http://azstarnet.com/news/local/education/article_176f8aed-4b95-53fc-9b49-0959cd5a26e5.html
http://azstarnet.com/online/video/youtube_f21ef734-70e8-11e0-a1f4-001cc4c002e0.html
Now I do not know enough about the actual curriculum and initiative that is in question here to form an educated opinion on the actual issue that is being protested. What I do know is that these kids and their parents feel strongly enough to voice their opposition to it. I was actually impressed by the article when I read it and it stated that the board allowed the protest and kept the Tucson Police Department from intervening. I also realize that the room was already filled with parents and I'm sure the board realized they could not have seven or eight kids forcibly removed by the Tucson Police Department without it causing an even bigger issue. However, at this point in time I am going to give the board the benefit of the doubt.
In these times of economic cut backs, we all know that public education has suffered immensely. Anyone familiar with education in Arizona knows all to well how horrific it has been for public schools. I live in a community filled with people that seem to think that the school board is mismanaging funds and who won't pass a budget override, yet they keep re-electing the same school board members, that they say are mismanaging funds. I don't live within the city limits and my daughter attends a rural school in a small district that has only 3 K-8 schools. I am very pleased with the district that she is in. However, she will have to attend High School in town in the future. I am hoping that by the time she reaches that point the district will be better funded and the state as a whole will have more funds.
It grates on my nerves when the locals dismiss how the students feel about the cuts in their own education. I know that when my son was in High School just three years ago and the budget override was voted down the students created a group dedicated to saving public education. It was a Students for Students group. What does it tell you when a situation becomes so grim that the students have to step in and stand up for their own education against a community filled with naysayers that do not want to support them.
All the people voting down the override made statements to the affect of, "we don't want to take away from the kids, but we don't want our money wasted". My reaction was that they should donate directly to the teachers then. If you are so worried about the district wasting your money, but truly want to support public education then walk right into a classroom and personally donate to the teacher. Then you will know your money is being directly spent in the classroom. If you don't trust the teacher with your money, then buy the class school supplies. Give the school something beneficial to use and whoa, hey then you can even claim it on your taxes. Imagine that...you could help a local school and claim it as a write off.
I have yet to see any of the naysayers stepping out and helping with public education. Over the course of the last two years the board has closed one middle school and was about to close one elementary school. The parents spoke up enough that the Superintendent opted not to close the elementary school. During all the controversy, once again all the parents and students were coming up with ideas on how to save the school and the same people that voted down the override were offering no solutions only more criticism. Call me crazy...but I am one of those people that believes if something doesn't work for me I apply effort to make it work. If I feel like I am going to vote against something, I generally have an idea of what I would like to see instead. Yet all that comes about from the people that vote down public education is more criticism and no solutions. Most of the people that voted against the override are not hurting for money and the additional tax increase that they would have seen I am sure pales in comparison to the non-essential vacations that they will take throughout the year.
OK...am I stereotyping...maybe. But I live in a conservative community filled with retired people that have seem to forgotten that at some point in time they had children in public schools. These people complain about footing the bill, but they will also be the first ones to complain about all the uneducated teens that are loitering in their city. They see no correlation between the damage that they are doing to elementary education and the future of our youth. I don't get it. When the local paper was running articles about the override and the school closures online, many students were leaving comments about the situation. And the responses to their comments by the people that voted down the override was disturbing. We should be proud as a society that our kids care enough about their own education and future, that they want to speak up and voice their opinion. They should have a say and we should listen. Shame on the people that want to bash them and knock them down.
And for the record the picture is of my son and his friend during one of their student demonstrations here in town. This was almost three years ago but I still feel it is fitting.
One thing that I have learned over the past few years is - not only is the personal the political...but ALL politics are LOCAL. We have been easily veered and distracted by the state and federal levels that it has become a man-behind-the-curtain at the local level. The strongest and most organized minority (politically, not socially) KNOWS this and has been capitalizing on it for the past 30+ years...and you know where it starts? The school board. I would never have believed it until AOUM was signed into law.
ReplyDeleteThat was when I knew. ALL politics are local - the only way to fix the BIG issues (state and national) is to get busy at HOME in our own backyards. That is one of my distinct goals when I'm done with this degree...because it's not just Arizona (though AZ is at #50...*SIGH*), but it's several different states suffering this garbage (insert faux French accent on that word LOL). Sadly, what it's going to come to are people who are progressive, who want to see positive changes, who have GOOD ideas...take on the tactics of their opponents and resort to guerrilla politics. Sucks. But that is what is going to have to happen to actually make us (as a nation of United States) get back the hell on track. It's neither a liberal nor a conservative issue. It's getting a vocal minority with ideological agendas OUT of the driver's seat at the local levels. *nod*
I LOVE that pic of your son! Good on him for being actively involved!!
I think I am getting more and more comfortable with being this progressive person that you so often talk of. :)
ReplyDeleteThe girl in the picture is a really good friend of my son's. She is in fact my favorite friend. The University keeps hiking up tuition because of all the cuts and she is actually an out of state student because here parents moved to Texas and she came back to go to school. If they keep up all this BS with funding she may not be able to come back and finish her degree here, because it will be to expensive.
Let me just throw in something an embarrassing mom would say...I adore this girl and secretly I hope that when they are older they realize that they were just meant to be together and get married. Actually it's not that secret I have told my son that and he really freaks out when I say stuff like that.