I Figured It Out

Texas (and the country) has a huge deficit when it comes to educational funding. We just don’t have the money. Thousands of teaching jobs were cut last year and the ones who did keep their jobs have to deal with higher student ratios in their classrooms. So we have more kids in each room, fewer teachers and, don’t panic, the STARR test.

I figured out how to solve the problem. Well, part of the problem anyway.

This chart shows the salary of Superintendents in several districts of Texas. Keep in mind these figures are for the smaller districts (See the numbers under “Enrollment”? That really is the number of students enrolled in the entire district. We’re talking 1A.)



I didn’t know surperintendents were paid according to how many students were in their district. Why is that? They don’t actually have to deal with any of them. It’s not like they’re trying to teach in a classroom of 25. Why do they get paid for number of students but not the teachers?

But I digress.

The Best Idea I’ve Ever Heard

I’ve recently read a couple of articles. One by a woman named Laurie A. Couture and another by her son Brycen R. R. Couture. (I wonder if he’s for real or just a Tolkien fan?). Here’s another one from Good Morning America. All of the articles are about “unschooling”. No, not homeschooling, unschooling. Why is there a red squiggly line under the word unschooling every time I type it? It’s totally a word.

The basic premise of unschooling is this: no assignments, homework or otherwise, no grades, no desks, no schedule, no routines, no rules, no chores. The students (is it still okay to call them that?) learn whatever they want, whenever they feel like it based on their interests and passions. I wish unschooling had been around when I was a kid, it would have been awesome.

If you read the articles (and I hope you do, don’t just take my word for it) you’ll find that Miz Couture hates everything about public education, especially the teachers. And for good reason. I have to agree with her, standardized tests aren’t helping anyone, desks are confining, and grades are a pain. Her basic reasons for revolting against the system are sound.

I think that unschooling is a great idea. I think life in America would be better for everyone if parents took their kids out of school and unschooled them at home. I’m just not sure how a single mother working two jobs is going to manage to find the time. I’m not sure that the children of parents who like to parent with television and video games would fare as well as the kids of parents who like to read and do crafts. I’m not sure household’s that require two incomes would be able to manage life on just a single income so that one parent, probably mom, can stay home with the little ones.

What Teachers REALLY want for Christmas

 As I am now very active on Pinterest (really, it's bordering on obsession) I've come across a lot of amazing ideas and sites. I love Pinterest because you just keep finding good ideas. And for the record, I have actually made some of the recipes I've pinned and they were (most of them) delicious!

One thing I've seen a lot of lately is gift ideas for teachers. Really cute stuff. Jars filled with candy or homemade somethings that are very sweet and thoughtful. 

                                    

However, I'm going to be honest. Those are lovely gifts. If a kid were to give me one of those, I would love it and give them a big hug and make sure they know that it's an awesome gift. But (here's the honest part) that's not really what teachers want.