Our campus minister is leaving. Melodie will be sorely missed. Part of it is a budget crunch like all schools in this economy, but also it is an opportunity for her to minister to younger students at a nearby parish school. Her absence leaves a hole in many of our school programs, but especially in our Kairos retreat program.
It was a Kairos retreat that I attended almost a year and half ago that changed my life. I attended the retreat again this year as a team member. Experiencing Kairos from both sides has enriched my life beyond measure. But now, I am feeling the call to service, to fill Melodie’s role as retreat director (along with my other duties as teacher, department chair, bus driver, etc.).
I have never done anything like this before. Being a retreat director is not exactly like teaching a class, but I imagine that some of those skills will translate over well. I am a bit nervous to think about all of the responsibilities and all of the things that need to be done. And as a new convert, I am not confident in the church traditions and customs. But I feel the call to do to it.
Last night, I was listening to a Switchfoot song called “On Fire”, and the following lines helped put everything in perspective:
I’m standing on the edge of me
I’m standing on the edge of everything I’ve ever been
It is time for me to stand up and move out of my comfort zone. God has given me an opportunity to serve Him and others. I hope that I don’t let anyone down.
The lyrics above apply to Melodie too. She has a new job, a new ministry, a new school, a different age group to teach. She too has a new opportunity to step out of her comfort zone and to serve. I wish her well.
Besides teaching, one of my other responsibilities of working in a small, Catholic high school is to drive a school bus in the morning. It is not the same as driving a bus for a public school where you follow an actual route and make a dozen or more stops. My route is simple. I drive out to one of our feeder parish schools and pick up a half-dozen or so students and bring them to school. (It is easier for parents to drop their students off at the church then to come all the way into the city.)
Yesterday afternoon, right out of the blue, John came into my classroom and offered to drive my bus for this morning. In the past, I have asked John on a few occasions to drive my bus route when I had a meeting or something, but this time, he came to me. My first thought was “Thanks, but no, it’s my responsibility.” My second thought was “Yes, he’s asking to do a favor. Who am I to deny him to carry out a heart-felt gesture?”
What a perfect example of the Lenten spirit! Now it is up to me to pay it forward to someone else.
Crowds of Baghdad citizens cheering on the morning news reminded me of the scene in the movie Wizard of Oz where the Munchkins were cheering and singing “Ding-dong, the witch is dead!”
Is the wicked witch of the East really dead? Did the house (or restaurant/bunker) fall on him? No one on earth knows yet.
But I wonder, is their another “wicked witch” out their ready to exact revenge?
Last night, the Oklahoma City Board of Education laid off 380 certified teachers. (Actually, “laid off” is not the proper term. These teachers will not have their contracts renewed for next year.) Two suburban districts let go of 100-120 certified positions each. A nearby rural school district let go of 30 positions, or one-third of their staff. Other local districts plan to announce similar drastic cuts in staff. These teacher cuts are due to a massive shortfall of revenue at the state level.
What will happen next year in the classrooms of these school districts? At the elementary school level, the typical classroom of 15-25 students will bulge to 30-40 students. At the high school level, the norm of 25-30 students will inflate to 40-50 students. Can you imagine a first grade class of 35 students? How about an algebra class of 45 students? If people complain about the quality of education now, how do they expect schools to maintain what quality they currently have?
Times are tough in this era of hemorrhaging budget deficits, but the teachers these school districts are letting go are the new teachers (teachers with less than three years of experience). From an employers perspective, this makes perfect sense—keep your most experienced, and presumably, most valuable employees. BUT what will happen to the number of teachers available to teach in say five or tens years from now? The large number of new teachers not being employed as teachers now means they will find employment in other fields, thus creating a shortage of teachers for the future.
The problem gets worse. I remember reading a report several years ago about how the average age of a teacher in Oklahoma was about 40 years old. The state department of education was projecting over half of the current teachers to retire by the year 2010. That means half of the teachers the districts are keeping now will most likely retire within ten years. This will add to the future shortage of teachers.
The problem gets even worse. For many years, Texas has been siphoning off a large chunk of new teachers trained in Oklahoma with the promise of higher salaries because of their own teacher shortage. This will add even more to the future shortage of teachers in Oklahoma.
Faced with larger class sizes, I expect the attrition rate for teachers to increase because of the additional stress and teacher burnout, thus again compounding the future shortage of teachers.
Unfortunately I do not have a solution to the current state budget crisis. Maybe a tax increase of some kind is needed. I know, I don’t like the sound of that either. But I do know this, if something is not done, our children will be stuffed into classrooms with way too many students. The quality of education is bound to suffer. And these large class sizes will not only last for the next year or two during the budget crisis, but for years to come due to a shortage of teachers.
Any way we look at it, it is the children that suffer.
Update (9-Apr-2003): Another suburban high school will have to let go 12 teachers from a staff of 42. To help reduce class size, teachers will not be given a planning period next year. Teachers will have to plan and grade papers before or after school. When will coaches prepare for their classes? And still, class sizes will not be below 30. Talk about teacher burnout. Again, it will be the children that lose out. How can a country has affluent as us let this happen?
I was following this person driving a brand-new BMW this morning and began to think about how far technology has progressed. The automobile has come a long way since Ford’s Model T. Cars have an amazing amount of the electronic and electric-powered devices built into them these days to enhance our driving experience.
These devices range from power windows, power locks, power-adjusted exterior mirrors, power-adjusted seats, power sliding doors (on vans), dual-climate control features (one for the driver and another for the passenger), automatic headlights, satellite radio, CD player, GPS navigation, and TV monitor with video/DVD player. Some of the safety features are fairly advanced too, like power brakes, power steering, anti-lock braking system, and air bags. (Does automatic transmission fit in this group?) Not to mention all of the computer technology installed on engines to maximize horsepower and fuel efficiency. (Fuel efficiency—where are the 60 to 80 mpg cars we were promised back in the 70’s and 80’s after the first energy crisis?)
As I followed this brand-new BMW decked out with all of the latest and greatest technologies, the driver made a right turn. And to my astonishment, his turn signal was broken. Go figure…