My Heart Aches!

This story goes way back! I mean over a decade ago.

I have been an observer of #REDforED from the inside. From a spouses view and watching my wife (and her colleagues) go through a roller coaster of a ride. I have seen the highs! Those parents and students from many years of teaching reach out to my wife to lend a kind word, a supportive statement and reliving very fond memories. I truly don’t think that my wife has any clue how many lives she has touched! I get to see it. I see the look in the students eyes when they see her come to their recitals, games and activities. I see them open up their arms for a hug. I see parents go out of the way to stop by and say hi when we are out and about. She just goes about doing what she does best. Teach those students! Set high expectations and help them gain the confidence to meet those expectations. She truly is an exceptional teacher!

I have seen the lows… Every year for the past decade when she gets her contract and looks at the additional dollars that will be eaten by the reduced insurance coverage. When #REDforED started up and she knew this was something that would be very demanding. She knew that she was going to have to make some hard decisions. What she did not expect is the hateful and disrespectful words that many of the AZ Legislator have been sharing. I think she thought that our AZ government was going to step up and at the very least sit down and negotiate with teachers to come up with a real plan to help our AZ Public Schools.

For over a decade the teachers and support staff have been asked, no told that we need to remember that we have to make these tough choices for the students. The students are the #1 priority. So, they did it back then and every year since. Over $4.5B taken away for 10 years. Like a rubber band you can only stretch it until it snaps. So, we see that today is the walk-in together and walkout together! The snap has happened. Our Az government has done nothing to really fix the damage. Empty promise on teacher salaries alone. No plan for returning funding to per student. No plan for the support staff – either pay raises or increased help. Well, no plan at all. Just try to switch the narrative back to the greedy teachers.

I got to witness this week with extreme sadness. I got to watch my wife be completely drained at home. I got to see her get ready to face another day with her students – and she was making sure that she was in her teaching zone for her students. Today, I thought I would reach out to all of her colleagues with a small gesture of a single red rose to try and brighten this day. It was met with tears, smile and a huge thank-you! Today is going to be extremely rough.

I know that there is stuff that our AZ government can do! It will take them to really want to work on a long term plan, which is not their strong suit. They have made promises and only can keep the ones that are truly important to them. Which for the past decade plus – HAS NOT been education, especially public education! The time is now for us to tell our legislators and governor that they need to do their jobs for the students, for our future.

It is time for us to remember everything that is going on. The completely disrespectful comments of many of our legislators. The lack of attention on a situation that has been going on for a decade plus. Many of those folks have been in our government for that long. It is time for us – with our vote – to get people in that will do a better job at everything we need in our state. There a tough decisions that need to be made and we all have been witness to how the decisions have been made today – and frankly they suck. Register to vote… Educate yourself with what each candidate truly stands for… Will they get us out of the trouble we are in? Will they do what we need them to do or will they just stick to a party line? Both parties have failed us! It is time to do a deeper dive on the individual running. We need solutions that last, rather than short sighted band aides that don’t solve the whole problem.

At the end of this post – I want to have each reader stop and think about a teacher or two that made an impact on them. Post their name and short reason as to why in the comments! A shout out….

For me:

• Nancy Crosby – she challenged me to set high expectations for myself. Never to just accept good enough.
• Coach Holleran – he taught me to lead. He saw in me and expressed to me that l can lead and should lead. He gave me opportunities and let me learn and grow as a person and leader.
• Randi Bell – watching her over the past 20+ years teach has given me the opportunity to really understand what it is to have a passion for your job, that makes it not a job. Just watching how the students and parents have reached out – shows me she touches so many lives. She makes a difference.