Missouri Amendment 3...Just Say NO!

Hello readers!
I have missed both of you.
Sorry, I took an unplanned blogging hiatus. Don't worry- My life didn't get boring or anything. I just entered what I refer to as the back-to-school-soccer-bandgigs-crazy-vinyl-grades-teaching-assessing-never-sleep-never-sit-down-barely-pee portion of my life, also known as first quarter. I'll catch you up real quick. School started. I have a precious, smart, funny class full of Rockstars. Eli outgrew me and started second grade. He was a wonderful teacher again this year. When he isn't hunting, fishing, or farming- he is reading up a storm. Quinn's band (Panic Era) has started playing gigs again. (They're opening for Saliva this weekend in Jonesboro...Be there!) Oh! And we now have a class pet. Readers meet Charlotte. She is a six month old chilean rose hair tarantula. My rockstars and I looooooove her.

I might have skipped an embarrassing story (or thirty.) But, there will be a time and post for those.

This post is a serious one.
I want to take a minute and talk about a serious issue that could greatly affect my life, your life, and most importantly the life of our children. This issue is, of course Missouri Amendment 3. This will be presented to you on the upcoming November ballot. I was challenged to share my thoughts and opinions on this amendment with three people. And since, I'm pretty sure I have at least two readers on here and I plan on telling my momma...that should cover me. ;)
I'm sure you can guess that I want you to vote NO. This is an amendment I definitely do not want to pass. But, I'm a facts kind of person and I would like to share some information with you about this amendment. First and foremost- I love my job. I love going to work each day. Hanging out with first graders is fun, exciting, and hectic. Which pretty much describes everything I love in all aspects of life. Watching children learn and grasp new concepts makes my heart grow. If there is ever a day that I get tired of seeing their little faces light up because they realized that they KNOW something new, I'll hang up my cardigan and find a new path.

This bill is being presented by some people as an issue of tenure. That is the least of this issue. Teachers who are in this job for the right reasons could care less about tenure. I'm not in denial, I am very aware that there are teachers out there who are just hanging on until retirement, but those people- are living their own kind of hell.

Being around kids day in and day out for little pay with no enjoyment invested= Major Suckfest. Luckily, I hope to never be in that position.
This bill will take away the option of local control. Which is pretty much a foreign language to anyone who is not in education. If you aren't in education-Let me break it down for you: (If you are in education, you may go back to grading papers, or get something out of the fast finishers bucket, Mrs. Dogan will be with you in just a moment. ;))
Public Schools are officiated by elected members of a committee or team, usually referred to as a School Board. YOUR School Board is generally made up of members of the local community. These people can be former educators, parents of children in the district, spouses of educators, people who are INVESTED in the education and future of YOUR students. The kids in these schools are not just a number on a sheet of paper to your School Board Members. They are sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, grandchildren- the issues that that effect YOUR children MATTER to the members of YOUR board. YOU get to vote and decide who serves on that board. If we take control away from a local board- that control goes to people in Jefferson City. I don't know about you, but I don't personally know anyone in Jefferson City. And I highly doubt that anyone in Jefferson City knows of Eli Dogan. I doubt that those people care what challenges may come up in his education in the next 10 years. I'm 99% sure that Little Johnny that sits at my yellow table has any connections in Jefferson City.
But, I'll tell you this: MY local School Board knows him. They know the family he comes from, they know the needs he has, and they will do anything in their power to help me, help him.
I don't think anyone in Jefferson City is going to be able to sit down with me and discuss issues that I may have with my curriculum, or seek me out at ballgames to see how my year is going. But, my local board members have and they will continue to do that for me, for Eli, and for little Johnny.
That is something you will lose if you lose local control. I don't want to see that happen.
Another thing that will happen if this bill passes:
We will begin to implement a One-Size-Fits-All Approach to education.

It is absolutely insane to expect every child to be able to learn, perform, and test in the same manner as his or her peers.
How can I individualize instruction just to turn around and standardize my assessments?!
Right now, the average student in Missouri will take around 25-30 standardized tests during their public school career. IF amendment 3 passes, that number jumps up to nearly THREE HUNDRED standardized tests.

 I can only speak for myself, but I would much prefer for the world to be operated by students who are critical, hands on thinkers than by students who excel at test taking. And besides that (educators, you may come back to the group now)- I have only been teaching 4 years, but in those 4 years I have NEVER had a room full of students who are exactly alike. I have students that come from wealthy households and students that probably don't eat a meal other than what they are served at school. (PS: The "meals" they are served at school are already regulated by the government (and quite poorly at that, in my opinion.))
Room 8 at Masterson Elementary has been faced with many precious souls, each of them unique and different. I imagine those students from the bottom of the bootheel, are quite different from those babies living in inner city St. Louis or the kiddos in Kansas City.
 How can teachers be expected to yield the same results from all students when some classrooms have a 1:23 student computer ratio and other schools are functioning on a 1:1 ratio?
They can't. You cannot fairly compare districts state wide when those districts are not equally funded, equally equipped, or equally trained.

And taxpayers, if I have lost you somewhere along the way on my rant I hope your ears will perk back up when you read this: Standardized tests are a far cry from cheap. And where will this extra funding be acquired? You guessed it, from you and I. This bill is projected to cost upwards of ONE. BILLION. DOLLARS. And we get to foot the bill. Higher taxes for Lesser Education? I don't know about you, but that's not what The Dogans will be voting for. So, I'll leave you with this quote and hope that you will research this thoroughly before heading to the polls.

And, I want to remind you: this bill will NOT be defeated if we do not exercise our right to vote. Staying home and doing nothing is NOT standing up for the future of this country. Our children are the most valuable asset you can invest in. I want to send them out into this world with as many skills as I possibly can I encourage you to do the same!

#MONoOn3