My mom is an ardent democrat for the simple fact that she’s a teacher.  That’s basically her only reason so other than that she’s not a political person.  My dad is a rightwing, fist-pumping republican who is happy to put a sign in the yard.  Growing up in election years was very educational for me since I got passionate interpretations of both parties’ side.  When my dad is asked whom he voted for in elections he always says, “The good guy.”  My mom’s reply to the same question is, “I canceled out your father’s vote.”  No wonder they divorced after twenty-five years of marriage.

 Right now my mom is in Madison rallying against the bill.  When I talked to my mom the other day I suggested that she go down and fight for what she believes is right.  I thought she would just use her typical old, “Well, just little old me being there won’t make a difference.”  But instead, she said, “I’m taking a personal day on Friday.  I’ve already got a spot on the bus.”  You go lady!

 The bill that Scott Walker (I won’t even give him enough respect to use the title Governor) is proposing hits close to home for all of my family in Wisconsin.  My mother, sister and brother-in-law are all teachers.  This bill was the deciding factor for my mom who was going back and forth as to when she should retire.  This is going to be her last year teaching Kindergarten.  She’s been hemming and hawing about retirement for the past three years.  She wrote her letter of resignation last week.  After over twenty years in the school system, she feels like the rug is being yanked from under her.  She’s afraid of the penalties that are being suggested.

 My sister and brother-in-law are both teachers.  Though Wisconsin has a tendency to pay teachers more than some other states, my sister only works a quarter of the time to save money on daycare for their three little girls.  My brother-in-law is the technology coordinator for the school district and doesn’t just work the typical school year.  He works all year round with out even the coveted Christmas break.  Needless to say, my sister and her husband aren’t rolling in it.  One and a quarter teacher salary barely pays the bills.  This past October their furnace leaked 250 gallons of heating oil in their basement.  They were displaced for a week because of the fumes and the insurance company didn’t pay for the hotel.  Their furnace was shot and because of the age of the equipment, the insurance company wasn’t going to foot the bill for it either.  Granted, they did get a few hundred dollars from the company but that’s not enough for the furnace and basement floor they had to dig up, dig down two feet to get rid of all the oil, and re-cement the floor.  They were entered in a contest by their neighbor to win a new furnace.  Out of hundreds of entries my sister was chosen for the new furnace but because they didn’t have the right duct work in their house, the furnace was given to a different family.  Right now they have a loaner furnace hanging up in their basement.  It’s got to be quite a sight.

 Because of this bill, my sister has the potential to lose over fifteen thousand dollars in income next year.  Where do you make up that kind of a decrease in your budget?  What else can she cut?  She doesn’t even have cable.  Fifteen thousand dollars.

So, right now my mom is rallying in Madison and for the first time in my life I have to say I’m proud of that lady.  She called me a couple of hours ago all atwitter.  “You’ve got to hear this!” she shouted into her cell phone.  She put me on speakerphone and I could hear the roar of the people around her.  It was an amazing, beautiful sound hearing so many people wanting the same thing.  After she took me off speaker phone my mom said, “And you’ll never guess who I ran into!”  I thought maybe she saw an old teacher of mine or someone I went to high school with.  It was too loud on her end for me to even venture a guess since she was having a hard time hearing me.  “I ran smack dab into the Reverend Jesse Jackson’s arm!”  That’s my mom, so apolitical until today.  My mom was rubbing elbows with Jesse Jackson.  She sounded so happy that she was doing something that hopefully will be for the betterment of thousands of people in Wisconsin.