I'm reading and watching very heartening things out there about Wisconsin. Here's hoping these protesters and this occasion spur a real revolution in the way of restoration of rights for middle and working class families. I have said before and I will say again, ten years ago when I was finishing up my degree in English education, if I'd've known how difficult things would get in education, I might have stayed a couple extra years to get a degree in a profession less persecuted. If I were a student right now, and talented and smart and worked well with students, I would not choose to take my talents to the field of education. I would go elsewhere. At this point, I'm in it for the long haul, through strikes and budget cuts; I'm destined to work in the public sector in the field of education in some way or another. It's just the way I am. [UPDATE: Just found this link to an address from Theodore roosevelt to the NEA in 1905, which addresses that same notion; we've come a long way, baby--or not. Or more likely we've regressed: http://books.google.com/books?id=M9sZAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA283&ots=iW593xvXAh&dq=teddy%20roosevelt%20false%20standards&pg=PA283#v=onepage&q&f=false.]
Here are some interesting links regarding Wisconsin:
"Dispatches from Poets on the Ground: Brenda Cardenas"
Letter from Michael Moore about Wisconsin
Speech Michael Moore gave in WI