John Hendrix
Montgomery County Education Association
10/20/06 - 8:20 a.m.
I’m writing from a rather bleak and rainy Ocean City, MD and the MSTA convention, which I hope is a bit sunnier.
My wife and I rolled in late last night. We are staying at the Princess Royale, which I’m sure was a beautiful place in 1976, around the time that the US, then consisting of tens of millions fewer Americans, was celebrating its 200th anniversary. Today it stands as a sort of challenge to straying Atlantic Hurricanes. It seems to say something mocking to the ocean, the view of which we paid extra for. I suppose I shouldn’t take the rainy morning out on the helpless hotel which is kind enough to put up with us, but hey, the buck has to stop somewhere, and is sure hasn’t stopped anywhere near Washington, DC. At least, not until now. I’m looking forward to Martin O’Malley’s visit. At least some politicians do understand that it all starts with education. More on that later.
10/20/06 - 12:30 p.m.
Having consumed a reasonable amount of coffee, I now feel ready to type a string of sentences and hope that they will convey some sort of coherent thought.
Reg Weaver, our very entertaining NEA president, spoke well about the importance of education. Reg is a really cool and funny guy. His speeches are always inspired, his laugh is contagious and he looks like the Lorax or Chilly Willy’s walrus friend. I hope he’s not offended. Reg mentioned that we cannot teach in 2006 in the same way that we did in 1966; that 80% of the prison population has no HS diploma; and that people without such diplomas are also unemployed and not involved in the political process. The cost of a high drop-out rate, Reg said, is something like $200 billion a year. That’s enough to pay for lots of school lunches and books and buildings and teachers and such. Or we could go to Mars four times. Or we could fund a small and unnecessary military excursion somewhere. Reg also reminds us that we need to vote and support the candidacies of those who would promote the goals of MSTA, regardless of their political affiliation. On a strictly statistical basis, though, I would point out that a random Democrat is more likely to promote the goals of MSTA than most selected Republicans.
MSTA President Clara Floyd also spoke today. Clara doesn’t look like the Lorax, and she lacks Reg’s contagious laugh, but her heart and mind are in the same place as Reg’s.
Clara spoke about familiar issues like class-size reduction, better access to technology, and embedded staff-development. As she spoke about schools with old books and no climate control, I thought about how even a fairly wealthy and enlightened state like Maryland is “not there yet.” The work to be done across the nation is truly daunting, but, as Clara noted, “We have the commitment, the expertise and the power” to make our message heard. I agree with that. Daunting as the task may be, the journey is still a series of small, doable steps.
No problem.
10/21/06 - 9:00 a.m.
It’s another day in paradise here in Ocean City, MD. Yesterday, after we left the morning session, the weather had changed from bleak drizzle to sunny with gale-force winds. The seagulls that apparently mistake the parking lot of the convention center for a body of water love the wind. They spread their wings and ride on it effortlessly, which makes us all wish that magic existed and that our own lives, professionally and otherwise, would be that easy.
This morning, it was chilly, but the sunrise was spectacular. The Orionid meteor shower provided some shooting stars streaking across the cloudless, moonless sky. The same air that lets the seagulls soar and play means the end of the road for the specks of dust that are instantly vaporized when they encounter it.
MCEA met as a caucus and took positions on some items that we will vote on today. Several of those have to do with helping our members do their jobs like seagulls instead of meteors.
There is only one New Business Item that, in my view, seeks to move us in the wrong direction. It seeks to take a position of “no position” on the US Senate race between Ben Cardin and Michael Steele. I trust that the body will view it for what it is, an attempt by a minority to usurp the stated position of the majority. We take positions of “no position” whenever the candidates are equally good or equally bad regarding the interests of MSTA. This is not the case here. The difference between Cardin and Steele is as great as that between soaring seagulls and vaporized dust specks. Michael Steele’s supporters are asking us to be dust specks. Thanks, but I’d rather hang out in the parking lot
10/21/06 - 11:00 a.m.
Ben Cardin gave a short, succinct and effective speech. Like every Democratic candidate running for any office across the country, Cardin sought to associate his opponent with George W. Bush, who remains as popular as tooth decay with two weeks left until election day. Cardin’s job is easy considering that Mr. Steele, like the rest of his party, had presented until recently a monolithic, with-us-or-against-us, lockstep approach to politics reminiscent of certain other systems of government that the free world has had to resist with military might in the not-so-distant past. Images of puppies and claims of moderation are simply not enough to wash the smell of the last six years away from Mr. Steele’s candidacy. Paraphrasing Ben Cardin, we educators deserve a federal government that is on our side and not one that relegates us to the other side.
10/21/06 - 1:00 p.m.
Belly Busters, across the street and up the block from the Convention building has provided me with enough fuel to see this assembly to its conclusion.
We said hi to Anthony Brown, who was chatting on the phone on the parking lot when we were walking back from lunch. “Who was that?” someone said. “That would be the ‘Brown’ on the O’Malley/Brown sticker you’re wearing”, came the reply.
I wish it didn’t cost millions of dollars for voters to truly get to know the candidates that vie for their votes. Delivering a simple message to educate the public is not cheap, and politicians know this lesson very well. It amazes me, then, that some politicians still don’t understand how delivering a vastly more complex message to educate children is not commensurately more expensive. I think that they just refuse to do so. They tell me that all we need for a quality education is a qualified teacher, willing learners and a large shade tree under which the lessons can be conveyed. That may have been true in the time of Plato, but the times have changed a bit since then. We still need the qualified teachers and the willing learners, but what happens when it rains? The answer that these rationally challenged politicians have given comes in the form of “portables” and large class-sizes in order to pay for tax cuts. Sorry to go on about politics, but this is a day of politics at the MSTA convention and I have to go now and see what Martin O’Malley says about providing us with decent shade trees.
10/21/06 - 2:00 p.m.
We got a double dose of the O’Malley ticket as Anthony Brown and Martin O’Malley both addressed the convention. The future Lieutenant Governor spoke first, and, as it happens, the first thing he talked about was the shade trees. The O’Malley administration is committed to spend 250 million a year for school construction, and they want to fund it at 400 million for the first two years to make up for the present Governor’s shortfall in this critical area of expenditure. I was happy about that, and even as I type this, the running mates are making their hand-shaking exit from the convention floor to cheers and loud music, so I’m guessing most delegates were happy to hear this and their other points as well.
O’Malley reminded us in his speech about the debate he had with the Governor last week. He quoted Bob Ehrlich when, referring to state money coming to Baltimore and other local jurisdictions, he told O’Malley, “Without us, you’re done.” O’Malley was contrasting the Governor’s “us versus them” mentality with his own “we’re all in this together” approach, but my mind wandered to another point.
According to polling, Marylander’s believe that education is the number one political issue facing state and local government, and, as evidenced by the tremendous success in my own county of Montgomery of our political recommendations via the Apple Ballot, the voters trust professional educators when it comes to politics. So I thought that it would be nice to be able to say to Bob Ehrlich in 17 days, “Governor, without us, you’re done.”
10/21/06 - 4:00 p.m.
So the hay is in the barn, the fat lady has sung and the MSTA convention is over. The delegates got in their vehicles after many fond farewells and made their ways home.
Overall, it was one of the best conventions that I've attended. Our new President, Clara Floyd did a fine job leading us through the debate on the new business items (NBIs). Hats off to Clara — I would be absolutely petrified trying to do that job.
Other than the great speeches by the visiting dignitaries, I thought that the coolest thing in the world was the passage of an NBI that will give counties the option of electronic voting for MSTA elections starting in 2008. There was considerable pushback on that from many members with valid concerns, and even more pushback from members who don't trust Al Gore's invention, but, in the end, the majority saw fit to step to dip their toe into the inviting waters of the 21 st century.
I think this will mean greater member participation in our elections and, although it wasn't discussed, give us the ability to conduct statewide polling of our members which will better inform the decisions of our leadership and make us an even more democratic body. Most importantly, however, this vote will help close the digital divide and allow more people to read our cool blogs.
Thank you, MSTA, for giving us bloggers the chance to express our personal views and for giving all of us a glimpse of the rich diversity of views, personalities and opinions that make us the great organization that we are.
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