I Met Ms. Teacher!

While at the NEA-RA convention I met Ms. Teacher. Even though we only spoke for a few minutes, her kindness and her passion for teaching was evident. If you haven’t done so (and shame on you if have not), check out Ms. Teacher’s blog.

Back from NEA

When people say that attending the NEA-RA can be invigorating, believe them! Seeing over 17,000 people advocate for education in one place sure sent a charge through me, and I’d love to attend again.

Interesting stats I got from the Washington State caucus and national assembly:

• Washington ranks 5th in SAT scores,
• Washington has the nation’s 5th largest class sizes,
• Washington is 45th in per pupil spending (relative, I know),
• Dino Rossi’s and Gary Locke’s suspensions to teacher raises cost educators over $600 million dollars (when figured over a lifetime), and
• 3.2 million teachers belong to the NEA.

Beyond all that Washington had the 5th most delegates at the NEA-RA convention. Observing the process, the parliamentary procedures in action, was quite amazing. Although different opinions were expressed and decisions were not ever unanimous, respect exuded from everywhere. I wish my students could have seen it.

I’m a bit tired right now since we just got home a bit ago, but here is the line of the convention provided by Governor Easley of North Carolina when discussing the nation’s unwise shift to so much standardized testing:

Weighing a cow more often does not make the cow heavier!