Chillinoutloud

I've listened to Alexie read his own writing, and he vocalizes the "excited" response (ie "oh, wow!") tone EXACTLY as I remember it in Espanola, and San Juan... now Ohkay Owingah... as a kid.

You are a Cata... we're cousins. I don't recognize your picture, but I think it's awesome you're doing an AMA.

My mom and brother will be going down to the pueblo for the dances later this month. I've heard the pueblo has some pretty cool things going on recently. Are you a part of any of it (beyond the traditional)?

Public education teacher here...

Our student achievement has worked contradictory to funding (TABOR) for the past 20 years or so. Many politicians don't brave this dynamic because despite the diminishing funding (adjusted for inflation and cost of living so please don't use some skewed chart that doesn't show a full picture), Colorado still does fairly well on the national stage (regarding growth and student improvement). At what point do we pay teachers what our neighboring states pay?

Attrition is naturally high, but in places like Massachusetts, Texas, and New Jersey, attrition slows as pay/benefits (along with sports/arts) IMPROVE! Not to mention the pools of talent/competition for positions for respectable rates of pay weeds out weaker teachers... makes replacing teachers less of "oh jeez, whats available" and more of a "wow, too bad we only need ONE" decision.

Hickenlooper helped end pay freezes across the state: 8 years in some places, pay didn't increase even for teachers who reached higher levels of education and expertise, but when the freeze ended, it rolled out as updated... 8 years in the rears! But, at least the freeze ended was the monument on which success was touted! Imagine your cellphone... 8 years ago! OR, your financial standing... 2008 crash anyone?

Will these droplets in a bucket be considered accomplishments? Will you BUY into the DeVos theory of rewarding those students (and the teachers) who are privileged enough to already be a part of successful education areas while shaming and cutting opportunities for the less privileged? Or, will you work to not only stop the deflation of Colorado academic excellence, but to make us a leader amongst the states as we once were?

Does education matter... say, as much as the department of corrections? What/how does the budget function, with regards to education, in YOUR vision?