to blog politics or not to....

normally im not one to rant about politics, though if you were to ask my opinions i would gladly give it. just because someone doesnt wear their politics on their sleeve doesnt mean they dont care about things and act on them. i think i go both ways. i dont hardcore push agendas at people, but yes i am the type of person who comments back to slanted news storys and says argumentative things about certain political figures. there is one in particular lately that has driven me to wax poetics on politics. mr. arnold, our governor. he's someone i DID NOT vote for. thats right, i voted no on the re-call because i really did not want him to be in charge of california.

because of the work i do, i have a strong partnership and tie to the schools in the communities i work in. i work with more than 10 different high schools throughout santa clara county. the students i work with matter to me. lets face it, california's educational system is shit. we are ranked 44 of the 50 states based on the quality of education provided to students. only six states have a worse educational system than california. supposedly california schools is given money from the local property tax, and the lottery. well the lottery only provides about 1-2 dollars per 100 that is made. thats not much. in california about 6,258 dollars goes to each student, but in new york 11,588 dollars goes to each student. thats nearly double what california spends on their students.

my students lately have been telling me how all their elective courses at their schools are being cut. silver creek students have told me their class periods are being cut from 6 to 5 and there will be fewer breaks throughout the day with longer class periods. the school district we mostly work with, east side union, has given our more than 500 pink slips to their teachers.

then we have arnie... good ol' fucking arnie... borrowing a ton of money from education then refusing to pay it back. back in 1988 prop. 98 was passed that guarantees 40% of california's budget be devoted to education... like that happens any way... and now... arnold is trying to pass an initiative that revokes the requirement. lets not forget that the majority of cuts are occuring in the poorest schools. not the lil' blue ribbon schools. of course not. lets cut hardcore from the school's that actually need the money and give the rest of the school's execs pay raises. sorry. below the belt. whatever. this is just fucking ridiculous. this whole pension cutting thing too... i mean, i get the idea behind it, but its just more of the same. instead of holding huge corporations ceo's accountable for whatever shady business tactics they currently practice, they are going after low-level, line-working people in the community, like educators, police officers, firemen, state workers, etc WORKING CLASS PEOPLE..(enron and worldcom cost teachers and schools millions of dollars too). and how he referrs to people in this group as "special interest".. thats a pretty big slap in the face. i dont know where he gets off saying that people are either "for the kids or special interests". please. who has more special interests, ... arnold fucking schwarzenegger or teachers and nurses?

so i was supposed to go to piedmont high school for a meeting for our health advocacy group... but this prevented us:
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East Side Union students stage walkout
TEACHER LAYOFF NOTICES SPARK PROTEST
By Chuck Carroll
Mercury News

Hundreds of students staged a coordinated walkout from five high schools in the financially struggling East Side Union High School District of San Jose this morning to protest the potential pink-slipping of hundreds of teachers and staff.

More than 100 students were seen on the sidewalk out in front of Piedmont Hills High School, 1337 Piedmont Road, just before 9 a.m. One 17-year-old girl was cited and released to her parents after allegedly assaulting the school's principal, San Jose police Officer Enrique Garcia said.

Other than that, the protests were apparently orderly, officials said. "They're not out of control or anything,'' Garcia said.

The other high schools reportedly involved in the walkout were James Lick, 57 N. White Road, and Oak Grove, 285 Blossom Hill Road, Independence, 1776 Educational Park Drive, Mount Pleasant, 1750 S. White Road, officials said.

District Superintendent Esperanza Zendejas said the students were back in their classrooms by about 10 a.m.

Zendejas said the administrators had been hearing rumors of a walkout for the past four days. She said she heard that at least 50 students were involved in the walkout at each of the schools.

Zendejas said the students have every right to be concerned about the potential layoffs, but that a walkout is counterproductive because the schools' funding from the state is tied to actual student "seat time.''

"There are appropriate ways to express their concerns, and walkouts are not one of them,'' she said. "It just deepens our problems.''

Zedejas said most teachers were "very helpful'' in keeping participation in the walkout down. But she added that she was concerned about reports from Mount Pleasant that some teachers encouraged students leave their classrooms to participate in the walkout.

"We are going to look at that because we cannot have teachers having students get involved in walkouts,'' Zendejas said. "However, we are sensitive to the concerns that the students are voicing.''

Several school principals met with the students and promised to set up an open microphone at lunchtime to let students speak their minds, Zendejas said.

The district will have to get tough with the girl who cited for assault, she said.

The district mailed out layoff notices to more than 500 teachers last week to warn them that many of their jobs might be in jeopardy unless district officials can somehow come up with some other way of managing the unprecedented fiscal crisis.

Officials say they hope to hold actual layoffs to less than 200. Final notices must be sent out to those who must go by May 15.

East Side Union is Santa Clara County's second-largest school district, serving about 24,000 students in San Jose. It has projected a deficit of about $10 million next year, leading teachers and administrators to spar over how to close the gap.

Teachers want the district to tap into land-sale funds; administrators want teachers to forgo a cost-of-living increase and accept a cap on health benefits. The crisis was set off in part by district voters' rejection of a parcel tax measure last fall.
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yeah. so thats what ive been thinking about today and the past couple weeks. this is shitty.

other random thoughts not relating to politics:
*when was it okay to start playing "flagpole sitta"- harvey danger again on the radio?
*the bloodhoud gang song, "the bad touch" is freakin awesome. who has it and wants to burn it for me?
*i really enjoy live 105's rewind at noon. oingo boingo while driving to get korean food made me quite happy.
*i hate that moby has a new album out. dude is annoying.

now listening to: prefuse 73- vocal studies + uprock narratives