Missouri State Teachers Association

Recession Woes

Just when you think things can't get any worse. . .  Teachers in Hawaii are being furloughed on Fridays beginning this week.  The recession has cut the school week to four days, and teachers' salaries are being cut by about 8 percent.  Read more here.

Scrap Detention. Issue a Ticket!

On the books in Texas is a code that allows students aged 10 and up to receive citations for disrupting classes (among other things).  How about that?  Issue tickets and hit the parents where it hurts - the wallet!  Wonder if it would change some student behavior?

More school????

Apparently, President Obama wants kids to be in school longer.  This story from Libby Quaid of the Associated Press outlines some of his ideas such as going through the summer or adding 3 hours to each school day.

What do you think?  Will this help kids learn?

Bout of Bad Behavior

How are children being affected by a bout of bad behavior by celebrities, politicians, and athletes?  I wonder what message they hear when seemingly insincere apologies are issued?  Are civility and decorum dead?  This article got me thinking.  I am very appreciative my parents instilled in me a desire to always be appropriate interacting with others.  I know parents try to teach their children the same lessons today.  But doesn't media make that difficult?  My guess is teachers could weigh in on this subject. . .

Thinking Outside the Box

This seems like a feel good story to me. The condensed version: School district has extra building with completion of new high school wing. Small college needs room to expand to attract more students. Superintendent and University President have lunch and work out deal. School district gives building to college and college "pays" for it by allowing school district students to attend for free. Neat huh?

My last post? Hopefully not.

I'm not sure this story is what Kim had in mind when she granted me access to post on the blog so if this is my last post, it has been fun.

My mom ripped this article out of the magazine Today's Farmer and mailed it to me. I post it here not to discuss rural v. urban education or the perfect size of a school; others can do that. I post it here because the article is about my alma mater Santa Fe High School. Some highlights include: recipient of the Distinction in Performance Award for the last eight years and has exceeded NCLB each year since it began. I should also mention that the boys and girls athletic teams have combined to bring home over 40 final four trophies since the district was formed in 1966. Possibly the most impressive statistic is that every bond issue that has been proposed has been passed.

Congratulations to Dr. Wright for his Outstanding Rural District Adminsitrator Award (and his daughter for achievements). Also, a hello to Sheryl Wodrich, she was a year ahead of me in school and now teaches at Santa Fe and is quoted in the article.

Thanks for allowing me to brag; it was a great place to grow up and get an education.

Steep Fine for Personal Call

Here's a new math equation:  4 minutes = $22,000.  A New Jersey teacher forfeits a huge chunk of change for admittedly making a mistake.  I wonder if she would have been penalized so heavily if her actions had NOT made it to YouTube. . .  Read more here.

$12 Billion Plan

Trust me.  No one is a bigger proponent of higher education than me.  Outside the fundamentals I learned as a child, I use what I learned in my graduate degree nearly every day I report for work.  But I just don't get President Obama's plan to infuse $12 billion into community colleges.  I don't begrudge these institutions the money.  They need it as much as other schools.  However, in the grand scheme of the U.S. economy, I just don't see how this stimulus package of sorts will help the nation.  Perhaps it just hasn't been explained to me appropriately.  The President implies jobs requiring an associate's degree will replace manufacturing jobs that are disappearing or going overseas.  What exactly are these new jobs?  Did he give an example I missed?  And he claims the $2.5 billion allotted for building renovation and maintenance will create jobs.  Maybe for the short term. . .

This plan is like many others frustrating me during the recession.  It doesn't seem fully fleshed out.

Parents of Cancer Patients: Tips for a Return to School

     Many teachers would benefit from this list of tips for parents whose cancer-recovering children are preparing to return to school.  Of course, these suggestions could apply to a myriad of medical reasons students miss school.  Key word here for parents and teachers:  patience.

What do teachers do during the summer?

I did a Google search of the question and it garnered 22 million returns!  So what do you plan to do during the summer, teachers?  I always caught up on all the household chores I neglected during the school year and attended classes. . .