We are now over a month into the #REDforED movement and I am frustrated, angry, in denial, and resigning myself to think about what happens next in my own life. We are at a point in the movement, where there are too many voices, too many people, too much everything and no clear direction. Then Thursday at 4pm, the AZ governor announced his 20% teacher pay raise that is even more upsetting. His plan has a 3 year time frame, but there is no tying the (hopefully) future governor and AZ legislature to this, so it all could be hogwash.
Some are jumping on this as a chance to get something and want to settle. Some are still calling for a walkout/strike. Others are silent. I personally, don’t know what I feel anymore. I love being a teacher. I love watching my students grow, and I still get some personal satisfaction from that. Yet, I still wonder, what comes next? In its current form, I cannot stay in the classroom for 20+ years. Heck even now at 6 years as a teacher of record and 10 years in education, I want more, a change. I cannot retire for 35 more years, and I cannot go through this fight for funding or my job every year for those 35 years.
I haven’t given up yet, but I am getting there… very close to there…