Let the Kids Loose and See What Happens

I really don't much like the last days of school.

For some ridiculous reason, our grades close Monday so Tuesday through Thursday is wasted time that teachers usually use to show movies, have parties where kids eat chips and drink sugar soda and get fired up.

I hate being a babysitter.

Today, though, was different. Our kids raised $10,000 - you read that right - for Acres of Hope, a Muskego farm where people - particularly veterans - with brain injuries go for therapy with animals.

The students chose the "rewards" for raising certain amounts of money. For $7,000, the male teachers dyed their hair pink - and it's real dye that required bleaching, then dye - and the female teachers got their noses pierced.

And for $10,000 - which we haven't even come close to in nine years of doing this - the kids wanted Mr. Marzion and I to do a "wedding ceremony." Yes, they wanted us to be married.

Never mind that John is already happily married with three children, and I, while single, most definitely prefer women.

That's what the kids wanted. And for $10,000, I'll be glad to accomodate them.

So today, in our babysitting time, my room was designated the "wedding planning" room.  And I was very nervous - not for what they might come up, but for the whole babysitting thing.

Boy, was I wrong. There were maybe 20 kids in my room, 13 girls, 7 boys (who were "looking out for the groom"). Those kids seriously got to work.

Carley took over and wrote everything on the board. Kids split themselves into committees and small groups with specific tasks. I vetoed make-up and lip gloss! And we gradually moved them to a "Friendship Ceremony" rather than a marriage, which was going to be weird anyway. We had a chance to talk about the perceptions if we "married" and they agreed the friendship thing was a far better option.

Kayla, the other Carley, and someone else wrote/adapted some very cool vows, Molly and others wrote invitations and announcements.

It was a pure example of what happens when kids start a task in which they're interested and vested. They had a task they cared about and spent two solid hours working on it.

That's what middle school education should be. That's what authentic learning could look like. Imagine if we researched the debate over same-sex marriages,  the history of marriage, the purpose of marriage in society, the role of ritual and ceremony in our culture and in other cultures.

Such a curriculum would be incredibly rich and force kids to think on their own, to consider different opinions. That may, however, be too much for some parents to think that their children aren't ready to think on their own.

There's few standards that we can't incorporate into tasks and projects like this. The task was silly. Imagine if these kids worked on real-life tasks with real-life results.

There is Hope in the World...

In the midst of daily teaching 7th graders, I sometimes lose track of the great kids who are destined for great things. We tend to spend way too much time focusing on trying to help those who aren't doing their work, helping those who struggle, or dealing with knuckleheads who act like third graders.

Tonight I had the chance to participate in an event organized by some amazing high school students, who give me great hope for the future. They had attended a leadership meeting in Illinois that focused on providing positive alternatives to drinking and using drugs.

These students, inspired, organized a similar event for our 7th graders. The high school students, most of whom I knew when they were 7th graders, planned small group games, large group games, pizza, and a quality speaker talking about peer influence and positive behavior. The high school students conducted themselves incredibly well, stayed patient with chatty 7th graders, and planned an amazing event that was inspiring on so many levels.

To be honest, I just wanted to go home tonight, and the thought of spending three more hours with kids after a long week was a big daunting.

But the three hours sped by quickly. I had a great time, got to know several of my students a lot better, and had a great chance to hear about their lives. And the kids learned that it's possible to stay drug and alcohol free.

I hope we have more events like this. Not only do I gain more faith in our future watching these high school students, but my 7th graders get to see older kids who are strong, athletic, good-looking, and smart be positive and stay away from drugs and alcohol.

It was a good night.

Rep. Ryan's Plan Just Plain Wrong

Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, who represents Wisconsin, has proposed a budget plan that puts reducing the federal deficit on the backs of poor and elderly people.

And continues to keep it off the backs of the wealthy and the military.

Somehow, Ryan, who is chair of the House Budget Committee, thinks the federal government can somehow cut spending WHILE cutting taxes, primarily for wealthy individuals and corporations.

Medicaid, the federal program that aids poor and severely disabled people, would be cut and poor people would lose their right to Medicaid assistance. Medicare, the program that helps seniors with their insurance needs, would also be cut.

Granted, the federal government needs to reign in spending on both those programs. The two make up a big portion of the federal budget, and if we need to make cuts, those programs need to accept some cuts.

But Ryan's plan to cap the maximum tax rate at 25 percent for EVERYONE is ridiculous. In times of need - as we are in now - we all need to sacrifice. Reducing the percentage of tax the wealthiest of Americans pay reduces the percentage of their sacrifice.

That's called a regressive tax. The poor and elderly shoulder a larger percentage of the cuts in relation to their total earning capacity.

But that's Ryan's plan, apparently. If the rich have more money to spend, they'll spend it to stimulate the economy. That is the trickle-down theory made famous by former President Reagan back in the 80s. That didn't work so well for a majority of Americans.

What that tax decrease means is this, according to 2010 tax law:

• Anyone making over $82,000 a year will now pay 25 percent of their income.
• People making $171,000 to $373,000, who previously paid 33 percent of their income as tax, will also pay 25 percent.
• And people making OVER $373,000 will ALSO play only 25 percent. 

What's even more ridiculous that while the poor and elderly shoulder a greater share of the cuts, the military shoulders nothing.

NOTHING.

Once again, the elephant in the room is military spending, which account for over 50 percent of the federal budget. Military contractors have conveniently put factories providing jobs in all 50 states so that Representatives and Senators will not have the will to eliminate these jobs.

And no one is talking about how we might restructure that military spending into green spending on the environment, or, god forbid, education spending to produce a more educated and flexible work force.

Rep. Ryan is just plain wrong. I hate to think he's mean-spirited or callous. But if actions speak louder than words, that's my conclusion.

Walker's Budget: We Should Have Expected It

When Wisconsin Gov. Walker released his 2011-13 budget Tuesday, no one should have been surprised with its contents.

Walker is a very conservative politician, and his budget is about as conservative as it gets. The Tea Party anti-government folks must be ecstatic.

But his budget, which includes no tax increases, puts the majority of the burden on poor and middle class. And it cuts $900 million from state education, hardly a way to create a long-term investment in the Wisconsin economy.

A "regressive" tax puts a greater burden on the poor than on the rich because the tax costs more in percentage term. A "progressive" tax spreads the burden out among all tax brackets. The current U.S. tax code is, by definition at least, progressive.

Walker's budget provides more money to fight crime and more tax cuts and exemptions for business, while refusing to raise any taxes. These are the kind of conservative budget items we expected from a conservative governor.


But Walker's proposal hurts those least able to pay in other ways:
1. He cuts aid to local governments by $96 million and will not allow those governments to raise local property taxes. While Walker says the locals should save money through cutting employee health and pension benefits, the local government programs that help the poor, elderly, and children of the community are also likely be cut.

2. Walker cuts $834 million in state aid to schools. Plus he reduces the Milwaukee Public School aid further by opening up the enrollment in choice schools, which directly reduces the amount of aid MPS receives from the state.
   That is an incredibly huge amount of money that will not be going to public schools in Wisconsin over the next three years. Gov. Jim Doyle, Walker's predecessor, increased state aid to education in his 2007-2009 and 2009-2011 budgets while raising taxes slightly. Even Republican former governor Scott McCallum maintained aid for state schools in his budget.
   This is a long-term hardship on the poor, particularly in the larger cities of Milwaukee, Kenosha, Green Bay, Racine, Madison, Janesville, and others. For those poor and lower middle class kids, a quality education is the only way out of poverty.
    And all Wisconsin residents, when their children, at least those not wealthy enough to be in private schools, have class sizes over 30 should rise up to protest.

Clearly Walker is not interested in creating the 250,000 jobs he promised during his campaign.

If he is, then he is only interested in creating the kind of jobs that don't provide good living wages and benefits.

The budget repair bill and the 2011-2013 proposed budget only create a larger gap between the rich and everyone else.

And that's not what Wisconsin expects. Wisconsin residents deserve a lot more.

Dear Gov. Walker: This is what happens to 7th grade teachers...

Dear Gov. Walker,

This is what can happen to me after a long day of teaching 7th graders. I imagine it's similar to working with the legislators in some way!

My task was simple at the end of the day: Get to the dentist for a routine cleaning. It had been a long day with my kids. Lots of challenges, lots of feeling like I need a lot more me's to help all these kids.

I left with plenty of time, out to 894 to head north to Shorewood. I had never been to Dr. Hart, but he has sponsored a bike team and races for years, and I wanted to support him.

Oops. 894 heading north is closed! So I drove down to the airport and around to head back north, adding 15 minutes to the trip. I was going to make it, but it was going to be close.

I drove a little quickly, still thinking about the kids and what I could be doing to help them want to use their brains more to be more creative, have more fun learning.

I was thinking so much that I headed to Madison instead of heading north on 43. And there was a traffic disaster ahead.

Not sure why I see the more inconsiderate people on highways than anywhere else.

I called the friendly people at Dr. Hart's office to let them officially know I'd be late. I hit some more traffic on 43 north, but made it to Capital and exited. The iphone gave me good directions, and I turned north on Oakland.

I read the street signs for Lake Bluff, found it, and turned left, only to realize there was a stoplight at the intersection and it had already turned red. Oops. No cars in the intersection, and I was only going to be 15 minutes late as long as I didn't ....

that's right: get pulled over. As soon as I saw the police vehicle behind me with lights flashing, I seriously started to laugh.

The Shorewood officer, though, was very kind. He must have known I was a teacher of 7th graders after looking at my face. Apparently we're supposed to have our insurance cards in our car as well (not sure I ever got mine from WEA), but I didn't.

The officer only gave me a citation for no insurance card and graciously ignored the red light issue!

Then Dr. Hart's office was wonderful. Good man, good staff, quality service.

I bought some tasty food at Outpost at the end of the adventure, and now I'm cooking up a chicken, red pepper, and asparagus dish with red wine sauce over brown rice. Yum.

And Gov. Walker, I know you're a busy man, but guess what I'm doing when I finish my dinner?

You got it! Grading papers!

Thanks for reading.

Snowmageddon/Storm of the Century

Usually, when a school district I work at calls a snow day, I'm not very convinced it's necessary, unless it's a "cold day."

You know of course that when I was young, I had to ride my bike in snowstorms to school or trudge on wooden skis across the barren tundra. And it was uphill both ways in four-foot drifts.

At least that's what I remember when I was on the school bus.

But this morning, I look out on the city of Milwaukee that is paralyzed. And we didn't get the worst of it, that coming in Racine and Kenosha counties to the south of us.

There are Facebook reports of friends around the area who can't get out of their houses because the wind has driven snow drifts too high to open the door. Motorists are stuck on an "impassable" Interstate 94. Wind gusts of 60 miles an hour continue to blow the 16-20 inches of snow that's dropped since Tuesday.

Drifts four to five feet high cover everything I can see. And more snow is coming. I don't even want to look at my alley. I'm a little worried I won't be able to get out even tomorrow!

Even though I know it's possible, I can't get over a blizzard with thunder and lightning, as reported by the weather channel in Chicago. A cyclone is about to hit Australia. More severe weather has hit and is expected throughout the country.

With all the snow, people say "what about global warming?" It's the gradual heating up of the planet that is likely causing this kind of severe climate change and weather events.

Regardless of what you believe in the face of a lot of science, climate change has been evident the past few years with significant weather events. In many ways, it's scary. To me, a person with a too-wild imagination, it can ONLY mean, of course, a precursor to the end of the world.

I wish I had some snowshoes today when I venture out to view the city and take some photos. I'll probably use my skis to get around.

And if this blizzard is called the "Storm of the Century," it is indeed worthy of a snow day.

Palm Springs Not in Love with Cyclists

It is a beautiful thing to leave Wisconsin to ride in 65 degree weather in Palm Springs California.

But many residents here don't seem to share the good feelings!

The total exception was Mike and another guy at Palm Springs Cyclery. Great shop who offered a lot of help in choosing a route. Mike, by the way, is moving up to Milwaukee with his wife, who has a business up in the tundra land. We chatted about places to live, bike shops. Good guys. Also Evan at Big Wheel Bikes, who brought the rental bikes to us, has his act together.

I set off to attempt to conquer the Palm Springs Tram road, a steep 3 mile climb averaging between 5 and 8 percent. A lot of climbing for January. And the road surface was a bit sketchy. I love going up, but am not as fond of coming down, especially with a lot of traffic on a steep descent!

I made it to a mile to go and turned around because it was getting stupid cold. Hello? I left Wisconsin to ride in the heat! On the way down, I exceeded the speed limit yet cars still backed up behind me for all of three minutes.

At the bottom, an older man in a white cadillac had pulled over to the side. To my knowledge, he wasn't behind me on the descent. I rode around him, and he leaned out of his window. "You're an asshole," he told me.

"What?"

"Fuck you," he said. I responded in a different way, and he kept on flipping me off. I have NO IDEA what I did to him.

As this kind gentlemen drove off in a huff, another man in a van with kids inside told me I wasn't a vehicle and get the hell off the road. This kind Californian was, I think, behind me.

Several other drivers, on wide roads, felt compelled to drive their cars within inches of me.

Seriously? You gotta a problem with me? Do you?

Or are you just jealous of how good I look in spandex...

I'll try again tomorrow. Point the bike and ride. See where I end up.