Scot Key Guest Blog on NM Education Cuts Protest: Should We Play or Should We Go?

This is a guest blog by Scot Key, a local middle school teacher.

Taking the idea of a "break" to its shortest meaning possible, public schools (at least in ABQ) have a "Fall Break" this upcoming Friday. It's an interesting choice of days, as the "Break" is not the Federal holiday next Monday ("Columbus Day"), and occurs during Balloon Fiesta, but not on the first weekend of the Fiesta.

Who the Hell cares, one might ask, a "Break" is a "Break" even if it's only an extra day. This is especially true as the rate of student absences skyrockets toward the peak of flu season, when it's only early October. The swirl of viruses combined with state budget shortfalls, wildly fluctuating published graduation rates and the inanity of "short-cycle assessments" has everyone crying out for a three-day weekend. Logic or federal calendar synchronicity be damned.

And while many families will use the extra day to attend the Fiesta, or frantically leave town to avoid it, public school teachers themselves have the opportunity to travel to Santa Fe Friday to attend a Noon - 4 p.m. march/rally/protest/gathering/bitchfest/media event on the subject of State Government budget cuts to K-12 education.

Right now I think I speak for about 93% of all APS teachers when I say "frankly, right this second, I would rather have a hole drilled into my head in slow-motion with a really jagged, unsharpened drill bit than waste my day off attending this march/rally, etc."

Maybe closer to 99%.

At the same time, this is like when the "Animal House" is on trial before the frat board, and Otter is about to make that "Well, you can do whatever you want to us, but we're not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America" speech, and Delta House President Hoover says: "Don't screw around, they're serious this time!

Well, they're serious this time.

And yes that is true even if the current real situation truthfully has absolutely zero to do with "Animal House". Although, truthfully...everything has something to do with "Animal House" and vice-versa. If you ask me.

And speaking of asking me, perhaps you, dear reader, are inquiring, either silently or out loud..."Well, Scot, you going on Friday?"

And my answer is: Don't screw around, they're serious this time!

Yeah...I'm going. I could be all post-modern and say I'm really going for the good times of seeing pissed off teachers saying incredibly silly things, or the chance to "cynically blog about it", but really I'm planning on going like any other schmuck teacher who wants to change things for the better, stop a horrible action before it's enacted, yadda------yadda------yadda.

I could say I feel like Rick in "Casablanca", all squishy idealist inside rough, smoking exterior, but I don't smoke and I never had Ingrid Bergman back in Paris.

I'm just a ordinary teacher who's going to this shindig on Friday, and if you go cool, and if you're a teacher who already had vacation plans, or just wants to sleep in Friday and wash away the bad memories of "short cycle assessments", etc., that's cool, too.

Although it would be nice if you were up in Santa Fe, to help me laugh at the incredibly silly things teachers are saying (while secretly agreeing with the silly things).

C'mon, we could all hold hands and signs, while reliving marches way back when, before all the marchers spent the whole march not holding hands and not chanting "What do we want, (insert thing we want)! When do we want it, now!", instead choosing to talk on their cell phones the whole frickin' time ("oooh, honey, we're in front of the Roundhouse now...yes, I will get bread and a gallon of milk before I come home...do you want 2% or 1% milk, hey I'm marching with Marcie, do you want to say 'hi' to Marcie?").

Forget I mentioned the cell phone thing. Sales is just not my field (massive understatement there).

Teachers, just come to the shindig on Friday. Or don't. No big deal either way. Just remember your non-attendance the next time you watch "Animal House", and see/hear Otter make that "Well, you can do whatever you want to us, but we're not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America" speech.

Hope that's a real enjoyable experience for you, non-attendees.

Everyone else, see you on Friday.

This is a guest blog by Scot Key. If you'd like to submit a piece for consideration as a guest blog, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link on the upper left-hand corner of the page.