it myself, as our usual assistants weren't there. We also had to keep it down, as there were some other students scattered around taking progress tests and the like. But overall it went pretty well. It was only at the end of the morning (technically afternoon by that time) after the students left that I hit the wall and slowed up. Still, I managed to get everything done in time. This extra job should prove to be a good way to get a few extra dollars in my pocket.

Day 9, and no end in sight...

Marysville has cancelled school for ALL of next week. Yeah, that shows a lot of confidence in the "negotiation" process...

Everyone was back on the line today, so it didn't feel like a ghost town after 11:00 like it did on Wednesday, when there were only sixteen of us.

Good news for the union (but not first year teachers like me): An arbitrator ruled in their favor over a little tiff last year, so they will get paid for the day the teachers went to a big rally in Olympia. (If you want the details, ask me in the comments section, and I'll devote an entry to it this weekend.) This probably bodes well if this strike goes to court or arbitration, but I'd rather be in the classroom.

And on a lighter note, the Spanish teacher and I are half-jokingly thinking about an all-staff production of You're A Good Man Charlie Brown. Our picket captain (who's also my roommate) has already agreed she'd make a great Lucy, and if I dye my hair blond I could probably be Schroeder...

"Negotiations" aren't going to start again until WHEN?

I just saw a report on the news that there are going to be no "negotiations" (and yes, I meant to put the quote marks there) until next Thursday! So what I want to know is, whose bright idea is that? And is there anything the union can do to speed up the process — or, since the district keeps threatening to do it to us, can we take the district to court to actually bargain???

Days 7 and 8 of the strike

Not a lot going on again yesterday. I couldn't walk as much because the calluses on my blistered toe fell off, and now it's very tender. For the sake of my poor toe alone, I hope this ends soon. And it seems that, at yesterday's first negotiation meeting since the strike began, the district at least backed off from going to the state schedule. Well, it's a start. Today, in honor of the second anniversary of the 9/11 hijackings, we're not striking, but will be doing service projects instead. I'm going to wimp out, however, and let my toe heal instead. Besides, I'm teaching SAT Math at Sylvan for the first time tonight, so I need to spend some time with the teacher's manual so I know what I'm doing there. Tomorrow, no split shift, we're all walking from 8 to 1.

Day 6 of the strike

Wow, a lot less to write today. Short shift, but unexpectedly good weather. There's finally a mediation session this afternoon, so maybe there will actually be some progress!

Day 5 of the Strike (or Day 7 if you count weekends)

Not a lot to report, so I'll just do it in bullets:

• We're going on shifts starting tomorrow, so I'll only be on the line from 10:00 to 1:30.

• Yea! There will finally be another negotiation meeting on Wednesday!

• Laura (my wife) came up to see the school and offer moral support today. As there was a special meeting for new teachers, she took my place for a while, carrying my sign around.

• The weather was much more pleasant for this sort of thing today, overcast and much cooler. But they're talking rain beginning tomorrow.

• At the new teachers meeting, both the MEA and WEA assured us that, basically, everything will be all right and work themselves out in the end. We also got a little more background about how all this bad blood came about (much of it I was already partially familiar with, but it was nice to get the details).

• The local news/talk station talked about the strikes in both Marysville and Lake Stevens this morning, including a guest from the WEA. The callers very obviously do not understand just what it is teachers do and how hard they really work.

• To boost morale, we had a drawing, with entries based on how many times you walked the line. Of course, I ended up winning. My prize? A foot rub from someone in the math department. Trouble is, I'm in the math department! Do I have to alienate one of my colleagues? Or should I just rub my own feet? (Regardless, before I could collect, I had to take off for the new teachers' meeting.)

Gee, I guess I had more to say than I thought!

We've got company now

The Lake Stevens school distict, just to the southeast of Marysville, has also voted to strike, beginning tomorrow. Unlike us, they actually started school last week, in the hopes that an agreement could be reached. But tonight, the LSEA voted against their contract with an eighty percent majority. And it sounds like their school board was trying some of the same tactics that Marysville is using. The teachers' bargaining team was told that they could not see the district's proposal unless they agreed to announce that there was a tentative agreement. Excuse me? How can there be an agreement under that kind of blackmail? Ah, well. I just wanted to let our brothers and sisters in Lake Stevens know, we're with them!

Day 4 of the strike — or is it a lockout???

First off, my apologies to my regular readers, but I wasn't able to blog yesterday because of connectivity troubles. They seem to have been mostly ironed out now, but I'm sure my wife will complain about it anyway...

Yesterday was a shortened day, we only walked until noon. The big bombshell that was dropped on everyone was that the district cancelled school for all of next week, so I take it they're not very confident anything will happen in that time. This has got me thinking, is this really a strike now? The district has refused to actually do any negotiating from the start of the process, we had our keys taken from us the week before the strike began (or, in my case, I was never even issued any keys), and now even if everything is settled tomorrow, there will be no classes to go back to next week. The district is trying to strongarm the union into a deal, which doesn't sound like they value us as much as they claim. Well, at least there won't be any replacement teachers, at least in the next few days. By the way, my colleagues gave me special thanks for being the only new teacher to be on the line for the entire first week.

After picketing, I went up to see my grandmother, a retired Marysville teacher herself. We had a great visit, she took me out for lunch, and she's about as pleased as I am at the whole situation. Many district parents held a rally outside the district headquarters, and I could hear it from my granny's condo, and it was on all the local news channels last night. Now if the district will actually bargain in good faith, some progress might actually be made!

Day 3 of the strike

Not much to say today, it was more of the same. At least the principal came out to say hi, everyone has been very sympathetic that, as a new employee to the district, I'm sort of caught in the crossfire, and my toe, while not blistered any more, is still hurting like crazy, and I can't figure out why. I've gotten extremely grumpy, which has gotten my wife grumpy, so now we're grumpy at each other, and every little thing seems to set us off, notably when I probe my toes trying to figure out why the right little one still hurts so bad.

So I need some cheering up, darn it! So here, from the home office in Boring, Oregon, is the Top Ten Good Things About This Teachers' Strike!

10. Picketing helps give you a nice tan.
9. All the nice people in their cars giving us the "You're Number One" salute.
8. Get a chance to talk to colleagues about something other than school.
7. Kids who are joining in actually find out their teachers' first names.
6. After this, that weird kid in fifth period who eats paste will seem like a little angel.
5. Walking the picket line is helping me catch up on all that summer exercise I never got around to.
4. Lunch? Potluck picnic on the sidewalk!
3. No pesky lesson plans to write or papers to grade.
2. Why would we want to be in a stuffy old classroom on a sunny day in the Puget Sound area?
1. Three words: Bonding with colleagues!

Day 2 of the strike

My legs are sore, I'm chafing, I have a blister on my right little toe, I'm slightly sunburned, and I'm not getting anything for my efforts. If I'd known that this is how my first days of my new teaching career would go, I might have reconsidered, or kept applying in other districts. Already this is looking to be a long fight — there won't even be another negotiating session until Monday — and the district has declared a "state of emergency" and is threatening to take the union to court to get us back to work without a contract. Fortunately we also have a lot of community support, although there are the few crackpots who think we're somehow not entitled to make our voices heard or that we should all be fired or something ridiculous like that. And as we're the only school on the main drag of downtown, we're probably giving our cause the most visibility, and getting the brunt of the bouquets and brickbats.

I'm not happy about this whole situation. I'm really not happy that our union was forced into this decision. But from everything I've heard, I think I've figured out what the biggest issue in this strike is. It's not, ultimately, about the money or workload or other such things that you can put into a contract. It's about trust, respect, and communication. The district made an offer back in June and basically said, "Take it or leave it." The union made counterproposals, but the district never made any new proposals, even when a mediator got involved. The word "negotiation" here was a joke, as there was no negotiating going on. One side just dug in their heels and said, "This is how it is," without giving an inch. The district has pulled other tactics like this over the past couple of years, and it just seems to be that the teachers have gotten sick and tired of being treated as if they don't matter. I suspect that if the district had come in and said, "Look, we need to make a few changes, and here's why, and if we work together, we can come to an agreement that works for all of us," today I'd be telling you about my second day of teaching. But now it's getting ugly, with talk of lawsuits and security guards patrolling our campus. The teachers want to teach, despite some of the propeganda that's being bandied about, but they want to teach as respected members of the community and a part of the process, not as some sort of automatons who can be ordered about and told what's good for them. We are not children or pets, and we don't want to be treated like we are.

Day 1 of the strike

Not sure what to say here, really. We walked up and down the street in front of the school carrying signs for a few hours, and now my legs are sore. (I've been meaning to get some more exercise in this summer, but this isn't quite what I had in mind!) So far as I can tell, there hasn't been much movement, if any, and the district has already cancelled school for the rest of the week. Tomorrow, I take a chair (so I can rest once in a while), and wear shorts and a hat, as the weather is supposed to be warm and sunny again tomorrow, but probably not as hot as today. And we're having barbecue for lunch tomorrow.

I'm on strike now.

I wanted to get quite a bit done this weekend to get ready for what was supposed to be the first day of school tomorrow. I didn't get everything done, but I certainly got enough done so that I could start. But let's just say that I probably now have a few more days to get ready, as my union voted this evening to go on strike. So, I report to my building at 8:00 tomorrow to start picketing. (At least this will give me a little time to sleep in — normal report time is 7:30.) So I guess this will temporarily be a blog about a teacher on strike.