Sports contracts??? Please enlighten me, tbrackman1, how that works. I am having great difficulty picturing the co-workers or clients to which Jason refers when thinking he was writing about sports contracts. Even more confusing for me is to consider he was writing about sports contracts when he wrote how contract negotiations cause them to lose track of doing their job well and neglect the reason they went into the field they chose. One does not have to be a genius to read between the lines to get the intent of Jason's comments! Before you even waste your time.....no, I do not have a guilty conscience about anything, other than wasting my time reading the majority of the articles printed in the Brazil paper! The truth of the matter is I wish the Times staff responsible for writing articles would consult someone with knowledge of the English language to proofread their work for grammatical errors before submitting it for print. (example in Jason's blog, pronouns and their antecedents in sentence four) Perhaps a refresher course in English would be beneficial. I bet I know a good number of teachers that would be willing to earn a few extra bucks by providing tutoring!

Wow! Believe me, I have not let contract negotiations affect my students, and the same is for all the staff in my building. We are not selfish about getting a raise, because most teachers are making less than they did 3 years ago. When was the last time you saw your paycheck decreasing? Most of us are spending our own money on materials and incentives for our students even though we are making less. We don't let our not having a raise hurt our students. Try interviewing the kids and see how bad they have it. NOT! I'll bet most of the kids will say their teachers are fun and kind-hearted. They don't know we're having issues getting a new contract unless their parents tell them. I can't believe you had the nerve to say this. When was the last time you sat down and observed an elementary classroom, where children were learning and having fun? Maybe you should have a poll and ask students if they have noticed a difference in their teachers' teaching in the last 5 years.

Nothing in this blog states that the subject of the blog is about the Clay County Teachers. Do you have a guilty conscience?

Based on what Jason has previously written, one would assume that he is writing about sports contracts.

Either way, his statements are a very good reminder that people can get so caught up in the fight that they forget what for and why they were fighting in the first place.

Good Blog Jason.