Renewal

Cedar Waxwings noshing on holly berries.

Yesterday was a day of national cleansing.  We felt renewed, invigorated, excited, and refreshed.

Now, we need to move forward and bring that spirit of joy with us.  We need to tackle the jobs in our daily lives with that level of commitment and excitement.  We need to put aside the bickering and disagreements of the past and find a way to move forward.  We need to be creative in solving problems.  We need to have a spirit of problem solving, not partisan ideologues.

California state govenment . . . I’m talking to you. You are destroying lives with your petty , selfish, whiney arguments.  While you complain and argue, lives are being ruined.  My school employs 25 teachers.  We are a California Distinguised School 3 times over.  For years, we have had increased demands on our test scores combined with decreased money to pay for it all.  The teachers, staff, administration and family community have reaching within and reached byeond and gotten the job done.  As a whole, we have not rested on our laurels but continued to search for ways to improve so that our students can improve and have better lives.  And, now, we are being told that the money won’t be there.  That we will likely have no librarian, no computer instructor, no classroom aides, no science teacher, and no PE teachers.  Furthermore, we are told, the state will do away with class-size reduction which limits the number of students per class to 20 or less in grades K through 3.  So, we will have bigger classes with fewer teachers.   We’ll have teachers working harder with more students and no support.  And, the children will lose out.

I’m already looking into options for what seems inevitable at this point.  I’m an adult.  I will find a way to keep contributing to my family’s survival.  But, I’m also a parent.  I have two kids at this school.  Thankfully, I know I can educate them at home to compensate for what they are not getting at school anymore.  But, most families can not do that.

And, the worst part is.  This is ONE part of life in California that is facing this sort of devastation.  While our government whines and complains and holds tightly onto their ideological points of pride, lives are being destroyed.

So, governor and legislators, suck it up.  Step up.  Do the job.  Find a way.  Work together.  Stop fighting.  Grow up.  Solve the problems.  It is a new day.  We can’t accept the old ways.  We won’t accept the old ways.

Let the spirit of hope that is sweeping our country, sweep through Sacramento so that you can find away to save our schools, save our state, save our future.  Get ‘er done!

Advertisement