Deborah Woehr

I went out yesterday and casted my vote for and against Schwarzenegger’s propositions. The one I was hoping to see pass was Proposition 74, which would extend the probationary period for our teachers. My youngest son has really lucked out with his teachers, but my oldest had the same misfortune as I did in that he got stuck with teachers who didn’t know how to teach and/or didn’t care.

It’s all about getting their tenure and their union retirement. I was hoping that this measure would pass because I’d really like to see the crappy teachers get booted so the good ones can come in and take their place. I’d like to see an improvement in California’s educational system for once. But it didn’t pass, which means that these crappy teachers will get to keep their jobs despite the fact that over half of their class is failing, which means that our kids will continue to get a bum deal.

My husband confided in me that he almost didn’t go vote because he knew that it would do no good. He then went on to say that the abortion consent measure (for minors) and the prescription disount measures would most likely get overturned in court. So why did we do this yesterday? Sure we have the privilege of having our say, but has it really gotten us anywhere?

All of the money that was spent on boths sides of this campaign could have been better spent to fix our disintegrating freeways, retrofitting old schools, hiring more police and fire fighters, etc. Things that we need, not what the politicians and unions want for themselves and only for themselves. My rant is over because that’s also a waste of time.