Necesitamos Nuestros Maestros

BBC on the beat

Becca — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 06:03:34 +0000

The BBC features an article about how the California government responded to the state-wide protests earlier this year: the threat of pink slips has been replaced by more subtle but equally far-reaching slashes to the budget. These include clerical staff being laid off by the hundreds, teachers being forced to take unpaid leave, and public school facilities being directly funded by parents rather than the state.

Check it out: California Classrooms Feel the Pinch

Invasion of the Budget Cut Monsters!

Becca — Tue, 13 May 2008 03:16:26 +0000

One of our “campaigns” to protest the proposed budget cuts is the

No California student is safe!

Choice Time Messages

Becca — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:15:27 +0000

Every day during the afterschool program at Fairmount Elementary, students are allowed to choose their own activity for an hour or two. On Monday, eleven kindergarteners and first graders decided to help us get out our message instead of the usual free play or art projects. Here’s what they have to say:

“Please don’t give the teachers pink slips including my mom.”

…

Ava doesn’t like that the governor takes money because her kindergarten teacher got a pink slip. (The smiling man leaving the school is Schwarzenegger, carrying away the school’s money. Teachers and students are locked sadly inside.)

Stop Stealing $ Schwarzenegger!

Becca — Tue, 06 May 2008 04:41:55 +0000

Fairmount Elementary took action leading up to May Day and the CA State budget revision process. Massive signs went up all around the school featuring impressive student artwork, eloquent and concise statements, and a very clear sentiment:

Carmel says…

Becca — Tue, 06 May 2008 03:56:02 +0000

A student from City College, faced with the prospect of Schwarzenegger’s $4.8 billion cut from the education (kindergarten up through colleg-arten) budget for next year, shares bits of advice to help other students and teachers cope with the devastating impact of the proposed funding.

To the more than 10,000 teachers who have received pink slips over the past few months, Carmel says “Stop whining and go work in a jail!”

California spends, on average, over 5 times more per inmate than per student each year.

SFGate on layoff notices

Comparing California’s Investments in Prisons and Education

Budget Cut Lesson Ideas

Becca — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:39:06 +0000

I would love every class in California (at least) to learn about what is happening to the educational system. A lesson on the budget cuts this year is engaging because it affects students personally, and can be related to academic subjects at any grade level. I’ve spoken to and organized protest activities with K-5th graders, so my suggestions are tailored to elementary schools. I would welcome any further ideas, for any age group, or any account of what you’ve already done in the classroom: e-mail RebeccaH.Glaser+needteachers@gmail.com to contribute.

Kids have responded well to talking about money first. $4.8 billion – do they know how many 0s are in a billion? What’s the most expensive item they’ve ever purchased? What’s the most expensive item their parents have ever purchased? How many of those could they buy with $4.8 billion? If they’ve learned long division, let them to the math, or write it out big for them to see. If they’re learning about calculators, use them; but most calculators don’t have enough places for 4.8 billion (cross out as many 0s from both numbers as you can, then divide).

Talk about what is likely to disappear in response to losing this money. Extracurricular activities, teachers, staff, and per-student spending (already atrocious) are the big ones. Use the statistics, or let them do the math: classrooms might increase by 35%, between 10,000 and 14,000 teachers have already received pink slips, and California is already 46th-47th in the nation for per student spending. Have students imagine what their classroom would be like with $24,000 less invested in it for the year. (Key point: school won’t be canceled. They won’t get to stay home, hang out, or watch movies.)

Lead into what we can do about it; I think it’s best to let them develop their own plan as much as possible. Ideas worth suggesting to them range from a 30 minute activity (write letters) to a project that can last weeks (write and perform a play, a song, a rap, or other performance). Making posters with writing or images are effective and appropriate to a public school setting: on April 18th we prompted them to draw and write about their favorite part of school, and are now making “budget cut monsters” (because the budget cuts are monstrous) and a banner that we traced their silhouettes onto, colored in, and drew them holding signs with a written message. Put up a large poster low on the wall, write a brief “Dear Governor” message at the top, and leave the rest blank for students to write their own messages in colored markers. Tearing up mock pink slips, having a march around the school, making buttons, hats, t-shirts, etc are all possibilities. Present the idea of an appropriate time to make lots of noise – this is it – and let them plan out a slogan to shout, play drums and other instruments, or go to the other extreme and stage a silent protest.

Document what you do. If possible, take digital pictures and video, which can go into school newsletters, be posted on classroom walls, or be posted on the internet for the kids to look at themselves. Kids and parents love photos and these media make it possible for them to reach an unlimited audience- they can even make their own newsletter about their actions, write e-mails to government officials with a video of their performance attached, or develop a slideshow or powerpoint presentation. They can start their own blog or are more than welcome to contribute any writing, pictures, or video to this one.

In the words of Fairmount Elementary students: STOP STEALING OUR $ SCHWARZENEGGER! Let us know what you have to say!

Things we learned in kindergarten

Becca — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 19:50:20 +0000

On April 18, in response to Right to Learn‘s call to action, California students all over the state organized days of action at their schools to protest the enormous budget cuts slated for public schools next year. This is an issue that affects students of all ages, and our kindergarten class took action to send the message that school matters! After discussing the important services that governmental money is needed to support, each student chose their favorite thing about school – popular choices were teachers, books, the library, and science supplies. They made signs or hats with drawings of that favorite thing and wrote messages like “Necesitamos nuestros maestros/We need our teachers!” and “Las escuelas de CA van a perder $4,400,000,000/CA schools will lose $4,400,000,000!”

Finally, we marched around the entire school with instruments and signs, yelling “Save our teachers!” There was, of course, lots of support from the faculty and staff we passed by, and plenty of older students jumped into the march and wanted to discuss what was going on afterwards.

Even kindergarteners understand that it’s impossible to provide an adequate education with inadequate funding, Mr. Schwarzenegger. When rates are adjusted for regional cost differences, California is already ranked 46th-47th in the nation for per student spending, investing almost $2,000 less than the national average per child per year. The proposed budget cuts are equivalent to cutting $24,000 from every classroom in the state or laying off almost 110,000 teachers. We want to make an unequivocal statement:

The education and safety of our children is a cost that we can’t afford.

Please read articles (a few links below), write letters to government officials, and talk to friends and co-workers about what is happening. There has to be a way to stop this.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/20/EDVOVMBJ1.DTL

http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2008/03/speaking_out_ag.html

http://cbs2.com/local/Education.California.Teachers.2.693392.html

If you or your child is featured anywhere on this blog and you would like to be removed, we will respect those wishes immediately. Just send a note with your request to RebeccaH.Glaser+needteachers@gmail.com. Thank you!