They say cats always land on their feet....

I can only hope that this is true. I am feeling the work really pile up as I try to balance life, home, and work. We did have one break through; our contract was ratified by the union tonight. Of course now there are all kinds of rumors about the teachers costing the district too much money and that being the cause of all of our district's cuts. It is a complete farce, but I can only do my part to correct it with the people I know. Sadly the papers keep printing the misinformation, which only feeds the beast. We didn't get a raise. We have in fact frozen our salaries for three years. "Step" numbers are being manipulated to sound like a raise. Also, the amount is $68,000, not $80,000, which is actually less than other years because of retirments etc. The whole thing is ridiculous. The citizens need a scapegoat, and here are the teachers to take the blame. It is hard to keep putting in the extra hours and volunteering my life away with thanks like these. Someone even had the nerve to suggest the teachers donate an extra $1500 to the budget. This is not something that would EVER be suggested of any other profession. People like that make it hard to keep going.