Time to Get Involved – #OKElections16

March 18, 2016June 4, 2023 ~ Blue Cereal ~ 3 Comments

I wanted to compile a short list of talking points, a resource for educators or parents willing to encourage others to get more involved in state elections but unsure what to say. My goal was for it to be succinct, informative, and relatively free of tone and attitude, so as to be more palatable to the masses.

I think it at least ended up relatively informative. Modify tone and length as you see fit.

Please ask your prinicpal if you can have five minutes at the next faculty meeting to discuss getting teachers more involved in the decisions which substantially impact them – AND THEIR KIDS. Discuss it with your department. Email this to friends, neighbors, co-workers – and then follow up with actual conversations.

The goal isn’t to get them to vote for your guy, or agree with you about everything. More educators and thoughtful parents involved in the process will have a positive impact, period. Vote your conscience; it’s the not voting and not having a conscience that’s killing us right now.

See, other than a vigorous sign-carrying from time to time, far too many of us don’t pay attention to the legislation that affects us or the office-holders who – supposedly – represent us in OKC. It can seem time-consuming, confusing, and depressing. We’re busy, and that stuff seems so far away. It’s not like we can DO anything about it, right?

But there are something like 45,000 teachers in Oklahoma. Many of us are married, or have adult children, or siblings in the state, or even, like, friends – meaning an easy 100,000+ voters if we’ll only decide it’s important. Roughly 800,000 people voted in the last statewide election. See the math?

With a little agitating, we can have actual impact this year. We don’t even have to win them all – we just have to be a reliably involved constituency. Right now we’re not. Many legislators – both friend and foe – will tell you that teachers sometimes fuss, but they don’t show up and support candidates who support them. They’ll call and email and gripe, but don’t vote out people who serve their fiscal overlords in ways that hurt our kids. That must change.

We have momentum, starting with an early win in the District 34 Special Election this year. Social media is abuzz. The weirdness of the national campaign has people paying attention, so let’s build on that. Be vocal, be reasonable, be civil – and be informed.

I’m sharing this as someone who avoided state politics for many years. My goal is to make the information as accessible as possible for any of you who perhaps haven’t been as involved as you are now considering. No judgment – we just need your help.

#OKElections16 State Primaries

March 1st was, as you were probably aware, the date of the Presidential Primary in Oklahoma. That’s a whole other descent into madness we won’t worry about here.

Statewide Primaries are on Tuesday, June 28th. This is when we begin the process of choosing who’ll be setting state edu-policy for the next 2 – 4 years. This is when you help choose your party’s nominee for each office serving the district in which you live. Sometimes there will be multiple candidates from the same party running for an office; sometimes not.

Members of the State House of Representatives are elected every two years – every one of them is up for re-election (or not) every time. State Senators are elected every four years, meaning half are up for re-election (or not) each time.

You have until June 3rd to make sure you’re registered to vote in Statewide Primaries. Here’s why that matters…

We really do have Democrats here. Some even hold office. A few are kinda out there, but most are strong supporters of public education. They have limited impact, however, unless there are MORE of them working together. So, if those are your leanings, you need to get involved and vote these folks in. I realize national politics seems a bit futile for lefties in these parts, but you can have a huge impact closer to home.

As to Republicans, the state has quite a range. Primaries are even MORE important on this side of the aisle. They won’t ‘feel the Bern’ on many issues, but some are nicer to public education than others. Don’t take their word for it – they all SAY they support teachers. Figure out who’s been voting for what.

If you care about other issues deeply, that’s great – look at their records on those ALSO. But be realistic about what state legislators CAN and CANNOT actually do. They CAN substantially help or hurt public education, they have great impact on whether or not your grandmother has access to health care, and they come up with all the reasons to keep everyone locked up indefinitely. They make state policy for state-level issues.

Most social issues in the 21st century are shaped by federal legislation and Supreme Court decisions. For better or worse, the North won the Civil War. The 14th Amendment is a thing. All we accomplish by repeatedly passing laws in clear violation of national socio-political realities are expensive lawsuits (remember that budget crisis?) – which the state always loses – and national mockery.

A vote to return to the 19th century is a wasted vote – and that’s before we even address how ethically abhorrent it is to begin with.

But public education IS in their power to improve. Or change. Or destroy.

Any state primary in which no candidate receives a majority of the vote will result in a Primary Runoff election on August 23rd. Only the top two candidates for each disputed office will be on these ballots.

#OKElections16 State Elections

Statewide elections are on the same date – November 8, 2016 – as national elections.

PLEASE DO NOT VOTE STRAIGHT PARTY TICKET when it’s time to fill out your ballot. I’d not presume to tell you who to vote for nationally (well, I would – but not right this second), but it’s SO WORTH TAKING A LITTLE TIME to get to know something about your state and local options.

An Oklahoma Democrat isn’t necessarily the same creature as a California Democrat or a Massachusetts Democrat. Our ‘lefties’ often have strong approval ratings from the NRA, conservative social values, or other traits which would count as ‘crazy right-winger’ in other parts of the country.

As far as Oklahoma Republicans, as I suggested above, there’s quite a range. Some of them are the sorts of bile-spewing demagogues who brand the entire party as haters and nut-jobs, but many are good enough folks genuinely trying to guide the state along the right path, whether we agree on the details or not.

I’ve profiled as many candidates as time allows, and keep a running compilation of current issues in #OklaEd. If these don’t cover what you want to know, you can try several things:

* Several of the top #OklaEd bloggers and news sites cover this stuff regularly. You can subscribe to their blogs, read the stuff that interests you, and easily discard the rest.

* Subscribe to the Tulsa World and/or that Oklahoma City paper that’s not nearly as good. They’ll often have candidate info as election time approaches, and with a subscription you can search past months and years to see if they’ve been in the news before, and for what.

* OpenStates.org is free to use and allows you to easily search for specific legislation or for specific legislators. You can pull up a list of every bill they’ve authored, successful or no, or look at who voted which way for any specific piece of legislation over the past several years. There are topic searches of state legislation as well, so if you’re not sure which bills you’re looking for, you can look at bills involving “education” or other key words.

* OKLegislature.gov is the official website of the State Legislature. Here you can easily find out who your elected officials are, and look over their official profiles. Many have official biographies, some have introductory videos, and most have basic contact information. Some respond to constituents, some don’t – which by itself tells you something, yes?

* If you’re on Facebook, groups like Oklahoma Parents and Educators for Public Education post regular articles and updates and engage in discussions related to public ed. If no one’s talking about your legislative district, bring it up yourself and see what happens.

* If you’re on Twitter, watch for (or search) the hashtags #OklaEd and #OKElections16. We’re pretty free with our opinions.

Between Now and Election Days

Let your elected representatives for your districts KNOW that you support them – and why, or that you DON’T – and why. Be clear, concise, and polite.

Better yet, run yourself. I’m absolutely serious. You’ll work fewer hours for far more money, and have a seat at the table making policy. If not you, talk to your spouse, your favorite principal, or that amazing educator who just retired. I’m telling you, teachers and their people running for state office is a thing this year.

I’ll support you. Many of the legit blogs will, too. Yes, some of the current office-holders have big financial backing from out-of-state, but all that money means little if they can’t get the votes – and their fiscal overlords show little mercy to losers.

This is the year. I can’t tell you what next year will bring, but I can assure you it will be better than it would have if you’ll simply get involved and stay informed. You owe it to yourself, and your state, and your family.

Most of all, cheesy as it is, you owe it to our kids.

Blue Cereal Celebration: Out With The Old…

March 17, 2016June 4, 2023 ~ Blue Cereal

I’ve discovered the last few BCE #11FF Steaming Hot Nectar Receptacles. There are a few more than I’d realized, but far fewer than demanded by the adoring masses.

Never let it be said that we don’t suffer in the 21st century.

You may have noticed a new banner logo on the website. It was time for a change, and I like the part where I can’t be sued for using it without permission.

I’m quite in love with it, actually.

That means it’s time to ship the remaining #11FF mugs to the final group of winners for this particularly coveted item. Here’s all you have to do…

Between now and the end of Blue Cereal Celebration Week (Saturday 3/19/16 at Midnight), find and promo your favorite posts or other pages from the BCE website. Tweet them, Facebook them, get them shown during the previews at your favorite drive-in, whatever – but make sure you tag me or otherwise let me know so I can add your name to the queue. The use of the official #11FF hashtag is strongly encouraged as well.

Unfair preference will be shown to those of you who comment on the link as you send it, or otherwise personalize it in a “I didn’t just click the ‘share’ button” way.

Flattery and even outright kissing-up are not merely tolerated, but encouraged.

There’s also a very real chance I’ll rig the contest in favor of anyone pushing out something I’d forgotten I liked, or something that doesn’t always receive the same attention as my vitriol and obscenities over current events.

Once these are gone, the first wave of Blue Cereal #11FF memorabilia is complete. The second wave begins next week with the Brand New, Classroom-Ready, TLE-Proof, BCE #11FF Pedagogy Protection 5″x7″ High Quality Magnetized Magnet.

Administration observing you? New teachers sitting in on your classroom? Parents concerned about a lesson you taught or a strategy you use, or even a grade you gave their little boo-boo?

Just point to the magnet and nod – slowly, but confidently. You pass, all 4’s, discussion over, thanks for coming.

Looking for a new gig somewhere they hate teachers less? Or simply trying to persuade your local legislator that you’re not a complete idiot standing alongside the highway of life with a ‘Will Teach for Food’ sign?

Point to the magnet.

Students challenging your classroom management? Whining about the subject matter or all that thinking you’re making them do? Maybe your principal is trying to interrupt your class for another $#%& assembly?

The magnet.

You’re gonna want one of these. You’re gonna want it bad.

But first things first – let’s take a few more days and talk about how wonderful I am. We’ll get to you next week, I promise.

Blue Cereal Celebration: Can’t Win Them All

March 17, 2016June 4, 2023 ~ Blue Cereal

It’s very rude of real life to have demanded so much of my time and attention this week. I’d hoped to be far more self-absorbed and celebratory.

We may have to add a second week…

By nature of my own narcissism, I’m mostly celebrating the positives and the wins of the past two years. But we’re closer than that, my Eleven Faithful Followers. Honest. Real. Co-delusional.

Sometimes my aspirations outreach my ability. While I’ve learned the importance of sleeping on a ‘final draft’ before editing the crap out of it again the next morning, there are also times I realize that if I don’t hit ‘publish’ it’s just not going to happen.

Sometimes you just have to step off the ledge, whether there’s a bridge there or not.

Here are five posts I really wanted to work. They may not have become all I’d hoped for them upon conception, but I still like what I was going for. I talk a good game to my students or anyone else taking risks in which they believe – I can’t keep that up unless I’m occasionally willing to do the same myself.

Dear Student of Color… (11/21/14) – That past few years have been quite the awakening for me in terms of just how violent, ignorant, sexist, and racist-hateful-delusional we are as a people. Watching the mental and rhetorical backflips practiced so gleefully by so many in order to feel good about beating up and killing black kids, well… it was sobering. And depressing as hell.

This was my first real effort to process that in writing. It was therapeutic, but never seemed to resonate with anyone outside of myself – which I was eventually O.K. with.

Not at first, but eventually.

#WhiteSilence, Teacher Edition (1/16/15) – A few months later, still on a steep learning curve when it came to race and privilege, I was trying to understand… things. This one probably should have stayed in the ‘Drafts’ folder until I had a better idea where I was going with it, but sometimes going live isn’t about the piece being ready so much as just… needing to. So I did.

This one is genuinely not very good. Kids, if someone as gifted and daring as Blue can stumble, it’s OK for you to take risks as well. You’re… you’re welcome.

Revival (8/17/14) – This one wasn’t risky so much as a bit preachy and rambling. Some of the themes I’ve revisited with more success since then, others not so much.

This was nearing the six-month mark of the new blog, and I was still finding my voice. The voice in this post wasn’t what I was going for – it’s more like me after a few beers sitting across the table from someone very good at getting me to talk too much.

I do like the comparison of public education and religious outreach – while not the same, they have much in common, I think.

Of Hockey Bias and Edu-Paradigms (10/17/15) – I may have been too close to this one to be objective. I also suspect that anytime I mention hockey, or music, or any other specific about which readers aren’t personally passionate, I lose the masses before my larger point fully manifests. That’s on me as the writer, of course, but it hasn’t seemed to stop me from doing it – repeatedly.

I thought I was making a pithy point about perspective and relationship and perception. I think I just seemed to ramble about hockey. I can live with either.

Waiting To Follow The Worms (3/2/16) – I know, crazy recent, right? One benefit of having done this for a while is that I’m not as regularly surprised by what works and what doesn’t. This one was difficult to write, partly because it was rather personal and partly because I was insecure the entire time that I sounded melodramatic and a bit foolish. It was also nearly twice as long in draft form, which is never a good thing.

There are things I really like in this one, and I’m glad I posted it, but I knew when I hit ‘publish’ that it wasn’t exactly going viral or doing what I wish I had the power to do. But I’m OK with that most days, and I’m beyond appreciative that you are, too.

This week of Blue Cereal Celebration is rapidly drawing to a close, and we haven’t talked about magnets or my personal favorite posts of all time forever hallelujah yay. Hmmm… I’d better get on that.

Blue Cereal Celebration: Forgotten Favorites

March 13, 2016June 4, 2023 ~ Blue Cereal ~ 1 Comment

The Blue Cereal Celebration Continues!

A few days ago I shared the Top 10 most-viewed pages of my prestigious two-years of bloggery and webbifying. It was magical for all of us, I believe.

Sadly, not every post is a viral sensation. One of the tragedies of this mortal coil is that some of my favorite pieces never really gained much traction. Perhaps I failed to fully communicate what I intended, or perhaps the subjects simply didn’t resonate with enough readers. Maybe they just sucked.

Nevertheless, I remember them fondly. Now you can, too.

My Five Favorite Posts Not In The Top 10… or Top 50… or Top 89…

All I Need Is This Lamp… (3/27/14) – My second post ever, and the first to garner attention and kind words from some of the legit bloggers (I believe Rob Miller was the first to share it – I nearly wet myself.) While a bit under-developed by later standards, I like it’s point and what I was going for. It’s also the fist time I incorporated primary sources, something that never does catch on but which I so thoroughly enjoy it’s not likely to stop any time soon. Plus, there’s a clip from “The Jerk” – a trifecta of blogging potential.

Useful Fictions, Part II – The Stories We Tell Ourselves (5/3/14) – I used to end up doing these multi-part series on a theme… while there are things I liked about that, in retrospect I wonder if they’re indicative of my inability to get to the point as much as anything. My eleventeen part series on ‘useful fictions’ had potential, however – enough to justify recreating them after the Russian attack in November 2014.

This particular post is the first time I remember a peer from my mostly real life – someone much smarter and better looking than me – bringing up something I’d written and complimenting it. I believe she told me she’d used it with her teachers during a workshop. It was an experience I’m thankful to have enjoyed with a variety of folks smarter and better looking than me since then, and it never ceases to be far more gratifying than wealth or fame.

I assume. I’d be willing to try wealth and fame just to compare, but I’m still pretty sure the results would be the same.

Koko The Gorilla (7/7/14) – The next two posts on this ‘Forgotten Favorites’ list involve striving to understand or express things beyond ourselves and our previous experiences. Ironically, that may be why they didn’t quite catch on – I may have been reaching beyond what I had the talent to express. But so be it – this is still one of my all-time favorites of anything I’ve written. I’m ridiculously proud of it whether anyone else ever gets it or not.

That’s the great thing about getting old (what, you don’t think two years is ancient in blogger years?) – you can just think what you think and say what you say. For instance: “Bite me, Jay.”

Learning R.E.M. (9/15/15) – This post wasn’t really about R.E.M. Well, OK – it was, but not really about them so much as it was about my learning how to listen to R.E.M. and how dramatically that changed everything else forever on every level in every realm.

Which sounds a bit overstated, I guess. But that’s what was tricky about this post.

I wanted to use my experience with a very different kind of music to explore the challenge of exposing students to great literature, or history, or mathy-sciency things, in ways that drag them into the light just enough for the natural awesomeness of knowlege-beauty-truth-chasing-learn-wanting to take hold. It doesn’t happen easily, or often, but that’s kinda what we’re always going for, isn’t it? I thought?

Exactly one month later, I wrote what was in many ways the exact same post with something that hadn’t become life-altering for me, but instead was a big deal to one of my students. I thought that time maybe I’d nailed it, but to this day it has less than 100 views of over 30 seconds. That’s not a complaint, it’s just interesting.

Unlike the post, apparently.

Let’s Talk About Urinals (11/22/15) – This one was fairly recent, meaning it received more attention than earlier posts (I’m blessed to have quite a few more followers than not long ago), but I’d still hoped it would do more than it did. In my childish, yet sophisticated, internal rubric, it’s the perfect balance of catchy title, abrasive humor, and actual analysis of current edu-foolery – in this case, our tendency to substitute grandstanding and rhetoric for actual change or improvement.

If you’re willing to pretend there’s something on this site you believe to be underrated and worthy of international acclaim, and you’re willing to Tweet it out or Facebook it – and tag me so I notice – I still have a very few coveted #11FF mugs left which I’m getting rid of THIS WEEK. They can’t be bought, except with flattery and schmoozing – just ask anyone who already has one.

DON’T WORRY – WE’RE NOT DONE! THE CELEBRATION CONTINUES ALL WEEK!

A Public Thank You To OK Legislators

March 13, 2016June 4, 2023 ~ Blue Cereal

I’d like to thank the Oklahoma State Legislature for approving the use of $51 million from the state’s “Rainy Day Fund” in order to soften the blow taken by public education this year.

I’ve been very critical of this legislature for their handling of our state budget over the past several years. I’m still opposed to the extent of the tax cuts they’ve approved, and there are some in leadership I’m convinced are willfully and maliciously dismembering public education at the bidding of their fiscal overlords from other realms.

But I’m not talking about them right now.

Thanks to the rest of you for softening your stance enough to recognize that public education and other essentials of the social contract have been demonized and attacked by those elected to implement and support them, and for doing what you could to provide airbags for our crash landing.

Thanks to those of you who’ve advocated for public education throughout your time in office, often at the expense of having your other issues taken seriously or your legislation heard because you weren’t “playing ball” with those sitting at the biggest desks. We recognize that in speaking truth to power, you’ve crippled your own ability to implement change – a paradox I couldn’t navigate so gracefully.

A special thanks to those of you who’ve been fighting these extreme tax policies for years, and who years ago publicly predicted the situation we’re now in. We don’t always acknowledge or appreciate you, despite what should be a natural alliance of “Davids” in a system controlled by “Goliaths”.

Thank you to the members of the Education Committees in both the House and Senate who opposed even bringing voucher bills to the floors of their respective houses. I know you took substantial heat from leadership and I want to publicly acknowledge that you voted your conscience and what you believed your constituents wanted despite the political costs, and despite not immediately having the numbers to prevail.

Thank you to the many legislators in both houses who worked behind the scenes to prevent these bills from coming to the floor. It’s difficult to express this with any specificity, because unless you’ve communicated your convictions publicly, we don’t know who you are.

Even if we did, I’m not sure I’d be doing you any favors by listing your names. I recognize that you’re now targeted by state leadership for doing what was right for the marginalized and underserved across our state, and a Blue Cereal endorsement wouldn’t exactly improve your status in their eyes.

Otherwise I’d send you a mug or something. I know, I know… but that’s politics.

Thank you to the many Republicans in both houses who refuse to accept that their party must stand only for the elite and the chosen few, and who’ve endured a “calling out” by the Governor’s office as closet Democrats – as if concern for your constituents or the children of this state is a character flaw and the defining element of Republicanism is not a passion for America’s potential or a belief in self-reliance, but mindless obedience to one’s fiscal overlords. Thank you for believing that your party can stand for more than some malevolent caricature, even when it costs you influence and support – and may cost you your office.

Thank you to the Democrats in both houses for providing the kind of minority opposition essential to meaningful democracy and thoughtful decision-making. Your role is critical even when final decisions aren’t as “thoughtful” as our system intends.

Thank you for those behind-closed-doors efforts to kill hundreds of horrible ideas before they reached the floor. A few got through – and we’re dealing with those – but most of it went away. While I’m not privy to details, thank you to those of you who made that happen.

Thank you Superintendent Joy Hofmeister for calling on me during Q&A even though you know you’ll regret it every time. You’ve been pretty tight-lipped about your role in all of this over the past month, but I suspect you’re a big part of whatever damage control was managed this time around.

I suspect your relative silence is pragmatism allowing you to be more effective rather than maneuvering allowing you to advance your political future. Thank you for choosing the right thing over the ambitious thing, whether we see it clearly just yet or not.

I don’t speak for all of #OklaEd – only the wisest and best-looking among them – but I hereby commit myself to do everything in my humble power to promote the re-election of sitting legislators who chose to shield public education from at least some of the blast this time around.

I don’t agree with all of you about everything, and given a little face-to-face time and a drink or three, I’d argue that few of us are completely guiltless in this mess. But we choose our representatives from those who run, and we work with those actually able to get elected in Oklahoma – and that means a few compromises and reality checks here and there.

I resolve to do my best to get every teacher or parent who called or emailed or shared FB posts cursing you for this session’s insanity to follow up by voting their voice in June, and August, and November. I know that all of our talk about you “working for us” only matters if we play our role as well and make sure the good ones stay in office and the bad ones are replaced.

I’m officially calling on all #11FF and the entirety of #OklaEd to reach out to at least a half-dozen co-workers, neighbors, folks at church, parents of students, etc., and encourage them to get informed and get involved.

Yes, we’ll keep calling and emailing and carrying on about legislation still on the table, but let’s do so in informed, targeted ways. Let’s put the same effort into thanking and supporting those fighting FOR us as we’re putting into calling out those AGAINST us.

Finally, I’d like to encourage those of us NOT in office, but still fighting FOR public ed, to resist the temptation to turn on one another over details, or to let legitimate disagreements fragment our collective voice. I’d remind myself as much as anyone else that private schools and their teachers, parents, and students are NOT the enemy, nor are those trying to serve kids through charters, TFA, homeschooling, or whatever.

Our fight is with corporate exploitation and manipulation of the weak; not with individuals trying to educate kids in a different way than ourselves. I’ve been guilty of forgetting this distinction too many times to take it lightly now.

As educators, we pride ourselves on looking past clichés and stereotypes, or even the facades willfully projected by our students, in order to find the “real child” and the potential underneath. Thank you for doing the same for us and for our kids. We are resolved to do a better job of doing the same for you, starting now.

Let us know how we can help.