Teachers' Strike Gives Tess a Fall Break

Tess is enjoying a fall break from school. The local teacher's union went on strike in the Seneca Valley School District. I personally feel this feeds the "anti-teacher" mentality in this country that helped create the lame No Child Left Behind bureaucracy that forces kids into cookie-cutter learning under restrictive standardized testing. But that's another blog entry.

Tess hung out with Caroline on the first day of the strike. She's hanging out with Mom today. On Wednesday she'll go to Westminster with me. Emma's lucky. Her school was not affected by the strike. We're ready for it to last another 8 days. On the way home I noticed an "anti-teacher" picket up the street from the teachers’ union picket line at Tess' school. Where are these people when it comes to Election Day? They can't affect this strike, but they can affect who is elected to the school board. Political action in Cranberry Township is rare. People usually roll over and accept the latest “pro-developer” or “pro-business” practices in the community that always leaves the homeowners out in the cold. This was refreshing to see, but it will likely dissipate when the teacher’s go back to class. If people will only get this interested and mobilized about standardized tests and administration policies that harm kids.