School District Cuts

This week I received the newsletter from my local school district. I believe the Superintendent in my district has a tough road ahead, as well as behind recently, and furthermore, she is doing an admirable job with the less-than-ideal conditions that exist now.

For example, I really do appreciate that I was called to participate in a poll. I, as the mother of elementary school age children, was asked my impressions of school quality, safety, curriculum, texts, district fiscal responsibility, frequency of levy issues on the ballot, teachers and more.

When I spoke with the congenial pollster, I did tell her I home school my children so my impressions are mostly vague and second-hand. She wanted my opinions anyway.

One question was about a levy on the upcoming ballot. I told her that I would vote against the levy. I gave her only one of my reasons, that being the district put a huge levy on the ballot two years ago, saying that if it passed they would not put another new money issue on the ballot for five years. She laughed. Was it because I remembered the promise? Was it because the previous 50 people she spoke with that day told her the same thing? Was it because she thought I may have believed the promise from two years ago? Don't think for a second I thought they would keep that promise. I did think it was an irresponsible and short-sighted thing to say.

Looks like I was right. There will be another huge levy on the ballot in May. The newsletter that officially broke the news to me had something interesting to say about what the future holds if additional funding is not received: "Outdated technology and textbooks mean students will do poorly on standardized tests and be less able to compete in the job market."

That bullet point struck me because I've noticed over the years when I compile the lists of texts and books my children have read each school year several of them were published in the 1950s. There are a few from each decade in between then and now too, but at least three quarters of the books are over 25 years old. I don't think this is detrimental at all, and my school's standardized test scores bear that out.

It is not so simple a problem as to say "Let them use older books," though. The older books owned by the district are probably not books I would choose for my school. They are probably on the list of text titles the district had to choose from when spending money from the state of federal sources. Those strings are a noose.

The superintendent closed her message in the newsletter with word that funds are promised from Washington and Columbus (Ohio), but so far only promises have arrived, not guarantees or dollars. "Therefore, the only real hope our children have is you." (emphasis is mine).

I know this message is intended to garner support for the upcoming levy, but what a shocking statement! It is sad, shocking, downright pathetic, and an ill omen that parent would look to Washington or Columbus before looking to themselves to provide hope for their children.

There are great programs to help people with difficult educational challenges, and I'm thankful they exist. But even considering those circumstances I cannot fathom looking to government first for hope.

Blurt Shirts!

Saying what's on your mind never looked so good.

My husband, aka the Quipper, has begun putting his quips to work for himself with the opening of his tee shirt store at www.Blurt-Shirts.com.

He has several departments available now, some in development, and more ideas in the hopper all the time. My favorites, and I think his favorites too, are the political shirts, specifically his Revolution 2010 line. Here's one of my favorites from the Revolution 2010 line.
He also features a line of Lutheran shirts:
At the moment Rick is developing some lines of humorous shirts. I can't wait for you to see them! They really tickle my funny bone and I think they will be attention-getting and popular too. Be first to see them when they are available: sign up for the free newsletter at the lower left of this page.

Other topics include global warming, sports, and music. Check them out!

Baseball Begins, But...

...It is different this year.

I love making the first on-air ball game of spring training my own personal school holiday. This year I've been cheated out of that holiday.

Not that that will impact my listening to the game. With the Tribe moving to Goodyear, AZ, they are in a different time zone. Their game will not start until 3:05 in the afternoon Cleveland time. Hopefully, the kids will have completed their regularly scheduled school work by that time.

So my annual day to sleep in, laze in front of the computer, pick up the knitting needles and tune in to the radio with no constraints on time goes the way of all flesh. Instead I'll get to listen to the game while making dinner and cleaning the kitchen. Or maybe walking on the treadmill.

In any case, I'll still be listening.

Family Puzzle

This weekend Rick opened one of the puzzles we were given at Christmas. He got started on the Statue of Liberty with a little help from the Engineer and me. Shortly after he started, the Artist and I had to leave for catechism classes. when we arrived back home the guys had made some significant progress.

Later in the weekend, I got to take a crack at the puzzle myself. Rick had done enough that the pieces I filled in closed large gaps. In fact, when he looked at the progress on Sunday afternoon all that was left was sky. He pronounced "You can finish it!" as he doesn't like doing that part.

Well, I did finish most of it, but not all. I left a handful of pieces for him. After Rick's post gig afternoon nap, though, we decided to watch a family movie. As the kids came into the den the nearly completed puzzle attracted them like moths to a lamp. They filled in that last gap before Rick was ready to join us.
All the same, it was fun to see them working together so excitedly.

Upside Down Pizza

When there are not enough leftovers from the previous day's meals to supply lunch for myself and the kiddos, we sometimes have a frozen pizza to accompany the leftovers that are around.

Today is one of those days, but a complication has arisen. Either the lower element in my electric oven has broken, or the thermostat has quit, or both. The broiler element on the top of the oven works, but the lower element remains cold to the touch. Unless the broiler is on, I cannot raise the oven temperature about 275 ºF.

This makes baking a frozen pizza a bit of a challenge. I tried to warm the top first, then flip it like a big pancake and bake the crust on the bottom a little. Good in theory, not so good in practice. The pizzza looks a mess and lots of the toppings stuck to the baking sheet. Combined with a little half bowl of leftover pumpkin soup for each of us, we will have enough, but this is one I hope we never have to repeat!

The appliance repair man is coming over tomorrow. We're most fervently hoping this is something that can be fixed. Receiving a death notice on the oven tomorrow would be bad news.

Waiting for Polaris

We're still waiting. Let's hope it is not as tedious as waiting for Gadeaux.

We've enjoyed some wonderfully warm days this week, but the accompanying low cloud cover and the ambient city light around 8 pm hindered our spying Polaris. If fact we've seen nothing but airplanes and Venus, and the occasional star that I can't place because I know so few of them.

Eventually this science project will be finished. I hate having unfinished work hanging over my head, and it bothers me to have this unfinished, but it does not seem to bother the Artist too much.

For now I'm thankful our old oak trees are late to get their leaf buds each spring (compared to other types of in our area).

The Artist is curious to see how her device determines latitude compared to actual results she will look up on the Internet.

In the mean time, the Artist has begun a fun project -- a hook rug kit. She is looking forward to seeing how we will turn the finished project into a rug or a pillow, she's not yet decided which.

And the Engineer has made great use of his Legos. He followed the directions in the booklet to make this fantastic car. He did need help locating pieces and occasional help snapping pieces all the way into place, but he largely did this on his own.

Waiting for the Stars to Align

Last week the Artist made a device for determining latitude in her science class. All that remains to be done is to locate Polaris through the sighter and take a reading. Enter clouds and extreme cold temperatures.
With the trees barren of their leaves and a sky barren of clouds we can see Polaris from our driveway. It is best if we wait outside until the sensor lights turn off. That's not likely to happen until we get above freezing.

So, while we're waiting the experiment remains mostly finished. Once we take a reading, the Artist will have to go on-line to research our latitude. I don't want her to have a desired result in mind when she used the device. Then she can compare her results to the computer data.

On an unrelated note...
Last week we also bought a case of oranges. These are the most delicious, sweet, fresh, juicy softball size oranges! Rick bought them from an acquaintance selling them as a church fundraiser. The best part is that these cost us way, way less than $1 per piece and I saw smaller oranges for sale in the local supermarket for $.99 each. Yikes! We've been enjoying oranges and orange shakes.

Mistake

I made a mistake in where I published my super bowl ad comments. For some reason I thought all the knitters out there would like to read them. Sorry!

You can find them here at Picking Up Pen and Needle.

What were your Bests and Worsts from last night's ads?