Look for the Helpers

So some stuff happened.

Some rotten people said some rotten things. I'm not even going to dignify them by using their real names. They don't deserve any recognition.

But just for a quick summary....

The Tale of the Enchanted Pizza Rolls Or
The story of Mr. Big Pants
and Ms. Angry Ruffle Pockets

    Once upon a time there was a land called Kennewickville. In this land was a king who surrounded himself with counselors. One of those counselors was a man named Mr. Big Pants. Now Mr. Big Pants thought he was pretty important, and he thought he was pretty funny. In fact he thought he was so important and so funny that he could say whatever he wanted, even if it was mean and not actually that funny, AND he thought people should laugh like it was a hilarious joke.

Pants possibly near as large as the pants
mentioned in this tale. 

       One day Mr. Big Pants told a joke about the people in the nearby land of Yakimaville.  Nobody thought it was funny. In fact it made a lot of people mad.  The people in Kennewickville had a lot of friends in Yakimaville, and they didn't think it was right at all for someone like Mr. Big Pants to be making fun of them.  The people of Kennewickville started talking about asking Mr. Big Pants to resign, and even asking the king of Kennewickville to banish him. Mr. Big Pants didn't like this one bit. In fact, just to show how sure he was of himself he started telling even more mean jokes about even more people.

   Meanwhile the people of  Pascoland had heard about the mean jokes Mr. Big Pants was telling. They didn't think they were funny one little bit. But the people of Pascoland were glad, since Mr. Big Pants didn't live in their kingdom. They really didn't like that kind of talk happening in their land.  

 One night the citizens of Pascoland were having a meeting to discuss the needs of the children of Pascoland. Lots of people were talking and sharing ideas about the good things that could be done. But then one woman got up and shared an idea that confused everyone. Her name was Ms. Angry Ruffle Pockets. Ms. Angry Ruffle Pockets was VERY angry at Mr. Big Pants. She thought the school board should help the children of Pascoland by telling Mr. Big Pants to stop being so mean to the children of Pascoland. Now, everyone was surprised by this idea, since they didn't know Mr. Big Pants had even said anything to the kids of Pascoland. That's when things got interesting.

Oooohhhh! So ruffly!
You'd think they would
make the owner happier... 

    It turns out Mr. Big Pants did say something mean about some of the kids of Pascoland, but it was said on a private Facebook page so no one knew about it. No one knew about it that is until Ms. Angry Ruffle Pockets started sharing the post all over Facebook. People in Pascoland really started getting mad at Mr. Big Pants for being mean. People also started getting mad at Ms. Angry Ruffle Pockets for repeating Mr. Big Pants mean words all over the place. 

Well, lots of people wanted to help the children of Pascoland stand up against the mean words of Mr. Big Pants.  Some suggested the kingdom no longer trade with anyone in Kennewickville as long as Mr. Big Pants was still there. Others made formal statement condemning Mr. Big Pants' words. People started talking in general about how mean words can hurt and scare children. People talked in general about how people need to be sensitive and kind to others. People can actually be pretty cool some times, you know.

The news said the kids of Pascoland were saying What?
Yeah, that didn't happen.

Then the news got involved. Unfortunately, they led people to believe that lots of kids all over Pascoland were crying because other kids were copying people like Mr. Big Pants and saying mean things to each other at school. This wasn't actually the case. In the end a lot of people had hurt and angry feelings, and Mr. Big Pants became the most famous person in Kennewickville, Pascoland, and all the surrounding kingdoms.  Mr. Big Pants still thinks he is really important, and the people of Pascoland have spent a whole lot of time worrying about somebody who doesn't even live in their kingdom.

As I've watched the events of the past two weeks unfold, I have been very sad to see so many of my friends angry and deeply hurt. I've wondered what I could do to help.  Would standing up against Mr. Big Pants be helpful? Or would it just give him the attention that he is so desperately seeking?

While pondering what to do, I was reminded of a quote by my hero,  Mr. Rogers.

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping."

I would like to take Mr. Roger's advice and point out just a few of the helpers in this situation.

Our KIDS

At the community meeting where this topic was first brought to light as it relates to Pasco's kids, a principal there stated that children had come to school crying because they were concerned their families were going to be deported. They apparently either overheard things about immigration law enforcement either from their parents or from the news that scared them. The principal said that other students were comforting and encouraging the children to help them not to be afraid. Unlike what the news reported, students were not at all trying to hurt one another. They were trying their best to help.

Our TEACHERS

At the same meeting, a teacher confirmed that many students come to school scared and confused about issues surrounding racism and prejudice. She told of how she has regular conversations with her students about what racism looks and sounds like, the importance of tolerance, and how they can stand up for themselves while still treating others with respect.

Our SCHOOL BOARD

Although the school board as a whole chose not to fulfill one community member's request to formally go on record denouncing the words of "Mr. Big Pants," at least one board member did personally make a public and formal statement encouraging everyone to reach out to one another in respect, humility, and love.

These are the helpers. These are the people that matter. Not the Mr. Big Pants of the world. As my friend TayTay always says, "Haters gonna Hate."

Don't you even let Mr. Big Pants tell you what you gonna do.
You just go and be amazing like I totes know you can.

In Pasco we love. Every child. Every day.

That is why I love Pasco.

My Child Works at the PSD Sweat Shop

Remember the good old days of child labor? Those were fun times. No pesky laws to keep kids from pulling their own weight. Even the tiniest tot could head on over to the factory and earn his penny a day wage. Good times. Good times. Sadly the days of children working away in factories is behind us here in America.

The good ol' days, back before them fancy schmancy internuts
and them fancy schmancy intelligent walkie phones.

If you're lucky you can travel to a third world country and catch a glimpse of one of these child-centric economies still at work. Most of us, however, will never get to experience this kind of "opportunity."

Bob learns a life skill instead of a word problem

Steve here is banking trade skills. What did your littl'un bank at school today?

Luckily we have an educational system that believes we can still find a way for these little moochers to pull their own weight. We don't let kids into the factory anymore, that would be too dangerous. Instead we've found some great "white color" jobs for them to do.

Roy Junior had a hard time with the commodities market, so he's trying a little standardized testing.

The testing industry is booming right now and they've got plenty of positions open in research and development. You don't even need to apply. In fact, it's likely your child has already been hired! Every day our kids are sitting behind desks typing away for hours at a time testing out the legitimacy of dozens of methods, models, and modes of education...

A little faster there, Franny. We only get the bonus bucks if you finish in 4 hours or less. 

Strangely, though, it turns out not every parent and teacher is thrilled with the idea that students are spending so much of their learning time taking tests. Apparently this white collar work isn't as harmless as it looks. Those who know children best are seeing all kinds of harmful side effects. Kids are becoming agitated and ill. More fighting and more vomiting (the two most oft cited reasons for joining the teaching profession I'm sure) are occurring. Kids aren't happy and they aren't healthy. Recently in Pasco (and nationally) there has been some push back against excessive testing. In fact, reduced testing is one of the stipulations teachers held out for before agreeing to this year's contract. Teachers demanded that the district cut back on the number of standardized tests given to students each year.

And it worked! Right? Didn't it?

Not exactly. It turns out there are a lot of reasons people like kids to take tests. The number one reason cited in Pasco for all the excess standardized testing..... MONEY.

Well, we SHOULD be limiting testing for the sake of the childrens' psychological and intellectual health
but there's this big old bucket of cash we want...

Every time a test has been brought to the chopping block, a district admin has been there to say we need this test for the simple reason that it's tied to funding.

Yup. Pasco School District gets paid money for the tests your child is taking.

Of course it's not all that black and white. There are a lot of complicated ways the district can make money off of testing. And most of them aren't even that nefarious. The government likes schools to prove they are doing a good job before they just hand over our tax dollars. This means that in order for a school to get the money from the government that we've already paid in taxes, our kids have to first take a test to prove they are actually getting an education.

Also some grants are based on proving that we are serving a particular demographic. In order to prove that, we need a test. Frequently, it's done in the name of accountability. We have to give kids a test to "prove" our kids are learning and then some cooperation or government entity will cut us a big fat check. It's the way the system works. So naturally, we should all be okay with this. Never-mind that the money tied to these tests isn't necessarily getting funneled back into learning. We must get our hands on all the dollars! ...mustn't we?

I don't know about you, but I'm not super thrilled with my children being turned into cash calves so that PSD can hire another assistant superintendent to oversee another experimental program.

Tests are never this tasty.

I mean, if we are going to make money off our kids, there are easier ways to do it. Let's just send them out to the fields to pick apples. They'd make a ton more money, learn a useful skill, and get plenty of exercise. It's a win-win-win!

Right?

The Cotton or Calculus school of education

This boy makes far more money picking carrots AND he doesn't have to break for P.E.

Um.... no.

No. No. No. NO!

Just as we wouldn't stand for the notion of hundreds of little children being marched out to the fields every day, we also shouldn't stand for those same children spending hours at a time hunched over computer screens, working as educational guinea pigs.

Last year the teachers and community in Pasco stood up for students. Twice! During the walk-out and the strike teachers said among other things, "We will not allow our kids to be over-tested. Our children will not take any more standardized tests than is absolutely mandated by law!"  It's in the teacher contract. It is legally binding.

I'm sorry. What is a computer? I don't know the answer to that question.

Now the task at hand is to find out which tests are required by law, and which are not. Unfortunately PSD doesn't seem to know which is which. During recent bargaining (yes, bargaining goes on year round) PAE asked PSD to provide a list of legally mandated tests, and PSD hasn't been able to do it. Why? Your guess is as good as mine.  Do these professional education managers not know which tests are mandated by the state and federal governments?  If that sounds like gross incompetence, it's because it kinda would be. It'd be akin to Mark Zuckerberg not knowing the difference between a hard drive and a USB port. It's not really his whole job description but it's an essential component of it.  

Hands off my tests! This is my
retirement you're talking about here!

I assume, therefore, that our administration at the Booth does, in fact, know which of the tests we're slogging through are mandated. Yet they seem reluctant to share that information with the rest of us. Do they not want to admit what tests aren't required? Why not? Why can't they even give a simple answer to the board at board meetings? That sounds like very shady behavior. At the very least it sounds like behavior that does not have the best interests of the kids at heart.

So what can we do? Two things.

Step 1: We can put our money where our mouth is. 

If we don't want our kids paying their own way through elementary school, then we need to make sure the funding is there for them. This includes the passing of school levies and bonds. If we expect the district to let go of funding tied to testing, we have to show them we are willing to make up the difference. And so far we have!!! Hooray for those who voted and helped to get the levy passed last month. Now lets keep our eye on next years bond.

Step 1: Complete!

Step 2: We can demand better.

Just complaining gets us no where. We need constructive action. We can call, write, or visit the school board and district administrators and let them know we aren't okay with all these tests. If you're a parent who signed a waver to opt your child out of testing last year, take an extra minute to write the school board and let them know you care about all of Pasco's kids. Encourage them to "opt-out" all of Pasco's students. Not every child is lucky enough to have parents who can advocate for them. While your child may have you in their corner, there are 30 other students in their class who are still sitting at a computer screen taking a painful test that has no influence on their actual learning. Not only is this unfair, but it is incredibly prejudicial. High poverty students, special education students, and non-native English students will spend the most time testing of any group of children. Does that seem right? Are you okay with that?

The school board meets every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. See you there.

The Hero of the Levy

Hurrah, hurrah! Levy passed! We have succeeded! We beat the odds, literally! We collectively put our money where our mouths are and passed our levy!  

A Party For The Levy Passing! Gold stars for everyone! Congratulatory party and doing the limbo for a solid week! (Okay, maybe that's too much. Three days of limbo are far more sensible.) 

Party!

Party!

Party!

I’ve seen posts and comments abounding in the last twenty-four hours with this general theme, but in all this congratulations and praise, something is missing. SOMEONE is missing. There’s a big someone here who deserves the credit more than anyone else. That someone is one of my favorite people in the world. 

You, Pasco. You.

This is my love for you, Pasco. It's big, it's shiny and it might make you a little uncomfortable. 

To you and no other, Sir Alastair Pemberton tips his hat.
He's from Alabama so you can trust him. 

Here’s the thing. We can nod our hats to the levy committee, we can nod our hats to the editorial writers of the Tri-City Herald, and we can certainly give a well deserved nod to the parents, children and teachers who stood out on street corners waving signs in the frigid cold. But we all know they aren’t the real heroes here. We, they, and all of us should give credit where credit is due. And if we’re going to be really honest with ourselves, that credit is due entirely to the people of Pasco. To you, my friends. All of you.

I know what you did, and I know what it took for you to do it. I want you to know that I know it wasn't easy.

Voting for something you believe in is easy. Voting for something you believe with all your heart when there’s a high likelihood of success at the other end of that yes vote is likewise simple. But we, myself included, asked something far more complicated and difficult of Pasco. We asked you to give PSD another shot despite all previous evidence. To take a leap of faith. To vote yes even when you’re worried your vote will be abused. A yes vote, with trepidation and fragile hope for the future, though there’s no guarantee that hope is going to be fulfilled.  

Ugh. I want to give the school district money for clubs,
but I gave them money for curriculum for like fifteen
years and they didn't buy curriculum. Ugh.

We’ve asked a lot of you, and I don’t want you to think I didn’t notice. You had some serious, very real and very pertinent worries going into this levy vote. You felt betrayed and ignored by the people asking for your money. You might have felt fed up with this district after having witnessed its complete disregard for integrity during the strike-- But you came through anyway. You swallowed your pride and put the kids first no matter how painful it was to check that yes box. I’m not going to try to pretend it wasn’t conflicting for a whole lot of you. That’s ridiculous. There is a good reason why almost every single place where there’s been a recent strike, levies fail afterward. People are upset. Things have obviously gotten off track somewhere.

We will not fail levies without a fight!

But not here. Not today. We did not go quietly into the night, we did not surrender without a fight. We moved on. We pushed through the doubts and dismay because we all know at the end of the day, that all Pasco kids are worth it. The city is worth it. We are worth it. And those crazy invading space aliens are going DOWN. ...wait. That's not right. That’s for my other blog.

Pasco, I thank you. The kids thank you and the future of the city thanks you. But today I am thanking you, personally, right now. Pasco, you did it. Nobody but you could have done it. So take that celebratory lap, stand a little taller, limbo a little lower, eat that extra slice of pie. You did it.