January 2008
	Editor's Note

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A Happy New Year

My last few New Year's resolutions have been remarkably unremarkable. There've been the obligatory promises to exercise regularly and lose weight, which will be made anew this year, boosted by the tips outlined in The Guide to Staying Fit. Last year I resolved to be more punctual, but it's hard to make an entrance if you show up on time. Perhaps you'll see the new year as a time to implement that classroom tip you've just not got around to trying. Maybe this halfway point of the school year is a time of recommitment to exemplifying the true spirit of the teaching profession. Unfortunately, some of us contemplating continuing education or paying off students loans face the new year hamstrung. Ballooning tuition rates, student loan costs, and educators' shrinking earning power are adding up to negative numbers and a grim outlook for the profession. Thanks to the work of activist NEA members, there's some relief in sight, but if public education is to have a happy New Year, we all must resolve to continue fighting for better salaries and affordable higher education.

Editor Doug Walker
dwalker-neatoday@nea.org