Goo News

When she talks about enlightenment, my morning yoga and meditation teacher often says, "You have to go through the goo to get to the ru." She means learning to use the practice to stay centered no matter what life throws at you.

The last couple of days have provided plenty of goo to work through. Starting with several new instructional initiatives by the central ELA office, there has been a lot of work to do after my teaching day is through. My classes are larger this year, and I'm working with 2 new co-teachers who are also new to the building. Our administration has decided to cross-team special education and English language learners, which in my opinion weakens the safety net for some of our students who need the most support. Our counselor is new, and students keep getting added and moved around my classes, upsetting the dynamic I'm trying to build, as well as overloading four of my sections, while making one almost unproductively small. 

And finally, in his weekly email to staff, our superintendent off-handedly dropped the news that every single employee will be enrolled in a new insurance plan starting in January 2024. For me, the change is a nuisance, transferring prescriptions and checking to see if my doctors are still in-network, but for Heidi, it is overwhelmingly enormous. 

She has been with her HMO for 30 years, and has a health team in place to help her manage her type 1 diabetes. Now, she has to find and put together a new team and also manage the transfer of her prescriptions, insulin pump, continuous glucose monitor, and their supplies by the first of the year. There is no guarantee that her devices will be covered or supported by the new plan.

54% of employees of our school system and their families are in the same boat, including women expecting children, children with chronic health care issues, patients with surgeries scheduled after January 1, and those being treated for both severe and minor health issues. They will lose their doctors, their counselors, and other healthcare professionals.

The change has been in the works since January and was decided in July, and yet staff is just being notified of the done deal now. Now that's some goo.