The Second Half

After getting the cat on my head whacked after work, I found myself sitting at a school board meeting amidst a couple of hunnert’ other parents concerned about budget cuts/override funds/school closures. It’s all legit man, they are talkin’ about cuttin’ teachers, admin staff, and consolidating kids into even a proposed ginormous K-8 school. The usual suspects including clueless parents, very informed parents, propaganda spreading goofballs, and citizens with blatant political aspirations were all clear and present.

Selfishly, I walked away with a better feeling than I walked in with because the impact on Lyza will be minimal - for now anyway. The flip side is that I know a lot of teachers in town who could be impacted by closing schools, and that just plain sucks, but what business hasn't been impacted by our sagging economy? Sorry, but at the end of the day, the school district is another business spending taxpayer money, and that's how some emotionless people look at it.

I also got quite a laugh sitting next to my ex, as we picked apart some of the stereotypical parental sets at the meeting. We were always good at that, when in fact we probably should have been looking in the mirror and realizing our own shortfalls because there were plenty there. Regardless, I left with a smile and it helped bring the entire drama into focus on a bigger level because……..

………..Unfortunately, Flagstaff is fighting a losing battle not in its own community, but at the state legislature level where funds allocated for schools are not seen as a priority, and that view has nothing and everything to do with the horrendous economy in this state right now - meaning it's never been a priority, and now we don't even have the tax base to fund the basic needs.….I guess that’s why our schools are ranked in the lower third nationwide in a lot of categories. And we live here because? Oh yeah, 90% of my kid’s teachers have been great, the mountains behind my house beckon me to come out and play all the time rain, snow, or shine, and since we’ve become accustomed to being underpaid it all makes perfect sense. The mountain biking is pretty good too.

I'm worried though that those outstanding teachers will disappear along with the school/program cuts that are imminent.