Friday, March 13, 2009

pink slip Friday



Yep, I wore my pink shirt today to show support for the teachers who are being pink-slipped. (Okay, not the one in the above picture! The only pink shirt I had was my Charger's t-shirt, with LaDanian's #21 on the front of it.) It's a frustrating process to go through. And while I know that not all of the teachers who got a pink slip this week will ultimately lose their jobs, there will be a lot more teachers unemployed next year . . . the economy in California is just too bad for things to stay the way they are. (Luckily, I've been teaching long enough---thirteen "contracted" year now---that I won't personally be affected.) But we are going to lose some great teachers, and class sizes will probably increase by 50% in the grades I teach (currently, a 2nd and 3rd grade Multiage class). Teaching is a really hard job --- and I can compare it to all the jobs I had in the business world before I became a teacher --- and when you're dealing with kids, there is no one way to do things. So, show your support for a teacher. . .write a note to your child's teacher thanking them for their hard work! A nice note goes a long way!!!

1 comment:

aj said...

Wow, Beth! I had not heard about this!!! But Oregon is right up there with CA in the top five WORST states affected by this economy.

I have several teachers who are customers in our store and they have had a LOT of budget cuts lately, but I don't think they are cutting teachers jobs, YET! Every time they come in the store I thank them for being a teacher!

How is it that we live in a country where singers and athletes and actors are MULTI-MILLIONAIORS, and our children's schooling quality just keeps getting chopped and chopped and chopped back?!?!?

It has ALWAYS been a pet peeve of mine that teachers were not paid better and appreciated more.

What kind of country are we when we will still support the outrageously high salaries of athletes and actors (after all, they wouldn't MAKE that much money if they didn't GENERATE that much income, right?!?!?) and shuffle our children through sub-standard schooling???

I just do NOT get it?!?!?!?

I think a group of teachers needs to start a movement where people 'skip the movies' for a week, and donate what they would have spent at the movies to their school!

I think about that EVERY time I hear about how much sales a new movie generated in a week, and what the big box office hits bring in.

Stepping off my soapbox now. Hugs to you and your fellow teachers. I SINCERELY appreciate the work you all do!

aj