Priorities

My head is spinning. I'm trying to put things together in my mind before the State of the Union address President Obama will give tonight.

Here's a fragment of an interview I heard on NPR: "Education is everything.. but the white flight to suburban schools has left urban public schools mostly to Latino and African American students without political or financial clout."

Here's a comment our trainer made when we applied for jobs as K-12 substitute teachers in the Oakland Unified School District last week: "A substitute teacher saved my child's life. That's the truth."

Here's a comment made by a full time teacher in a public school: "I can't actually support my family on a starting teacher's salary in this district."

Here's a comment made by a young man I passed in a high school corridor: "I'd go crazy if I had to come to school every day."

Here's a comment overheard in a job line: "We're spending billions every day on the war in Afghanistan, right?"

Here are two headlines: "Job growth Shows Economic Upturn" and "Obama will propose spending freeze."

Here's a how de do, to quote from Gilbert and Sullivan, whose ironic insights in the late 1800-s seem oddly current, in a world where opposites are equally true and where priorities clash with our values.

I appreciate that we have a few people willing to enter politics, given the painful challenges. I dread hearing from our President and our Governors about cuts to education and social services. I hate that we tell our community and state college students how important their education is one moment, but that we don't have the funding to offer the classes they need the next My head spins.

The sun shines today. Students remain intelligent and hopeful. President Obama will offer us some good ideas tonight. I will continue to embrace ambiguity.