The here and now... and what and why

Complacency is a trap. At least that’s what I was thinking when I up and left the comfort of a Yankee prep school gig, where I taught music, amongst other things, for 28 years. There was also that life long career as a composer, musician and artist.

First, it was a year in St. Thomas, USVI, working as a reporter and shooting photography and then, a year in San Agustin Etla, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Time passed.
More time passed and a year back in the Athens of America followed by a hasty return to Oaxaca where it is all happening.
A couple of years in San Sebastian Etla and now, just down the road in San Pablo Etla. Life is good.

Click on an image to see it larger.
For additional photography please visit my flickr page.
You can find my music on Jango (World & latin - Worldbeat) and at iTunes and most online stores.
¡Soy consciente de todas las tradiciones del Internet!
If you are coming to Oaxaca, please contact me for tours or advice.

Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo
The view from Corazon del Pueblo

The hereafter re me

My photo
Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico
Musician, photographer, videographer, reporter, ex-officio teacher, now attempting to be a world traveler

Saturday, June 13, 2015

An end of the strike?

I don't think so, but here's the latest. (my emphasis)
from the LAHD
Members of Mexico’s militant CNTE teachers union voted Friday to end their strike, but said they would continue protests against a regime of teacher evaluations that they reject as unfair.

The return to work next Wednesday reflects a “commitment to the parents to complete the school year,” the CNTE spokesman in the southern state of Oaxaca, Benito Vazquez, told the Milenio media group.

Ending the walkout is not intended as a gesture of goodwill paving the way for resumption of dialogue with the government, he said.

Mexico’s deputy government secretary, Luis Enrique Miranda, said Wednesday that a renewal of talks would depend on the teachers’ returning to the classroom.

The strike, which began June 1, has affected more than 6 million students in Oaxaca, Chiapas, Guerrero and Michoacan, the impoverished southern states where the CNTE is strongest.

In some locations, CNTE members attacked public buildings and political party offices and burned ballots in an attempt to disrupt last Sunday’s midterm elections.

Vazquez said that while 70 percent of the CNTE teachers who came to Mexico City on Wednesday to mount protests will return to work, the other 30 percent plan to remain in the capital.

A major protest is planned for Sunday and large mobilizations will resume in mid-July, following the end of the academic year, the union official said.

The CNTE rejects the sweeping education overhaul enacted in 2013 by President Enrique Peña Nieto, especially the provisions on teacher evaluation.

While the government touts the overhaul as necessary to improve education, the CNTE contends the plan unfairly scapegoats teachers for the failings of a chronically underfunded schools, especially in rural areas.
 More protests at the end of the academic year???  What academic year?

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