Words, Words, Wordles

A lot of fake outrage and high-sounding language has been flying around here in OK after the USDOE chose NOT to extend our NCLB waiver. Mary Fallin blames Obama…of course she does. She wants to remind the reddest state in the Union that she is the Republican. Um, Mary…believe us. We know.

Jason Nelson, a co-author of HB3399 that fast-tracked our repeal of CCSS without adequate plans in place to make the transition a smooth one, seems unimpressed by the loss of funds to the state.

Barresi continues to push for speed-writing the Standards. It appears as if she wants to control the direction, even in her position as lame duck.

OSSBA has shared concern, Joe Dorman has made a statement, as has Joy Hofmeister. I can find no statement from John Cox on his Facebook page or his campaign page.

I was reminded of the song from My Fair Lady, "Show Me." It begins with, "Words, words, words. I'm so sick of words." I'm sick of the words that hide intent and values. But I know how to unpack these statements and get to the real message...intended or unintended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8zyF0ZOy3k

One of my favorite tools for looking at written language, and the message that may hide from us if we’re not careful is wordle… www.wordle.net allows you to paste in text and it analyzes the frequency of words used, and creates a word cloud. The bigger the word, the more times it was used. I have had students ‘wordle’ their papers and analyze the word cloud, asking themselves if their intended message became clear.  I often wordle political speeches and see the hidden agenda. An interesting follow-up strategy is to take those larger, more frequently-used words, and use them to create a theme or summary statement. Those are the words that reflect the speaker’s true values.

So, for your reading and analyzing pleasure, wordles of yesterday’s responses to our waiver loss.

Mary Fallin: 

What do we see? “Oklahoma” and “Washington”. Two places she has lived and worked. “Parents” and “Obama” are clear…and look there on the lower left: “politicized”. Oh, yes, Governor Fallin. This situation is politicized. Starting with the lack of a plan to certify our PASS standards as ‘college and career ready,’ whatever that phrase really means. Including your coy game of ‘Will she? Won’t she?’ sign HB3399. Up to your defiant nose-thumbing at the very rules you once chose to abide by. Rules that hadn’t changed.  In fact, the only thing that did change is YOUR position on CCSS…as Chair of the National Governors’ Association, you seemed all for CCSS…then you weren’t. Now, you blame everyone but yourself for the mess you created. Love that “outraged” and “outrageous” both appear here.

Superintendent Barresi:

Looking at this one is interesting…no wild political words jump out…Is she being reasonable in her last months? “Schools” and “Oklahoma” and “student” and “focus” and “reforms.” Nothing new…but I love the fact that “transparency” and “rigor” are both smaller. I see the word, “now”, which has been the Superintendent’s mantra since losing the primary election.

OSSBA weighed in with a statement:

“Change” and “waiver” and “schools.” “Child” and “federal” and “provide.” This is the first wordle to highlight the word “child”, and I’m grateful it’s the school superintendents who speak about our children, who are being “Left” “Behind.” I think I like what this one would communicate.

Joy Hofmeister communicated her concern on FaceBook:

“Standards” and “children” and “administration” and ‘teachers” and “students.” She manages to hit most of the stakeholders in this statement…”however” she blames it on “federal” “overreach”. “Confidence” and “waste” are there as well. What kind of theme statement could we compose here?

My man Joe Dorman shared his statement:

“Waiver” and “Fallin” jump out at us…so does “state” and “Oklahoma” and “education” and “standards.” I like the little nod to my home state, “Indiana”, which did get the waiver extension yesterday. Dorman rightly reminds us we have our current governor to thank for the mess we’re in. Right there, in the middle of the image is “preventable.” For sure. Preventable.

One last wordle…even though I don’t have the whole text of Jason Nelson’s statement at his press conference, I do have excerpts.

  Look at the inadvertent arrangement of “one” “big” “loss’! Oh, I agree. I think it’s also telling that he focused on “funding” and “money” and “spend”. And he pronounces it a “non-event.” Tell that to the schools that are now at risk of being labeled failing, and are now facing the horrible consequences that are the centerpiece of NCLB. A friend, a teacher at one of those schools, asked frantically last night, “What will happen to our school?” Silence. Crickets. Nothing.

The funding side of the waiver is huge, NOT the non-event Mr. Nelson asserts. But the other consequences to our schools, nearly all of which will be deemed to be failing schools, those will be incalculable.

Finding Our Voices; Finding Our Stories.

In storytelling, there is a ‘Rule of Three’ that we seem to follow instinctively…there seems to be great magic in threes: 3 bears, three wishes, three questions, three tasks. Think about it…three Musketeers, three spirits who guide Scrooge to his redemption. We superstitiously wait for the third piece of bad luck, or the third death.

I recently received three message that combine to convince me that we can build on the successes of last year’s Legislative Session, and we can amplify our influence on policy makers next year. We have a magic opportunity.

When I went to the Capitol to talk to lawmakers and to watch the House vote to override Governor Fallin’s veto of HB2625, I watched passionate moms and dads trying to bring their children to life in front of these Legislators. Moms pulled out folders of academic awards. I saw certificates, ribbons. Dads brought report cards to prove their children were smart and hard working. Many moms whipped out their cell phones and showed pictures of their children as they described their frustration with the idea of basing a child’s future on one standardized test. It was moving to watch and listen to these parents as they conjured up their kiddos in the Capitol.

Later, in the Gallery, read for the debate and vote, I sat next to a mom who sat up straighter as Rep. Jason Nelson spoke about meeting a mother who described her son’s struggles. “That’s me!” she whispered, and we all smiled. Then, Nelson continued to make his own point from her story, and she deflated. “That is not what I said! I didn’t say that!” Because she told him her story, it floated in the air, and he chose to listen and reinterpret her story as he pleased. In the air, it became his story to manipulate and rework. She was horrified and I knew we needed to make certain this kind of betrayal of our stories never happens again.

We need to make our stories our own. We need to interpret them and free them from another’s manipulation or misunderstanding. In my mind, that meant we must write them. Write them, print them, share them. Not only with Legislators, but with the media, as letters to the editors. As guest blogs. We must control our stories by committing them to print. That way, we can point back to our words and explain, “You need to look again. Here is my point.”

But how to do this?

Later in the summer I listened to Terry Tempest Williams’ memoir, When Women Were Birds. It was an audible Daily Deal, and I was intrigued. I ended up buying a paperback also…listening to Williams read her own words, I was convinced she wrote this book in verse. Williams inherited her mother’s journal after her mother’s death. After enough time had passed, she opened a journal, and found it blank. Journal after journal. Blank. This led Williams to find examples of her mother’s written voice, and to search for her own.  “In a voiced community we all flourish.”

One incident in the book resonated. Williams is a passionate naturalist and member of the Wilderness Society. She loved the outdoors and she loved the sanctuary of Red Rock Wilderness in Utah. When the wilderness was threatened by legislation to allow development she realized she had a tool: her voice. She and fellow writers created an anthology, Testimony: Writers of the West Speak on Behalf of Utah Wilderness. They encouraged each other to write, in their own voice…they compiled Testimony into a chap book, and they went to Washington with copies for every member of Congress. They were determined to use their voices and words to protect the beauty and power of their wilderness. A bill passed the House to protect the wilderness, and words from Testimony were read aloud in the debate in the Senate. Words were READ…not interpreted, not manipulated, not mistaken.  Testimony is now part of the Congressional Record.  “Afterward, President Clinton held up a copy of Testimony and said, ‘This little book made a difference.’” What began as a desperate, quixotic gambl ebecame a force too powerful to be ignored.

I wanted this example to be our inspiration. Written words have power, they have permanence. I wanted us to find our voice as Williams did.

The third bit of magic in my thinking was another book. Soon after reading Williams’ book, I read Wired for Story, by Lisa Cron. A writer friend had recommended it to aspiring novelists as a vital lesson on how and why to construct stories. I was not the audience for this book, since I do not want to write fiction, but the lessons and observations could easily be adapted for parents and grandparents and teachers, determined to invite lawmakers into their own realities. Cron uses cognitive research to convince her readers that everything in life begins and ends with a story worth telling. I found so many lines that could help others focus on the essence of their stories, ways to inspire empathy and understanding of our lives.

·          Story is what makes us human, not just metaphorically, but literally.

·          In other words, we’re wired to turn to story to teach us the way of the world.

·          Even more exciting, it turns out that a powerful story can have a hand in rewiring the reader’s brain--helping instill empathy, for instance—which is why writers are, and have always been, among the most powerful people in the world.

·          From the very first sentence, the reader must want to know what happens next.

·          Stories allow us to simulate intense experiences without actually having to live through them.

·          Thus story…is an internal journey, not an external one

·          We are looking for a reason to care, so for a story to grab us, not only must something be happening, but also there also be a consequence we can anticipate

·          Whose story is it? What’s happening here? What is at stake?

·          A story must have the ability to engender a sense of urgency from the first sentence.

·          Your first job is to zero in on the point your story is making.

·          A story is designed, from beginning to end, to answer a single, overarching question

·          The more passionate you are about making your point, the more you have to trust your story to convey it

·          Feel first. Think second. That’s the magic of story

It would seem to me that there is a line that could inspire each of us to tell our particular, personal story…a line that resonates in recognition. I believe this is where we can start to write and own our stories.

They are our stories; we must own them. We must control them. We must share them…but on our terms, not as political points for others. Never again should a mother, with her voice trembling, give her story to a policy maker who, because he does not see the words, feels free to twist the meaning, the lesson.

Yes, we continue to tell our stories, but as we do, and as we share those ribbons and certificates and report cards and pictures, we will also share our written words. We will flood them with proof of the damage their policies have done. We will continue to offer suggestions and volunteer to shape policies.

We will do that with words we control. We will do this with our voices and our carefully-crafted stories.

So, those are my magic three…the observation, the lesson on finding voice, and the lesson on finding story.

We can begin now – we can work together and we can have our stories ready to share.

We will fight with voice and story.

Billie Letts, WHERE THE HEART IS, and My Mom.

Billie Letts has passed away, and with her, more stories of good Oklahoma folks. She was an English teacher at Southeastern State, and her first book, Where the Heart Is, became an Oprah book. Her life was forever changed by that book, and by Oprah's decision to feature it. The world is a better place.

I first learned of Letts and her book when two of my students at Central Mid High in Norman brought it to me and pretty much demanded I read it. Well, that was endorsement enough, and I did. Later, at Molly Griffis’ store, Levite of Apache, I met Letts at a book signing. I told her the story of how I’d learned about Heart…and her eyes filled with tears. My girls were HER students too…and to think she’d touched young people with whom she’d spend her life, touched her and me. She was still teaching.

That first time I met her, I bought two book for her to sign…one for me and one for my mother, the woman who taught me the book is always better than the movie.  The woman who knew Dill from To Kill A Mockingbird was Truman Capote. The woman who taught me to be slightly disdainful of F. Scott Fitzgerald, who obviously stole much of his material from his mercurial, talented, flawed wife Zelda. The woman who introduced me to the Arthurian Legends, and traveled for half a day in England to reach Beatrix Potter’s home so she could write to me about the visit. The woman who told me how, when I was an infant, she would nurse me on one side, and hold a book with her other arm…then shift me and her book. 

I am a reader because my mother, who barely finished high school, was a reader. 

I’ve read all Letts' books…stories with sharp edges about good people…good Oklahoma people. People who create their own families, who watch out for each other, who support and care for each other. I read and loved all of her books. Honk and Holler Opening Soon's last scene still makes me smile.  I loved the adoption story in Shoot the Moon, as an adoptive mother, and I read the dark Made in the U.S.A. wondering how she would bring her characters back to Oklahoma...and she did!

Mom kept the book until she and my dad moved from my childhood home in northwest Indiana to a nursing home in southern Indiana. They had to weed their books from two towering floor-to-ceiling built-in shelves in our family room, to one shelf in their new room. So, Heart was donated.

More years passed. Mom and Dad both passed away and were buried next to each other in Dad’s home, Sullivan, IN. My sister and I came to terms with being the oldest generation in our family, and life went on.

Then, five years or so ago, I got a strange email from my sister, who lived in northeast Indiana. She had gone to a garage sale in a small town in northeast Indiana. She found a box of books. She picked up one of the books, a paperback with an Oprah Book label. She turned it over. Where the Heart Is. For fifty cents she thought she’d pick it up. When opening the book, she realized the book was autographed by the author…”To Mary – a special gift from Claudia and best wishes from me – Billie Letts.” She was shocked. Here, years after Mom’s passing, even more years after she parted with the book, even more years after I gave Mom the book, there it was. In my sister’s hands. OUR book.

She snapped it up and sent it to me. Now, most fittingly, Where the Heart Is, is home. Home in my bookshelf. Home in my house.  Home.

Billie Letts was always that English teacher from Durant, even when she got to meet celebrities and had the opportunity to move on. Her roots were here, and it showed in her work.

I wish Billie Letts and Mom could have met and visited about books and families and heartaches and life. They had so much in common.

So, now, the book she autographed for my mother, from me is home. It traveled from Norman to Merrillville, IN. Then through mysterious journeys to the opposite border of the state, then, back to me. I never told Letts that story, but I know she would have appreciated it.

Our world is sadder today, with the passing of Billie Letts…but she showed us time and again, love and support will be there for us when we need it. My heart goes out to her family and fans.

"Once You're Mine"...a Tribute to a Fallen Student

"Once you're mine, you're mine for life!" I don't mean that lightly. In my career I've attended too many funerals for my students and former students, and I have another one to attend. Tj Cotrone was in my 9th and 10th English classes at Central...he was silly and goofy. He didn't know a stranger. But when it was time to work, he did.

He was in a magic group of kids at Central…I was their 9^th grade teacher my first year at the school, and then the second year they gave me ONE 10^th grade section…it was large: 30+. But over half of them had been in my class the year before. And they all knew each other. Our class bonded immediately. Rules and procedures were a breeze. My experienced kids brought the others into the fold immediately.

Which was a good thing. I’d had surgery weeks before the beginning of school, and made the decision to come back earlier than recommended. I didn’t want a sub to start the year with all my kids. So, I gave myself permission to take it slowly for several weeks.

One day, I was too sore to be on my feet, so I did what I never did: assigned the class a story to read and answer questions at the end. Don’t judge me. I was doing enough of that myself.

I told you they were magic, right? Every student got to work. The room was silent as they all read and referred back to the story. They wrote in complete sentences.

I stood up for a moment, and must have been unsteady, because I stumbled, and in doing so, knocked my teacher’s edition of the text off the corner of my desk. Do you know how heavy and big a teacher’s edition is? Imagine a bag of bricks the size of a cafeteria tray. Off it slid…into the trash can…which promptly tumbled over, with the book and trash which rolled out onto the floor.

One of my girls told me that they all inhaled at the same moment, leaving a temporary vacuum…Into that pristine silence was heard one voice: my voice. “Well, dammit!”

Not the worst thing I could have said…or have said. But, still. The grown-up in the room just cussed.

I looked out at 30+ faces and thought fast: “If any of you ever tell anyone I said that, I will deny it. Loudly. People will believe me!” If anything, that moment bonded us all even stronger. They saw their teacher was capable of big mistakes!

It became the running joke, not just for the year, but for all the years since when I would see a student. TJ was one of the ones who remembered and reminded me of my potty mouth every time we saw each other. He delighted in rubbing it in…

What I didn't know until later is how much TJ's friends valued his good heart. One friend said that TJ seemed to know when he needed a smile or a friendly word. What I DID notice is that TJ didn't let his own burdens erase his smile...it was a part of who he was. So many of his friends have shared stories about his uncanny ability to change their bad moods and support them through sadness. This makes me love him more.

He dated my daughter a couple of times in high school…they were good friends, and I loved them both. We all decided, with no words exchanged, that the relationships were not going to survive any romantic entanglements. And what we really valued was he friendship. We all three happily agreed to stay “Just friends.”

And we stayed friends.

On every last day of class, I told my students that I would NOW really explain the rules…that once you were mine, you were mine for life. I did not do 3AM phone calls and I did not do tuition, but I intended to be involved in their lives outside of our classroom. That I wanted to see them again. I wanted graduation pictures, and later, wedding and baby pictures. Kids knew I meant it.

After he graduated and became a police officer, he would stride into my classroom at North, in full uniform and stand there, buff and intimidating. Girls swooned and boys squirmed with envy. This picture from one of his friends captures that grin...so glad it also includes his badge. 

He often waited until close to the school year, so I could stand there, with him and share my rules with these new students. I fit neatly under his shoulder, and felt his bulletproof vest under his uniform. We stood there together and made the point that is now breaking my heart. "Once you're mine..."

TJ did his thing my last year in the classroom, staring down all my kids with that mock-serious face. We talked about a project he was passionate about: exposing merchants who sell beer to underage kids. He was helping keep our teens safe.

We hugged and I told him I loved him.

He loved talking about his little boy. He was so proud of his son...made sure he read with the boy every night. Kept me informed about his grades. My heart is broken for this child who will miss his daddy every day of his life.

We lost TJ today in a motorcycle accident. He had on his helmet, but the crash was too horrific for the helmet to save him.

Every Friday, since before I taught TJ, I would yell a Friday blessing to my students as the bell rang. I hoped to keep them safe. When TJ was in class, the blessing was short and to the point: “Be safe. Be smart. Be back on Monday.”

After I moved to North, I lost a student, and decided I needed a new blessing, and together my kids and I created the one I use, even now. Every Friday. I try to keep my kids safe.

"Take care of yourself. Take care of each other. Buckle up (or wear your helmet). Hug a dad or a mother. Tell someone you love them."

TJ, I love you. You are mine past death.

January, 2011 -- Barresi Slashed NBCTs' Stipends Without Notice.

I found some old files from 2011, the year the dentist began reigning over the OSDE. This post is also about the first State School Board meeting, but it's specifically about the stipends promised to National Board Certified Teachers. 

By law, NBCTs are to receive a stipend every year by January 30, of $5000, as long as they teach full time in a public school classroom in Oklahoma. This is an amazing program that allows dedicated teachers to stay in the classroom where their heart is, and still contribute to their family's finances. 

The speech pathologists piggy-backed on the law for NBCTs, as they did in every other state that rewarded NBCTs, and they received an equal stipend..but they could earn the stipend doing part time work in public schools; NBCTs lost their stipend if they went half time.

The School Board meeting revealed the money to pay the speech pathologists' stipends was "gone." Obviously this was not new information to the Superintendent...she even had speech paths there to speak. No NBCTs were invited or told.

The Board's decision was to take the NBCT funding and add the speech pathologists to that 'bucket' of money. It meant a deduction of $1800 per NBCT, just weeks before the stipend was supposed to be sent to teachers. No notice. Just one fell swoop.

I listened to the Board meeting and took notes. I wrote a letter to the Superintendent. It was my first, and it was the first she ignored. To date, she has ignored every letter, email, snail-mail, and one note I delivered into the hands of her assisitant. Someone from her office has replied to three of my snarky tweets. Three-and-a-half years. Countless leters and emails and tweets. Three replies of under 140 characters.

My notes from listening to the meeting dated 1/30/11:

Ok -- just listened to the School Board discussion to combine all NBCTs and Speech Paths in the same fund. Superintendent Barresi prepared a memorandum (which I would love to see). There were speech paths and school psychologists who were there to speak. The Board voted to prorate PART TIME speech paths. If an NBCT goes part time, there is NO stipend at all. Lots of confusion...I think people just wanted to 'play nice' that late in the day.

In preparation for the meeting Super. Barresi said she spoke to speech paths and the 'legislature' to talk about the fact that the speech path revolving fund was low. A Mona Ryan, who was present and spoke, talked to Super Garrett when she discovered the speech path fund was not fully funded...got nowhere with Garrett.

The law that granted speech paths their stipend supposedly mirrors the NBCT-ELO law, but Board member Rozell several times talked about part time speech paths getting a bonus. No NBCT who works part time, or in a private school is eligible for a bonus. Hmmmm...One thing to include in any note to the Board.

Speech paths in attendance were allowed to agree with Super Barresi that their certification was 'life changing.' A school psychologist was invited to the podium to speak, and she had sent a seven-page packet 'comparing' the various 'national certifications.' The Board didn't have it...the attachment didn't open. No one from ELO was invited to speak.

Barresi says, " My understanding is those people (speech paths, psychologists) had to work just as hard for that year, and do the same...." Several times she repeats "We realized it was not...We researched this..."

The saddest thing was a side discussion that confused National Board Certification and national certification. I believe Barresi said "they are all national board certified.'

Again, NBCTs and nationally certified speech paths must NOT turn on each other, but I felt, listening, that there were points of truth that were glossed over or distorted or misunderstood.

I listened to the entire, toxic meeting, to hear if we could discover what happened to the revolving fund for the speech paths, but never heard. That's still the question in my mind...where is the money??

Now I have to take a shower to wash off the stink of that meeting.

More of Super Barresi's words from the recording "We realized, We researched, We talked to Mr. Herron (the man who brought the packet to the Board), We talked to the legislature (there were two legislators there and they spoke)." She certainly had her hand in this. You can almost hear the fatigue in everyone's voices by then...they just wanted OUT of there...

One thing I left out -- 2319 NBCTs eligible for the stipend...695 speech paths and psychologists...some of whom are part time, but getting the stipend.

NO NBCT spoke...no one was asked to speak...nothing, nada. I don't even know if anyone knew before the agenda was published a couple of days before the meeting...

And my letter to Superintendent Barresi...I believe I sent copies to members of the Board as well. Dated 2/3/11.

Superintendent Barresi,

 I am a teacher in Norman, an NBCT, a finalist for Teacher of the Year at three schools, a Teacher of the Year at two, Norman Teacher of the Year, and a finalist for Oklahoma Teacher of the Year. I have been awarded the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, Medal for Excellence in Secondary Education. I have taught 31 years in this state, and took a $1000 cut in pay in 1979, the year our family moved from Iowa. That’s $1000 real dollars of income lost, with one more year’s experience.  I have continued to lose ground compared to my colleagues in Iowa and Indiana, but I have been allowed the luxury to teach because my salary was never the prime salary in our family.

I  am open to changes that may come in the future with a new administration. That said, I was embarrassed, not just by the members of the Oklahoma School Board last week, but by you as well. You were elected by 56% of ‘the people,’ but that means you now represent 44% of ‘the people’ who did not vote for you. You represent us all…even those who voted for someone else, or didn’t vote at all. I’m hoping in the future there will be recognition that you’re working for all the students and all the teachers of this state, not just those who support your quest to expand choice and ‘competition’ in the schools.

I was disappointed by Senator Rozell’s remark about Ms. Russell, but as I listened to the entire meeting, I see two things clearly that I feel you and Governor Fallin deliberately distorted: 1. He is right. She ‘would (will) be worthless to us’ when she is home on leave, during the most critical weeks of the Legislative session. We will have no voice at the State House protecting the interests of teachers and students. 2. I believe without a doubt, you misrepresented the situation for political gain. He did not say she was worthless as a human being. He did not attack a pregnant woman. He pointed out she will not be on the job when all the students and teachers of Oklahoma need a strong, active advocate. Why did you and Ms. Russell even think she should take that job this year, knowing she would be on leave? And why has the position of Legislative Liaison been added to the SDE this year, only to be awarded to a person who will not be present?

This was a highly-charged meeting, and that off-the-cuff remark by a public official who should know better was unfortunate. The way you and Governor Fallin twisted the story made my head hurt from the spin. You chose to attack him, whereas he was attacking the situation we would be in now that Ms. Russell was hired.

I listened to the entire meeting to hear the discussion about the NBCT and speech path stipends. More concerns, Madam Superintendent.

It appeared, through your words, as if you and Mona Ryan worked together with Mr. Herron (I do not know if I spelled his name correctly) on the proposal to use the NBCT stipend fund to cover the losses in the speech paths’ fund. You continuously used the word ‘we’ when talking: “We researched…we realized…we worked with Mr. Herron…we talked to the legislature.” If there was time to do all this prior to the Board meeting, why was there no time to alert OCTP or ELO, or any NBCT of the meeting and the concern?

Your contention that “My understanding is those people had to work that year as hard…and do the same…” is not true. The two national certifications are extremely different.  But while I am deeply concerned, and always have been, that speech paths and school psychologists piggy-backed off the NBCT law, that’s a done deal.  I refuse to turn on a fellow education professional in these troubling times. Some policymakers may actually hope we’ll be distracted by in-fighting  and forget what the real concern is. I hope you misspoke when you said, “They are all National Board Certified.” Only NBCTs have National Board Certification.

It sounds like speech paths can earn the stipend if they’re working part time. If so, that law does not, as Senator Rozell believes, mirror the NBCT law. To earn the stipend for NBC, a teacher signs a promise every year that she works full time in a public school in Oklahoma. I’m hoping you can clarify that, as I have several  NBCT friends who gave up their stipend when health concerns forced them to work part time. I would hope their lost bonuses will be pro-rated back to them if that is the case.

I have three other deep concerns about that discussion. First and foremost, where did the money go for the speech paths’ revolving fund? Why aren’t any of you screaming that question? Where is the money? Why was it gone?

Why were no NBCTs allowed to speak at the meeting, why was the director of OCTP not recognized to speak, when there were speech paths and school psychologists who seemed to be invited to the meeting specifically to speak? Was OCTP informed of this meeting, or was it only speech paths and psychologists? You even prompted them, “Your national certification was life-changing…?” and asked them to speak. Any NBCT could have been eloquent and specific about our certification, and the impact on student learning.

And, finally, why did this all happen literally days before the checks were to be in the hands of the NBCTs and speech paths, by law? Why did this happen NOW?

You are my boss and I assure you I will work as tirelessly as I always have for the students of Oklahoma. I am a fourth-generation teacher. This is my family’s business. My heart and soul are in this profession. I will go to school tomorrow and revel in the student learning I will witness. I will be here tomorrow and beyond, no matter if policies and laws make my job increasingly difficult. I’m a teacher; I adjust and make things work.

Politics aside, I will go back to my classroom and do what I do best: teach, and impact the learning of my students.

I am requesting copies of the proposal Ms. Ryan gave the Board, and would further request a copy of the ‘comparison’ chart the school psychologist who addressed the Board referred to. I think all of us deserve to see this information.

I appreciate the opportunity to be honest here and await a reply.

Claudia Swisher

National Board Certified Teacher

Norman North High School

Needless to say, I never received the answer to my question, "Where did the money go?" and I did not receive notes. I received nothing from them then, and less since then.

This is why we must vote today, and if need be, in the runoff. 

Vote Today! And Thank Superintendent B for the Inspiration.

Superintendent Barresi has inspired teachers and parents and administrators, not by her inclusive style, but by her disdain. Her arrogance. Her lying. 

She's inspired some of the most active, informed education bloggers in the country:

Rob Miller
Okeducationtruths
Jason James
Seth Meier
Brett Dickerson

There are other equally insightful bloggers as well, but these are the most vocal

She has inspired parents in a whole new way. They have learned to organize and lobby:
Tulsa Area PLAC -- Parent Action Leadership Committee
Oklahoma Central PLAC
Cleveland County PLAC

There are other active parent groups, but these are the ones I work with. 

She's inspired a huge coalition of churches, civic groups, and teacher organizations:

VOICE

She inspired my career as a blogger, first in the last years of my career, aware that I represented not just myself, but my school and my district. I was careful to stay on the safe side of incendiary until I retired, and then I let loose.

It all started for me with the first School Board meeting...most educators knew they happened, but we were busy, and they were held during the school day.

That first one was a doozy. I listened to a recording of it in my office one Sunday afternoon. Between the yelling of the members of the Board, and MY yelling at the Board and the Superintendent, my husband came in and closed the door...we were interrupting his football game.

The next week, Barresi's 'journalistic' arm printed a cartoon of the meeting: The Board was portrayed as willful, misbehaving children. Barresi was portrayed as the harried teacher...it's buried someplace in the archives, but we don't have time to find it.

I wrote a letter to the editor, surprisingly never published. I share it on FB, because I didn't know how this new-fangled blog thing worked.

Barresi has inspired us...to be vocal, to unite forces, to stand up for our students. She must inspire us to do one more thing: VOTE!

Here's my letter that never got published.

The cartoon and editorial in the Sunday Oklahoman depicts the Oklahoma School Board as a bunch of misbehaving youngsters and Superintendent Barresi as the harried teacher trying to keep order. I listened to the meeting online, and I have another perspective.

Much has been made of Senator Rozell’s inappropriate remark. But, as any teacher or parent will tell you, the person who swings the roundhouse, as he did here,  is not the one who started the altercation, just the one who got caught. So, who was throwing sand and poking sticks? Listen to the meeting and you’ll see Superintendent Barresi was not an innocent victim of the mean old Board.

Some of the sand thrown by Superintendent Barresi:

• ·         Not replying to Board member Gilpin’s requests for information about the proposed members of the Superintendent’s staff, people who worked on Superintendent Barresi’s campaign but have no education training or experience.
• ·         Appointing people to senior positions in the SDE who have neither training nor experience in education. Superintendent Barresi’s answer was they ‘had worked with educators.’
• ·         Allowing her campaign aides to work in senior positions at the SDE before the Board approved their hiring
• ·         Paying these campaign aides with funds from a private Foundation
• ·         Appointing a woman to the position of Legislative Liaison who will be absent from the job during the most important weeks of the Session
• ·         Introducing her ‘staff’ and sharing the happy news about new babies before any staff was approved.
• ·         Increasing the salaries for her campaign aides from the previous staff positions from $75,000 to $96,000.

So, imagine yourself on the playground with another child who threw sand in your face, who poked you with a stick, but only when no one was watching. Then imagine you’re the one who got blamed for the entire altercation. Did you do the wrong thing? Absolutely. Should you say ‘sorry’? Absolutely. But what about the sand-thrower? Should she say ‘sorry’ too? Absolutely.  

Happens every day on playgrounds.  Teachers know to look for the child with sandy fingers , dropping a sharp stick.

What About Those Odds?

Here in Oklahoma public education we have been living a dystopian nightmare…with a Superindentist, driven by out-of-state overlords, to rebrand, reshape education in our state. From the public schools described in our populist Constitution, to charters and online schools, to vouchers and tax credits for ‘contributions’ to private schools. She has, as her Information Ministry, one of the two major newspapers in the state. Close ties between the paper and the Superindentist are well documented and she wields her power over the paper to smear opponents, to force half-hearted endorsements, and to slant news in her favor.http://www.thelostogle.com/2014/06/16/the-oklahoman-issued-a-sad-eye-rolling-and-suspect-endorsement-for-janet-barresi/

The Superindentist takes her marching orders from Jeb Bush, leader of Foundation for Excellence, as in FEE-D his political ambitions on the backs of children and teachers….he wants to use his minions to create a national presidential campaign. His minions are charged with creating little ‘utopias’ around the nation to which he can point and crow of his success.

Unfortunately, if you’re not the overlord or his Superindentist minion, you’re not living a utopian existence…You’re living with the control, the shortages, the fear. We have seen more mandates, more demands being placed on schools as support has dwindled. Schools are being starved to prove they are failing. The disdain for our work. The single-minded concentration of power. The disrespect for privacy of our students.

As is often the case, we contributed to our own misery in this dystopian society…we voted for the Superindentist. Or, worse, we didn’t vote at all. We were too busy, or too uninterested. We couldn’t be bothered. We gave the Superindentist and her overlord dominion over public education. And we suffered mightily.

From the first Board Meeting it was clear she would have her way. She bullied, fired, defied. She enlisted the Governor and Legislators. She encouraged bills that changed the landscape of educators’ and students’ work in the classroom. Third graders now flunk based on one test…well, not this year and next. But the law is still in place and it is a labyrinthine task to bring your third grader safely through the red tape and requirements. What did the Superindentist do? Called the legislators who overrode her wishes, “Pathetic and outrageous” and fumed at the insurrection…

Now schools and districts are graded…in a system so deeply flawed research scientists have twice declared it a disaster. What did the Superindentist do? She hired her own researcher, and paid her to disagree with the scientists. So there. The Superindentist continues to support her A-F grading system, recently calling it ‘great’ in a candidate debate. She was the only one.

The Superindentist pledges to work for expansion of charters and vouchers. It’s part of her platform. She pledges to restore the punitive aspects of third grade testing. She pledges to install merit pay, based on the state’s version of value-added measures, a completely discredited system, proved to be junk science.

She travels the state, occasionally dropping in on candidate debates, smiling her insincere smile, speaking in her carefully-modulated hypocritical voice, sounding much like Professor Umbridge from Harry Potter. She has a plan for her second term. She’s been open about much of it. More high stakes tests, more charters, more vouchers.

With HB3399 now law, whoever holds the power in the OSDE will control the manner in which our new Standards will be written. Power to include or ignore educators. Power to revise at will, even after groups have agreed on the Standards. Power to control what and how we teach. If we give her this power, we are fools, willing accomplices in our own destruction.

Unlike dystopian societies in literature, we have the power to change, to reject the Superindentist and her overlord. We created this landscape by our own neglect, and we can change it.

All it takes is a vote…my vote. Your vote. Your neighbor’s vote. Your family’s vote. Your Sunday School class’s votes. Each of us doing our part.

Indiana overthrew the overlord’s representative. Sent him packing back to the overlord, defiant until a scandal brought him down too low for even the overlord to save him.

We can do this…we can vote…vote early, vote Tuesday. We can vote and end this dystopian world now.

Because if we don’t do it Tuesday, the odds will never be in our favor.