A few notes:

• Now that the election is done, I gotta say: I still don’t think Barack Obama parted the Red Sea or anything like that, and thus, we should still be able to criticize him and his pending administration, especially his Clinton-centric transition team / Cabinet nominees, or so it seems. Not saying we should completely flatten him for moves he hasn’t even made yet (here’s looking at you, Tavis Smiley), but let’s stay critical thinkers.
• Again, for me, it’s about disagreeing without being disagreeable. I’m not here making inflammatory comments about anyone. Seems like everyone’s snooping around to see if they’re being talked about.
• Speaking of which, dude’s made more jobs than MC Hammer. A transition team? Have we ever seen this kind of efficacy going into a presidential term?
• I knew Bush was a little grimey, but is he really this gangsta?
• If you think what the rest of us think about Joel Klein, then please sign the petition. As a matter of fact, write it in a letter, too. I’m not dissing him as a person; I’m against the idea that we can just sell off our public schools to the highest bidder. I’m against third-party practitioners controlling how children learn even when we have standards to follow. I’m against constantly changing the big ELA and Math tests for the benefit of the “higher-ups” instead of thinking about what’s good for the children, especially when it’s time for re-election. I’m against jumping through loopholes set specifically to guarantee the right people are put in the right place. I’m not against the person, but against the ideas. See?

Oh right, and before I go to the gym, this needs to be said: I am not for sale.

This morning, I got a comment that read more like an advertisement than anything else. I blocked it as spam, but before I did, I went to the site itself. It’s a site supposedly dedicated to “paying teachers more,” and it has a series of posts, all unoriginal content, and all incendiary. As much as I love that sort of blog (check the sidebar at your leisure), I’m not about to give props to any site that says “pay teachers more.” It happens in every industry; they align their message to your beliefs, leave a message on your site, and think that people are dumb enough to fall into the traps.

“Teachers don’t get paid enough!”
“This school pays a Gazillion dollars, and it’s the only one!”
“Teachers have it tough!”

Sites like this one make me sick because they fall right in line with what real teachers are saying: we’re not just asking for higher salaries. It’s about the respect as professionals. I understand; we get summers off, etc. However, it doesn’t mean we should have any less autonomy in our jobs, less respect on a professional level, less of a voice in what goes on in our schools, less chances to make this a career rather than a “Peace Corps-type tour,” or less opportunities to express ourselves in venues like these, where I feel we’re making so many strides in bringing a new dimension to how people view teachers.

As such, if you’re gonna come at me or anyone who blogs, please know we’re not gonna eat your shit. Yeah. I said it. Shit.

Jose, who is heavily anticipating Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, The Outliers.