Freewrite--Ben Assigned Blog 1/15/09

I think that this is the time of year when most teachers, new teachers especially, are frustrated with a number of things that are going on in their school district or at least in their school building.  This school term has shown me that there are some strong leaders in education; however, there still seems to be some disconnect between strong leadership and student achievement.  We finally have a strong administration; however, we have a long way to go before we can attain the level that we need to be a Level 3 school.  We have high hopes for our students, and many of them are failing because they are unaccustomed to the rigor of our lessons and test.  But these days, hope is not enough,

Another thing that frustrates me is the lack of importance placed on early childhood development.  Ben, Tish, and I had a conversation this past Saturday about the current state of education in Mississippi.  The truth of the matter is Mississippi is a poor state; we have no other option but to work with the resources that we have especially since the funds for education are continuing to be cut.  The economy is so bad that the thought of raising taxes is out of the question; and let's be honest here, I don't think many people can stand to miss even a few dollars from their income.  What are we going to do Mississippi?; what are we going to do?