I slept in today because I didn't get to sleep last night until almost 2am EDT. I was up at 8:30am and I left one hour later. Today was the day for all my suburban sites.

I stopped first at Valley Forge. The park is very large, so I made my way around by car. I was impressed with the beauty of the area. I didn't know the colonial forces were encamped over such a large area.  Perhaps the most exciting part of the park was General Washington's headquarters. The house is almost 100 percent in tact. Knowing that I was climbing the same stairs and holding onto the same banister as GW...well, that was an amazing experience. I also stopped at the very pretty Washington Memorial Chapel - an Episcopal parish within the park that's dedicated to the father of our country.

After Valley Forge, I spent about 30 minutes being lost. I had a hard time figuring out how to get on the right freeway going in the right direction. But, my philosophy of life remained true...I'm never lost, just temporarily misdirected.

The next stop was Lancaster, PA - home of the Amish and the Pennsylvania Dutch or, more accurately, Deutsche - the area of heavy German immigration during the 18th century. I visited Landis Valley Farm - a folk museum about rural life in the area during the 18th and 19th centuries. It was enjoyable, but the traffic getting there was very thick, sometimes stop and go. My favorite part of the farm was both the kitchen in the tavern as well as the gunsmith shop. Both had excellent interpreters who were very excited to talk about their specialty. By the time I was done at Landis Valley farm, it was almost 3pm. I knew I would be unable to make it to Winterthur in time because it closes at 5pm. Instead I headed to me second choice which I knew would be open late.

I arrived at Longwood Gardens just north of Willmington, DE by 4pm. Like Winterthur, Longwood was owned by the DuPont family too. The gardens are beautiful and extensive. Fountains play an important role . I spent three hours touring the gardens and I found the conservatory and greenhouses most impressive. The large lake too was lovely, especially the Italian fountain garden and the little pavilion at the opposite end. Needless to say, I took a lot of video.

Now I'm home once again - well, my temporary home at the hotel. I stopped at the grocery story to buy some dinner and I thought it would be nice to pick up a bottle of wine. But I learned PA has liquor laws that are more antique than Washington or Oregon. Hard liquor AND wine are only for sale in state liquor stores. The folks at the grocery store were kind enough to direct me to the nearest Wine & Spirits store. For dinner I had a small pork roast, mashed potatoes, gravy and broccoli spears. Not bad for a little kitchen in a hotel.

Tomorrow I will leave early and head into the heart of historic olde Philadelphia.

I left Seattle this morning at 7:40am - only fifteen minutes late. Unfortunately, they changed the type of plane we were on, so I lost my exit row window seat. But all was not bad - I sat next to a small teen. He and his dad were quiet and polite, so the flight was not bad. Things became more difficult in St Louis. My connecting flight left an hour late. They managed to make up some time in the air, but that time was lost when we landed in Washington DC because they didn't have a gate ready for us. We waited on the tarmac for 25 minutes.

Picking up my car was easy. I avoided a long line at the counter because of my FastBreak program membership with Budget. I have a Ford Taurus that's very comfortable. I zipped northbound on the Washington-Baltimore Parkway through DC and into the Baltimore area just as the sun was setting. Once I passed through the I-95 tunnel in Baltimore, traffic came to a screeching halt - not because of the toll plaza, but because of police activity and construction. Things were stop and go for a couple miles prior to the Susquehanna River. Then, about 10 miles short of the Delaware state line, again everything slowed to a crawl and continued for all 10 miles. I started to fear I would not arrive at my hotel by 11pm. That's when the office was due to close. When traffic finally cleared out (after another toll plaza) I and everyone else zoomed ahead. I arrived ten minutes before closing. Wow, the whole trip took three hours and cost $10 in tolls.

So I'm finally in Philadelphia, despite canceled flights, delays, and heavy traffic. My room is on the ground floor of the Extended Stay America hotel at the Philly airport. It's a decent size and it's clean. The bed is comfortable too. Five minutes away I found a 24 hour grocery store where I bought my dinner and food for tomorrow's breakfast. I think I will concentrate on my rural Pennsylvania sites tomorrow, leaving Independence National Park for Sunday. I'll try and get an early start, heading first to Valley Forge followed by Landis Valley Farm in Lancaster, then Winterthur and Longwood Gardens outside Willmington, DE.

Traveling often has its advantages - and disadvantages. It seems rare that I can leave the west coast without encountering a problem. I guess on this coming trip, I'm off to an early start.

At 4:10pm today I got an E-mail informing me my morning flight on American had been canceled due to "flight conditions" in Dallas. Apparently, everything is being canceled there for more than a 24 hour period.

Since this is a pleasure vacation, I chose to re-book on a totally different day, ignoring American's suggestion that I take a red eye flight tomorrow night, also through Dallas.

Now I am scheduled to leave on the 29th and fly through St Louis. Then I will return on the evening of July 6th. The E-mail that will tell me my seat assignments has not yet arrived, but the customer service agent assured me he managed to place me in exit rows for every leg of the trip.

The new itinerary has me flying into National, then flying out of Baltimore. Therefore when I re-booked my rental car I had to pay a $49 premium. I'm not going to have a cow over that. I must choose my battles if I want to travel often.

Thankfully, I just finished re-booking all my hotels and I had no problems. I even got the same rates though now I am staying over the July 4th holiday (probably because I'm staying at business hotels). I suppose it's a plus that I will be in DC for Independence Day. It's also a plus that I will be home for our special house guests (Bob & Vets) tomorrow night. It will be nice to see them again.

The problem is I have paid for reservations at Independence Hall and a tour at Winterthur. Both are non-refundable. The Independence Hall fee was only $1.50, but Winterthur was $20. I'm going to look more closely at my possibilities for Winterthur.

All in all I have come out of this disaster pretty well.

I leave on my east coast trip very early tomorrow morning. And YIPEEE! For the first time since September 11, 2001 - I have been allowed to check-in for my flight online and print my boarding passes at home! Someone at Homeland Security and American Airlines has finally got the message. I'm not a terrorist.

WOW! It's terrific to know I can bypass the check-in counter and head straight to security. That should easily cut 20 minutes off my time in the airport. Now I can arrive about 90 minutes ahead instead of the usual 120 minutes.

My bags are mostly packed. All my books and info about the sites I will visit have been slipped into my briefcase. But, on the down side, it's starting to sink in that Gene isn't going with me. I was hoping to enjoy this solo trip and avoid missing him. Damn! Ain't gonna happen. Why am I so inextricably and emotionally tied up with that fuzzy 50 year old? Maybe the 14th anniversary we recently celebrated has something to do with it.

Guess I'll make the best of it on my own.

My anticipation is rapidly increasing as I near the day of my departure for the east coast. As is the norm for me, I have my days meticulously planned. There is no such thing as a spontaneous vacation for me!

I arrive at Baltimore's Thurgood Marshall Airport on Wednesday late in the afternoon. I will pick up my car and head north on I - 95 to Philadelphia. I'm lodging at the Extended Stay America motel at the airport. My choice of that motel is dictated by several reasons. First, it's inexpensive (Philly hotels are very expensive); second, each room has a full kitchen; and third, the motel is just 6 blocks from the A1 train that connects the airport to downtown.

I plan on seeing all the important central sites on my first day in Philadelphia: Independence Hall, Declaration House, Constitution Center, Carpenter's Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Bishop's House, and the Philly Museum of Art. Hopefully I'll have time for a quick tour of the Reading Terminal Market (for lunch) and maybe even city hall.

The next day I plan on driving to Valley Forge and then on to Lancaster, PA to see the Landis Valley Museum which chronicles the settlement of the Pennsylvania Dutch. Finally, I'll end the day at Winterthur Mansion and Museum outside Wilmington, DE. (home of the DuPont family). I have booked the "Elegant Entertaining" tour and I plan on seeing the vast collection of decorative arts. I wish I could go to Gettysburg, but it's 120 miles away. That's too far. If I still have some energy, I spend my evening at Longwood Gardens for one of their illuminated fountains shows.

Then, on the third day I head back south to Baltimore. Once there I'll stop first at John's Hopkins University and tour Homewood House, the residence of Charles Carroll Jr. - son of Charles Carroll who signed the Declaration of Independence. You can see a bit of Homewood online: A tour of Homewood.

Then I drive into central Baltimore to see the Inner Harbor, as well as two more Carroll family homes: that of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (The Mansion), and Charles Carroll the Barrister (Mount Clare). I hope to be finished around 1pm because then I drive to Annapolis.

The port city of Annapolis is small but full of history. Once again I plan on seeing another Carroll home - that of Charles Carroll the Settler who came from England to escape persecution as a Roman Catholic. I also hope to briefly stop in at the Maryland State Capitol and St. Anne Episcopal Church, as well as do a little wandering around town.

By 6pm I'll leave Annapolis behind and head into Washington, D.C. I'm staying in Arlington/Rosslyn at the Residence Inn. It's right across the river from the Kennedy Center and Georgetown. A Metro stop is just 4 blocks from my hotel. And, again, I have the advantage of a full kitchen so I can save money by fixing my own dinner and avoid the loneliness of dining in a restaurant by myself.

The list of sites I hope to see in DC is huge. I will have three full days in the area. The first day is a Sunday. I plan on attending Eucharist at the National Cathedral then taking the Metro to see the Museum of the American Indian as well as the Holocaust Museum and perhaps the Botanical Garden. 

On Monday I must be in town at the Federal Capitol no later than 7am so I can stand in line to get a timed tour pass. I also hope to see the National Gallery and the new World War II Memorial.

My final day is dedicated to sites on the outskirts of DC. I'll start at the Manassas/Bull Run Battlefield and from there head toward Dulles Airport to see the new Udvar-Hazey wing of the National Air and Space Museum. I'll finish the day to the south at Mt. Vernon. Supposedly the crowds at George Washington's home can be huge in summer but the web-site says the lines diminish in the last few hours of the day.

I don't catch my return flight until 6:00pm on July 4th, so I'll probably have time to get up early and go to the top of the Washington Monument. Then I can check out of my hotel late and perhaps wander the streets of Georgetown. Certainly, by 2:30pm I need to be on my way back to Baltimore International Airport.

As usual I'm trying to cram in a huge number of sites in one week. I suspect this trip will be both enjoyable and exhausting, don't you agree?

I am a product of public schools. I am college educated, I have a master’s degree, and I quote a colleague: "You are intimidating in your professionalism." It is sad that a few colleagues think that, for I am surrounded by excellent teachers who are my superiors in many ways.

It is with that background, and as a public school teacher, that I must say I am tired of hearing about how bad public schools are. It simply isn't true. And the negative media attention and fixation by many ignorant people strikes me as especially harmful. I worked in a very expensive private school for two years during college, and I know what my nephew has been through in a Roman Catholic private school over the last eight years. All institutions of education have their flaws like all things, all institutions, and all people. Nothing is perfect. But some things are not as bad as some would have you believe.

I finished our required year end assessments with my students this week. 95% of my kids are reading at or above standard (up from 82% in the fall of '06). In fact, 50% are far above standard (more than a year). In math, 75% of my kids have passed the standard. Is that the result of a poor public education? And few will tell you that Washington state has perhaps the highest standards in the nation. Certainly, our students endure the most rigorous testing system - without at doubt. All the results of those tests are made public. Yet our tax funded school system is constantly compared with private school who do not give their kids the same tests, and the results of those tests they do give are not published to the community. In essence we are compared to a private and secret system with almost no public accountability. Oh yes, and 99% of the kids in private school come from middle and upper-class backgrounds.

I work in a diverse school where 4 out of 10 families qualify for subsidized school meals. 2 out of ten kids speak a language other than English at home. Yet I, with the help of many other staff members, were able to achieve a fantastic goal. Why are public school so maligned? Well we all know it's because the teachers are inferior. That is the level of public debate I have had to endure in the local and national media this year.

As I grow and mature, I am disappointed to realize there is a well established and entrenched “group think” in our country that is extremely destructive. It's a type of mob rule where political sound bites and manipulation of public opinion rule the day. Honesty, complexity and deep understanding are tossed aside in favor of expediency, generalization, and political gain. Sadly, while some people gain power and avoid responsibility in our system - others are abused, insulted, and ignored. I won't be one of those people.

Like all large institutions, public education is not without its problems. But too many people have forgotten to look at the big picture. As our public school systems have improved over the last ten years (yes, they have) they have done so even as education standards have continued to rise, but financial resources have been withdrawn. Political promises have been made but not kept, and the party of "small government" has inserted its hand into local school boards and into the offices of state superintendents. It has been the largest federal intrusion on local education in history! - the height of hypocrisy. I’m astonished the American people have not awoken to realize they have been duped.

Billions of dollars have been spent on an unnecessary war, but politicians from both parties have refused to fully fund their own mandated programs like No Child Left Behind. For example, that bill requires that every school have an extended day of teaching and tutoring for students that do not meet standard. But they have provided absolutely no money to fund such a program. We have been lucky enough to receive funding from our PTA. But most schools are not so lucky.

Additionally, study after study has concluded that the gap between the wealthy and the poor has increased dramatically in the last ten years while the middle class is stagnant. Nothing has a greater impact on education than poverty. No one wants to acknowledge that uneducated, poor, and low wage workers raise uneducated kids. Not everything is the fault of teachers. Despite these national circumstances, million of heroes (teachers) have continued to grow, change, and improve their instruction. That fact goes unrecognized. Nationally, it’s much easier for a politician to point the finger at teachers and tell everyone we aren’t doing our job. I would like to see someone point the finger at parents and say, “what could you do to improve the education of your child?” Turn off the TV! Check his/her homework. Show up at your parent/teacher conference.

In my own school district, with one of the poorest populations in the state, our test scores on average have risen from below to above the statewide average in the past 5 years. We did this through hard work, analysis of our practices, and faith in ourselves and our abilities to adapt and improve. Yet we have been demeaned, insulted, and subjected to annual public scorn because our student test scores have fallen bellow those of the districts where white middle and upper class residents live. Interestingly, those who look at statistics have found that among the poorest children, Seattle schools has seen a broader increase in test scores than for poor children who go to school in wealthier districts like Issaquah and Bellevue. For that accomplishment we are pilloried and our professional associations have been derided by political hacks and ignorant voters with mouths and waistlines bigger than their vocabularies.

I have a simple question for you: how many wealthy teachers do you know? Teachers in public school have one of the highest levels of education of any professions with the exception of lawyers and doctors. But we make far less than those who practice law or medicine. Yet our weak professional associations (technically they are not unions) are constantly condemned as destructive and obstructionist. Excuse me!? If I'm in a union then I should be paid a lot more! The politics of personal destruction are not targeting just the most powerful of our public servants. The cross hairs are trained on the teacher in your child's classroom too.

After enduring some personal insults this year, I'm working on changing my attitude. I'm not going to listen to those evil people any more. They are doing the work of the angels of destruction. Sadly, they are too ignorant to even realize how ignorant they are. These people are common folks without the humility to look at their own actions and words with deliberate and personal scrutiny. They contribute nothing to the betterment of our children or public education. The editorialists and the fundamentalist promoters of "vouchers" are bent on their own selfish goals - not to the increase of freedom. Isn't it sad that I am losing faith in the common man and woman? But I still have faith in the future - especially our children.

I have achieved a lot this year. Many other schools and teachers have done the same. It's time to dwell on the positive accomplishments. The year is coming to an end and I am going to think only about the hugs I get constantly at school because my kids know I love them. I'm going to remember forever the parent who thanked me because her child used to struggle with reading, but now she is proud to have accomplished something great - she passed the state standard reading test even though the state again raised the standard for second grade. I'm going to concentrate on the father who shook my hand quietly last week because his daughter has come out of her shell while in my classroom. I'm going to recall the two moms (yeah, they are lesbians) who thanked me today because their daughter "...has learned so much it's amazing." And, I'm going to recall the most significant thing a child has ever said to me. A little first grader said six years ago, "Mr. C, you aren't mean, you’re just strict and that means you care." Lest I seem to be bragging, rest assured my colleagues are getting many similar thanks, handshakes, hugs, and praise. And my school is not unique. Teachers and parents work together and perform miracles all the time. I am not special.

There are many wonderful teachers in America. They easily outnumber the bad ones We care enough to work under constant media scrutiny with kids that others would simply ignore. And step by step we are succeeding. Can you imagine a politician or pundit saying something like, “Public schools are great and getting better.”? They would be laughed off the stage because it’s unpopular to be positive in America today.

Tearing people and institutions down has never made the world a better place.

This week marks the retirement of my friend and principal, Larry. He has been at my school for ten years, and in the Washington State public school system for thrity years.

Today we celebrated Larry's service in a public setting at a PTA sponsored party. The celebration opened with about 60 kids singing our school song (newly written to celebrate our 100th anniversary) while slides of kids and teachers were dispalyed in the background. We teachers then sang our own humorous dittie. Then, six speakers were asked to contribute their thoughts. I was the first speaker. Following is the text of my five minute speach:

Welcome, everyone, to this very special occasion. And a bitter-sweet occasion it is.

It’s sad for me to say goodbye to Larry Bell. But – at the same time – we know he’s leaving Stevens Elementary in good shape and – going now – he’s got the chance to enjoy all that hard earned classic pension while still young and adventurous! I am sure many of us will have to work into our eighties before our pension kicks in.

Ever since Larry joined the Stevens clan ten years ago – he has been a pillar in this small but important community…chief advocate for and enforcer of the Stevens way.

Being a principal is a sacrifice which brings along with it the slings and arrows that often assail public school educators. It’s a lonely job – and we must not forget that. A principal comes to work each day without a peer. There is no one with which to commiserate. There is no one else who must endure the forces a principal tries to balance: parents, teachers, students, budgets, directors, administrators, bureaucrats. I honor Larry for being willing to walk the line between sometimes bitter adversaries and find a balance. I don’t know if I could do the same. I honor you, Mr. Bell, for knowing when to play the mediator and when to play the advocate. You have kept the peace, and reminded us we are here for the kids. Your long-term commitment to the work of public education has gone beyond reasonable expectations.

When I came to Stevens six years ago, I carefully selected only 4 schools at which I was willing to apply for a teaching position. I was leaving an unhappy situation behind and I was determined to find a better workplace – a place that fostered excellence and creativity in education, a school that accepted and even embraced many different kinds of people, a school that valued every type of family, and a school that dared to build partnerships among teachers and between families, schools, and the wider community. I also wanted to work for a principal that would allow me to grow, take risks, assume responsibility, and support me along the way. I was looking for a place that not only believed it takes a village to raise a child…but actually put that belief into practice.

Larry and the staff at Stevens gave me a chance to become part of this village, and I found here the finest setting I could imagine. Larry has built an incredibly talented staff here though a little nutty. I am always proud to say I’m a public school teacher and I work at Stevens Elementary. We who are fortunate to stay at Stevens – we are a part of the Larry Bell legacy. I hope we always remember how good it has been.

Every one of us is totally different from the other. Some of us are quiet and some never shut up. Many of us are creative, and many of us are logical and linear. Larry’s leadership has brought together all these different people you see in this room. He has fostered an atmosphere where we all can be leaders, where we all play a part, and we all can be honored for our achievements. That is no easy task. I am eternally grateful to Larry for giving me the opportunity to live and work in this village. It is my hope that he will always look back at the ten years he spent with us and see this time as an era of accomplishment and a source of pride.

On a final note, Larry, I wish you the very best on behalf of the staff at Stevens. We hope you enjoy a wonderful vacation in Europe! Boy - have you earned it. Anyone who can last 30 years in public education deserves a huge vacation. Good luck Mr. Bell, God bless you, and with heart felt gratitude we say what our parents and teachers taught us to say when we have been given a wonderful gift…a simple and very sincere:

Thank you Mr. Bell.