Why does Texas hate children?

I'm feeling depressed ya'll. The people in the state of Texas are riding on an 18-wheeler headed straight to hell, and Governor Rick Perry is at the wheel. That's right I said it. According to the new budget proposed by good ol'  Rick and his crew, public schools will face a 5 billion dollar budget cut that will eliminate pre-kindergarten and possibly kindergarten education, significantly reduce arts education and cut teacher incentive pay. Why? Why you ask? Because Rick Perry and the GOP promised no new taxes.

There is a major difference in the development of students who have not had pre-kinder and come into kindergarten straight from their parent's house. Pre-kinder helps to socially acclimate students by exposing them to the teacher/student relationship, and to other children their age that are not a part of their family. It teaches them their alphabet and numbers and helps set the ground work for kindergarten. Now, instead of spending money to educate these children, the state of Texas would rather spend money building prisons to house them in the future. Uneducated children who struggle in school are more likely to turn to lives of crime and become future inmates. Did you know that prisons are built based on 3rd grade literacy rates? If a child doesn't learn to read by the first grade, chances are they may never learn, and if they do it will be much more difficult.  And now with no pre-kinder, or kinder where will they be?

But it doesn't stop there, these new budget cuts will close four community colleges.Who goes to community college you might ask? Those of us that can't afford to go to a big, over-priced, four year college right away. It will also virtually eliminate  financial aid for all incoming freshman and students. No FINANCIAL AID for college?! College is already grotesquely overpriced as it is, and financial aid makes it possible for those of us that don't have hundreds of thousands of dollars lying around.

Let's keep this wagon rolling, there's more. If you didn't vote in last year's election, please take this moment to slap yourself. Go ahead, I'll wait.

This plan for destruction will eliminate 9,600 state jobs, (not including the jobless pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teachers), and cut more than 700 million dollars at state universities and colleges.

So buckle up Texans, it's going to be a rough, elitist, ill-planned  ride. (to hell)

Freedom: The ultimate goal.

"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed." Dr.Martin Luther King Jr.

Yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and as I reflected on the life and works of Dr.King I found myself wondering about the current state of our country today; how much has changed and how much needs to change. Equality is Freedom, and everyone wants to be free. Freedom is the ultimate goal for the human race. We have religions that are in theory supposed to free us from our earthly constraints, the pursuit of money which can provide freedom and power, drugs designed to provide freedom from discomfort and distress , prisons to restrict people from freedom and the list goes on. Dr.King believed in freedom through equality not for some,  but for everyone. Nowadays when I hear people speak about equality, they don't mean equality for everyone- they mean equality for their race or for the people they approve of. "I want to see the _________(insert your race here) man on top!" This type of racial and radical supremacist thinking does not only affect those in power, but those who'd like to be in power which leads me to believe this: if said race(s) were in power would things be any different for those groups not in power? Or would they be exactly the same just with a different face on the oppressor and a new face on the oppressed? So the next time you find yourself wishing for equality,justice,peace or freedom don't just wish it for some, wish it for everyone because we are all the human race, with the same needs, feelings, wants and desires.

Twin Language?

So there are these super adorable twins in my class. They are 5 years old and native Spanish speakers, learning English in school. They are so funny, and sweet but also mischievous! They're already pulling the twin switcheroo trick! The entire class (the kids, my assistant and myself) confuse them. But I finally found a way to tell them apart, because one of them is a little chunkier than the other one. Even with this knowledge we still get into debates over who is who. It doesn't help that when you ask them they say yes no matter which name you're saying. "Are you *Juan? You're Juan right?" "Yes" says *Julio. He even gives you a reassuring head nod. Their parents gave them these gold medallion necklaces w/ their names engraved on the back, but they don't wear them everyday. I suppose it gets tiring having people scramble towards your neck and damn near choke you just to find out what your name is. Also it's not really easy to tell their personalities apart either because they switch days of behaving themselves. One day Julio’s great the next day he's all over the place, but I do think Juan is the more rambunctious one.

Anyway, today Julio was crying and stressed b/c his brother went "missing" (Juan was in the bathroom w/ two other boys but didn't tell anyone where he was going. According to the boys there was an iguana (more like a newt) in the restroom and they wanted to go back and see it, maybe in the frenzy and excitement to see the iguana, they "forgot" yea right to ask the teacher for permission. Juan was found and back in the classroom he had to change his color on the wall from green to YELLOW!

Ok for those of you who might've forgotten what it's like to move your color from green to yellow, it's equivalent to pinning a vibrant scarlet letter A right on your 5 year old chest, or walking into church late: stressful, uncomfortable and mostly embarrassing. So after kinda pretending like he didn't know what I was talking about Juan stands in front of the behavior chart for like 2 minutes (a painfully long amount of time for a five year old) and tells me that he changed his name. Then his brother comes in and says, "No, not me Ms.C." as he pointed at his brother and shook his head vehemently. Juan changed Julio's card on the behavior chart! I looked at Juan who offered a faux-i-dunno what happened shrugs, then guiltily changes his card. These kids are unbelievably smart.

*Names have been changed. 

1/1/11

A dear friend of mine tragically and unexpectedly decided to end his life, and while I may never fully understand why I do know this; Frankie was an amazing, awesome, kind, generous,hilarious, and wonderful person. So my 2011 is dedicated to him. This year I am going to say "yes" more. When I'm feeling scared or apprehensive about doing something I'm going to go ahead and do it. This is a sure way to grow more confident while experiencing the adventure of life- which can be taken away suddenly. Frankie, rest in peace buddy. I am blessed to have known you, and hope to make you proud.

                                                                Photo By Allison V.Smith


*Note* When you hold your problems inside, they tend to take on a greater life and create more harm than they're worth.Speaking to friends, and people you trust really helps to put issues into perspective.Even speaking to someone you're not that close to can get you sound advice because they can take an objective approach to your problem. When you implode you hurt yourself, and when you explode you hurt others. So please try to find healthy ways to discuss and resolve the things that are troubling to you because you are never really alone. Also, venting is healthy and good but do try and find a resolution to your problems, not just an outlet because what's the point if you're not trying to correct them?