Here is another blog that spent a couple of years stored on Google without being published. This one I did not edit. I decided just publish it as is.
Everybody has some kind of a relationship with money. Some people try to save, some people try to spend, some people lend and the others borrow. We also have some kind of emotions towards the issue. The longer I live the more important the issue becomes.
I came from a country where we "didn't have money". Strangely, everybody worked, everybody had some salary, but the money was not an issue in the Soviet Union. There were hungry people, I think, but they were hidden somewhere so the general population could not see them. If we could not get something it was because "that" was not in the stores, not because we didn't have money for "that". Somebody might have a different image, but this is how I remember my youth.
When we came to America, money was not a big issue for us anyway. We had what we had and my husband soon developed a theory that, here you always have enough money for what you want: if you want to work on something you can get the tools to do the job, if you want to do sports you can get all equipment in the world, if you want to go camping, stop by the nearest department store and get yourself a tent and the matches. So we always did what we wanted for the lowest price we could afford.
This is why I was completely in shock when I read my daughter's essay about money. She wrote it in 4th grade in her English class. Imagine a little girl, 8 or 9 years old, writing about how bad money is, how money turns people into greedy creatures, how people should stop using money and life would become beautiful. Both, my husband and I, started to explain to the little thing that we tried that, we lived in a country without money and it was not beautiful. We talked and we talked, and we came back to the subject again and again. She didn't argue. She could not argue. We were so persuasive, knowledgeable, experienced. So we thought she understood.
Time passed by, my husband died, my children grew into adults, recently we came back to this conversation. Turned out She remembers it differently than I do. She says we were screaming like crazy, she couldn't say a word, so she decided not to talk to us about the issue, but she still believes the money makes people greedy and envious. This time, I could not completely disagree with her. The issue seems much more complicated now than it seemed 20 years ago.
Monday, December 24, 2012
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Should Schools be Profitable?
The "School reform" which politicians promise everywhere is in full swing in NYC. Schools are being closed other schools are being open. Some teachers are laid off, then hired again. More principals got more jobs: that's for sure, to rule higher number of smaller schools. Some say it works, others say it fails. How do you know? Who can understand what's going on? Why one school is chosen over another?
You can't find the answers in the Medea. I tried. The information is twisted, one-sided, and always blames the teaches for all the problems in education. Teachers are bad. Fire them all. Teachers are too lazy. Teachers have it easy. Teachers have a shorter day. Teachers have longer vacations. Remove tenure from teachers. Retest the teachers. Take their licenses away. They are doing nothing when nobody's watching.
The last one is my favorite :):):):) We have 34 times 5 pairs of eyes watching us everyday for 6 hours and 40 minutes. When they are not around we have meetings, workshops, or professional assignments. We can't use the bathroom when we need it. We can't drink coffee, or have our phone on. Every minute of our school day is measured, scheduled, and accounted for. This is why we have to grade the students' papers at home, plan out lessons at home, go to the bathroom at home.
I am not winning, it's my life, it's normal, just do not tell me that I have it easy. I am an experienced teacher who loves the job. I do need my 2 months in the summer to rejuvenate and bring my energy back. We start in September, in October I have my first nervous break down, feeling that they learn too slowly. By December I am back because they did learn something and show some progress. In January we have State Tests which usually change some students' standing on their way to the high school diploma. By February I develop a second breath and start new term very enthusiastically. March and April are always filled with a lot of learning and growing, but by May I can't remember what I am saying and have to start every sentence at least twice. Thank god we have State Tests in June or I would go crazy. In July I can only lay in my bed without any thoughts or plans because in September I have to start all over.
Now back to the reform: as I usually suggest, let's start with definitions. What is a good school? According to our current politicians in the city and in the country: a good school is a school that has the highest number of students who passed the State Tests and received the high school diploma. That's it. Simple and easy to check. Good teachers are those whose students pass the state exams, and bad teachers are those whose students do not. Again easy to define and easy to check. Maybe they are right, those current politicians?
I am working at a very prestigious school at this time after working for 20 years with the poorest population. This is a very pity place for kids: Teachers talk in quiet classrooms, write notes on the boards. Students memorize everything and pass all the exams with flying colors. They are all obedient kids, most of them are introverts, they got to this school by passing 3 hour written test and an interview. Are they real? Can we make all of them like that?
I wrote the above 3 years ago, but it was stored on Google as a draft. My life changed, I am not working at this school any longer, but I still feel the same about that place. So I'll finish this blog and publish it now.
The reform I was talking about converts public schools that use the taxes into charter schools that also use taxes. The difference is that public schools use all the money they received, but charter schools work for profit so they must have some of our taxes left for their own profits. And the other difference is that we take care of all and any children that come to us, but charter schools can refuse some "difficult" children their services.
I started this blog by describing my working conditions as one year cycle. The same happens in the charter schools. The teachers are as busy and as exhausted as we are. I know teachers from charter schools, they are great people and I know teachers from public schools they are absolutely great and I am proud to be one of them. Should the business model be applied to schools or not is for your, the public, to decide. Do you think that it is a good idea to make profits out of our tax money spent on our kids? I know I put this question in an unfair way, my opinion is too obvious :)
You can't find the answers in the Medea. I tried. The information is twisted, one-sided, and always blames the teaches for all the problems in education. Teachers are bad. Fire them all. Teachers are too lazy. Teachers have it easy. Teachers have a shorter day. Teachers have longer vacations. Remove tenure from teachers. Retest the teachers. Take their licenses away. They are doing nothing when nobody's watching.
The last one is my favorite :):):):) We have 34 times 5 pairs of eyes watching us everyday for 6 hours and 40 minutes. When they are not around we have meetings, workshops, or professional assignments. We can't use the bathroom when we need it. We can't drink coffee, or have our phone on. Every minute of our school day is measured, scheduled, and accounted for. This is why we have to grade the students' papers at home, plan out lessons at home, go to the bathroom at home.
I am not winning, it's my life, it's normal, just do not tell me that I have it easy. I am an experienced teacher who loves the job. I do need my 2 months in the summer to rejuvenate and bring my energy back. We start in September, in October I have my first nervous break down, feeling that they learn too slowly. By December I am back because they did learn something and show some progress. In January we have State Tests which usually change some students' standing on their way to the high school diploma. By February I develop a second breath and start new term very enthusiastically. March and April are always filled with a lot of learning and growing, but by May I can't remember what I am saying and have to start every sentence at least twice. Thank god we have State Tests in June or I would go crazy. In July I can only lay in my bed without any thoughts or plans because in September I have to start all over.
Now back to the reform: as I usually suggest, let's start with definitions. What is a good school? According to our current politicians in the city and in the country: a good school is a school that has the highest number of students who passed the State Tests and received the high school diploma. That's it. Simple and easy to check. Good teachers are those whose students pass the state exams, and bad teachers are those whose students do not. Again easy to define and easy to check. Maybe they are right, those current politicians?
I am working at a very prestigious school at this time after working for 20 years with the poorest population. This is a very pity place for kids: Teachers talk in quiet classrooms, write notes on the boards. Students memorize everything and pass all the exams with flying colors. They are all obedient kids, most of them are introverts, they got to this school by passing 3 hour written test and an interview. Are they real? Can we make all of them like that?
I wrote the above 3 years ago, but it was stored on Google as a draft. My life changed, I am not working at this school any longer, but I still feel the same about that place. So I'll finish this blog and publish it now.
The reform I was talking about converts public schools that use the taxes into charter schools that also use taxes. The difference is that public schools use all the money they received, but charter schools work for profit so they must have some of our taxes left for their own profits. And the other difference is that we take care of all and any children that come to us, but charter schools can refuse some "difficult" children their services.
I started this blog by describing my working conditions as one year cycle. The same happens in the charter schools. The teachers are as busy and as exhausted as we are. I know teachers from charter schools, they are great people and I know teachers from public schools they are absolutely great and I am proud to be one of them. Should the business model be applied to schools or not is for your, the public, to decide. Do you think that it is a good idea to make profits out of our tax money spent on our kids? I know I put this question in an unfair way, my opinion is too obvious :)
Memories and Associations
I started this blog because I wanted to pass on to my kids the thoughts and ideas about upbringing of children. I wanted to share my experiences and what I learned by doing, the mistakes I made, and the lessons I learned. I also wanted to tell them stories from my teaching years and the educational philosophies I share with some other people from my generation. I did not think I would have followers or that I would make a profound effect on future generations. Really, I always considered myself a representative of current trends, the majority. Whatever I think is the stuff that everybody thinks now. You can find books and articles with the same ideas and similar thoughts from many who lives at this time. Today's blog is not about bringing up the next generation, it is about saving ourselves. It's more egocentric and self-preserving. Let's save us from our own ignorance.
I am turning 60 this year. These are important years in anybody's life. These are years when Saturn comes out of its natal place in your astrological chart and your life starts a new cycle again. First time Saturn was in this place I'd been just born. Second time it was passing through this place we moved to America. This time I plan to retire as soon as I can afford it. Yes, I am moving into my golden years and dreaming about all the things I will be doing when I retire. However, the fact that I do have a pension and I will live pretty comfortably is not my own achievement. I have it thanks to the Teachers Union.
28 years ago when I just came to this country I didn't know that I had to take care of my old years. I came from the Soviet Union where it was the responsibility of the government and people could not change a thing about it. That part of our lives was a complete mystery for me. I remember going to all those pension meetings and hearing bla-bla-bla-bla. Could not understand a thing, I still can't sometimes. I only learned that the Union would take some money from my salary and save it, the City would double the amount, and that how I grow my pension.
Recently, I've learned a little more about my pension: the money is not just saved, the money goes to work. It is paid to the current pensioners and when I retire my pension will come from people who still work.
There are other choices in my pension plan, but they are optional so I never applied, they are called TDA and TD... something else. People who have those plans can save more from their salary by making investments. I could not even think about saving any more, I was bringing up 2 children alone, every penny was needed.
I have to tell you, you never stop learning. Things you ignored before as complicated become clear and simple. Things you could not hear or see because you were not ready to comprehend suddenly attack you from all directions and you begin to understand what they mean. Some time ago I completely understood things related to investments. The last drop came last weekend when I turned on channel 13 which I rarely watch (but donate a little and love Bill Moher). They were talking about sustainable or ethical financing, laws which came in the 90's and financial institutions that follow the laws.
I have been thinking for quite some time that we must change the way how the market works. It should not ignore the way companies produce or grow things. Investors must refuse to give money to fracking companies, and GMO-chemical-making companies, and especially geo-engineers because they will kill us and our children very soon. It's stupid to pay money to be killed. Don't we want to protect ourselves and our children, don't we want to survive and prosper????
How stupid should you be? They spray you with aluminum and other heavy metals while experimenting with weather. They send Sandy on New York to bankrupt insurance companies, their competitors. They poison your water and food to extract gas out of rocks. They grow corn and soy which make living things sterile, unable to reproduce. They convert natural food into man-made addictive chemicals. All of that in the name of profit. And you pay, and pay, and pay for all of that. Do not complain about them. You gave them the money to do all of that, twice. First time when you invested your hard earned pension savings and the second time when you bought their products and participated in their experiments. I should exchange the “you” by “we” here, please, do not get distracted by this little typo. I am one of you.
I wonder how many of you know that your pension is growing because you invested in Coca-Cola? I am glad I did not have TDA, I did not participate in Coca Cola's privatizing of India's water. How many invested in oil companies? Can you move your money from oil into solar? I am not sure. Those of you who know, have to wait to this one month a year when you can rearrange your TDA choices. Even after that you will not really know who will grow your money and how, or will you?
The whole system of investment in pensions is so inert that I am not sure it can adjust to the new needs of the society and now our investments kill our children and grandchildren. There are people who live for the future, they already moved their money into sustainable and ethical businesses. Their money is really fluid, but there are too few of them. Majority of investors do not consider how the business affects their own lives while making the decision to invest or not, the only consideration is how high the dividends will be. So here is the contradiction – you invest your money in the businesses which eventually will kill you and your children and the planet Earth.
I watched channel 13 and learned that there are laws right now placed in the 90s about sustainable and ethical investments. Professional financiers who work with your money must know about and should not invest your money into businesses which damage the earth. If it worked the fracking companies would not have any investor by now, but they do. So the laws are too weak and not enough. We have to wake up and save ourselves. Let's suffocate fracking and geo engineering, and gmo makers and many more killers by not giving them our money. Let's teach our children not to go work for them no matter how much they pay.
I am turning 60 this year. These are important years in anybody's life. These are years when Saturn comes out of its natal place in your astrological chart and your life starts a new cycle again. First time Saturn was in this place I'd been just born. Second time it was passing through this place we moved to America. This time I plan to retire as soon as I can afford it. Yes, I am moving into my golden years and dreaming about all the things I will be doing when I retire. However, the fact that I do have a pension and I will live pretty comfortably is not my own achievement. I have it thanks to the Teachers Union.
28 years ago when I just came to this country I didn't know that I had to take care of my old years. I came from the Soviet Union where it was the responsibility of the government and people could not change a thing about it. That part of our lives was a complete mystery for me. I remember going to all those pension meetings and hearing bla-bla-bla-bla. Could not understand a thing, I still can't sometimes. I only learned that the Union would take some money from my salary and save it, the City would double the amount, and that how I grow my pension.
Recently, I've learned a little more about my pension: the money is not just saved, the money goes to work. It is paid to the current pensioners and when I retire my pension will come from people who still work.
There are other choices in my pension plan, but they are optional so I never applied, they are called TDA and TD... something else. People who have those plans can save more from their salary by making investments. I could not even think about saving any more, I was bringing up 2 children alone, every penny was needed.
I have to tell you, you never stop learning. Things you ignored before as complicated become clear and simple. Things you could not hear or see because you were not ready to comprehend suddenly attack you from all directions and you begin to understand what they mean. Some time ago I completely understood things related to investments. The last drop came last weekend when I turned on channel 13 which I rarely watch (but donate a little and love Bill Moher). They were talking about sustainable or ethical financing, laws which came in the 90's and financial institutions that follow the laws.
I have been thinking for quite some time that we must change the way how the market works. It should not ignore the way companies produce or grow things. Investors must refuse to give money to fracking companies, and GMO-chemical-making companies, and especially geo-engineers because they will kill us and our children very soon. It's stupid to pay money to be killed. Don't we want to protect ourselves and our children, don't we want to survive and prosper????
How stupid should you be? They spray you with aluminum and other heavy metals while experimenting with weather. They send Sandy on New York to bankrupt insurance companies, their competitors. They poison your water and food to extract gas out of rocks. They grow corn and soy which make living things sterile, unable to reproduce. They convert natural food into man-made addictive chemicals. All of that in the name of profit. And you pay, and pay, and pay for all of that. Do not complain about them. You gave them the money to do all of that, twice. First time when you invested your hard earned pension savings and the second time when you bought their products and participated in their experiments. I should exchange the “you” by “we” here, please, do not get distracted by this little typo. I am one of you.
I wonder how many of you know that your pension is growing because you invested in Coca-Cola? I am glad I did not have TDA, I did not participate in Coca Cola's privatizing of India's water. How many invested in oil companies? Can you move your money from oil into solar? I am not sure. Those of you who know, have to wait to this one month a year when you can rearrange your TDA choices. Even after that you will not really know who will grow your money and how, or will you?
The whole system of investment in pensions is so inert that I am not sure it can adjust to the new needs of the society and now our investments kill our children and grandchildren. There are people who live for the future, they already moved their money into sustainable and ethical businesses. Their money is really fluid, but there are too few of them. Majority of investors do not consider how the business affects their own lives while making the decision to invest or not, the only consideration is how high the dividends will be. So here is the contradiction – you invest your money in the businesses which eventually will kill you and your children and the planet Earth.
I watched channel 13 and learned that there are laws right now placed in the 90s about sustainable and ethical investments. Professional financiers who work with your money must know about and should not invest your money into businesses which damage the earth. If it worked the fracking companies would not have any investor by now, but they do. So the laws are too weak and not enough. We have to wake up and save ourselves. Let's suffocate fracking and geo engineering, and gmo makers and many more killers by not giving them our money. Let's teach our children not to go work for them no matter how much they pay.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
