History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
Calif. protests highlight teachers' frustrations
- 05-13-2011
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By Juliet Williams/San Jose Mercury News
Teaching was a calling for Jennifer Teguia. She says the long hours she spends grading papers, writing exams and calling parents are worth it to help young minds thrive. But as she has seen her 9th and 10th grade English classes balloon from 20 students to 36 or 38, she and her colleagues at John F. Kennedy High School in the eastern San Francisco Bay area city of Fremont are getting burned out. "This year has been by far the most difficult year in my career, including the first couple of years where you don't even know what's going on and you don't know the system," said Teguia, 34, a teacher for 11 years. "I rarely get any time that I'm not working. I think the first day, including weekends, that I didn't work was in November. ... My parents have helped me score, my husband has helped me score papers. Everybody is trying to help out, and I'm still barely able to still have time to sleep," she said. "The workload is unbelievable." Teguia was among the hundreds of teachers who converged on the state Capitol this week to press lawmakers for more education funding as schools face the prospect of billions of dollars in cuts to balance California's budget. (more...)
Also: Orange County Register, Sacramento Bee
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