Two Years Later

Much of today in New Orleans of course has to do with Katrina's two year anniversary. Reporters and politicians are everywhere. The republicans blame our democratic governor for our troubles. The democrats blame the republican administration. My students and I today talked quite a bit about our sad and dire situation. In class we read as a group an Open Letter to President Bush written by City Councilmember Shelley Midura. It does a very good job of explaining how we've been largely neglected by the federal government, and how many people who live elsewhere are profiting from our tragedy. I'm glad she wrote it and I hope it gets some much needed publicity to counter the oft-quoted and errant $116 billion in aid claim. Bush is of course speaking at a charter school, as he always does. The message continues to be hammered: privatize schools on the business model. I'm sure Laura Bush's foundation will once again donate money to charter and private schools' libraries. I'm hoping that year three will be easier than the first two years. Things are starting off good. We're supposed to get our settlement check from Allstate tomorrow, and then on Friday, the shoring company is supposed to start straightening and lifting our house.