Eric is at an interesting stage these days. He's terrified of movies and yet he loves them. We rented all these movies for when he was sick, but he never wanted to watch them because they were scary...he just assumes every movie is scary if he hasn't memorized it. Well, Rebecca sort of bullied him into watching the Aristocats. There was much bawling, teeth nashing, and general misery and the result is that he loves it now. Being sick makes Eric wierd.

This last Tuesday our levy failed at our school. It was very close 49 to 51 which of course makes it even harder to take. The district ran an organized, enthusiastic campaign and about 300 parents went door knocking, but it wasn't enough. It means a 10% cut next year, which is pretty deep no matter how you look at it. When I was hired in '97 the district was still reeling from a number of failed levies. I remember in a staff meeting nearly fainting when Deb Geiger told me that class sizes averaged 35 (they had been about 25 or less where I student taught). Every year since things have sort of degenerated. Actually, I guess there were a few good years in 2000-20001, but I was getting used to classes of 10 to 15 in Kwajalein. The last few years my classes have averaged 35-40 and with the upcoming cuts it's going to be awful. My guess is the new legislature will push to increase education spending but there is only so much money (much of it increasingly obliterated by healthcare costs) The whole picture seems pretty grim.