Bonnie Beukema's blog

We will come back to you with a full report later this week, but I wanted to let everyone know about our busy week. This week both the Basic Education Task Force and State Board of Education meet. It is a dream come true for an education wonk like myself (sadly, I'm only half joking).

Sunday mornings are a casual affair in my household. As I sipped my coffee and read The Seattle Times, I came across a great article about Rep. Helen Sommers. I laughed a little as I read this line out loud to my roommate:

Last week I attended a two-day conference in Nashville, TN on teacher pay at Vanderbilt University. Day one started at 7 a.m. and ended about 15 hours later. The information was dense and overrun with formulas and cohort talk. Having said that, I left the conference with two simple yet overwhelmingly clear conclusions:

First, this conversation requires collaboration.

After what turned into a somewhat depressing Election Night last November, I spent two days accepting that we had lost Simple Majority.  Few dislike losing as much as I do - but when a loss has a direct negative effect on one million students, it is especially hard.

I think it was on the fourth day that things began to change.  I remember sitting at my computer at 4 p.m. waiting patiently for Pierce, Snohomish and King counties to update their vote totals. By 4:15 p.m. suddenly we were winning - and man did it feel fantastic.