AYP. In teacher lingo, it stands for "Adequate Yearly Progress." In other words, by the standards of the testing, your students actually learned something from you. In Detroit, it can be hard to come by, because the general attitude locally has pretty much gone to hell in a bucket. Although whether it's the students or the teachers who are making more of an effort, I'm not sure. But things DO seem to be improving, despite dismal local morale. Crime is getting weirder, as reported on the news, but overall, well, I guess you could say there are bright spots. I mention AYP because one of my districts was crowing that their high school teachers had succeeded in accomplishing this for the first time since the MEAP started being given. Dunno whether to cheer or cry. Among other things, it's dawned on me lately that I've probably been more impenitent and opinionated than normally serves a person well. Given my attitudes about unions, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of teachers, districts and others were rankled more than a little by the things I've said. I also know that there was probably a reason I waited until AFTER the mid-term elections to post again. Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, who was running as a Democrat, had the support of most of the unions in Michigan, including the AFT and the MEA; and he STILL lost the election to Republican and former Dell CEO Rick Snyder, who billed himself as "One Tough Nerd," and promised to treat the citizens of Michigan like customers. The fact that Bernero lost the race for Michigan governor even WITH the support of the unions, pretty much has to be a first. That's how important the unions have been in the past in these parts. The times, they are a'changin'. And it's not like I support corporate inequity that made the unions almost a necessity in the first half of the 20th century, I mean when lumber barons like David Whitney (whose Woodward Avenue mansion is now one of the best restaurants in Detroit,) could afford to finish the outside of his house in semi-precious Pink Jadeite, (I think that's what it is,) there's some serious inequity going on here. But conversely, when I know teachers these days who own Lincolns and Jaguars, well, greed got us all somewhere we didn't want to be. Especially when my weird little mind recalls my kindergarten teacher, who traded her Volkswagen Squareback for a plain-jane beige Mustang. Of course, I also know teachers who drive Ford Focuses (Foci?) and Dodge Calibers, but the point is, unionism still managed to cause some things to get out of whack, especially these days, when the unions are dealing with districts that essentially have no money. Point blank, don't whine about having to make cutbacks in your own life when the futures of ALL of us are at stake. I support union representation, when I figure the union's demands sound sane. Of course, in times like these, NOTHING sounds sane. Which is really the point. It doesn't help matters when I work directly for a company that ISN'T union, in schools that ARE. Makes for a lot of confusion, and sort of, "where does one really stand on this?"

On top of that, well, I've probably pi*sed off enough people with the attitudes I have espoused, and if that includes you, I'm sorry. I'm workin' on things, and I'm just gonna have to KEEP working, and pray to God I can make things better. Overall, I'd say things are on more of an even keel in my life, I'm getting things under control, slow but sure, and what I can't fix, I'm just gonna have to deal with somehow. It's an Asperger's thing, you may or may not understand. If you don't, be patient anyway, I'm still dealing with a lot.