Sí se puede...yes we can

I must admit that we shed tears of happiness last night. For the first time in a long time I feel positive about our country. What an honor to witness and contribute to the election of the first black president in our nation's history. Now it's time to get to work renewing this country and its image on the international front.

In Oregon news, voters smashed down two measures that were of great significance to me: 58 and 60. 58 would have made it illegal for me to teach native non-English speakers in a dual-language Spanish/English program. It was unjust and unfair and I am pleased to see that most Oregonians agree with me. I want students to learn English, but taking their native language away from them is not the best way to accomplish the goal. Besides, two languages (or five or six) are better than one. My Latino students in the dual-language program are closing the achievement gap between them and whites. This is not happening at such an extreme rate in English-only programs. It's awesome and I'll never stop fighting for them.

Measure 60 involved merit pay for teachers. Trust me...the deep down hope for this measure is good. I think that high-quality teachers should make more money. BUT, tying it to standardized test scores is NOT the way to monitor teacher ability. The reality is that folks who teach in high-need and low-socioeconomic schools have different challenges from those who teach in schools where most kids are getting what they need at home. When I taught first grade in Silverton I had students come to school who couldn't identify their name or hold a pencil. It takes a lot of work to get that student caught up to students who started preschool at age 2.

Today is a good day. I know that not everyone is happy this morning; we lived that feeling for the past eight years. Now it's our turn.