WEAC and MTEA: This Is War (I Expect)

The decision by the state’s largest teachers organization, the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), to alter its stands on teacher evaluation and advocate breaking from the traditional method of paying teachers was not such a huge surprise for those who had been following statements from union leaders in recent months. The educational and political landscapes have changed, and the union wants to play a role in big decisions coming soon.

But the WEAC stand in favor of breaking up Milwaukee Public Schools into “smaller, more manageable districts” caught people (count me in) off guard. It’s just not something to which the union had shown previous inclination. And the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association, WEAC’s largest affiliate, strongly opposes such ideas.

There were clear indications in the way things happened this week that the gap between leaders of WEAC and the MTEA is now wide and sharp, and communication among them is not friendly. 

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The Highs (and Lows) in Life Don’t Last as Long as You Think

Hey, Packers fans, have you started to come down from your cloud yet?  I was about as euphoric as anyone when the final seconds of the Super Bowl ticked down last night, but then my kids — up way past their bedtime (thank you for the late start time, NFL) — began to fall apart from fatigue and over-stimulation, and I was vividly reminded of some fascinating reading I’ve done in the past year on “affective forecasting.”

In essence, the lesson derived from many years of psychological research is this: people have a pronounced tendency to overestimate how long both happy and sad emotional states will last, even in response to major life events.  For instance, research shows that lottery winners come back to earth much more quickly than you would think, while accident victims who suffer permanently disabling injuries also tend to return to their prior emotional state after a readjustment period.  An excellent introduction to this research is Jeremy A. Blumenthal, Law and Emotions: The Problems of Affective Forecasting, 80 Ind. L.J. 155 (2005).

As Blumenthal observes, the research has some interesting implications for law.  Here are some thoughts, for instance, on implications for criminal punishment.

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The Power of One: Part One

When I landed in law school, I had little understanding of what it meant to be a lawyer.    By graduation day, I had a couple ideas.   Ten years later, I have a few more.   One idea that I had long before I ever entered Sensenbrenner Hall, proved overwhelmingly right.   It is simply this: that being a lawyer requires “something more” than showing up for work each day, figuring out what the law is, and regurgitating it in a courtroom or contract.   What that “something more” is, has taken me a long time to discover, and I’m still learning.

 When I began practicing, I wholeheartedly took up the generally frenetic pace of this American life, and the new lawyer’s life in particular.    Those who have done it will surely agree that, while years in which one bills upwards of 2000 hours are fruitful in some respects, they leave little room for growth in other essential aspects of being human.   Bustling with busy-ness and a desire to serve the community, I also did lots of pro bono work and volunteering with the bar.  This allowed me to collect a wide variety of experiences in the law and on its fringes.  A day of depositions defending a multi-million dollar corporation, might precede a meeting with a homeless shelter director to strategize about meeting legal needs of its individual residents.   Thus in 2007, when I switched up my career path to teach  justice in an undergraduate setting, I had much to reflect on, some time for it, and perhaps most importantly, a realization of the value in doing so.  

I now recognize, praise and honor the lawyer’s unique opportunity to be a force for greater good, in our paid work, our pro bono work, and other moments in which we assert our professional identity.   In my writings to you this month, I will highlight three roles that lawyers commonly assume:  we are by turns counselors, advocates, and peacemakers.  I will share with you a story to illustrate the power each of us has to express that role to its fullest, what I call, “The Power of One.”   In the course of these writings, I will share with you more of my own personal journey, and invite you to deliberate about your own path.

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