 John HendrixTeacher, Earth/Space Systems and Astronomy Montgomery, MCEA  |
The 2007 MSTA convention ended on a disappointing note for me.
We failed to pass two items that I supported. One sought to provide free wireless access for future conventions. Several people spoke against this. Most of them said the same things. The prevailing and misguided sentiment was that MSEA… sorry, MSTA should not pay for something that would allow delegates to be distracted from the business of the association. As it is, there are many delegates that like to multitask while they attend the convention. I see people grading papers, solving puzzles, reading and working on laptops that may or may not be connected to the internet. I would not be so bold as to accuse these people of not being good delegates. When I was in school, more than one teacher accused me of not paying attention because I liked to draw in class during lectures (I still do that). They always stood corrected when I repeated, verbatim, the last two or three sentences they had spoken. I was taken aback, then, when several of my fellow delegates were basically asserting that, if I had internet access (which I did), I would spend my time shopping online, hanging out on MySpace and forwarding spam to all the world. There are poor delegates at the convention, but most of those are not shopping online or grading papers while they listen to speakers. They are back at their hotel rooms sleeping late and watching daytime TV, or shopping at the Delaware outlets. Thankfully, there are only a few bad apples like that, and most of us in attendance are there because we do indeed care about the business of the association. Wireless access won't change that.
The other disappointment was the failure to create a task force to explore the question of how well the composition of the MSEA… oops, the MSTA Board of Directors represents the diverse composition of our membership statewide. There was great opposition from many of the present Board members who claimed that the task force was not needed because that work had already been done (ten or more years ago, which hardly counts) or that the Board already represented the membership well enough (how do we know that, exactly?). I didn't buy those arguments, but enough people did and the NBI failed. Some of the Board members were quite rude in their remarks. I won't name any names out of respect, but they know who they are, and their comments are evidence that they don't get it. Maybe next year…
Thanks for reading, and have a great rest of the school year.
Identity crisis.
10/20/07 - 11:09 a.m.
The effort to change the name of MSTA failed. It needed a two-thirds majority and we only got sixty percent. The opposition was swayed by the two, weak arguments of cost and name recognition.
This name change WILL happen one day. When it happens, it will cost more money and we will have lost the intervening time in terms of establishing the “brand” of MSEA. It is inexplicable to me that entire regions of the state are opposed to the name change. Shades of New Jersey . Maybe we should have more math teachers attend the convention. They would be quick to realize that the cost of the name change divided by the number of members amounts to less than a venti latte, especially if the name change inspires support staff to join the association and to become active within it. For now, we will live another year with the wrong name. On that, everyone still agrees.
My brain hurts.
10/20/07 - 10:00 a.m.
Yesterday it was my birthday. This has become an increasingly depressing event. It makes me think about the inexorable passage of time, the inevitability of death and the tragedy of the human condition. Good thing it only comes once a year.
Today will be a fun day at the MSTA convention. There will be debate on the floor about a number of new business items and by-law amendments. The debate is one of the most interesting parts of coming to these things. The cultural and political diversity of the state are expressed by the positions that the different counties take on the more controversial issues. This is even more interesting at the NEA conference, where entire states acquire a kind of personality. New Jersey always seems to vote the opposite of Maryland there. We don't like New Jersey . In Ocean City , which is still unseasonably warm, the dynamic can be similar. It would be nice to get along better, but then we wouldn't have any of these cool debates.
Today we will vote on a by-law amendment that would change the name of MSTA to MSEA in order to better reflect the makeup of our membership. There will be opposition to this because of two main reasons: it will cost money and we will lose “name recognition”. These arguments do not make sense to me. MSTA is the wrong name. Everyone agrees on that. There is no good argument for going through life with the wrong name. Life is too short and time keeps on ticking by and… I digress. The sooner we change the name, the sooner it will be recognized. As far as the money goes, I don't see how we can ask the state to provide the funds for education if we take the position that we won't do that internally. MSTA is the wrong name. The right thing to do is to fix it. Maybe we can compromise and call ourselves the “State Association of Maryland Educators”. That way, we can change the name and yet it will be the SAME.
I just got done listening to our special guest...
10/19/07 - 12:00 p.m.
I just got done listening to our special guest, Lt. Governor Anthony Brown, and our keynote speaker Lily Eskelsen, NEA Secretary-Treasurer.
The Lieutenant Governor had the unenviable task of putting a good face on the Governor's budget proposal that falls short of full funding of education in the richest state in the Nation. The audience understands budgetary constraints, but cannot be expected to be enthusiastic about what they correctly perceive as backtracking on campaign promises. Still, Mr. Brown did what he could to express his support and appreciation of our professions and our positions. The speech was generally well received and the audience applauded politely, but our disappointment seemed palpable. It's the type of disappointment that one feels when someone close to us lets us down a bit. Like when your straight-A child comes home after curfew without calling first. Or when your spouse forgets that you had dinner plans and works late instead. It's not like we're going to get a divorce over it, but it doesn't feel very nice at all.
Lily gave a wonderful speech. Her job was to make everyone feel good about what we do and about the endless political struggle that we face, not only here, but in every state. The poor woman is from Utah , which is, Brigham Young notwithstanding, far from enlightened, especially when it comes to public education. Lily sang two songs to bookend her speech. The first was her own, I think. It was called “There'll Be No Child's Behind Left”, and the second was “Gracias a la Vida” by Mercedes Sosa. She almost made me cry, which is high praise from a cynic like me. I was struck by the beauty of the words, which are in Spanish, and by the realization that most of the room was not similarly struck. The audience got the message, but the non-Spanish speakers couldn't see the profound beauty that she so beautifully expressed. Lily is my favorite NEA person ever. I can't wait for her to become NEA President one day.
Greetings, Earthlings
10/19/07 - 9:30 a.m.
I find myself back at Ocean City , MD for the MSTA convention. It seems like only yesterday that I was hydroplaning across the parking lot through driving rain and gale-force winds. This year, it is not raining. Yet. The temperatures are much more September-like than they should be, but I'm ok with that. My kids (the ones that I teach) think that this balmy weather is the direct result of global warming. I try to explain that that is only one of many factors that affect our daily weather, but when one is enjoying summer in October, and Al Gore is busy collecting Nobel prices and not running for President, the arguments ring hollow. On the plus side, more numerous and powerful hurricanes will assault the Eastern seaboard and one of those hurricanes is likely to find its way to this place. No offense to Ocean City residents, who are all wonderfully friendly and welcoming, but this city does not have the right to exist. It sits on a barrier island, the most ephemeral of landforms. The island wants to move, and there is nothing anyone can do about it, other than massive engineering efforts that only forestall the inevitable. So, with a little global warming and with the help of a few big storms, the island will move and carry our convention hall and all the rest of this expensive real estate with it, rolling it over like a giant sand and concrete taco and move it all in bits to Delaware. For now, however, everything is peachy and the meeting is starting, so I have to go. I hope everyone is enjoying the day off back home.
