• Home
  • blog
  • speaking
  • Published Work
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

eunice ann

tales of a girl trying to make sense of it all.

I’m about to get all political on you

April 15, 2010 by euniceann

There. You’ve been warned. I’m not politically charged, generally speaking, but there are just some issues that get me going sometimes. Education is one of them.

I’m annoyed. In the 13 years since I was a student in the Flagstaff Unified School District, I see that nothing has changed. Not a damn thing. In short, the district is out of money. Again. And they are asking for taxpayers to cover it. Again.

The funding for the district is so bad, they are projecting closing four schools – two elementaries, one of two middle schools, and one of the three high schools here in town – prior to the start of the school year in August. They simply cannot afford to staff schools that aren’t even full. In March, the voters passed a hotly contested budget override, which would provide additional funds to the district by increasing property taxes. Now the district is asking for a sales tax increase to cover the remaining deficit. Almost half of the educators will be receiving temporary pink slips today, until the district knows what next year’s budget is going to look like.

When is this going to stop? I have never heard the term, “budget override” outside of a discussion directly pertaining to FUSD. They ask for an override every. Single. Year. It’s ridiculous. Where the hell is all the money going?

They try to tug on the heart strings with statements like, “this is going to affect our kids if this doesn’t pass.” Why weren’t you thinking of the kids when you were out wasting spending the money we gave you last year? No one wants to make them accountable. They just want to save the jobs and the classrooms and deal with the repercussions later. They just keep throwing money at the problem in hopes it will go away.

And they wonder why kids are defecting in droves to private and charter schools within the city…

Hallmark – my best friend and nemesis
I’m feeling lazy today

Kindred Convos Podcast Interview

Going There Podcast Interview

Dear Grown Ass Women™ Ambassador

dear grown ass women ambassador

instagram

eunicebrownlee

In honor of women’s celebration month, I’m res In honor of women’s celebration month, I’m resharing the first piece I ever had published, which I wrote about my amazing daughter, who is likely mortified that I am posting this right now (sorry not sorry kid. I love you.) 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I was scrolling through my feed and came across a post @cpamgo217 had shared from @thekindredvoice (then Holl and Lane). It was about mental health and it stopped me in my tracks, as most posts on mental health do. I checked out their website and it was love at first sight. I noticed they were accepting pitches on the theme of “educate.”
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I had never pitched a publication before, and at that point in my life, barely considered myself a writer. But I had a nugget of an idea that I wanted to explore after an interaction with @calleylane so I sent in a pitch. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
And they accepted it. I was floored. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
What most people don’t know is that at the time I pitched and wrote this article, I was amidst the unending court nightmare that was my life for the majority of 2017 and I honestly didn’t know that I had the tenacity to make it to the end of that battle still standing. But I did. She did. We both did. And we are stronger for it. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Link to essay in bio. https://www.thekindredvoice.com/blog/2017/8/15/teaching-our-girls-to-become-strong-women
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
—
Image descriptions: Image one is a mixed race girl with brown skin and long brown curly hair. She is wearing a denim coat and a coral top. Her arms are crossed and she’s standing in a field. 📷 cred: @knight_light_photography // Image two is the same girl, older, taking a selfie. She is wearing a black tee and her hair pulled back in a ponytail. You can see a closet and a TV in the background. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
 #WritersOfInstagram #AmWriting #StoriesThatStick #Storyteller #ShareYourStory #OwnYourNarrative #PowerInWords #WritingCommunity #BlackVoices #TellYourStory #Writer #IlluminateWriting
Follow on Instagram

top essays

beauty isn’t skin deep.

Growing up, I can’t say that I ever felt beautiful. I was tall and scrawny with big, frizzy hair and a gap in my front teeth wider than the Grand Canyon. Most of my clothes were hand-me-downs from the girls at church, so they were often out of style and far too short for my gangling limbs (when capris came back in, I cringed, recalling all of the jokes about

[ Read More ]

time is irrelevant right now.

I wish I could press pause right now, I really do. That might seem crazy when the whole world seems to be on a collective pause, thanks to this crazy virus and our even crazier government that can’t seem to get a handle on it. But life hasn’t slowed down for me since COVID came crashing into our lives. Very much the opposite, in fact. While I am unbelievably grateful

[ Read More ]

vaulted

© 2005-2020 Eunice Brownlee