Budget Blahs

It's hard to decide which one I'm looking forward to the least -- my next budget committee meeting or my next root canal. Which one can I get a Valium for?

In essence, our district gets a "paycheck" from the state to run our schools. The amount of the check depends on how many students are enrolled. 80% of this paycheck is tied up in employee wages and benefits. That leaves the remaining 20% to fight over. Over the last few years the paycheck has been good. But now... Due to declining enrollment, there is a monetary shortfall of about $900,000.

Fighting about money is always so unpleasant. I think those have been the worst "discussions" of our marriage. Just even thinking about it all makes me queasy. Now just imagine financial "discussions" in front of an audience full of opinions. Welcome to the school district budget meeting.

I didn't say much at the last meeting. Honestly, I wasn't prepared to say much. More honestly, I wasn't prepared. The budget book had arrived a couple of days before the meeting and I just didn't have the time to give it due diligence. Oh sure, I browsed through it but that doesn't count as preparation. And if ye are not prepared, ye shall not speak up. Especially when speaking up about limited financial resources.

How money should be spent can be a terribly hot topic. Two weeks ago there were raised voices, quick exits, logical demands, and emotion everywhere. I appreciate the passion, but in the end there just isn't enough money.

Monetary shortfall. Limited financial resources. Making ends meet. Pinching pennies. Wanting a fistful of dollars. So how are we gonna work this budget out for our students' best success? Shrug. I don't know. Stay tuned...

Keynote: Garrison Keillor

Garrison Keillor, bringing news from Lake Wobegon, was the final keynote speaker of the conference and he opened by speaking about the differences between school now and when he was a child. However, one thing has remained constant in the great state of Minnesota. "School never was and never will be cancelled due to the bad weather."

Keillor spoke fondly about his first-grade teacher. He was a struggling reader so she used to ask him to stay after school and read aloud to her because he "had a nice voice." He tried to read with ease, inflection, and confidence -- and was soon looking forward to his after school sessions. "To take a child who is having a hard time reading and make remedial reading seem like doing a favor -- that is a gift." "Nothing you can do for a child is wasted, and if just one teacher gains traction..." School should offer "a sense of success and blessedness" for all students, even if he or she looks like "they have just fallen face first into a tackle box."

Then or now, "the principles of public education are the same." Keillor acknowledged that many schools are struggling but education is a moral imperative, "perhaps the greatest moral obligation we have, and the most important investment a community can make." "Children are our most precious resource. If we lose faith in our children, if we do not give to them at least as good as was given to us, there's no future for this country."

Keillor spoke to the importance of local control of schools, even though state and federal politicians want that local control instead. When it comes to any difficult painful decision "that should be made by people who can explain them to parents face-to-face."

Poet James Wright was one of Keillor's professors at the University of Minnesota. "He made you believe you could do great things -- you could aspire beyond what anyone thought possible." To close his comments, Keillor quoted from one of Wright's poems, A Blessing. "Suddenly I realize / That if I stepped out of my body / I would break into blossom." "Blossoming," Keillor summed up, "is the business we are in."

Keynote: Jim Lehrer

Jim Lehrer, anchor of PBS' The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, was the keynote speaker of the third general session. Lehrer stated "it all begins with education" and "I am who I am and I am what I am because of public school."

And Lehrer certainly had lots of experience in lots of public schools. When Lehrer was growing up, his father worked for Trailways Bus and the family was always on the move from one hub city to another. By the time he graduated from high school he had attended 18 different schools. When Lehrer was a sophomore, he realized his dream of becoming a professional baseball player was not going to pan out. So he began to wonder about being a sports writer in lieu of being a sports player. Coincidentally, it was then his teacher returned an essay with an A and comment written in the margin. "Jimmy, you are such a good writer." Lehrer stated he "was the product of a teacher's wisdom, of her giving me that grade and sharing that comment."

Throughout his nearly 50 years as a journalist, Lehrer has had the opportunity to interview many a political mover-and-shaker. But the most compelling person he has interviewed to date was a young teacher's assistant in Denver during the '88 presidential campaign. Lehrer described sitting on her porch in a rundown section of town. He asked her what she would like to see the new president do. She pointed at her old Dodge car in the driveway and said, "I want the president of the United States to help me tell the young people in school that it's okay that you work hard and do the right thing and you get a car like this." She then pointed at a drug dealer's new BMW parked just up the street and continued. "But if you do something dishonest and terrible, you get a car like that. You explain that to me and you explain that to the kids at school."

Journalism has also taught Lehrer "the value of education." He quoted Thomas Jefferson's remark "Democracy is dependent on an informed electorate." Lehrer then finished by saying "I truly salute you and your commitment to education and the education of the American public."

Keynote: Sidney Poitier

Academy Award-winning actor Sidney Poitier was the keynote speaker in the second general meeting of the conference. Personally, I must say that being a fan of his, I was so excited to hear him speak.

Poitier shared "snapshots (experiences) from the album" of his life to show how the "simple basic truths" he learned from his parents have guided his life. His parents, Reggie and Evelyn, were uneducated tomato farmers living on Cat Island in the Bahamas. To sell their crop, the loaded a boat and went to Miami. It was on one of those trips in 1927 that Sidney was born.

He was born two months premature and the midwife told Evelyn to prepare for the worst because "there was not enough of the baby to take ahold." While Poitier's father went in search of a shoebox to bury him in, his mother "with a reservoir of hope" went to the local soothsayer. Evelyn was told "your son will have a full life and the world will know him."

Poitier, who learned to swim before he could walk, grew up in a thatched-roof cottage without running water or electricity. He called himself "a boy with a fair amount of imagination and no common sense." This often resulted in being corrected by his mother's "whap-whap method" because his "behavior and her tolerance were out of sync."

"How steady are we as captains of ourselves?" Poitier asked. He then related three stories about three separate nights he spent in jail. "These experiences have helped me to steady myself." When Poitier was 12, he and some friends stole corn from a neighbor's field -- resulting in his first night in jail. In 1943 at age 16, he was arrested in Harlem during a "massive civil disturbance" and spent his second night behind bars. During the winter of that same year, he was arrested as a vagrant for sleeping in Penn Station. Upon his release the following morning, a policeman gave Poitier fifty cents and directed him to Brooklyn's Catholic Orphanage for shelter. He stayed there long enough to decide to join the Army. After his time in the service, Poitier began working as an actor in New York.

Poitier only briefly mentioned his Hollywood experiences. "They have all made me look good," he said of his co-stars.

Poitier is a strong believer and supporter of philanthropy. "It is the profound manifestation of the very best of us." Without it, he said, "the world would be a less hospitable, less humane place." He encouraged constant "bit by bit" repayment for any kindness ever extended.

In the end, he said, "It doesn't matter how many times you get knocked down. What matters is what you do with your time after you get up."

Keynote: Sandra Day O'Connor

Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was the keynote speaker in the first general session of the conference. She opened her address with the challenge "we can do better" when it comes to teaching subjects that are not routinely tested or part of No Child Left Behind. The "importance of a good civics education" was stressed as essential for producing citizens who are "actively involved" in society.

When O'Connor retired from the Supreme Court, she was invited to be part of the Central European Law Initiative which advised newly-emerging central and eastern European nations on establishing democracies. Of the 26 nations that participated, more than half are now members of the European Union. "Our system is a model to the world," she said, "because it has survived so long through so many changes and challenges."

"The citizens are responsible for democracy and better educated citizens do that better." O'Connor lamented the fact that "civics education in the past didn't seem to stick." She is co-chairing a national campaign to make civics lessons more exciting and relevant for students today. This is critical, she believes, because only 1 in 3 Americans can name the three branches of government and less than 1 in 10 can name the Chief Justice. However, 2 in 3 can name at least one American Idol judge.

"Civics classes should be useful, dynamic and engaging because everyone matters to the success of our government. An educated citizenry is the key to a healthy and robust democracy."

Needless to say, Justice O'Connor was thanked by a standing ovation.

If you would like to read more about Justice O'Connor's efforts to revitalize civics education, just follow the links...

http://www.ourcourts.org
http://www.law.asu.edu/?id=847

Portland to Orlando: 2,733 Miles One Way

I like to think I'm a traveler. But in reality, the furthest east I've been is Yellowstone Park and the furthest south is Salt Lake City. That is until... March 27, 2008 -- the day I crossed my eastern and southern boundaries.

I was on my way to the National School Boards Association conference in Orlando, Florida. Let me be very clear -- the whole board was invited to attend. Comments made in open meetings may have clouded that fact. As it turned out, only Terri (the board chair) and I (vice chair) attended.

Does it ever seem to you that the Oregon educational picture is a bit dim and out of focus? I'm not talking specifics here, just an overall tone. Having attended many a meeting during my board service, it seems throughout the state the issues are common. Funding, testing, funding, testing, funding and testing. I know we have success every day in our classrooms but somehow that's not as talked about. Anyway, I was anxious to see other states' educational pictures. I wanted to refresh my own educational picture. So off to Orlando I went.

The conference did not disappoint in any way. My brain was full to bursting with new ideas, suggestions, policies, activities, etc. One great idea was a blog, so I must thank the presenters from Virginia. My plan is to share with you highlights from the speakers and classes. I'm going to share what is, in my opinion, the best of the best. After all, what good is new stuff if it's never shared, discussed, evaluated, tried, tweaked, and tried again...

So if you want the whole conference enchilada, let's go to lunch. Seriously.

A Successful Mann

How about another teacher story? I promise this one doesn't have anything to do with running for the board...

Once upon a time, my husband knew what to do with the rest of his life. Rick wanted to be a teacher. When he graduated from high school and enrolled in college, there wasn't a doubt in his mind about his future. But by happenstance, a family friend who was a teacher told Rick "Don't get into teaching. The work is hard, the pay is lousy, and you'll never find any kind of satisfaction in it." What was said as good-intentioned advice eventually took him on a 20-year detour. And did you know that road to h-e-double-hockey-sticks is paved with good intentions?

Rick worked in the timber industry for years designing machinery for lumber and paper mills. It was a good job with decent pay and benefits as long as the economy was thriving. Oh sure, there were signs the timber market was faltering but we never expected it to drop the way it did. Whole companies disappeared overnight, including the one he worked for. The ensuing job search was timberless and hopeless.

Finally, in a fit of desperate boredom combined with bored desperation compounded by cabin fever, Rick decided to volunteer at our daughters' elementary school. Talk about opening the barn doors! Singing, playing, fundraising, coaching, chaperoning, stapling, cutting, filing, coloring, lifting, toting, moving, shoveling... It was in the midst of all this that Rick realized it -- he was a teacher and it was time to do something official about it.

He also realized something else. He was a "displaced timber worker" and was eligible to receive four semesters of tuition assistance. That very week Rick enrolled in community college, found an educational assistant job, and started his future all over again. Now, more than six years have passed and in less than three weeks Rick will graduate magna cum laude from college (again) with a degree and a teaching certificate. Hooray!

I won't kid you. Going back to college as a middle-aged mortgaged-out student with a wife who has hot flashes has not been easy. It has been hard. It has been grim. It has been upsetting. Truly it has cost far more than the dollar amount might suggest. And to add insult to injury, we're too old to be Homecoming royalty! So has it all been worth it? Yes! Rick came home last week with his first "paycheck" -- a thank-you note from a student.

Along that same line, to all of our family and friends -- THANK YOU! Behind every successful Mann is a herd of helpers. We never could have done it without your love and generosity. You guys are magna cum laude great!