It's the end of the world.....

So we have reached the end of another school year. The sound of text book pages turning has been traded in for the sounds of the pool, and classrooms all across the state are going dark. I have come up with several things that encompass what has happened in education. These all have good and bad points to them, so in honor of the start of another summer here are my wins and losses for the 2010 to 2011 school year. Take a look and be sure to comment below if you think I missed one.

Budgets:
THE WIN: Teachers all across the state united for the benefit of education. Save Texas Schools and other groups rallied together to try and bring about Positive change.
THE LOSS: The reason they were coming together was the state wanted to cut our budget by almost 8 billion dollars. The positive part is that we only got the education budget cut by 4 billion.

District rules to help passing rates
THE WIN: Districts all across the states improved passing rates and helped more kids to graduate
THE LOSS: Districts like mine passed rules that helped reduce college readiness by allowing make-up tests and credit recovery for seniors. This helped to loosen already lacks guidelines on credit and push kids through  instead of helping to prepare kids for the real world.

The education profession began to look like the private sector.
THE WIN: Teachers lost that smugness that said "I can work in a profession that is set for life." They for once had to sweat it like all the big wigs of banks that needed federal funding did. Districts all over the state lightened the bad teacher load they had on them.
THE LOSS: Oh yeah, lost good teachers too. A profession that was gaining teachers that had engineering degrees and wanted to make a difference were lost in the shuffle.

Rick Perry gets rid of excess administrators and staff that school is heavy on.
THE WIN: Say goodbye to the three administrators that you have in your classroom every day because the ratio of administrators is so high we are bursting at the seams. Luckily we have superman Perry to come and clean it up, and then blame it on the local districts for causing the problems
The Loss: Oh wait, you do not have 3 to 4 administrators that look over your shoulder every second, well then here is your pink slip, sorry Perry's bad.

Next year, EOC's
THE WIN: We get a test that is specific for our course. This test will help identify the good and the bad teachers and help to increase the overall level of our kids.
THE LOSS: We get a new test to administer that will cost the district money. Did I mention that the districts are a little short on cash?

Education became leaner overall this year
THE WIN: Education frivolous spending will be reduced in the next year, and much of it was reduced over the course of the year.
THE LOSS: Fine arts got the shaft. District funds all over were cut toward the end of the year and we started to feel the pinch early on.
(For those of you that don't know 'lean' is a buzz term in industry. Corporations love it. This refers to a company that keeps its personnel numbers low to allow for better utilization of capitol. Translation: Less people, more work for everyone, no more pay)

Teachers were there for kids and reached them when others could not
THE WIN: We mattered. The future of some of these kids has been laid out for them, while others are just left to float along. Teachers worked with kids to push them to be their best. We got out there and really turned some kids around, and made a better year for them.
THE LOSS: None!

Overall this was an eye opening year for me. I learned a lot about the differences between seniors and freshman. It was a good year. The thing that I really learned was how much work we have to do as educators to get future generations ready for the real world. Senators and Congressmen are out of touch. They have spent their lives in private institutions or in the wealthy public schools. We as a society have to emphasize education if we want to move ahead. The other option is for our country to move closer to obscurity.

  So thus ends my year. It has been a good one, but now as a teacher I look towards the next one. Ideas pop into my head, and I will begin planing in July for the next school year. I take the lessons that I learned at the end of this year and apply them with a little time to decompress to next year's plan. As for the blog, I mentioned last week that it will become a weekly thing in the summer. I will try to keep everyone up to date on what the legislature is doing, as well as what else is out there looming on the horizon. Have a great week and enjoy the summer!

Until Next Week!

Education is what remains when we have forgotten all that we have been taught.

George Savile, Marquis of Halifax (1633-1695) English statesman and author.