Sharon McMahon

My husband's job. And that was great. I've taught in Minnesota, but I taught for the majority of my career out in the D.C. suburbs. Which is a very different animal than teaching in the Bay Area. When I was in the Bay Area, it was middle class high school. It was like a performing arts magnet. Great people. I loved teaching there. But we had no hot water.

My husband's job. And that was great. I've taught in Minnesota, but I taught for the majority of my career out in the D.C. suburbs. Which is a very different animal than teaching in the Bay Area. When I was in the Bay Area, it was middle class high school. It was like a performing arts magnet. Great people. I loved teaching there. But we had no hot water.

We had no toilet paper or soap in the bathroom. Children carried around toilet paper in their backpacks. Wow. We had rolling blackouts all the time where the power would just go out. We did not have TVs in every classroom. The media center was closed because there was nobody to work at it. We did not have even like whiteboards and overhead projectors.

We had no toilet paper or soap in the bathroom. Children carried around toilet paper in their backpacks. Wow. We had rolling blackouts all the time where the power would just go out. We did not have TVs in every classroom. The media center was closed because there was nobody to work at it. We did not have even like whiteboards and overhead projectors.

We had no toilet paper or soap in the bathroom. Children carried around toilet paper in their backpacks. Wow. We had rolling blackouts all the time where the power would just go out. We did not have TVs in every classroom. The media center was closed because there was nobody to work at it. We did not have even like whiteboards and overhead projectors.

I wrote a grant proposal to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, seeing if I could get whiteboard screens, like the projector screens. Oh, sure, sure. And the overhead projectors that people use.

I wrote a grant proposal to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, seeing if I could get whiteboard screens, like the projector screens. Oh, sure, sure. And the overhead projectors that people use.

I wrote a grant proposal to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, seeing if I could get whiteboard screens, like the projector screens. Oh, sure, sure. And the overhead projectors that people use.

I loved those. Me too. Like the transparency. Yeah, transparency.

I loved those. Me too. Like the transparency. Yeah, transparency.

I loved those. Me too. Like the transparency. Yeah, transparency.

I discovered that 32 of the classrooms in my school did not have overhead projectors or the transparencies or the screens, nor did we have any of the other options to go along with it. Additionally, all of our textbooks had been destroyed in a water main break.

I discovered that 32 of the classrooms in my school did not have overhead projectors or the transparencies or the screens, nor did we have any of the other options to go along with it. Additionally, all of our textbooks had been destroyed in a water main break.

I discovered that 32 of the classrooms in my school did not have overhead projectors or the transparencies or the screens, nor did we have any of the other options to go along with it. Additionally, all of our textbooks had been destroyed in a water main break.

Yes, and then they'd explode it into the hallway. There was no budget to buy new books. The icing on the cake, every teacher had a $15 a month copy budget. You could make $15 a month worth of copies. And if you wanted more than that, it literally came out of your paycheck. Wow.

Yes, and then they'd explode it into the hallway. There was no budget to buy new books. The icing on the cake, every teacher had a $15 a month copy budget. You could make $15 a month worth of copies. And if you wanted more than that, it literally came out of your paycheck. Wow.

Yes, and then they'd explode it into the hallway. There was no budget to buy new books. The icing on the cake, every teacher had a $15 a month copy budget. You could make $15 a month worth of copies. And if you wanted more than that, it literally came out of your paycheck. Wow.

So we had no materials. Nice middle class area. Those were the conditions on the ground in the schools. Oh, moving to the suburbs of Washington, D.C., where people are absolutely rabid about public education was very eye opening. They have two billion dollar a year operating budgets.

So we had no materials. Nice middle class area. Those were the conditions on the ground in the schools. Oh, moving to the suburbs of Washington, D.C., where people are absolutely rabid about public education was very eye opening. They have two billion dollar a year operating budgets.

So we had no materials. Nice middle class area. Those were the conditions on the ground in the schools. Oh, moving to the suburbs of Washington, D.C., where people are absolutely rabid about public education was very eye opening. They have two billion dollar a year operating budgets.