Today, I'm taking a break from artistic pursuits and concentrating on the real stuff of life. I work for the local school district here in my Florida county. Today, all first and second year teachers received letters of non-renomination signifying that they do not have jobs next year. Not only does this mean that we will have countless numbers of unemployed, experienced teachers out of work but also that we will lose some wonderfully inspired individuals who have the capacity to change the lives of children. It is the economy driving this decision. The school district just isn't earning the dollars it used to earn because people are not moving to our state and our student population is declining. In an environment where each state dollar is based on student enrollment, our earnings are decreasing daily. I am losing 25% of the teachers who teach in the program that I supervise. They have received countless hours of training and support and were on their way to becoming Master Teachers. Now, 500 teachers do not have jobs. One teacher is a young woman with a two year old. Her husband is serving in Iraq. Another has breast cancer and has just completed chemo. Now she has no insurance.I am greatly saddened by these events and felt the need to document this sadness in my blog. Somehow creating art doesn't seem so important today.
