my email to cretul

I just sent this email to Larry Cretul, who has been asking interested parties for House companion to SB6 (kill public education bill) to send their thoughts to him via email or phone:

I oppose this teacher tenure bill for several reasons. As an elementary school teacher for eight years in a high-poverty school (77+% free/reduced lunch), I really wish that I could be the most important person in my students' lives. If I were, I could instill a passion for education and life-long learning. I would have them eat well, brush their teeth, do their homework, watch appropriate TV shows and movies, go to sleep at an appropriate hour, and get regular exercise. I would instill a respect for adults and for things that don't belong to them. But I only have them with me for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week. Their families, peers, and communities have more sway in their education than I do.

So why would you punish me for choosing to work with such a population of children? I work very hard to instill the above ideals in them during the short time they are in my room. I push them, encourage them, reward and punish them as if they were my own children. But my impact does not sway the neighborhood belief that education is not important. They can try their best while in my room, but eventually they have to go back home.

I have consistently high FCAT scores in my school -- last year all of my kids scored at 3 or higher in math (considerably higher than their previous year's scores of 1s and 2s for most of them). I am one of those teachers you say would be "rewarded" by this bill, I am sure of it. But if it passes, I will have to quit teaching and find a job that will pay my bills. I cannot afford to live on half my salary until it's known whether my students passed. I already work two jobs because my salary is so low (and I have a Master's, which I'm still paying for, that is now totally worthless).

If I stayed in the classroom, I wouldn't be able to afford to put in the extra time, energy, and money that I do right now. I would be forced to teach to the test to make sure I had a job. I would always be worried that any low child's test scores could make me lose my job. Any parent complaint could oust me as well. Why would I bother to chance my future and my life in that way? Many other wonderful teachers I speak with feel the same way. Those with no other options than teaching wonder how they will keep their houses and feed their families.

This bill will take money out of local schools and send it to private test companies. It will do it on the backs of our most important natural resource: our children. If this passes, I don't know how those in the Florida Legislature will live with themselves knowing they destroyed the chance for poor children to have access to quality education.

I have an out; I can find a new job. The underprivileged students in my class (and thousands of others) will be stuck with more drills, more tests, and much less real education. Please don't let this bill pass.

Want to share your thoughts? Here's his info:

Tallahassee office: 850 488 1450 District office 352 873 6564 Email: larry.cretul@myfloridahouse.gov

Please pass this to anyone you know who cares about public education in the state of Florida. This bill has been fast-tracked and could even be voted on tomorrow (Friday).

whose choice is it?

I try to keep politics off this blog as much as possible, but this is something that really frightens me. While the rest of the country is consumed by the economy and the Obama/Palin dramas, W is attempting to quietly pass a few last pieces of legislation to solidify his legacy as the worst president for women that this country has seen in decades.

His latest attempt to push women out of the workforce and back into the kitchen comes in the form of proposed regulations from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that could cripple women's access to basic reproductive health services. The rule would allow health care providers -- both individuals and institutions -- to deny women access to birth control based on the provider's personal religious beliefs. It allows these providers to REFUSE to provide information about basic reproductive health care. Simply because of their religious beliefs. The rights of the patient to become informed and weigh her own options will be completely thrown out the window.

While most of the people reading this blog have access to reproductive health care choices via other avenues, many American women today have limited choices. Unfortunately, some women ONLY learn about their reproductive options from a limited number of sources (mainly government-run health departments or free clinics.)

Can you imagine what would happen if police officers only had to enforce laws they personally thought were okay? Or if lawyers didn't have to give their clients information that could change their cases just because they thought their client was guilty and deserved punishment? This rule would turn every health care provider into a vulnerable woman's judge, jury, and executioner.

Regardless of your personal belief on reproductive care, you must agree that other people making decisions about your health without your input is a BAD IDEA. Tell the HHS to keep their rules to themselves. Go here and make sure your voice is heard. And tell all your friends. But hurry. Public comment is only open on this issue until September 25th.

florida primaries

I just voted. How about you? Florida has closed primaries, meaning you can only vote for candidates within your registered party. I used to be an Independent, but since I couldn't vote in primaries, I switched affiliation to Democrat in 2000. Even if you are a Florida Independent voter, today's election is important to determine the fate of Constitutional Amendment 1, which would decrease home owner's taxes and all the services that they pay for. My community also happens to be voting in 3 new city commissioners so I expect voter turnout to be higher than in the rest of the state. We'll see. You have until 7 p.m. to cast a ballot. Make sure you do!

the scarf: skein two

I also finished the second skein of yarn for my new winter scarf (which apparently can also be used as a table runner?) I need to finish up soon since it's starting to get chilly here at night. I took my knitting to a forum on how the US should fix the failing health care system last night since (honestly) those things tend to be sort of boring and my attention span is limited. I finished the skein two-and-a-half hours into the forum, so I think I made the right decision (I also think I paid better attention during the presentations and Q&A session than I would have without the knitting.) I called it my winter insurance plan -- helping to keep myself warm so I don't catch a cold and have to spend money I don't have on a doctor's visit and medicine.

Even without the knitting, the forum was very interesting. Harvard professor Dr. David Himmelstein gave a great presentation on the single-payer system. The Labor Party has been working on getting HR 676 passed in the House for several years now. The current state of insurance and health care in this country is scary. It's not even about the 45 million (yes, million) without insurance -- it's also about the millions of us who have some insurance but not enough, or whose premiums are so high we can't afford to go to the doctor even with insurance. Michael Moore's Sicko documentary helped shed light on the discrepancies between the American system and that of the rest of the industrialized world. Hopefully, now people are angry enough to do something about it. I'd like to see the health care debate become a serious issue in the 2008 presidential race -- not the small lip service it's being given so far. Because goodness knows my new scarf can only protect me from so much!

25 years of feminist activism

Friday night Gainesville Area NOW celebrated our 25th anniversary as a chapter. We put a ton of time and effort in the planning of the event, and I'm thrilled at how well it turned out. A lot of people came, the speakers were fabulous (you can always count on Jenny Brown to motivate you to continue the fight), and dinner was quite good by banquet standards. We had a silent auction to help raise money for our chapter. It was also the night we unveiled our chapter's next major campaign: Encouraging our city commission to take a stand against restrictions on abortion and birth control. During his campaign, Republican Governor Charlie Crist said he would sign an anti-abortion law if it were to come across his desk. We are planning to take out a signature advertisement in the Sun before the primary elections in January reminding him that the women of Florida want no restrictions on abortion and better access to birth control. I am so proud to be involved with such smart and talented women.

festival season

Phew! It's been a busy week. I'll try to make up for not posting with some extras today and tomorrow. I've been enjoying the festival fun that comes with fall in North Florida. I love the way this community comes alive again once the consistent 90-degree days give way to 70s and 80s. Last weekend was the Thornbrooke Arts Festival. I went with my Mom on Sunday -- the first mostly dry day after four days straight of rain. There was a lot of jewelry at the show and an abundance of glass pumpkins. Mom found one we both fell in love with, but it was already sold. We were disappointed with the day after that until I found this cute print that Mom graciously bought for me:


I'm a Gainesville Area NOW board member, so it was particularly cute to me. I think I'll put it in a simple frame and hang it in my office.

Today I went to the Friends of the Library fall book sale (there's also a smaller one in the spring.) For the uninitiated, the FOL has about 300,000 books, records, CDs, DVDs, games, and more crammed in a meticulously organized fashion into a (now) small warehouse. The sale runs for five days, but if you want a chance at the best of the best you ought to be there Saturday morning. It's so celebrated that folks even camp out the night before, making sure to be one of the first through the door. It's a FOL ritual of mine to pass by the parking lot the evening before just to check out the campers (there were at least two out there yesterday at 4:30.) How do these campers know what they want? Well, that's the fun of the sale. Typically you never really know what you'll find at the sale since there is no preview day, which is different from most library sales. By the time the doors open at 9:00, the line has snaked through the parking lot several times and down the street. Being full of mostly book lovers though, the entrance into the sale is usually orderly and quick. I picked up a few old Marthas (magazines are only a quarter), a quilting magazine, and the Home Restaurant cookbook. Home, located in NYC's Greenwich Village, was the only place I ate more than once the entire summer I spent at NYU. The cookbook brings back lots of good memories.

Unfortunately, I missed the 12th annual fall plant sale at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, the Natural History Museum's ButterflyFest 2007, and several fall festivals in surrounding communities. Next weekend is the 1890s festival in McIntosh and Morningside's native plant sale. I'm hoping to get to both before the 3:30 UF/Kentucky kickoff.

fabric & paper

While I was busy with the jet convention I promised to share more projects I'd recently finished. It's a little late, but here you go:

I made two new freezer-paper stencil shirts before I headed to Clearwater this weekend. I love the outline of the plane, which I'll admit I created from an image I found on the web. It's given me ideas for more intricate shirt designs. As for the F? Well, I am a Florida Gator girl.






This is a graphic design project I created for Gainesville Area NOW's 25th Anniversary banquet. I'm a big fan of repetition and geometry, can you tell? This was a great project for me, especially since it forced me to learn more about InDesign. I made response cards, tickets, and posters to go with the invites. The program will also follow the same simple design. We're celebrating 25 years of NOW feminist activism in Gainesville on October 19th. If you'd like to come, send me an email.



These are thank-you cards I use in my business. They are found images of airplanes sewn onto cardstock using red thread and a sewing machine. I get rave reviews for these since most of my customers aren't super artsy and don't expect repairfolk to sew. They're a great way for people to remember me and my service.





One of these days I'll share my Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree card collection. For the past seven or so years, my homemade holiday card has been based on the tree (I'm a little obsessed.) I'm currently working on this year's edition. I'm also working on a large installation for one of the huge walls in my living room. I found some great 1'x1' canvases for 50 cents each at my favorite thrift store in the world, a Goodwill in St. Pete. I bought nine of them and plan to use them to create one large image. I'm about 89% sure what it will look like and really excited to try out some new painting techniques with this project. I should finish it this month since Tim's going into seclusion for a few weeks to work on the comps for his dissertation, leaving me free to paint, paint, paint. Wish both of us luck!

saying good-bye is never fun

Tonight I said good-bye to a friend, fellow activist, & neighbor. John got a job in Portland, and he's moving there next week. Larry is staying for now to put the house on the market. I will miss them dearly. They live on the next block over, and I love to walk Madeleine there just to stare at their amazing garden. John and Larry encouraged me to get more involved with the Labor Party and the fight for HR 676 -- single-payer health care for all. Listening to their experiences encourages me to do more.

I suppose I should be used to this. After all, Gainesville is a college town so transient by nature. But even after 25 years here I just can't get used to saying good-bye. I'm thrilled for John and Larry. I know fabulous adventures await them on the west coast. Good luck. I'll miss you both.

AND ... check out this great shirt Joe gave him as a going away gift. Go Gators!