java, I'm sure they are aware. Dontrelle's mom, at least, still lives in town.

K-But is now texting me about telling folks to pass the proposed parcel tax. I know no one here lives in our district, but still...baby activist.

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Thanks for posting that link.

The girl's softball team is supposed to have a game in Livermore today. Wonder if they will go or "walk out" on that too.

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Suzi, that's awesome! I'm so proud of K-Bug.

We had a good news/bad news kind of day. We went into the accountant to get our taxes and it looks like we're getting a net refund! Not a large one, but it's much better than I thought--meaning I was expecting to be writing a huge check to Uncle Sam this year.

And Owen's teacher wants a home visit next week. She confided in me that O most likely falls somewhere on the autism spectrum (not a BIG surprise) but we should be getting an official diagnosis.

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Suzi, it's on CNN RIGHT NOW!

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Cash - that just gave me tingles. It made national news?!?!?

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Yup--they just showed some footage for a second but they stated the reason they were protesting and the pictures are pretty impressive! I hope they get an affiliate report up soon.

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Hey, Nora, wanna imagine you're meeting me for a beer tonight?

God, do I ever.

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My comments would likely result in tears or lawsuits.

So would my database!

Also, yay for no invasive procedures! Sorry hubby is bored, but better than being bored. So to speak

Very much this.

I feel horrible about the school situation, but then I look at the school district where CJ will be next year and I'm so glad we are moving.

It makes me so angry that people have to move to another school district or pony up obscene amounts of money in order to ensure a good education for their children. I believe with every fiber of my being that there is nothing, nothing, more important than education for the health and vitality of a civilization, and yet here in California the Gubanator wants to cut the already underfunded schools even more by dipping into the 40% of state revenue guaranteed by Prop 98. I heard on NPR last week that we are now ranked 47th in the nation in per pupil spending (thanks so much, Prop 13). According to a Rand Institute study, "California public schools, which in the 1960s had been ranked among the best nationally in student achievement, have fallen to 48th in many surveys of student achievement."

It just makes me furious. This state has more money than most countries, yet we have to fight to educate our kids. And what does he say about our massive deficit? That this is not a revenue problem; it's a spending problem. WTF. I dislike taxes as much as the next person, but there's a reason we pay them!

Walkout update. Now all the kids from both high schools are on the big auditorium and there are a ton of press and police. She just sent me a picture and it is madness.

Good for K-Bug and the others! WHEE baby-activists!

I just got a call from vwbug, who was getting out of her much anticipated and stressed over meeting at school- she said that it went REALLY well, and she is pleased with the discussion and feels "incredibly validated."

That’s wonderful! Thanks for the update, Nora.

Hey, Nora, wanna imagine you're meeting me for a beer tonight?

Can I join the imaginary happy hour?

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I couldn't agree more, Kristin. It's disgusting. Especially in light of this.

From that link, which is a NYT opinion piece:

Mr. Hormats mentioned Social Security and Medicare, saying that both could have been put “on a more sustainable basis.” And he cited the committee’s own calculations from last fall that showed that the money spent on the war each day is enough to enroll an additional 58,000 children in Head Start for a year, or make a year of college affordable for 160,000 low-income students through Pell Grants, or pay the annual salaries of nearly 11,000 additional border patrol agents or 14,000 more police officers.

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Woo! Imaginary happy hour. I'm there.

Go K-Bug with the newsmaking activism!

Damn Kristin, I didn't know California had fallen so far down. They used to have such a good reputation for education. Florida has always been bad. We're just all about the standard tests. We approved higher sales tax and they spent bunches on shiny new school buildings, but of course this comes with rip off contractors and bribes and all the usual scandals. Schools pay XXX for pencils when the office store down the street sells them for XX.

DH just got back from the state basketball finals. Some schools had parents driving the players there and paying for their rooms, other schools had buses with cheerleaders and fans all paid for by the school. All schools are not created equal.

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