..........our economy in a bag!

Well, I knew it was coming. The North Carolina Legislature is in session and developing the state budget for 2009-10. And as expected, the public school system is bending over and preparing for major cuts. The cuts won't come in the way of unnecessary testing, funding for character education, or the program where we encourage kids not to smoke; but, many of the cuts are coming straight from the classroom, and on the backs of the teachers. At this point, if you are a Republican nut job and in favor of charter schools, I invite you to go drown yourself and put me out of my misery! Anyway, one proposal that will probably pass is the raising of class sizes. By raising class size by one student, the savings are in the millions. Why does that make such a difference? Because, by raising class size you can reduce the number of teachers needed! What a damn slap in the face! There is also a plan that is still in session that will raise class sizes by three students. That scenario would get the savings in to a surplus! Another option is to increase the employee contribution to the retirement system from 6% to 9%. My health care premiums are also going to rise. The reason is to compensate for the investment of the retirement system in our outstanding stock market - thanks Republicans! Yes, and don't even argue with me. "Invest in the stock market and make 'Murika stronger!" I think the post picture speaks a thousand words! Oh, it's easy to blame it all on Bush - he's gone now! With a total of eight years of very little, if any oversight; and deregulation of almost everything, it is the fault of the Bush mis-Administration. As a result of this mess, I'll bring home about $150 - $200 less next year to support my family; and everyone who has children in the public schools will be effected by the cuts. With all that being said, I'm proud to announce that the public schools will become even more accountable (through useless testing).

.........."tying up some loose ends."

I think the post title just about sums up the rest of my career in teaching. I really do enjoy working with the band students. I enjoy the day-to-day class work, the extra rehearsals, the performances, and all the trips we take. I have truly been blessed to have led my working life as a junior high/high school band director. There are stories that I could tell that would make you both laugh and cry. The experiences seem to have little boundaries and certainly no end. So, why am I leaving the profession for retirement? Sometimes I ask myself the same question; but I always seem to come back to the inequity of it all. You see, teaching music in the public schools is a constant battle of justifying the program's mere existence on a daily basis. It's a thankless job, at best. I constantly being a cheerleader of sorts to my students, keeping their spirits high when there adoring public lets them down. Since we have been at our new consolidated high school, this band has traveled to every state in the Southeastern United States, we've played at theme parks, we've marched in parades and field show competitions in places that the citizens of our one-horse community would never dream of going. We've performed at the Nokia Sugar Bowl, the FedEx Orange Bowl, the Toyota Gator Bowl, the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, and the BCS National Championship Bowl (NOLA). Our performance record has also included many, many steel drum band performances and parades galore. During the past ten years, I've taken the concert band to state concert contest on seven separate occasions. Of those seven contests, our band has scored an honor rating of "Superior" a total of five times. One would think that my students would be praised for their accomplishments; but, it very rarely happens. I even asked a local board of education member this year (who is a band parent) to have the board recognize the marching band at one of their meetings for their outstanding accomplishments - it never happened! We received our latest state "Superior" at concert contest just this past Thursday, and the principal has not even asked me about the trip. I had to announce the accomplishment myself, via email and school PA. It's no wonder that my students feel little worth in what they work so hard to do. It's no wonder why I'm ready to throw in the towel as well. Our superintendent has never been to a band concert or marching band event (that didn't involve a ballgame). Our principal always has an excuse the day after concerning why he wasn't able to attend. The board of education members have no problem coming to athletic events, but concerts just seem to be too much for their schedules to allow. Yes, teaching music in the public schools is a thankless job. I don't want the praise for myself - I get paid for what I do, and I get my rewards every time that I hear the ensemble sound a pitch! These students feel worthless; and as a result, the more successful we are, the smaller the participation in our ensembles. We're dying a slow, agonizing death in music education. Some will attempt to come to the rescue; but to no avail. I've pointed out these problems and solutions to the problems, to all levels of administration for a solid ten years - I have completely fallen on deaf ears. An adult who works here at the high school said to me this morning; "wow, your band really did well at contest!" Read that again, your band did well at contest. I quickly corrected her; "don't you mean, 'our band?'" She gave me the blank stare, and we parted ways. My case rests!

..........congratulations!

This may sound a bit conceited, but I assure you, it's not intended to be such. I am actually sending congratulations to my students, as we scored a North Carolina State Bandmasters Association, Honor Rating of "Superior" at band contest earlier in the week. The state band contest is much like an EOC (end of course test) for band classes. It's not required that we attend the contest, but many band directors choose to do so. I had a great conversation with Josh the other night concerning the overall worth of band contest as a teaching tool and if it was really necessary to compete with music. There is a definite argument by many of our fellow directors that contest does not give the desired results in the long run, and it's only a show of arrogance among many directors to earn awards rather than advance musical skills. Our conclusion was that the band contest festival is an outstanding teaching tool that pushes both the director and the students to exceed what would normally happen. We use this opportunity to "pull out all the stops" and show the very best that we have as teachers and performers. There is also a bleed-over into other pieces of music that we prepare following the band contest. Both students and directors use the same techniques and learn others through band contest preparation that will definitely aid as our ensembles progress. I always learn something that I can do better when involved in band contest preparation. I ask questions of other directors, read more seriously from professional periodicals, listen more, and learn more about how to bring out the strong points of an ensemble; as well as, to hide the weak points. No two ensembles are alike and that makes the preparation an exciting challenge. At any rate, the 2009 band contest was a great success for us. In the past four years, we have attended state band contest on three occasions (we didn't go in 2007 due to a personnel SNAFU that involved student suspension, and the ultimate destruction of our ensemble). In those three attempts, we have been 100% with "Superior" ratings - that's something that I'm quite proud of. Again, that's not a conceited statement; but that of a teacher who is proud of his students' accomplishments and the growth he has made as a teacher. Teaching is a privilege, and teaching music has more magical moments that you could ever imagine.

..........questions we should be asking.

Why were GM and the UAW forced to renegotiate contracts, but AIG is bound by the letter of the law?

When the Bush White House agreed to bail out General Motors and Chrysler, it required those companies to renegotiate their labor contracts—that’s right contracts—and they are doing just that to keep their federal largess.

The Obama Treasury, headed by Tim Geithner, is forcing the terms of that deal on the United Autoworkers.

Why did Secretaries Paulson and Geithner not require the same at AIG? Remember, Geithner was president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank and a key player when financial giants like Citigroup and AIG were being bailed out with the taxpayers’ cash. Those bailouts continue, with easy terms for the bankers and their contracts, on Geithner’s watch.

Gee, would Geithner's ties to Goldman Sachs have anything to do with this decision?

..........be careful not to burn bridges during your career!

..........the ability to communicate!

Maybe I should have titled this post, "Not a Political Post". Surprised? Well anyway, this post comes from my lunch today. I go into the cafeteria following my symphonic band class, get my tray of fine school chow, and head for the teacher section in the cafeteria. Oh no, there's one table with people (I'm using the term "people" in the most loose sense of the word) sitting at it, and they're all coaches or student teachers in P.E. They see me coming and begin sliding over to make a place for me. They were watching students pass and commenting on "how much of an athlete" that kid appears to be. Well, that's okay, it's always a challenge to find students for your program; but then the conversation shifted to the scores and play-by-play of the latest games. Do these people talk about anything else? I made my move. I looked at one of the coaches and asked; "so, how's the family doing?" The whole conversation stopped, they all looked right at me as if I had lobsters crawling all over me, and said nothing. The guy I asked looked confused as well, but did answer; "fine". After a brief pause in the action, they conversation quickly shifted back to sports highlights. What's the deal? Are these people that narrow? I really think that's all they know - what a sad state of affairs! It's fun to "talk shop" with other band directors sometimes. I have some great conversations will other band directors concerning our programs, but I just can't stand to let music be my only focus. The moral of the story - coaches are stupid!

.........."you weak minded fools! Obama is using an old Jedi mind trick on you all."

Rush the Hutt speaks to all Republicans to "take the country back." If the Republicans take the country back, will it be different from when they had it prior to 2006? "Weak minded fools" is right!

..........back from the depths and speaking at the CPAC.

..........so, what's the common bond?

History doesn't lie. The Republicans of today are going to attempt to charge that FDR was responsible for the greatest depth of the Great Depression. As a matter of fact, the Great Depression was in full swing in 1929; a full 4-year term before FDR was even elected. Now, let's examine the common bond of some of America's greatest financial woes. Republicans believe in business and that business leaders will make America prosper with very little, if any, government regulation. You see, in their eyes, business leaders in America are honorable sorts who will gain success and give us all the chance to be successful as the fruits of their labors will "trickle-down" to the middle class. The latest debacle in our financial system has proved that failed Republican government deregulation policies, less than honorable financial leaders, and little government intervention in business affairs has left us in the worst financial mess since 1929. What is the common bond in both our current financial crisis and the Great Depression? Remember, this is history. Prior to Democrat President FDR taking office in 1933; he was proceeded by Republican Presidents, Herbert Hoover and Calvin Coolidge. Even when knee-deep into the Great Depression, FDR made cuts in some of his New Deal social programs towards balancing the national budget well before the beginning of WWII in 1941. Prior to Democrat President Bill Clinton taking office in 1992; he was preceded by Republican Presidents, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Bill Clinton inherited a Recession and was still able to present a balanced national budget before leaving office, and with a $559 billion surplus. Prior to Democrat President Barrack Obama taking office in 2009; he was preceded by Republican two-term President, George W. Bush; and inherited the worst economic crisis since that of the Great Depression. Did I state anything that was incorrect? As a matter for the record, are Republicans really for fiscal conservatism in America?

..........no further caption required!