A Larger Ray of Hope

It looks as though we might be voting on some non-binding recommendations from Mr. Ready. I was so nauseous after watching the noon news, thinking I could actually be back on the picket line Monday. I almost didn't watch the 5 o'clock. I'm glad I did because I'm feeling relieved. Funny, my teaching partner called me....she went through the same roller coaster of emotion I did today. Anyhow, let's hope we'll be back in the classroom Monday and back to a sense of routine and normalcy. Let's also hope that this was not an exercise in futility. Maybe we can finally look at some of the things that need fixing in our public education system and maybe we can all be on the same "side" for the sake of the kids. Money and power shouldn't be clouding anyone's thinking when we are talking about the future generations. I'm afraid both sides had some cloudy thinking in this whole dispute.

I still have mixed feelings about our union. On the one hand, I'm grateful for the things that have been fought for long before I became a teacher. On the other hand, I'm not convinced they represent us completely. I do feel passionate about public education and I would really hate to see its demise. Who knows....the person to cure cancer might be in one of our classrooms right now. She might come from a broken home without anyone to encourage her. Maybe she's a diamond in the rough who needs a good teacher to see her potential and bring out the best in her...give her a hope. To end this post, here are some good quotes....

"Education is as necessary as light. It should be as common as water and as free as the air"
-Egerton Ryerson, 1847

"Any weakening of universal public education can only be a weakening of the long-standing essential role universal public education plays in making us a civilized democracy."
-Joh