And to think that I heard that from Mulberry Street

And to Think that I Heard That From Mulberry Street.......$350,000.  WOW!  That's a chunk of change, isn't it?

Sorry, Dr. Seuss...I had to rework your title.  If half of what I have heard from the "street committee" is true, Bibb County Public Schools are in deep doo.  I care.  I loved my jobs in the Bibb County Schools.  I loved my students, my teachers, my friends, my coworkers.  However, currently there's a feeling of malaise radiating throughout the entire county.

I have stayed clear of writing about the mess in Bibb County intentionally.  I might want to work again someday in the land of education.  It seems like it's a bad sorority rush down there-- you do something to hack people off and Shazam.....you're in the douche room and you're never going to be successful.  It doesn't matter if you are a successful professional, if you aren't singing on the same page of the hymnal, you will be encouraged to find a new church.

BUT, that being said, I have a few things to say as a Bibb County taxpayer, which I still am.

1.  I want children to be able to learn and teachers to be able to teach.  Rudeness is NOT a disability.

2.  Teachers should not have to buy their own supplies.  EVER.

3.  English teachers need to have classes so that they can require their students to write frequently.  If you have 100 students and assign 100 essays, and it takes 30-45 minutes outside of class to grade each one of those papers, it just doesn't work.  The teacher must have time to teach-- and that includes meaningful responses to the writings of a student, rewriting, more messages, the writing process!

4.  School requires students to put in some effort.  Learning requires listening, thinking, and remembering.  My own favorite is when 2 ninth graders came to complain to the principal (me) that their teacher said that George Bush was the president.  They had learned in the 4th grade that George was KING.  They weren't really convinced that the teacher and I were telling them the truth until I showed them a picture of George W. with the word PRESIDENT under his picture on the Internet (everything on the Internet is true).  I tried to explain that George was a popular name.

5.  School is not always fun.  If it was fun, it would be called a carnival.

6.  A system cannot and SHOULD NOT spend money it doesn't have.

7.  If you work in a school system, anywhere, you should become a member of that "community".  You should pay property taxes, go to church, shop, go to dinner, register your auto, and become a member of that state.  Football games, mock trial, choral programs, plays....your smiling face needs to be seen.

8.  Fear and intimidation work wonders during a recession.  I really understand how rule by terror works.

9.  Just answer me one thing.  WHAT has been successfully completed in the past two years?  We have projects halfway completed, ideas and programs started and abandoned, people hired, fired, and promoted to positions far past their knowledge base of law, rules, regulations, and common sense.  I voted on the past ESPLOST especially for a building to replace Heard Elementary-- now where is it?

10. I worry about the privatization of the system in the areas of maintenance and transportation.  I still remember the fiasco with Laidlaw.

11.  A skunk smells his own scent first.

12.  I don't think the media makes things up.  They report what's happening.  It is more of a narrative than a persuasive venue.  I also believe that the "sunshine laws" were passed for the betterment of society.  I have lived with Bill for too long to think that the media just goes halfway in research.  Seriously, they don't make things up!

I know. I know.  I should "stay in my lane" but I can't.  I see a board divided.  I see families running for  the hills.  I see the infastructure of our town and county eroding.

Time for me to teach a little bit:  Maslow [(who really was a great psychologist) (and I'm really simplifying this)] proved that if a child didn't "trust", the child would not be able to learn and become a productive adult.   We are there.  Bibb County is at a stalemate.  Teachers walk with their heads down, principals won't make eye contact, and everyone is blaming everyone else.

Who do you trust?  $350,000 is lots of money.  I hope we have learned something about ourselves and our community.  It is time to move forward together.