The Zip Code, A National Issue

                                              The Zip Code

                   As I examine the  Stamford Advocate story  of the Connecticut mother arrested for sending her son to a school in a district where she does not ” live” , I have to justify to myself that this situation is a national government issue. While it happened in Norwalk, a city in Connecticut, similar situations are occurring all over the country as districts try to allocate scarce local money for their local students. I can understand that local school districts are struggling. Here in Austin teachers are being fired because of low budget, but does that mean that a homeless  child should be removed from his school? Does that mean that his homeless mother should be arrested and could possibly face twenty years in prison and $15000 in fine for stealing $16000 in education from the Connecticut Kindergarten school her child was attending?According to staff writer Nickerson, the mother  Tonya Mcdowell  is charged with the federal crime of larceny. This is not a local matter anymore. It is a national, federal, government issue. The Constitution  explains the dilema best when it comes  to this mother’s case. The constitution cannot dictate to a State what to do about a public school ,but the constitution can provide equal protection through the fourteenth amendment.  Consequently, besides going to court to avoid jail time, Tonya McDowell , the mother seems to have a case in taking this to higher courts including the supreme court.

       I would fully support that move. Here we have a homeless unemployed mother, moving from shelters to friends, trying to find a stable life, being arrested for trying to put her child in a good school. What is wrong with that? Should a zip code dictate the life and death of a child? Ms. Mcdowell obviously knows the answer to that question when she thought she was doing the right thing by enrolling her child in her friend’s neighborhood school district. In a story done by NPR on this same issue, writer Helena Andrews quotes Henry David Thoreau “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison." Ironically, only this week for a research, I read a study released by NAACP entitled "Misplaced Priorities: Under Educate, Over Incarcerate” . This sudy reveals that the federal government was spending six times more money on prisons than they were on education as they imprison blacks and browns.  I must conclude that it makes me sad to think that there might be no hope for Ms. McDowell and her son if this horrible trend continues.

Original Libyan ... Congress

           “Sometimes, the course of history poses challenges that threaten our common humanity and common security ...preventing genocide and keeping the peace; ensuring regional security, and maintaining the flow of commerce. These may not be America's problems alone, but they are important to us, and they are problems worth solving. And in these circumstances, we know that the United States, as the world's most powerful nation, will often be called upon.”  These are the words of President  of  President Obama's Speech On The Situation In Libya . America’s need to help another country is paramount in this situation. I do agree with the blogger of Original that congress is the one that has the authority to declare war. But when since World war 11 has Congress been the one to declare war? It has always been the Presidents. It is known that President Obama is not a war monger. Part of the reason he won the election was on that premise.  He would not have declared war on Libya unless he saw the dire need to do so. He pointed out that reluctance in that speech when he said “ Mindful of the risks and costs of military action, we are naturally reluctant to use force to solve the world's many challenges. But when our interests and values are at stake, we have a responsibility to act. That is what happened in Libya over the course of these last six weeks.”

    Mind you, I agree that congress should be involved. The constitution calls for that.But while Congress did not vote however, the bipartisan leaders of Congress were consulted. Obama did not do this on his own. There were several consultations and discussions even between Senator Clinton and Libyan diplomats. And yes I agree with the blogger of Original that the United States cannot continue to solve the world’s problem, but this time senator McCain probably said it best in an interview on CBS Moammar Gadhafi has "American blood on his hands" as a reason the U.S. should try to oust the dictator.”

Steel Magnolia $94 million

   She is seven months pregnant - active, energetic, dynamic  - moving around in the classroom as she directs her theatre art students in rehearsal for the play Steel Magnolia. Nicki Guckian’s quick smile belie the troubled thoughts and concerned anguish over her soon to be lost job. Yes Nicki and her husband Alan Guckian, also an Austin I.S.D teacher have been slated to be RIFed. Ms. Nicki as her students lovingly refer to her, has not stopped serving her students at Lanier High School.she continues to work diligently and consistently. Her husband Alan, the band director for Eastside Memorial High school keeps taking his outstanding, award winning band students from one activity to  the next. Like thousands of teachers and workers throughout Texas, the Guckians’ are intensely worried about the impending future. Speaking at a recent A.I.S.D board meeting Alan Guckian pleaded for his job, “These cuts are going to cripple my family. If we lose our positions, we lose our home. That’s just a fact.”

            This is the story ; this is a fact. Throughout Texas, devastating layoffs better known as RIF or Reduction in Force are being implemented. It makes me feel  like I am in Gorge Orwell’s Animal Farm, and the Government is finding cute names for the destruction of people’s family, while they the elected leaders wallow in exorbitant spending like 14 thousand monthly rental fee.  A $95 million shortfall, is causing elimination of more than 1,500 jobs from only one school district. The RIF of thousands of positions is causing despair, fear, depression and anguish. “I work hard” is falling on deaf ears in school board meetings, and Legislative House.

     While Ms. Nicki sets the stage for her UIL play Steel Magnolia, her students clearly understand that she works hard, but further down the Avenue in the Capitol someone squeals “She works hard  but I work harder.”  The stage collapsed- Steel Magnolia crumbled. Oops. The Blue Bonnet wept and withered.