Crisis of Confidence

In the summer of 1979, a day after I turned 4 years old, President Jimmy Carter delivered his "Crisis of Confidence" speech. Later known as the "Malaise Speech", President Carter tried to open up to Americans and let them know that he felt their pain, that he was right there with him. Times had been tough and President Carter was imploring his people to pull themselves up from the bootstraps and face the challenges ahead - "to stop crying and start sweating, stop talking and start walking, stop cursing and start praying".

I would imagine that the Commander in Chief's message was lost on a 4 year old probably more interested in filling Lake of the Woods with rocks than worrying about the State of the Union. 

Fast forward some 37 years and once again, our nation is in turmoil. Across the Dakotas, proposed gas lines are being protested. Our Presidency is up for grabs between two septuagenarians (70 somethings) that, regardless of physical capabilities, may not be fit for service as the new POTUS for other glaring reasons. The polarization of the political parties has gotten ugly and frankly, is scary and just not any fun to witness. The posturing of Professional Football players during our Nation's Anthem has unified some while angering others. And police officers are being targeted as the bad guys. Really? 

Most personal feelings that people used to keep in their inner circles are now shamelessly paraded on Facebook. Social Media has provided a platform for the most aggressive public display of opinions that I can ever imagine there being.  

Minimum wage has skyrocketed and the "Great Recession" is now spoken of in the past tense. Yet, generations are still living with upside down mortgages. Bombing and terror attacks headline news programing. The VA hospital is in shambles and facing a growing Veteran population that deserves better. Health insurance costs have suffocated the working man and a fractured gas line threatens the cost of fuel in the southeast.

The list of downers is agonizing.

Public Education has become the whipping boy of society. Standardized Testing and the blood thirst for data has driven policy makers to the point of over-analyzing, over-critisizing and over-mandating curriculum and the professionals that deliver it. In year 16 of my career as a teacher, I'm left walking on pins and needles, sometimes second guessing myself more now than I did while I was still green behind the ears. Don't get me wrong, I still think that I am an above average teacher. I'm still in this gig for the same reasons I signed up for those first university education classes twenty years ago. I'm good with kids and I think I can make a difference by doing things the old fashioned way. - Have some fun while holding kids accountable, loving them to the best of my ability along the way. 

But it's hard. The kids in our classes deserve better. My colleagues and I deserve better.  Our local school is grossly underfunded and the disparity is downright unfair. There are a lot of emotions tied to the Levy vote in eight short weeks. 

Teaching contracts are typically renegotiated every two years. The local board agreed to a two percent pay increase for Rush City teachers. I earned a year on the "Step" side of the pay scale for completing another year of service but I was more proud to have earned a "Lane". While teaching in Alaska I earned ten college credits through the University of Alaska  - both Fairbanks and Anchorage. I anxiously awaited the superintendent's stamp of approval. I was hopeful to receive a significant pay increase as a result of the continuing education. The credits were quickly approved. Michele and I were eager to see how much the small "promotion" would show on my first paycheck back in the district. 

Twenty-three dollars....correction. 

Negative twenty-three dollars.

With a two percent negotiated contract raise, a year of service and ten credits from an institution of higher learning, I make twenty-three dollars less than what I made the last time I received a teaching check from this district. I got older and I got better yet my pay went down.

What gives?

The rising cost of Health Insurance is the main culprit. Despite doing everything within my power to better my station in life, my take home pay has gone down due to a six percent increase in the cost of health insurance coverage for my family. For one moment I was so proud and exited for the future possibilities. How quickly that changed when the reality was so much different from what I anticipated. 

With Kivalina always on my mind, I knew there would be no room for complaining. In 1979, Jimmy Carter must have felt the same. 

"We've always had a faith that the days of our children would be better than our own...."

"In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But we've discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning. We've learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose.

The symptoms of this crisis of the American spirit are all around us. For the first time in the history of our country a majority of our people believe that the next five years will be worse than the past five years..."

Life is good. What's 23 bucks when I have everything I ever really wanted?

"We've got to stop crying and start sweating, stop talking and start walking, stop cursing and start praying. The strength we need will not come from the White House, but from every house in America."