DAngie: February 2010

Can you believe that school district in Rhode Island firing all the teachers at a failing high school? Nice job narrowing down the problem to . . . every single teacher at that school sucking. Hmmm . . . sounds plausible. Probably had nothing to do with the low socioeconomic area, the lack of parental support, or the administration. Maybe the superintendent of that district, Gallo, should consider firing herself. But then, she's a politician. Good job not pointing the finger at yourself or your cronies or the parents or the students, Gallo. Stick it to those lousy teachers who actually spend some time with the students and might have a clue what's really going on. Of course, the teachers are to keep their jobs for the rest of this school year. They should walk without warning tomorrow and let the superintendent deal with it. The only reason this thing is feasible is this bad economy in which people are taking what they can get. Still, I wonder how easy it will be to replace the teachers. And I wonder how well it will go next year with a new staff of teachers having no experience with the students, who will most likely be clueless or desperate if they're willing to take a difficult teaching job at a failing school under an unsupportive superintendent and school board. That school will not improve next year. If it looks like it has, you can bet it's been jerry-rigged to look that way by teachers who are afraid and an administration trying to keep from looking bad for a poor decision that increased the unemployment rate and did no good. It's also possible that this is just a scare tactic to get the teachers to accept, with little compensation, the extra demands the district wants to place on them. Either way, it's a raw deal. Here are a couple of things that might actually do something to improve public schools in this country: smaller class sizes and alternatives, such as trade schools, for kids who don't want to receive the education being offered (surprisingly, these things aren't on the Secretary of Education's plan for improvement---as expected, he's got some garbage that sounds good but won't actually help). To fund smaller classes and alternatives, we might have to cut administrative costs. Big loss, because those guys at the district offices work so hard and have so much to do with the students, right? Oh, we might have to cut some teacher training costs too. Again, big loss. The teachers might have to use the time they would have been "training" to make lesson plans, read up on their subjects, grade papers. Forgive me the rant. I'll be getting my sappy on shortly.

Anyway, Bennett finally lost a tooth. You might have heard the trumpets sounding in proclamation of this monumental, long awaited event.

PICTURES FROM VALENTINE'S DAY (with descriptive titles):

Valentine's Day Finery

The Good Valentine Man Strikes Again!

I Gotta Tap Into My Inner Steve Tyler Here. I've Already Got Three Pieces of Chocolate in My Mouth.

Jonathan Keeping These Two from Getting Us Thrown Out of the Preschool Party.

JASPER,
You are so good natured. So cuddly. So forgiving. So patient. I love to watch you running with excitement. I love the way you bring me my shoes and yours when you think it's time to go somewhere. I love that you screamed when Grandma Moore walked out the door, until I called her back so that you could tell her "Bye, Gamma!" and then shut the door with satisfaction. I love to listen to your language emerging, even though your favorite word is "no." I love to listen to you say "Hi!" to everyone we pass at the store. I love to wake up to "Hi, Mommy!" (Well, I love the "Hi, Mommy!" but sometimes the waking up is painful.) I love it when you answer my "I love you" with your "Yawyoo!" I love your face.

I love it when you're so happy to be with a pal (that is, when you're not trying to take away whatever toy said pal happens to have). I love how you exclaim, "Yay!" and dance around with your treat when I give you something you think is yummy.

I love to find you in this chair. Doing this. And it happens all the time.

I love that even though you're only two, it seems like you've always been here.

LARAINE,
Though it can be painful when you start windmill legging me and shrieking at the top of you lungs, I love your feistiness and your pouts. I love that even though you're feisty, you ask for hugs and kisses, and they really do make things better for you and for me. I love to hear you humming in your room. I love those moments you realize that you love Jasper and I hear you telling him, "Come on, Jasper" and then I hear you teaching him how to make believe. Even though I often try to get you to wear pants more often, I love that you only want to wear dresses. I love your big brown eyes.