Would you enter a profession that is one of the most stressful jobs in America? I wouldn't. the mayor. They were striking on the basis of poor working conditions, low salaries, increase in health care cost, and the the way they were being evaluated. I am siding with the teachers because what they do is really important and they should be treated fairly.
The teachers in Chicago began their srike about two weeks ago and they have portested at parks, street cornners, and school buildngs. In my oponion, if the teachers are upset enough to stop working then there must be some major problems. The teachers used their union to fight against the new system of evalutation that included a high percentage based on test scores. While research shows that a year to year test score does not reflect a ture teacher performace. The teachers did win to have their evulutions incluede less percentage of the test scores.
The union also spoke out for better student teacher ratio. Many teacher felt that their classrooms were over crawed. They felt they could better meet thier students needs with fewer students in a class. Teachers also felt they could perform better if they had better training.
Techer were concerned about raising health care cost. As schools are closing, teacher are being layed off. They felt the process used for rehiring of the teacher and the hiring of new teacher was unfair.
As he walked down the street that he once knew, passing people who before would
greet him with a smile, but who now does not even bother to acknowledge him. He
had become a stranger in a place he used to call his home town. Questions
bounced around in his head as if his mind had become the walls of an asylum to
his sanity. He was once seen as an virtuoso, but that person is now thought of
as a forgotten legend.
To the people of New South Wales, Australia Timmy was a name that meant something to every girl, boy, man, woman, and child.
He was a young man with a bright future and nowhere to go but up. He was blessed
with a plethora of talents in art, athletics, and academics. Timmy was a
straight “A” student, a top recruited athlete. Because of his talents, people
tried to attach themselves to Timmy as if they really knew him. Timmy, being the
kind fellow that he was would always accept their “friendship.” There was only
one person who Timmy truly considered being his friend and that was Eva. Their
Their friendship goes back to when they were small children playing on their front
lawns. Their parents had introduced them to one another but their friendship did
not blossom until later in their lives. Timmy, the talent person that he was,
very shy as a young boy and didn’t say much. Eva on the other hand was very
social; she wanted to talk to every person she meet, so when she tried to talk
to Timmy, he kept to himself. The day they became friends was when they climbed
the oak tree in Timmy’s yard. Timmy climbed to the top of the tree very quickly
and Eva tried to keep up. As they reached the highest point of the tree Eva
realized that she could not climb down. As her heart throbbed rapidly, she
looked down at the ground which was so distanced she found herself unable to
move. Timmy who was on the ground began to assuage her with calming words. The moment her feet touched the ground was the moment Eva and
Timmy became friends. Timmy overcame his shyness and Eva was his biggest
supporter. Their friendship was the foundation to building Timmy’s success.
Eva had only one extra ordinary talent that identified her as being something
besides being Timmy’s best friend. She was a gifted visual artist and had an
unique way of demonstrating the atmosphere feel of time periods, space, and
sounds in a modern and contemporary style. Eva was not the type of person to
display her art skills; she felt that her work was not to be judged by people.
Eva said ,“my art expresses my feelings and other’s opines on how I feel is
irrelevant to me.”
The only person that had seen her work was Timmy and that
was only allowed under two rules she told him. The rules were that Timmy could
never show anyone her work and could never critique her work.
You would
think that with all the talent in the world confidence would come with it. This
was not the case. Timmy was the same person he always was and he knew it. In his
words: “ I am like a bottle of Coke right out the freezer but you can’t open me
without a can opener.” Timmy played three sports rugby, soccer, and basketball.
His coaches knew Timmy well; he was smart, on time, and a real team player.
Timmy’s coaches also knew that when Eva was not around Timmy was not the same.
When Eva got sick and the basketball team was in the playoffs, Timmy ended up
costing his team the game. Timmy’s rugby coach convinced Eva to be the team’s
manager to insure that she attended every game. Timmy’s soccer coach got an
extra seat on the bus to chaperon games which were seven hours away, just for
Eva.
One of the biggest problems with being so proficient in
almost everything is deciding what to do. Timmy has no direction; he does not
even know which college he wants to attend. Timmy is very worried that he
will make the wrong decision and be stuck somewhere he does not want to
be. Unlike most high school students Timmy did not base his decision about
college on price, but what team he is going to play on, or even which
scholarship he would accept. Timmy based his decision solely on how far away he
would be from Eva. In the back of his mind he knew that she would not be
with him forever. He wanted to be his own person but he feared what would
happen to him. Timmy also realized that Eva may have wanted to do
something with own life but she would not leave Timmy. The two never spoke
about their thoughts on going their separate ways even though they knew their
time was running out. Timmy needed to commit to a college soon. Eva
was not even sure if she really wanted to go to school. Eva was trying to
decide if she wanted to be an artist. The only thing that she is sure of is that
she did not want to base her life on what Timmy wanted. Eva was not sure
if she could be around Timmy for the rest of her life because her feelings for
him had been more than just friends for many years. Timmy eventually
committed to the University of Australia on an athletic scholarship. Two months
before graduation Eva ran away from home and Timmy was left a hollow shell of
the man he once was.
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