Strike Aftermath and Fallout

The strike didn't happen (thank God!) but I have a few observations to make about the aftermath.

If the union can have the automated phone system call me and leave vaguely threatening messages about what will happen to me if I cross the picket line, they can damn well have the automated line call me and tell me the strike is off so I don't have to find out from the news in the middle of the night.
I don't care what a jerk the state-appointed superintendent is, nobody has any business following him to his office and spitting on the ground near his feet. That's absolutely unacceptable.
The district website is the most ghetto thing ever. Get on it. Try to find something - say the Gifted educated department. Or the salary scale. Or try clicking on one of their announcements on the main page. It's seriously pathetic.

We should find out the details of the contract in the next couple of days and vote on it withing two weeks. This is what the Tribune has to say about it - we'll see if it's true. I hope so. I could do with a retroactive pay raise!!

Past and present teachers from my school went out for a Happy Hour after school today. It's always interesting to hear people's stories. One man - who I don't know well - said that he used to work at juvenile hall. When asked if juvie or our school was tougher, he had to think about it and ended up saying he wasn't entirely sure.

A bunch of other teachers have left our school and gone to better schools or better districts. They were talking about it tonight, and I was sort of thinking that maybe I should do that. They say it's easy - they don't get as tired, they're not scared of violence in the area they work in... the parents don't threaten to kick their asses. But then, I think I might get bored. Besides, I'm going to write a book one day and make a zillion dollars. That's my current plan. Anyone know a publisher willing to pay me a zillion dollars?

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A Loss

(I have been putting off finishing this blog post for months. You'll see why) Today, I was cleaning a bookshelf and I found the journal from one of my third-grade students, who I call Fred in my book , in 2001. I still had it because he didn't come to the last day of school to get his stuff this year and I guess it got put in a pile and somehow I've kept it with me. He didn't come to the last day of school, probably because his family was a mess: dad in prison, mom in an abusive relationship, all the kids (understandably) acting out violently. Fred was expelled from our school in second grade for hitting a teacher. Then he was expelled from the other school, I don't know why, at the end of second grade. He came back on the condition from the administration that he be in my class because I had him as a student in first grade and he listened to me and worked well with me. We had a really good relationship, although Fred was definitely not easy to have in class.

A New Prison, Part Two

Second very long part of the prison visit report. After we got all the paperwork filled out and went through the metal detector, we got visitation slips with the name of the inmate, and made our way over to the other building for visitation. This is not maximum security so thankfully you can just sit next to the inmates, and not be separated by glass or have to use a telephone to talk. First, you get a gate unlocked and go into a holding pen that is of course in direct sunlight (or rain if it's that season) and surrounded by fences topped with razor wire. You wait there until the gate at the other end is unlocked. This holding pen was a little bigger and less claustrophobic than the other prison (I do not have any claustrophobia and I came very close to a panic attack once at the other place) and they opened the other gate more quickly. Then you walk, again in blazing sunlight (or rain) to the visitation building. This one was less of a walk than the other prison but I still

A New Prison, Part 1

My former student, friend, and co-author was moved to a new prison during COVID. We (myself, Mitali, and his Abuela) have visited a couple of times via the video visit functionality they set up, but we've also been trying to visit in person, ever since in-person visits were allowed again. After four of them being canceled (sometimes we were told why, sometimes not), we finally got a visit. I was super nervous about this visit. (I felt better when Mitali mentioned that she was also, because she is an inherently positive and optimistic person!) I am not proud of this, but there was a large part of me that was hoping that the visit would be canceled, just like the previous four were. I felt a little better when someone I know messaged me privately to tell me that they had had very good experiences visiting a family member in that prison. But I still didn't sleep well at all that night, worrying about the guards, the many things that could go wrong, and the projected 111-degree hea

Bronwyn Harris, Author

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