andros_rex

“Burns” is the correct verb. It keeps me awake at night, cost me my marriage, and has lead to multiple mental health breakdowns.

November made me suicidal, because I knew that they were going to gut DOE, and the feds were the only ones with any power to do anything. (DOJ managed to get their report out on time about how OK uses cops and jails instead of providing mental health care to people; the findings from the investigation into Owasso Public Schools prompted by Nex’s murder is also something that needs to be read and discussed more)

I’m exhausted. All I really want to do is talk about physics, math, history, how to make arguments - to teach. I fucking love it. I should be in a classroom in Tulsa or OKC right now running a lab - I know there’s a classroom right now with a long term sub that needs a crazy mad scientist to throw things or light things on fire or show off radioactive rocks. But I can’t work a job where I’m dehumanized, not recognized as a trained and knowledgeable professional, or where the fact what I have a uterus and a beard means I must be some sort of deviant who wants to be around kids to hurt them - and then also be paid so little that I have to have a second job to survive.

Epic is the largest school district in the state.

Epic counts students logging into their computer and answering 5 questions as a day of “attendance.” As long as you do this at least once every two weeks your child remains enrolled. Teachers are supposed to meet with students for at least an hour in person once a week, but individuals make exceptions and play games with rules - often, thirty minutes over zoom are sufficient.

Epic teachers teach all subjects and grades. In the same day, I could help a high schooler with geometry and a severely disabled kindergartener with letter recognition. This is something I am qualified to do, but I don’t think I think my skill sets are common. The same teachers are grading student assignments - how effective feedback can an elementary Ed certified teacher give on an assignment over the quadratic formula or an essay over the causes of the French Revolution? (I tend to be popular with other teachers because I will sit with a physical science teacher and teach them atomic theory, or how to factor polynomials, while admin hates me because I call out stupid bullshit.)

There is an epidemic in Oklahoma of illiterate and innumerate children and young adults.

I hope TES 6 never comes out. Skyrim was a disappointment anyway, I don’t think my heart could take it if they made another story about a big bad wanting to destroy the world for no reason at all.

Trust me - I have tried. I’ve left hundreds of voicemails with elected officials and local news media. Both about education and child abuse in mental health care.

Oklahoma has been a failed state under Project 2025 style policies for the past ten years.

The Reddit story was very convincing at the time. They later did walk it back, something like they believed the brother when they denied doing it.

I don’t know how conspiratorial we should be, because while the FCC doesn’t play around I think at this point everyone would be more amused and curious if the perpetrator came forward.

Look at how phone phreaking was treated in the 70s, or codes for getting long distance on BBS. The modern justice system would have wanted to make someone like Joybubbles an example.

That middle school also had actual riots where multiple teachers were injured. They were very good at limiting news coverage - this was part of a stupid program of consolidating schools that was a horrific disaster. (No consideration about gang territory or bus lines.)

I also knew a guy who was hired without a background check as an adjunct/emergency certification - and they gave him a cafeteria for a classroom. (Requirements a few years ago relaxed to just require a college degree in anything, now even that’s optional. The nicer districts brag about all of their teachers having college degrees.)

I have been trying to blow so many whistles for so long, but absolutely no one gives a shit. The Supe is too busy spending Ed money on Trump Bibles.

What scares me is that I’ve tried to hook multiple “geekier” teenagers on Linux, and they aren’t interested. Even the math-y ones don’t know the difference between an operating system and a browser. My main computer is Arch with xmonad and it disturbs and confuses them.

We have a lost generation when it comes to computers. Lots of the little geeks that would have been playing around in the registry or learning powershell 15 years ago are so stuck in walled gardens that they don’t even know there’s a world outside of them.

The tweaking isn’t in conversation, but I’m pretty sure they have gone and corrected for certain responses. Alex Jones was crowing about how it “knew” that men can’t get pregnant.

I was a trans teacher (stealth, students and teachers didn’t know), and I did have a few students tell me that they were trans.

I asked them if they wanted me to call them by a different name or use different pronouns, and told them I would support them if were mistreated by other staff or administration and wanted my help. Truly evil indoctrination.

Like, what matters to me is that that homework has a name I recognize and give a grade for. Teachers are way too fucking busy to be indoctrinating your kids, especially the ones in hell hole red states (feeder middle school had 100+ kids in some classrooms - I remember being at a PD when someone asked how to adopt the activity for a stranding room only classsroom….)

Also, I believe there’s a similar carve out for referring to women as “property.”