Kaz Weida Profile picture
Sep 8, 2018 18 tweets 5 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
This #SaturdayMorning I want to tell you what happened when I attempted to pick my son up from school yesterday.

It begins in the car on the way to the bus stop when I look down at my phone and realize somehow, I have missed 6 calls.

My anxiety immediately skyrockets.
(THREAD)
(2) They are all coming from the same number, one I recognize. My son, who is in 8th grade, doesn't have a phone. But his friend does.

I call back right away but there is no answer. Fortunately, he's left one message.
Unfortunately, I can't understand a word of it.
(3) It's noisy and garbled but I take comfort that he doesn't sound frightened. And I catch the word bus. I immediately calm. He must have missed the bus.

At this point, I arrive at the bus stop, located at a local elementary school, and see cars lining both sides of the street.
(4) And I realize EVERYONE missed the bus because the bus is not here. I see parents milling about confused. I try calling and texting the number my son called from again but there's no response.

At this point, the bus is about 15-20 minutes late.
(5) I begin to wonder if the bus is broken down, but usually, they call & leave one of those automated messages. I haven't gotten one of those. I start thinking maybe I should drive across town to the school.

In case the bus left already, I call the middle school for an update.
(6) Nobody answers. It's 3:30 on a school day so I'm puzzled. I call several times. Nothing. At this point, the bus is about 30 minutes late & I decide to just head over to the middle school. On the way, I call a mom friend and she confirms the bus is late but has no other info.
(7) On the way across town, which takes 15 minutes, I continue dialing the middle school office and the cell phone my son called from. No answer. Now I'm starting to worry because it's nearly 4 pm & I don't know where my kid is.

I pull up outside the school. It's empty & locked
(8) It occurs to me that if he did get on the bus & leave while I was driving across town, the elementary school where the bus stop is will know when the bus arrives. So I call over to that office. No answer but an automated message tells me the office closes at 3:30.
(9) This is SUPER puzzling because the elementary school doesn't even get out until after 3:30. Fortunately, I know a teacher who works at the school so I call her. She peeks out the window & confirms that the bus from the middle school has arrived and she sees my son. THANK GOD.
(10) I explain to her what happened and I can hear her frustration across the line. She agrees that it's ridiculous that both school offices are closed before school even ends. But she says budget cuts have forced them to cut office staff completely.
(11) At this point, it's a little after 4 pm when I pull up and pick up my son. This odyssey of frustration and worry has taken me an hour, struggling through cross-town traffic, burning several dollars worth of gas. He explains his friend's cell phone battery died.
(12) He also says that for the 3rd time this week he had a substitute bus driver. The school is struggling to find qualified people to drive the buses and I've seen the emails go out pleading for volunteer crossing guards.

So now I'll explain why I'm even telling you this story
(13) I never received any message from the middle school about the delay.

Our schools are struggling. Utah no longer requires certification for teachers because they simply can't fill vacancies. Aging buildings and skeleton staff.

This has been happening for decades.
(14) We pay taxes but the majority of it doesn't make it into the pockets of our schools. Utah has one of the lowest per-student costs for education in the nation. We need to do more.

The 1% send their kid to private schools. Other wealthy kids go to charter schools.
(15) And the rest of the state is left to fight over the scraps left to public schools. This is the future DeVos has envisioned for your education system.

Where private schools and charter schools privatize education and everyone else continues to struggle to get by.
(16) Why can't we have schools filled with sunlight where qualified teachers care for our kids, they eat nutritious food, and we send them home with capable drivers on buses that don't spew toxins into the air. I'd pay a little more in taxes for that.

WHY IS THAT SO HARD?
(17) I'm continually puzzled by how we can fund huge tax breaks for corporations like Adobe to come put their headquarters here or leases for mining companies to drill and strip our public lands, but we can't get my son home from school.
In Utah, children are supposed to come first. It's considered one of the most family-friendly states in the nation.

I'm still waiting for a budget that reflects those priorities. (END)

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More from @kazweida

Oct 8, 2018
After Kevin Cramer characterized #MeToo as "victimization," I thought it'd be helpful to look into Kevin's backstory.

Turns out this is one of the least misogynistic things he's ever said.
Buckle up, North Dakota & meet your possible future Senator.

(THREAD)
#MondayMotivation
(2) Cramer made national news with his hot take on Kavanaugh.

“My point was that there was no type of intercourse or anything like that...that nothing happened in terms of a sexual … event, beyond, obviously, the attack... Even if it’s all true, does it disqualify him?"

Yikes.
(3) Because there was no penetration, Cramer argues, there was no assault. And really, who hasn't been drunk and tried to rape a woman. Am I right? 👀

This is a guy endorsed & supported by GW Bush and Trump because of course, he is.
Read 7 tweets
Oct 7, 2018
This #SaturdayMorning we're addressing a complaint from those who say they won't bother voting this November.

What does it matter? they think. Gerrymandering has rigged the election. I'm in a red state or a red district. My vote won't count.

Here's why it matters.
👇
(THREAD)
(2) The GOP has erected many barriers to voting, including voter ID laws & lax security that undermines voter confidence in elections. But perhaps their most powerful tool is voter suppression through gerrymandering.

It's how the GOP won the House in 2012
nytimes.com/2018/06/19/opi…
(3) Gerrymandering is when state legislatures draw up districts in order to heavily weight conservative votes. Republican gerrymandering after the 2010 census helped win a majority of House seats for the GOP in 2012 even though they got fewer votes across congressional districts.
Read 14 tweets
Sep 30, 2018
This #SundayMorning let's chat about what has become obvious during the Kavanaugh hearings.

We're still deep in the patriarchy, peeps.

The #MeToo movement has exposed the pervasiveness & persistence of misogyny. How do we fight back & dismantle sexism once and for all?
(THREAD)
(2) Let's start here.

One of the biggest problems is while women make up half the population, we don't have control of the institutions that have power over our lives.

From executive boardrooms to the halls of Congress, men's interests are & have always been OVER represented.
(3) That means men's voices are heard more often & that they are more involved in decisions. In business, in politics & in the media.

Despite GOP's rage-fueled defense of "good men" targeted by #MeToo the facts don't support that men are a minority being victimized in America.
Read 11 tweets
Sep 29, 2018
I want to address what some have critiqued about Dr. Ford's accusations.

Why doesn't she recall more specifics?

Some survivors say they don't believe her because she doesn't remember the same details they do about their own assaults.

Let's deal with this bullshit.
(THREAD)
(2) My first assault happened when I was 12 years old. I remember what pajamas I was wearing. I remember what movie we were watching. I remember what beer he was drinking. I can recall specific smells and sounds and almost every nuance of that interaction seared on my brain.
(3) I was assaulted by 2 men in my best friend's house when I was 17. I remember their names of course because I went to high school with them. But I don't remember much else. Not what movie we watched. Not what I was wearing.

I hadn't been drinking, but the details are fuzzy.
Read 8 tweets
Sep 26, 2018
Some people look at Brett Kavanaugh and see an ivy league nerd with a wife and two kids and a solid, respectable life.

But this is precisely why millions of women don't find it difficult to believe Dr. Blasey Ford & Debbie Ramirez.

WE SEE YOU BRETT.

#WednesdayWisdom
(THREAD)
(2) I see Brett because when my Mom looks at my stepfather, she sees the man she's loved and been married to for decades. A good partner and father.

But I see the man who abused and assaulted me throughout my teenage years. And the woman who didn't believe me.
(3) I see Brett because when they look at my high school yearbook, my classmates see broad shoulders and a perfect jawline. They see the class president & prom king.

I see the guy who sexually assaulted me. the one I hid in a bathroom to escape while he banged down the door.
Read 8 tweets
Sep 16, 2018
This #SundayMorning we're delving into a question that's on everyone's mind these days. With only 51 days left until midterms, the forecast for Dems to take the House is looking pretty sunny.

Is it possible for Dems to take the Senate as well?
(Thread)
(2) First off, anything is possible. Trump wasn't favored to win the Presidency either and here we are. I guess the real question becomes is it likely for Dems to take the Senate in the upcoming midterms.

The answer is NO. It's not likely.
Here's why.

theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
(3) To take the Senate, Dems would need to hold onto every single seat they currently have, including 10 Dem senators in states Trump won by huge margins like West Virginia and North Dakota.

Senators in the most trouble? Nelson, Heitkamp, and McCaskill.

vox.com/policy-and-pol…
Read 10 tweets

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