As you may know, I’m a teacher. As you may know, my district is on strike. If you’d like to argue about why we should or shouldn’t be on strike, feel free to comment.

So, I got an extra day of vacation today. I stayed home and ate candy and played Guitar Hero. Oh, wait, no. I went and picketed at my school with most of the other teachers on staff. Not only was the turn out amazing, it was really great to see support from the community while we were out there. I’ve been reading news reports and comments on news reports and they all seem pretty bleak. However, one of the P.E. teachers was keeping track of the positive and negative comments/honks/gestures provided to us by the passing cars. Last I heard it was something like 178 positives and 3 negatives. People in our community really value the education their children receive. People in our community understand what researchers have been discussing for years: curriculum is not a “one size fits all” endeavor. In fact, I’ve read that the most influential facet of the education of a student is not how many computers are in the room or what books they use or the location of their school. The most important part of a student’s education is the teacher.

As the state ranked 46th in the nation for teacher pay, we must stand up for our compensation demands until they are met. As the district at the forefront of scripted curriculum and micromanaged classrooms, we must fight against these ridiculous working conditions so that students will receive the best education possible. It is everyone’s responsibility to make sure that our kids get the best teachers and the best curriculum and the best education. Thanks for supporting us and fighting with us. We’ll be back out again tomorrow with signs and sore feet.