I probably should let it cool down, but the older I get, the less I care who I piss off.....It's like I am not going to drink coffee with these upset people anyway, and I certainly won't be sitting by them in the church. ( Already I am deciding whether or not I'll even go to church on Christmas Eve. If Vegas had odds on it, it'd be like 10:1 against...Like I said, I went twice in England/Wales, and that'll do me for the year.)
Yesterday, someone got all upset about me " getting onto Buna." If I didn't give a good damn, I wouldn't care. I worked like a sumofabitch to make Buna HS a good place to graduate from, and sorry folks, it's slipped. I no longer recommend it to people who ask " Should I send my kids there?" For about 7-10 years, I said " Yes." Now? " No." And that's sad for me, because there are still some quality faculty there.
And today's blog really hasn't anything to do with this week's events.
While there are happy with the Buna ISD, there are just as many unhappy with the district. It's October 6th, and already I am hearing rumblings of teachers as one put it to me, " Getting the Hell outta Dodge."
Hell, I had (some very long) people write me dissertations on their unhappiness with the Buna Schools yesterday. And we are talking patrons.
The Texas Legislature meets in Special Session starting this Monday, Oct. 9th.
What will they be discussing? School choice, now, I have problems with " School Choice" especially when we start giving tax dollars to unaccredited, non-degree, who knows what-the-cornbread-fuck are they teaching in these schools.
That said Buna ISD, you're going to need to figure out some way to keep the kids you got. Oh, most kids already in high school will stay, it's the little kids elementary you may need to worry with.
And you're going to need to "Play Politics" like never before......And horrible to say, but it is true.
After going back and working in a couple of political campaigns since retirement, I'd offer my services to the Buna Schools......Nah, that's crazy talk...I may get up one morning and decide, " I need to be in England this week." Quit. And us go. ( The best part of going to England when it is cold and rainy? There ain't no fuckin' Americans. And we generally go places tourists from America aren't. They're all in London. London sucks, sucks bad. Go to Edinburgh.)
And the thing is, how are you going to keep teachers?
Already administration now requires or mandated 2 department meetings each week.....Hell, I was BHS History Department Chair for years, I didn't want to talk to those damn people in my department about something, in which they were already doing a damn good job, why fix something that ain't broke? I sure didn't want someone to suggest how I teach. I might tell them, " Fuck you, and the clap dripping mule you rode in on."This is giving teachers only 3 planning periods a week. Them papers don't get graded on their own. Like I said, people will move on down the highway to another district to teach.
You're going to need to come up with something to attract and keep students. And I have ideas, but you know, I look at shit differently.
Schools are fixing to change, and it is going to be an ugly transition period. You're not going to be able to use chicanery, to fix stuff.
If you mess-up, and you will, you're going to need to get out, own it and promise to do better, not try and hide it.
Lord knows I messed plenty of times at Buna HS. I owned it. Lying always makes it worse.
Be honest. Try and fix stuff. Try and boost morale of the teachers.Make people WANT to go to Buna ISD....Not flee from it....
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