Meet: The Brandi-dile...or the Crock-a-Brandi...we aren't really sure!
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| What vicious terrors await those who get too close? |
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| (Laughing at us) Surprise, it's just me, BRANDI-dog! |
Sunday, April 10, 2011
The Most Feared Monster of Pettibone
Last summer, a new monster was discovered in the waters of the flooded Pettibone Park in LaCrosse. Although this creature was not feared for its bite so much as its occasionally stinky butt, the recent storms and potential flooding leave area residents wondering if the creature will again surface.
Meet: The Brandi-dile...or the Crock-a-Brandi...we aren't really sure!
Meet: The Brandi-dile...or the Crock-a-Brandi...we aren't really sure!
Friday, April 8, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
A Random Memory
Since I don't currently possess the energy or desire to continue a discussion about my fears for education and public employees in WI in general...and more specifically, my fears of how my LACK of desire to every teach there again may directly affect my career in the future...I thought I'd offer instead a random memory from elementary school. I have several, many having to do with things I'm glad teachers I work with are more sensitive too...but this one is no sad. Or happy. Or really anything...other than a random memory that can make me crack half a smile at times.
It was 5th or 6th grade, and we had the opportunity to sign up for an overnight lock-in at the YMCA in La Crosse. One of the many events we had the opportunity to play there was dodgeball. I was playing because a bunch of my classmates were playing. I was one of the kids who didn't jump out and taunt the thrower. I stood towards the back against the wall and dodged when a ball was thrown at someone in my general area so that I didn't get run over by the person it was thrown at, or get knocked out by a ricochet.
Eventually, my strategy of NOT calling attention to myself paid off. It was just me and like 2 or 3 other guys left. Now, we're talking me, and two or three other popular "jock" types that like to bounce around in front and taunt the thrower who happened to also be another "jock" type. As a result, it wasn't long before we were all thinking "Andrea won! How'd THAT happen?"
I thought it was pretty cool, except that winning meant that now YOU were the thrower and I did NOT want to do it. I said to Mr. Johnson (the supervisor) "it's cool that I won, but let XXX throw instead". I don't currently remember who came in second place, but that's the person I wanted to throw, I was done. Mr. Johnson was not having ANY of that...he was gonna make me throw...at least a few time, then someone else could take over. I'm sure he was thinking positively and encouragingly, and I appreciate that now, even if I didn't then. I don't remember how many I threw before before I was let off the hook but what I do remember clear as day was taking out SIX of the "best" payers on my first throw. See, I really didn't want to do it, so I whipped it sidearm in the process of spinning around. No one could account for the trajectory and few were able to get out of the way. I felt successful, it was awesome...like the time I kicked a grandslam in kickball at recess (and had been picked last 'cuz no one assumed I could play).
Hmm. That's my random memory. And now I've posted something.
It was 5th or 6th grade, and we had the opportunity to sign up for an overnight lock-in at the YMCA in La Crosse. One of the many events we had the opportunity to play there was dodgeball. I was playing because a bunch of my classmates were playing. I was one of the kids who didn't jump out and taunt the thrower. I stood towards the back against the wall and dodged when a ball was thrown at someone in my general area so that I didn't get run over by the person it was thrown at, or get knocked out by a ricochet.
Eventually, my strategy of NOT calling attention to myself paid off. It was just me and like 2 or 3 other guys left. Now, we're talking me, and two or three other popular "jock" types that like to bounce around in front and taunt the thrower who happened to also be another "jock" type. As a result, it wasn't long before we were all thinking "Andrea won! How'd THAT happen?"
I thought it was pretty cool, except that winning meant that now YOU were the thrower and I did NOT want to do it. I said to Mr. Johnson (the supervisor) "it's cool that I won, but let XXX throw instead". I don't currently remember who came in second place, but that's the person I wanted to throw, I was done. Mr. Johnson was not having ANY of that...he was gonna make me throw...at least a few time, then someone else could take over. I'm sure he was thinking positively and encouragingly, and I appreciate that now, even if I didn't then. I don't remember how many I threw before before I was let off the hook but what I do remember clear as day was taking out SIX of the "best" payers on my first throw. See, I really didn't want to do it, so I whipped it sidearm in the process of spinning around. No one could account for the trajectory and few were able to get out of the way. I felt successful, it was awesome...like the time I kicked a grandslam in kickball at recess (and had been picked last 'cuz no one assumed I could play).
Hmm. That's my random memory. And now I've posted something.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
He told me to go...
...and be with IA. I was going to wait until the weekend. I'm glad I listened to my husband.
I got to see IA on Wednesday night. He wasn't feeling great, had lost lots of weight and wasn't eating or moving much. BUT...he did wag his tail when he saw me. He did sit up for me and let me pet and cuddle with him for a few hours. He ate ice cubes, lots of them, from my hands...he even had a sip of mom's wine.
...and before I left that night, he had moved out onto the porch. This was a huge endeavour for him, but he made it. And as he sat on the porch I got to take his head into my hands again, put my forehead to his, and whisper into his ear.
I told him I loved him very much, and that I hoped this wasn't the last time I got to tell him that...but that if it was, he should always remember it. I also assured him he would be in excellent company when the time did come. His brother Dillenger I'm sure was waiting...and my puppy love from growing up, Odie. I'm sure they are all running through the fields, digging up cow bones, and rolling in manure to their heart's content.
One day, we'll meet again. Until then...I'll miss you IA.
I got to see IA on Wednesday night. He wasn't feeling great, had lost lots of weight and wasn't eating or moving much. BUT...he did wag his tail when he saw me. He did sit up for me and let me pet and cuddle with him for a few hours. He ate ice cubes, lots of them, from my hands...he even had a sip of mom's wine.
...and before I left that night, he had moved out onto the porch. This was a huge endeavour for him, but he made it. And as he sat on the porch I got to take his head into my hands again, put my forehead to his, and whisper into his ear.
I told him I loved him very much, and that I hoped this wasn't the last time I got to tell him that...but that if it was, he should always remember it. I also assured him he would be in excellent company when the time did come. His brother Dillenger I'm sure was waiting...and my puppy love from growing up, Odie. I'm sure they are all running through the fields, digging up cow bones, and rolling in manure to their heart's content.
One day, we'll meet again. Until then...I'll miss you IA.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
On Wisconsin
It is time for the part of the school year that drives me crazy. We are wrapping up our regular pep season, playing for both girls’ and boys’ basketball teams in the playoffs, working Dorian honor band (with music that came 3 DAYS instead of 3 weeks in advance), holding our winter concert, and competing in large group competition all within a three week time frame (four if the boys make it to state). I’ll leave out further details because as busy as it is, it is for the most part fun. Suffice it to say that this season leaves me with 2 primary thoughts:
1. I wish this didn’t mean 3-4 nights per week at school until well after 10pm including weekends
2. I wish the kids worked as hard prepping the concert and contest as they do their outfits for playoff games.
With all of this on my mind, I haven’t been able to spend as much time fretting the Wisconsin situation but that doesn’t mean that I am no longer following it. I did have a rather wordy post ready to go but the more I re-read it, the more it became obvious that it would be easier to rewrite it now that I have calmed down significantly.
It should be obvious given my chosen profession that I am very much against Mr. Walker’s budget repair bill. When it comes to paying more for pensions and healthcare…those are issues that can be dealt with and certainly in these times are necessary. However, I am very much against removing collective bargaining rights for the public employees. Unions negotiate…and by all means feel free to negotiate tough with them…but removing the CBA rights inhibits the abilities of local schools and governments to work with their employees in a way that is/can be beneficial to both sides.
Besides the CBA, there are other issues that disturb me about this bill. In no particular order:
1. Federal transportation money is dependent on workers being unionized. Taking away CBA may cause a loss of 40% (and in some municipalities 80%) of this operating budget. This could hurt elderly and students as well as people in lower income neighborhoods that rely on this transportation for daily life.
2. UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee will be given permission to split from the rest of the UW system. This will allow them to create their own boards and although they will still receive state funding, THEY will have control of how it is divided. They will also be able to raise tuition without going through the legislature. I don’t see anything wrong with these concepts except that they shouldn’t need to split off…those abilities should apply to all schools in the UW system.
3. The Republican position is typically LESS government. This governor made one of his first acts in office a power grab. He made it a law that any state regulation for any state agency must go through him before it goes to the legislature. It seems to me that the job of the legislature is to weed out the good and the bad regulations and to pass those that worked and reject those not in the best interest of their people. Now all of this goes through one person, he has the decision in his hands on even letting the regulation get to the legislature.
4. Healthcare. There is an exception in the budget repair bill to the above rule change. The healthcare committee is to be given the authority to change anything they see fit to see all the healthcare programs (BaderCare, SeniorCare, Medicade, etc…) are solvent. They do not need to go through the governor nor do they need to go through the legislature. Those 12 Republicans and 4 Democrats can do as their majority pleases. So far, the changes being discussed will mean thousands upon thousands could be removed from their program and left uncovered or with less coverage than they currently have.
…There are other issues…but I’m growing disheartened…
For me: This means I have given up the dreams of teaching in Wisconsin. I wouldn’t have a problem paying in…but I do have a problem going somewhere without CBA. It is also unlikely that I would be hired even if I did decide to go. Without CBA there is little incentive for a school to hire experience when a rookie out of school is cheaper. Rookie experiences typically occur in smaller schools anyway, but bigger schools with major budget issues will likely proceed in the same direction-especially in the Arts (if they chose to keep and Arts program at all!).
Spring Grove will likely not be a school when I hit retirement age. We are simply too small. No one can tell you what education will even look like in 30 years. We have 5 years in us yet for sure. More if we’re lucky. Our community is very supportive and I’m sure will continue to be until it becomes obvious our students would be better off consolidated with another community. The band directors on either side of our school started the same year I did. There is no seniority between us. My program is currently the largest of the three but my students could easily be absorbed by their directors without the need to hire another. I can’t see either district removing their own director or even making them re-apply for a spot due to consolidation. This will leave me unemployed and unemployable. La Crescent and Winona directors are young yet and 14+ years experience (as of five years from now) and a Master’s degree will make it difficult if not impossible to find a job in Wisconsin or Minnesota…at least one within a commutable distance from our home.
The question now becomes: what’s next for me when this eventually happens…and what can I do to prepare for it now?
1. I wish this didn’t mean 3-4 nights per week at school until well after 10pm including weekends
2. I wish the kids worked as hard prepping the concert and contest as they do their outfits for playoff games.
With all of this on my mind, I haven’t been able to spend as much time fretting the Wisconsin situation but that doesn’t mean that I am no longer following it. I did have a rather wordy post ready to go but the more I re-read it, the more it became obvious that it would be easier to rewrite it now that I have calmed down significantly.
It should be obvious given my chosen profession that I am very much against Mr. Walker’s budget repair bill. When it comes to paying more for pensions and healthcare…those are issues that can be dealt with and certainly in these times are necessary. However, I am very much against removing collective bargaining rights for the public employees. Unions negotiate…and by all means feel free to negotiate tough with them…but removing the CBA rights inhibits the abilities of local schools and governments to work with their employees in a way that is/can be beneficial to both sides.
Besides the CBA, there are other issues that disturb me about this bill. In no particular order:
1. Federal transportation money is dependent on workers being unionized. Taking away CBA may cause a loss of 40% (and in some municipalities 80%) of this operating budget. This could hurt elderly and students as well as people in lower income neighborhoods that rely on this transportation for daily life.
2. UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee will be given permission to split from the rest of the UW system. This will allow them to create their own boards and although they will still receive state funding, THEY will have control of how it is divided. They will also be able to raise tuition without going through the legislature. I don’t see anything wrong with these concepts except that they shouldn’t need to split off…those abilities should apply to all schools in the UW system.
3. The Republican position is typically LESS government. This governor made one of his first acts in office a power grab. He made it a law that any state regulation for any state agency must go through him before it goes to the legislature. It seems to me that the job of the legislature is to weed out the good and the bad regulations and to pass those that worked and reject those not in the best interest of their people. Now all of this goes through one person, he has the decision in his hands on even letting the regulation get to the legislature.
4. Healthcare. There is an exception in the budget repair bill to the above rule change. The healthcare committee is to be given the authority to change anything they see fit to see all the healthcare programs (BaderCare, SeniorCare, Medicade, etc…) are solvent. They do not need to go through the governor nor do they need to go through the legislature. Those 12 Republicans and 4 Democrats can do as their majority pleases. So far, the changes being discussed will mean thousands upon thousands could be removed from their program and left uncovered or with less coverage than they currently have.
…There are other issues…but I’m growing disheartened…
For me: This means I have given up the dreams of teaching in Wisconsin. I wouldn’t have a problem paying in…but I do have a problem going somewhere without CBA. It is also unlikely that I would be hired even if I did decide to go. Without CBA there is little incentive for a school to hire experience when a rookie out of school is cheaper. Rookie experiences typically occur in smaller schools anyway, but bigger schools with major budget issues will likely proceed in the same direction-especially in the Arts (if they chose to keep and Arts program at all!).
Spring Grove will likely not be a school when I hit retirement age. We are simply too small. No one can tell you what education will even look like in 30 years. We have 5 years in us yet for sure. More if we’re lucky. Our community is very supportive and I’m sure will continue to be until it becomes obvious our students would be better off consolidated with another community. The band directors on either side of our school started the same year I did. There is no seniority between us. My program is currently the largest of the three but my students could easily be absorbed by their directors without the need to hire another. I can’t see either district removing their own director or even making them re-apply for a spot due to consolidation. This will leave me unemployed and unemployable. La Crescent and Winona directors are young yet and 14+ years experience (as of five years from now) and a Master’s degree will make it difficult if not impossible to find a job in Wisconsin or Minnesota…at least one within a commutable distance from our home.
The question now becomes: what’s next for me when this eventually happens…and what can I do to prepare for it now?
Saturday, February 19, 2011
as we have it in MN
...That's right...I said WE in MN...that's me...a Minnesotan (that cheers for a "foreign" football team). This is from the LA CROSSE TRIBUNE.
Minnesota lawmakers are considering changes to the state’s public work force, including paring the state work force by 15 percent and a proposed pay freeze for teachers.
But Minnesota officials aren’t expected to replicate Wisconsin’s efforts to have employees pay more for their benefits, as such efforts likely wouldn’t yield much savings in Minnesota.
A plan to end collective bargaining with teachers and thousands of other public employees is roiling Wisconsin, where Republican Gov. Scott Walker contends it would save hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.
Walker is calling for employee contributions to rise from less than 1 percent of their earnings to nearly 6 percent.
In Minnesota, state employees already pay nearly that, said Jennifer Munt, spokeswoman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the union that represents about 20,000 state employees.
“In Minnesota, public employees pay 5 percent of their income toward their pension,” she said. “The average pension for AFSCME state employees is $13,000 a year.”
That’s currently a 50-50 match for the Minnesota State Retirement System.
Those contributions are defined by law — not in contract talks, said Jim Monroe, executive director of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, another large state public employee union. He said eliminating collective bargaining, as Wisconsin is considering, wouldn’t change that.
“If anybody here in Minnesota thinks that would generate savings, it would not,” Monroe said of Wisconsin’s plan.
Minnesota teachers have a similar deal. They contribute 5.5 percent of their pay to their pensions, which is matched by their districts. That’s scheduled to rise to 6 percent in July and 7.5 percent by 2014.
In Wisconsin, Walker’s plan also would require public employees to contribute more for their health insurance, to nearly 13 percent of the premium cost.
It’s hard to compare directly, because the benefits are a key factor in the cost of health insurance, but in Minnesota, AFSME and MAPE have bargained to pay 15 percent of a family plan for their employees. The state picks up the rest, with a $3,800 out-of-pocket limit.
Just as in Wisconsin, teachers in Minnesota bargain their health insurance locally, and it varies widely.
“We have a pretty good balance right now,” said Mike Parry, chairman of the Senate’s state government committee. “So I think we’re different from that.”
But lawmakers at the Capitol have been talking about statutory changes to public employment this session, including pay freezes for teachers and a 15-percent cut in the state work force.
Parry said he and other Republicans also would like the state to operate more like the private sector with pensions and other benefits.
“I would like to see the citizens, which is the state, be put in a position where they can decide what they’re going match, if they’re going to match, based on the surplus in the state’s coffers,” Parry said.
Bills have been introduced in the House this year attempting to change Minnesota to a right-to-work state, which would all but eliminate unions’ ability to organize. But so far, neither bill has made any progress in the House.
Minnesota lawmakers are considering changes to the state’s public work force, including paring the state work force by 15 percent and a proposed pay freeze for teachers.
But Minnesota officials aren’t expected to replicate Wisconsin’s efforts to have employees pay more for their benefits, as such efforts likely wouldn’t yield much savings in Minnesota.
A plan to end collective bargaining with teachers and thousands of other public employees is roiling Wisconsin, where Republican Gov. Scott Walker contends it would save hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.
Walker is calling for employee contributions to rise from less than 1 percent of their earnings to nearly 6 percent.
In Minnesota, state employees already pay nearly that, said Jennifer Munt, spokeswoman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the union that represents about 20,000 state employees.
“In Minnesota, public employees pay 5 percent of their income toward their pension,” she said. “The average pension for AFSCME state employees is $13,000 a year.”
That’s currently a 50-50 match for the Minnesota State Retirement System.
Those contributions are defined by law — not in contract talks, said Jim Monroe, executive director of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, another large state public employee union. He said eliminating collective bargaining, as Wisconsin is considering, wouldn’t change that.
“If anybody here in Minnesota thinks that would generate savings, it would not,” Monroe said of Wisconsin’s plan.
Minnesota teachers have a similar deal. They contribute 5.5 percent of their pay to their pensions, which is matched by their districts. That’s scheduled to rise to 6 percent in July and 7.5 percent by 2014.
In Wisconsin, Walker’s plan also would require public employees to contribute more for their health insurance, to nearly 13 percent of the premium cost.
It’s hard to compare directly, because the benefits are a key factor in the cost of health insurance, but in Minnesota, AFSME and MAPE have bargained to pay 15 percent of a family plan for their employees. The state picks up the rest, with a $3,800 out-of-pocket limit.
Just as in Wisconsin, teachers in Minnesota bargain their health insurance locally, and it varies widely.
“We have a pretty good balance right now,” said Mike Parry, chairman of the Senate’s state government committee. “So I think we’re different from that.”
But lawmakers at the Capitol have been talking about statutory changes to public employment this session, including pay freezes for teachers and a 15-percent cut in the state work force.
Parry said he and other Republicans also would like the state to operate more like the private sector with pensions and other benefits.
“I would like to see the citizens, which is the state, be put in a position where they can decide what they’re going match, if they’re going to match, based on the surplus in the state’s coffers,” Parry said.
Bills have been introduced in the House this year attempting to change Minnesota to a right-to-work state, which would all but eliminate unions’ ability to organize. But so far, neither bill has made any progress in the House.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
What difference a border makes
Minnesota and Education Innovation
Lawmakers Flee
...I have lots of opinions on this. It's giving me migraines and stomach aches. This was the root of the reason I started writing again. I will eventually be calm enough to start making sense so I can write it out...I've started the blog, it is just not post-able yet. I want to make sure I get it right, at least for me.
Lawmakers Flee
...I have lots of opinions on this. It's giving me migraines and stomach aches. This was the root of the reason I started writing again. I will eventually be calm enough to start making sense so I can write it out...I've started the blog, it is just not post-able yet. I want to make sure I get it right, at least for me.
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