A brief reflection on the 2008-09 school year, from a middle grades teacher in Los Angeles:

When I reflect beyond my own classroom, I grow increasingly concerned about how next year will play out as we grapple with teacher layoffs and a state economy on the brink of collapse. Based on seniority, we're losing one of our terrific young sixth grade teachers and retaining a teacher whose students cuss at him and charge out of class with regularity. We're losing two of our administrators, our special ed coordinator, and our literacy coach to other schools because of layoffs and seniority issues.

And I continue to resent and reflect on how often I see the words "bad teachers" in local newspapers. Another one today...