Things are Bad

So, you may or may not have heard about the proposed changes to the Idaho Education System proposed by our superintendent, Tom Luna. I am not one to use this blog for political things very often, if ever, but besides the fact that my family and many of my friends and students are involved in the education system here, I really think that this stuff is wrong. I know there isn't enough money, there never is. BUT spending it on stuff like this and proposing changes like this is not the answer. I am summarizing some of the propositions that have been made--and inserting my personal perspective, being married to an educator who spends 12 hours a day working for his employer, the Meridian School District.

How school funding in Idaho works:
In Idaho, funding is tied to what you might think of as a classroom: for each classroom, a district receives money to hire a teacher, some support staff, and enough money to pay for the principals that will supervise all the staff in a school building. In addition, each classroom receives money that is used to pay for heat and light, books and supplies, staff health care benefits, and the 15% of busing costs that are not directly paid by the state.

THE BIGGEST PROPOSED CHANGE:
Increasing the class size in grades 4 through 12 AND reducing the salary it pays to teachers, administrators, and support staff.
Current Teachers: 1832
2012-2013: 1700

Current Administrators: 125
2012-2013: 116

Current Support Staff: 625
2012-2013: 578

So, by enlarging classes AND cutting teachers, this is what the total change will be:
Grade 4 current average class size: 27.4
Average 2012-2013 class size: 31.6

Grade 5 current average class size: 27.9
Average 2012-2013: 32

Grade 6 -8 current: 25.12
2012-2013 average: 28.5

Grade 9-12 current: 24.1
2012-2013 average: 28.2

So this reduces the money Idaho GETS from the government by cutting down our class sizes, reduces how many teachers are getting paid, and increases the amount of student each teacher has per class, meaning less personal attention and one-on-one help from the teacher.


ADDITIONAL CHANGES:
The proposed changes at high school include a requirement that students take 1 out of 6 required courses online. These online courses will be taken at school, but without a certified teacher in the classroom. As a result, the number of students needed to fund a classroo mwill increase by .5 in grades 9-12 for three additional years.

REVENUE IMPACTS:
By increasing class sizes, adding online classes, reducing certified teachers per room, and all the other above proposals, the district will receive $2,567,536 total dollars LESS than the amount received today for the same enrollment. This places our revenue at pre-1998 levels.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Why would we possibly support a plan that sends us back 13 years?

HOW THEY WILL SPEND THE MONEY THEY'RE "SAVING":
-Merit pay system. Teachers will be able to earn additional income based on student test data.
This basically means that teachers will now be entirely teaching TO TESTS, and even if they are good, caring teachers who work hard, they will constantly be in jeopardy of losing their job due to something beyond their control: students taking tests. If a teacher has an unlucky draw and has a higher than usual percentage of "lazy" students who don't study for tests and therefore fail, the teacher is the one terminated due to something they can't control. There are BETTER answers to this than test-taking merit-based pay. Like, what about those supervisors at the schools getting paid 3 times what the teachers get? Can't they come up with a fair evaluation system that THEY do??

-Provide a laptop computer to all incoming freshman starting fall 2011.
This is a huuge waste of money in my opinion. EVERY freshman getting a laptop, and being required to take online classes? There are some kids out there who that laptop is going to be ruined in .02 seconds. Did they add in the additional IT support it is going to require to have thousands of students ALL working on district-provided laptops? Not to mention there is not accountability to a teacher in the online class system, and that is REALLY important to a lot of kids on the "fringe" of succeeding or not.

-Restore the salary grid. Teachers will receive the additional pay for experience and education that has been frozen for two years.

-Invest in classroom technology. Things like white boards, clickers, projectors, etc.

-Pay for dual college credits earned by students who have completed the state graduation requirements by the end of their junior year.

The 3 ideas above are good ones! I approve. What I don't approve of is how they're getting the money for this, and the other things they want to spend it on. So, that is why this is NOT the proposal we want to pass! They can make improvements! And don't forget, this is YOUR money they are talking about spending here. And even if you don't work in the education system, you probably have friends who do. Beyond that, if you don't have kids in school, you probably will sometime, or grandkids. This will affect everyone.

How can you help?
The bills implementing these changes will be introduced in the Senate Education Committee.

Public testimony is first scheduled for Monday, February 7 at 3 pm in the Senate Education Committee (the committee meets in the West end of the new below-ground section of the capital building). The testimony will continue for 4 days. Individuals can sign up to speak and will be given 3 minutes to testify.

Emailing representatives is also effective way to communicate. Although every email may not be read personally, staff members tally comments both for and against. Providing email testimony in support of some parts of the measure and against others is acceptable and is accouted for.

In particular, the members of the Senate Education Committee need input first. The members and contact information follows:

John Goedde, Chairman
jgoedde@senate.idaho.gov

Monty Pearce
mpearce@senate.idaho.gov

Chuck Winder*
cwinder@senate.idaho.gov

John Andreason*
jandreason@senate.idaho.gov

Mitch Toryanski
mtoryanski@senate.idaho.gov

Nicole LeFavour
nlefavour@senate.idaho.gov

Edgar Malepeai
emalepeai@senate.idaho.gov

Russell Fulcher*
rfulcher@senate.idaho.gov

Dean Mortimer, Vice Chairman
dmortimer@senate.idaho.gov

* denotes those who represent a portion of Joint School District No. 2

What I've Been Up To

After Christmas I knew I had to start changing my eating habits! Ever since Thanksgiving when I had that obstruction and was forbidden to eat fibrous food (which is what I usually lived off of), I seriously went overboard on the unhealthy stuff over the holidays. Like everyone doesn't do that anyways. But I had the excuse that the dr. had TOLD me not to eat raw fruits and veggies! doh!

So anyway, January 3 I swore off treats! And I did really good! I have pretty much stuck with not having cookies or treats or whatever at all. And after a few days I didn't really miss it. OK, I fell off the wagon last weekend with Bunco and a concert after-party, but that was it! And can I just say, do you not LOVE this stuff: I saw it on the Biggest Loser so I went out and got me some! It is freaking great! Key Lime Pie is my total favorite, but when I'm craving a treat this does the trick!

Now on to something weirder:
Green Smoothies! I have been having one of these a day for the past 3 weeks. I love them! Now, before you think I am all weird let me back up and tell the story--by coincidence (I think not!), Collin's parents gave us a Magic Bullet for Christmas, and a week later I was at the CCFA Support Group, and I ran into a lady who has been trying to get me to try these smoothies for months. So, I finally went to the website and checked it all out. It was easy to start doing because we had just gotten our own little blender! So, I won't bore you with details but if you want to know more you can go to this website:
www.greensmoothiegirl.com

And I am now having Collin drink one a day. I figure at least I can get my fruits and vegetables, with my weird digestive system it is a good compromise for me. Plus, Collin's laryngitis gets worse every wrestling season, and is especially bad this year. So I am hoping him drinking these might help? We'll find out. It will be a good experiment. One last thing--drinking this for lunch totally makes me not crave sweets! Which ROCKS!


And the main thing that has been occupying my time: Piano. What a surprise. We had our big Music Fair last weekend, which was fabulous. SUPER frustrating in the planning process, but it all worked out. We had my idol, Andrew Armstrong, here for a concert that was beyond awesome. The house was packed and people were sitting in the aisles.

And I have been PRACTICING! Lots! Cursing myself, also, for once again signing up for a lot of stuff! It's okay though. It's been good because some of it is solos, not all accompanying. I signed up for level 14 (out of 15) to present a Sonatina to the other local music teachers in 10 days, so I have been working my bum off to get that ready since before Christmas. It's Mozart. Total unforgiving German piece! lol. Then, a solo for my brother Cory's homecoming report / Alex's farewell talk this coming Sunday in IF. THEN I am accompanying a choir for the BSU Vocal Jazz Festival in 2 weeks, and accompanying 4 advanced violinists at Solo Festival/Concerto Festival coming up a week after that. So, every weekend for the next month I have piano things. But it's a good busy, I hope it is helping me improve!

More to come later!

Happy No Year!

5 bucks if you can name what I'm quoting in the title! :)

We had the best New Year's Eve! Collin and I went up to Bogus for some night snowboarding. I finally found where the easy runs are, and started to get carving! FINALLY! So, I was super excited. We took a break at the Pioneer Lodge (my first time going to that one--I didn't even know it existed!) and randomly ran into some old friends from the Singles Ward days--Bryce and Leanna! So we chatted with them for a while, then headed back out. One thing about that night--it was FREEZING! Wait, I mean 20 BELOW freezing! We were getting really, really cold towards the end. I gave up at 9:00 because I couldn't feel my toes. Collin stuck it out for another couple of runs. When I got in the car the temperature said 2 degrees!

one other awesome thing--apparently no one goes to Bogus on NYE! We basically had the place to ourselves! Which was sweet! We think we might try to make that a tradition!

Here I am with my pretty new snowboard!


After leaving Bogus we made a super quick stop at home to change (although there was no help to be found for my hat hair) and headed over to our friends' NYE Party! Amber and Brady had a great party. We were sad we weren't able to get there sooner. We love out friends in our ward though, and by the time we got there everyone was in a pretty silly mood! We all had a ton of good laughs (personally until I couldn't breathe!) and a great time! The girls--Lindy, Amber, Kim, Chandra and me

The guys--(as if they would pose for a picture without us making them) Bryce, Dustin, Collin, Brady and Roger

Everyone! In my defense....I thought everyone was making dorky faces! No one told me we were smiling! Oh well, too late now!

Thanks for having a great party Amber and Brady!

And happy new year, everyone!

Christmas 2010

A few days before Christmas Andrea came over to Boise and I went with her and her dance team to the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular! It was super great. I love to watch dance any time, any place, so of course it was great. The Rockettes are awesome. Best kicklines ever. And the show was pretty cute and entertaining. I don't know that I'd go again, just because I think that $57 it cost me would be just as well spent at a musical or something a little bit longer. But it had lots of great dancing, singing, and fun Christmasy stuff. I was so glad it ended with an awesome live nativity too! While Andrea was here she helped me do some deliveries (long story, but well I did some stupid, funny-to-Andrea things), watched The Santa Clause, and once Collin got home we all headed to Red Robin for treats and to watch the BSU bowl game. Collin was a little annoyed at us girls because well, we talked mostly through the game so he didn't get to watch as much as he wanted. SORRY!

The next day we headed to Idaho Falls (after sadly dropping Lucy off at the kennel due to unresolved issues with my parents.....)!

We had a great drive, Andrea and I watched Home Alone and played guess-the-singer with my ipod. The weather was great, which was awesome!

Once in IF we had a great time just relaxing, not having anything to do, and eating tons and tons of junk food! It was so great to have all my siblings there but Cory (who gets home from his mission in less than 2 weeks.)--Sam and Megan, Tara and Paul (newlyweds!), Alex (who will be leaving on his mission in 3 weeks), and of course the little girls (To me they will always be the "little girls" even though Andrea is now taller than me!!).

Jodee, Andrea, Megan and I made gingerbread houses while watching some questionable Christmas movies.... my mom has all the pics of that on her camera, unfortunately. We had some fun sing-alongs at the piano and otherwise... we went to visit THE ANDERSONS (total inside joke, if you will), and had our delicious Christmas Eve meal of Ebleskievers by candlelight!

Then came the Christmas Eve program, which is somewhat of a family joke just as much as a tradition these days. Megan had a great "guess the Christmas Carol" game we all played--which I won! I guess it would be embarrasing if the piano teacher who assigns out 60+ Christmas songs each year didn't do well at that, right. So anyway, we all always have a big "program" where our parents make each of us do a musical number. For example, Collin and I played a piano duet! (yes, it's true. I wish we caught it on tape. Collin learned "Up on the Housetop" all by himself and even practiced a lot! :)

Then we had the infamous "Nativity Pageant", which we learned this year that my parents are banning until further notice. What, you don't think our costumes are appropriate?

Okay okay, we don't always dress like this. Although Tara and I have, through the years, gotten more and more creative with our shepherd costumes. Then the wisemen started joining in. Now, even Joseph seemed to look like....Dumbledore?? Anyway, even as I type this I am laughing thinking back on all the beyond hilarious outfits people have come up with for this thing. And since we knew this was our last year, we all decided to go out with a bang. Let me also be sure to mention that the green M&M canister Collin (as a wise man) is holding represents "M for Myrhh." He was very proud of that.

So, Christmas was great. I got a snowboard! woot! I have been using Collin's brother's old one for the past 3 years I have been learning, and his feet are just like a half size too small for me! So the boots have been super uncomfortable. But I got new boots, new board! And some other awesome things that I can't remember at this time. Everyone was super generous and it was fun opening gifts together. Collin got a new grill! Well, we didn't have a grill at all before so I should have left out the new. I didn't cart the whole grill over there just for Christmas, I just wrapped up the cover and some of those grill utensils and he opened that. woo hoo! We are having BBQs here every weekend this summer! Just wait! And by the way, that grill has an interesting story that I will have to post on here some time. Let's just say it has to do with me, the 500 lb grill box, icy sidewalks, and a skateboard.

To finish up the Christmas trip, we all had a fun Sunday listening to Mom speak in church, and then had a rowdy game of Farkle, which turned out to be INSANE.

The next day everyone but Paul and Tara went up to Kelly Canyon for the day. It was not my favorite snowboarding trip! I felt frustrated most of the time, I guess I had thought it would be awesome having a new board, but it took some adjusting (since I am no expert!!). Plus I think I am a little spoiled having Bogus be where we usually go because it is WAY nicer than Kelly, as in way more lifts, runs, and caters a little more to snowboarding. But it was fun to go with everyone and a good way to end our visit!

teeny tiny pictures!

Ha ha! Wow, this is great. My friend Amber sent me a bunch of pictures of things we've done lately and I was so excited to post them! But BOO, they upload teeny! Oh well. If you have a magnifying glass or perhaps a microscope... you can enjoy these! We made gingerbread houses with Amber and Brady right before Christmas, and had a good time! Collin made a nice 2-story temple-looking thing, Brady had a BSU-colored house, Amber had a super cute house, and mine well, was ok. It is always a fun Christmasy activity!

A few of my favorite things

...about the past month or so! I have been so awful about updating this thing that this is a huge post of everything I meant to post about in December...combined! I admit that most of my time spent on the computer Nov-Dec. was working on our adoption paperwork and blog, so by the time I was done with that, I didn't really feel like wasting more time on here! But..... I'm BACK! Prepare to be wowed! ha! I LOVE LOVE Christmas decorations---I spend an entire day putting them up (or an entire night, as it was this year) because it's one of my favorite things.

Collin had a birthday! We celebrated by going to Texas Roadhouse, but I couldn't resist making some birthday cupcakes, because, well it's a birthday! He is now the big 3-2!

I LOVE that Lucy has a little pink coat! She (and Collin) hates it, of course! But if she's going to be out running with me when it's 10 degrees, tough. I would wear a coat too if I only weighed 14 pounds. This picture is the best because we MATCH! (eye roll all you want!)

Speaking of Lucy, she also had a birthday, one day before Collin's. And yes I am the kind of person that celebrates my dog's birthday. She got spoiled all day, then opened her presents that night. One was a pink sweater, and as soon as she tore off the wrapping paper, she sniffed and walked away! SO hilarious. It was like a prophecy of what my kids will probably someday do. But the other present was a pig ear and she snarfed that down quick. Lucy is no longer a puppy, she is one year old!

Another thing I have loved is watching Lucy try to navigate the deep snow we have had! Super funny.

O CHRISTMAS TREE! You may remember in previous years we have had a little Charlie Brown Christmas tree that I bought at Walgreens our first year we were married.... well last year we busted down to the Saritoga Springs Walmart the day after Christmas and got ourselves this beauty, half off. It has been AWESOME having a big tree this year! Even if it took us like 6 hours to get it all set up.

We randomly had a free weekend night together (super rare during wrestling season) so we went to the downtown tree lighting on the Grove. It was fun! It was a really cold night, but it was lightly snowing and perfect Christmasy weather! They had a fun band and they give out candles for everyone to hold, and do a lot of singing holiday carols, finishing with the grand finale of lighting up the big tree! It was a fun way to get into the holiday spirit! Collin and I usually pick a family off the tree to get a donation for anyway, so it was fun to be there at the unveiling of the whole tree.

We went to the REEF afterwards! yummm!

So I know I am totally old fashioned, but I like giving people treats for Christmas. Mainly I think it's important to give them to people we work with, like at church and Collin's coaches, my students, and our friends and neighbors. I hear this is a practice that is going out of style, but I don't care. I am corny! I had fun getting little gifts for people and crafting some fun things to give away.

You may have gotten some of these beauties from me! My favorite treat, oreo balls! I called them "Truffles" and had a super hard time not eating them all myself. Well lets just say I did eat an awful lot, thankfully I made like 4 batches. Those things are dangerous.

I was busy during December with choir concerts, church music performances, and getting my own students ready for Christmas recitals. And of course it's tradition that the first weekend of Christmas break Collin is always GONE to Reno for a tournament so I kept busy crafting and cooking and watching movies, like I usually do when he's gone! But this time I had something extra:

An extra dog!! I watched Lucy's big brother Bruiser while his parents were away at Reno! It was super hilarious having TWO little black dogs around. They just played and played, and had a good time. I felt kind of like some creepy lady who lives alone with just dogs. I guess I was, actually. But just for that weekend! :)

And there is an update for you....more to come on Christmas and New Years!

A Sneak Peek...

...of my awesome Christmas break. We had SO SO much fun and I'm SO SO sad it's over! You get 5 bucks if you can tell which one is me!