Pay now or lose the future

     The front page picture of the local newspaper showed an angry state congressman raising his finger to punctuate a point, as he seemed to spit his words at the audience member following a hearing. The hearing concerned funding education, and the audience member was biting her lip. She was identified as a teacher who might lose her ability to negotiate her salary.

     I was sitting in the Nashville, TN, airport reading and waiting for a plane. On the TV overhead, CNN was covering irate audiences in Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. The reason they were upset? Education cuts in their state budgets.

     When I landed in Austin, TX, education was also in the headlines, and it wasn’t good. Add New Jersey and its governor to those recently featured for their education issues.

     A San Antonio Express-News columnist included the following information in his column this weekend:
          ● A 2006 study conducted by the State of New York said that a 14% decrease in education spending correlated to a 17% decrease in the graduation rate
          ● A 2003 University of California at Berkley study linked graduation rates to crime rates and incarceration costs. For every 1% drop in the graduation rate, they found a social cost of $1.4 billion.

       According to the National Education Association (NEA), “The House is set to take up this week a “continuing resolution’ for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2011 that would slash education funding. Proposed cuts include:

• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) state grants would be slashed by $557 million, shifting to states and local districts the costs of educating 324,000 students with disabilities, therefore, increasing local tax burdens. In addition, the cuts could result in the loss of over 7,000 education jobs.
• Pell grants would be cut by $5.6 billion, making it more difficult for low- and middle-income families to pay for college. These cuts would eliminate or reduce aid for almost 1.5 million students.
• Head Start would be cut by over $1 billion, leading to elimination of enrollment slots for 127,000 poor children and the potential loss of over 14,000 jobs.
• Title I would be cut by $693 million, reducing or eliminating services for 957,000 high-risk children and potentially causing the loss of over 9,000 education jobs.”
     Sounds like cutting off your potential and raising your prison costs! Salaries and jobs are also an issue.

     Overpaid teachers? If we only give them $3 an hour and only for the hours worked, not any planning time. That would be $15 a day. Each parent should pay $15 a day. With 25 students, that’s $15 x 25= $375 a day. If we don’t pay for planning, grading time, vacations or holidays, that would be about 180 days a year. $375 x 180 = $67,500. What about teachers with special certifications or master’s degrees? At $6 an hour it would cost $135,000 a year!

     Let’s try the math with $7.25, the U.S. minimum hourly wage… $163,125.
Yet, according to the NEA,

Texas Salary Info
Beginning Teacher Salary: $32,868
Average Teacher Salary: $47,157
Tennessee Salary Info
Beginning Teacher Salary: $32,525
Average Teacher Salary: $45,549
Ohio Salary Info
Beginning Teacher Salary:
Average Teacher Salary: $62,557
     Educators know that this is about more than salaries. Adding to class size ties the hands of instructors at all levels. Try keeping up with 30 vs. 25 first graders for that 180 days. Climbing under tables, patting tears dry, finding dry pants for “Tommie” to wear or getting everyone to listen for 10 minutes. Try keeping the attention of 35 vs. 25 pre-teens with raging hormones and untold electronic distractions. Or try keeping the attention of 35 vs. 25 teenagers who are worried about when the baby is due, where to get their next “hit,” if dad will beat mom again tonight, if they will be able to keep their job or how to tell mom about the dent in her car door. Try lecturing to 250 vs. 150 freshmen with no assistants to grade papers and no office hours to answer questions.We won’t go into metal detectors, police security in schools and other society overflow into the classroom and onto the campus…

    Numbers and money add up for those working in education. Each year educators provide pens, pencils, paint, markers, paper, CDs, DVDs, paper clips, tape, books and numerous additional materials to help make their classrooms work. When tracked, the expenditures reach hundreds of dollars per teacher. Stipends for sponsorships, publication advisors, debate coaches, etc. result in pennies (or less) per hour for the extra time vs. the extra money.

     Educators at all levels give. From pre-K-12 teachers, counselors and administrators to university professors and presidents, educators give time, money, supplies and spirit to the youth of the country. Belief in self, love of art, appreciation of music, understanding of algebra and a relationship to Shakespeare…come from educators. We must invest in our future or we will implode, if we are not destroyed first.

Weather Wonderlands Baffle Us

     I wonder what the weather will do next?! Phyllis Hickey's sister sent this photo from Connecticut. She called it "my commute."  Better her than me!

     You've seen icy cars and snowplows piling 50-foot banks of snow on television. New York and other states along the Atlantic coast have been hit with unusual amounts of snow and rain. Sweden, Iceland and other European countries are also involved in weather anomalies.

     Collapsing roofs and sliding vehicles may make for interesting viewing, but we do need keep all of these members in our thoughts and prayers as we face new challenges. This weather has baffled weather predictors around the planet.
     I won't tell you about our Texas weather. Just know that we are forecast for a 50-degree drop in temperatures this week. That puts "flexible" on a new level.

Holidays help rebuild friendships

     My Theta Kappa Chapter members always offer smiles, hugs and support to anyone working on a project, goal or job. They provide genuine spiritual fellowship personally, electronically and sincerely. I've missed many meetings this past year, traveling for the Society, but they are always happy to see me show up at a meeting in Seguin. I'm always glad I came and promise myself to have fewer conflicts. I wish it were that easy!

     Spending time at home in Seguin, seeing friends in the grocery store or at parties, and just touching base have helped me renew the bonds and remind me of how special friendships are to me. Reading holiday greetings and notes brings friends from afar closer.  May your new year have fewer conflicts...on calendars, in classrooms, on roads and in dealing with people.

Administrative Board Meets

The 2010-2012 Administrative Board just met in Austin. The regional directors are dotting i's and crossing t's as they prepare for regional conferences. The board did a heroic amount of work before and during the meeting. We also took away quite a bit of homework. More to come...

October brings harvesting

Harvest time represents gathering the fruit of your labor; reaping what you sewed; celebrating the gifts of the earth.
October...harvest moon...cooler temperatures. These all remind us that we have many reasons to say, "Thank you."
I am thankful for the friendships this organization has brought me and for the opportunities it has afforded me.
Join me in expressing a special thank you to someone special this month!

Time Flies and so do I

Spokane gathering of Leadership/Management Seminar Class of 2002.

     This was July and now September is about to end? School started, a new biennium is off and running, the 2010 Orientation and Planning Meeting was deemed successful, and 2010-2012 committees and boards are already meeting! Time does fly.
     Monday I will fly to Santa Ana, California, to attend a leadership seminar as the guest of Capella University. (Check the DKG Web site for information about a Capella Scholarship.) Connections and information for the future are on the schedule. Return is about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday.
     Thursday morning we will meet with the company which insures our Society Headquarters building to assess our current coverage and discuss costs for the next year. Thursday is also when the Editorial Board will come to Austin for its only meeting during the biennium. They will join the Communications and Publicity Committee for part of that meeting.
    May your meetings and deadlines be helpful and cheerful as we go into fall! We're still too hot to think it's fall in Austin, but many of our friends are enjoying some sweater weather.
   

2010 Convention Rates A+

    From passing a revised Constitution and Standing Rules to jazz by the river...the 2010 International Convention offered something for everyone. Workshops provided information on wine to Sudoku and all items between...for learning new skills, for serving on committees, for hearing about projects, for entertainment and for professional and personal development! Panels about technology, going green and international education also brought new ideas into the mix.
    Amanda Gore! She was a hit! Such energy. Also learned from CEO of Coke, Chris Rants and Ann Marie Rhoades. How to lead vs. manage. How to contact legislators to get results! and how marketing and mind sets can affect what you think and do.
   We met; we learned; we were heard; we voted; we voted again and we cheered. If you were not one of the approximately 1,500 members in attendance, you missed an excellent experience.