Now's a good time to give up meat.

Who do you believe? Current USDA inspectors or the former USDA inspector?

Inspectors say safety of meat threatened.

I guess the staff shortages are hitting home for me today.

Due to the budget shortages in California, it looks like our District is going to address the shortfall by completely dismantaling the library system in our district. My job is on the cut list at my site, as are librarian jobs around the district. And now I hear they are going to completely disband our central library center and take the $15 million dollars worth of books, instructional materials, displays, sculptures, videos, music, science models, etc and "divide them up" among the schools.

It has to be the most insane way to increase literacy and support student achievement I have ever heard of.

At what point to pencil pushers get a clue to penny wise and pound foolish. Or is it a prerequisite of being an administrator that the higher in the food chain you go, your ability to see the big picture diminishes proportionately.

 

I believe the former inspector.

I also believe the USDA would do a better job if the inspectors weren't stretched so thin? Why? I'm sure jobs have been eliminated by budget cuts.

Now for my union rant. Or should I say rant at those that are anti-union.

The teachers union is the only thing standing between my job and unemployment. I don't have tenure. But "just cause" is in our contract. Unless they can show "just cause" to fire me, they'll need to find me another job at another school. Not very hard since I have three teaching credentials. I have had nothing but excellent reviews my entire career. I am currently in the process of getting National Board Certified. (The irony is that the last time my school eliminated the librarian, they got rid of one of only two National Board Certified teachers in the district. Now, they're about to do it again.) I have three teaching credentials and will complete my second masters this May. I am very good at what I do.

However, I am very expensive. I have been teaching almost 30 years and I have a masters degree. That puts me at the top of the salary schedule. So if they could, they'd fire me and every teacher at the top of the salary schedule they could. It has nothing to do with job performance. It's all about money. Make no mistake. Experienced teachers *are* better teachers. And teaching is the only profession in which you are penalized the more experience you have. If I left my district, I would have to start at the bottom of the pay scale in any district that would hire me. That is why teachers don't move districts unless they absolutely have to.

So...it's not about experience. It's all about money and saving a buck.

Same with the USDA and the recalls. If our government was really concerned about our health, they'd put enough inspectors out there to ensure the law was being followed. But they're not willing to spend the money. Their inspectors probably have a tiered payscale just like teachers. That delay in the recall to save money? You bet. At the expense of our children. I can't help but think some USDA official was lobbied by some meat packer to delay that recall.

The children in California schools now risk mad cow. Albeit a very slim risk but it's there just the same. And THERE'S NO EXCUSE FOR IT. This slimeball is risking our children for a buck.



BTW I blame the current school situation on Reagan. I have my reasons.

 

Because standardized testing gets politicians elected. It really has nothing to do with education. That's a fallacy.

But you're right. There is a ton of money being diverted to testing companies. I'm sure they had a lot to do with NCLB getting passed.

Gee, mad cow in the beef.

Mercury in the fish.

What do chickens and pork have for me to be afraid of?

Eggs? Cheese? Milk? Is there anything left?

 

LOL. We just changed from a Junior High to a Middle school. We had 1500 students, now we have about 1250.

We have TWO principals and THREE vice principals.

Do we *really* need that many administrators? Politicians love comparing U.S. test scores to other countries (despite comparing apples and oranges.) Well, how about comparing job? If you look at the Swiss system they have a LOT LESS administration and clerical jobs than the U.S. system. And they seem to be doing pretty well.

BTW I may get flamed for this, but a huge drain on the system is....special ed. Our special ed teachers have at most....10 kids. But they are part of the "formula" for teacher allotment. That means for every kid they don't have, everyone else has to take one. If you average 1 teacher for every 35 students and you have 6 teachers with only 10 kids....where do those other students go? Into a regular class that goes over the average. Not to mention the special ed kids that are mainstreamed. Then there are the special ed aides that are assigned to one kid and follow that kid around. This is a lot of salary to be spent on very few kids.

I just looked at the job list. It's almost entirely special ed jobs.

Schools are not receiving the funding for NCLB and they're also not funded for the drain special ed puts on the budget. It's a mess. That's where your school reform needs to go. Not testing. In the budget and funding formulas that pay for schools.

And flame me again...but are we really going to get "paid back" for all of the money we are spending on special ed? While some of these students only have learning disabilities they'll learn to manage and will go on to high school and even college and get jobs...there are plenty that will never work, never even get a high school diploma. We are pooring millions of dollars into what amounts to a dead end "education".

I'm saying we can't afford to do that anymore. Not at the expense of our best and brightest students who are being shortchanged.

 

I'm not going to lose my job. I have a contract and they don't have just cause.

But I will lose my position. I won't be the Teacher Library at my middle school any more. Or probably any other school as we're (the librarians) are pretty sure all of our jobs are going to be cut. I'll know better today. We're getting together for a "happy" hour. Is there a "sad" hour?

So I'll be in the classroom teaching something. I have a multiple subject credential. I can teach self-contained K-8. And I also have a single subject music credential. Right. Like there are a lot of music positions around.

Bottom line. They have to pay me and they have to find a teaching position for me. I have seniority over those that have no contracts at all or only have temporary contracts.

I haven't eaten meat at our school cafeteria for....a year? I just don't like the meat they serve. It's fatty and has gristle and they use way too much spice. I'm glad I've avoided it. But I worry about the kids eating hamburgers every day. How many of those cows got into our food services system? They don't say which districts the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. supplied but I suppose it doesn't matter. This article on Salon says the Humane Society chose Westland/Hallmark at random. It's probably safe to say most of the Meat Companys operate the same way.

I guess it's time to consider going vegetarian. Because you know pork and chicken aren't any safer. Mercury in the fish. Are even eggs, milk and cheese safe?

Extreme acts of animal cruelty

Kinda puts a sad spin on those happy California Cheese cows.

 

At one school I was at we called it our "department meeting". It was the band teacher and me (I taught choir and music appreciation at the time) two language arts teachers and the day custodian.

The public needs to wise up. You can't keep demanding more and pay less. Tax cuts? With inflation? Do they think schools don't have to pay for water, electricity or provide toilet paper? You want more communication? We have to buy first class stamps for everything we mail. That's 1350 stamps everytime we mail one thing home. $580.50 just for postage. And no, you can't trust middle school kids to carry home anything and give it to their parents.

I don't blame food services for trying to stretch their budget buy buying the cheapest supplies they can. They're under the same budget crunch as the rest of us. I haven't seen any of the money I'm allocated for library by the board of education since....forever. The school has been embezzeling it for the general fund since before I got there.

I blame the meat companies.

I blame the politicians for starving the school systems.

And I blame the voters who want everything for nothing. Well, folks it's all come home to roost. You get what you pay for. And you're kids are going to get the education and school lunches you've paid for.

Oh, and I blame Reagan, for taking the education budget and putting it in the general fund with everything else. That is where education in California began it's slow decent from #1 on the nation to #47. We're up from #50. "Not as bad as Mississippi" should be our state motto.

 

Absolutely. No one learned the last time when we deferred maintenance for 20 years or more. Leaky roofs, plumbing, etc. Schools are exempt from the same codes that would get a house condemned.

If your kid has a cold, you better give him a hanky or his own box of tissue to send to school, because we're not supplying him with any anymore. No more pencils, pens, free paper.

I can see a lot of instructional time being spent copying from the board because we don't have paper to photocopy handouts any more.

California will be down at #50 again very soon. Should only take a year or two.

And you know who is going to feel it most? Those schools whose parents can't afford to buy them paper, pencils, crayons, donate to the school to make up for lost revenue. I'm not worried about the kids in La Jolla. They'll always *have*. It's the have nots in the poorer neighborhoods that are going to be shortchanged. They're the ones that aren't going to be able to go to our district's central library center and won't be able to afford to buy whatever instructional supplies they need. So much for equity. Anyone that tells you different is ignorant or lieing.