Arrived in Denver.....

We were up waaaaay too late getting ready. Brandon was making the Obama/Buttons to take with us and I was working on my hat for the convention. We held fast to our projects while Grandma and Grandpa took over with the kids and the dogs.

After only 2-3 hours of sleep, we arrived at the airport just before 5am and made our way to the gate. We met a couple national delegates from Oregon at the gate, a few delegates and elected officials from Minnesota on the shuttle ride to the hotel, and the chair of the delegation from Arizona in the elevator. Brandon's buttons are a hit. We haven't seen anything with Biden around and since yesterday's announcement came so late, he will run out of buttons very soon. I keep telling him to sell them, but he refuses.

Here's my hat. I don't know when I am going to wear it and I don't know to which events. All I know is that every year, kids are tested, tests are scored, scores are released long after the kids have gone to summer, and dollars keep getting spent. Yes, we need some gauge and standard indicators of student achievement, but the No Child Left Behind joke has shifted dollars from supporting learning to funding test writers. I am not against accountability for kids or teachers, but there has to be a Plan B. Oh.. and Plan B cannot be withdrawl of funds or voucher to another school. The community has to invest in neighborhood schools and in kids because those kids will soon be your employees, employers, tax payers, and community leaders. This is why I am here. I am not at all okay with McCain's answer given on the Faith Forum last week at Saddleback. He mentioned "choice and competition" several times in a row like if he kept saying it, then it would work. Not all families have the economic stability or mobility for choice... they count on their communities. Competition isn't fair when you don't all start on the same starting line... gimme a break. Two weeks ago, a teacher I know was asked to guess which WASL one of her students passed... she knew long before he took the test how he would do on each one. Thanks for the hat inspiration.... You know who you are.