One journey ends, another begins

A number of years ago, I began to get requests from people and small businesses to do work for them. I was already gainfully employed, but the work often sounded interesting. So in 2010, I started a small business and made the deal kosher with my then-employer (Booz Allen) by signing some paperwork approving my outside employment and agreeing to avoid conflicts of interest.

To be fair, I never intended to make much money off of this, what was then, a side business. But it would be nice to write a book chapter and get paid, or give a talk and get paid, and have it all be above board. And the work, frankly, was more challenging to me on a technical level. So those two things were really the point of my business.

About a year and half ago, due to a confluence of factors, I started looking to do my business full-time. This was a huge leap of faith for me (as I expect it would be for many people). Going on your own is risky and fraught with potholes. But I needed to do it. So I did--I quit my perfectly good and well-paying job to do it all on my own.

Much of the past year, I had so much work that I had to turn down more work on a regular basis. The infosec industry (at least in the DC metro area) is a buyer's market; the demand for work outstrips the supply. Within reason, you can ask for (and usually get) what you want. In fact, I had three separate contracts ongoing: one which was basically full-time, and two others that were part-time (and one of them, all remote work).

A few months ago, that full-time gig ended rather suddenly. I still had the other part-time work, but it wasn't enough to keep me busy (or pay the bills for very long). So I started looking.

My requirements started out pretty high: #1: 1099 work (many companies won't even look at you if you ask for this) at a comparable rate to what I was already making), #2: MD/DC work; northern VA is increasingly difficult to get to from where I live in MD due to traffic, construction, etc., although remote work would be ideal), and #3: exclusively focused on penetration testing. I have a background in SIGINT and CNE and a clearance, so all those folks jumped aboard, but very few of them met requirement #3. In fact, virtually all of the literally dozens and dozens of people I talked to met one or two of my requirements, but not all three. Asking for just one or even two of these requirements (instead of three), I have absolutely no doubt in my mind I could have found work within a week or two.

But there's another thread to this story, which began in 1997. I was graduating from Bloomsburg and decided to go to law school. I applied to, and was accepted to American University's law school. Very late in that process, I switched gears and decided to get my Master's Degree at Georgetown. So that was the first time I was accepted to law school, but didn't go

Toward the end of my time in the Navy, due to the shrinking size of my community, I decided to do a JAG transfer. Again, I was accepted to law school, but the Navy didn't approve my transfer package. That was the second time I was accepted to law school, but didn't go.

So over the last few years, having regretted not going before, I've been looking for opportunities to go back. And finally, the third time I was accepted to law school, I'm going. Part time, so it'll take four years instead of three, but I refuse to turn it down again.

Back to the present: independent contractor work and school don't get along well. There's travel sometimes, but mostly there isn't always a "regular" workday. Sometimes over the past year, I have worked nights and weekends. When you don't have something else going on, that's not a problem. But again, not really compatible with a school schedule.

So I essentially dropped my 1099 requirement and decided that I could be OK with it in return for the stability of a somewhat regular day job. I'm going back to Booz Allen, but in a different role: I'll be leading one of their penetration testing efforts. Sure, there will be some travel and other issues, but I'm going into it with full visibility and support from my boss, so I know I can make it work.

I will miss the challenges of working on my own--giving all of that up is a sacrifice--and given the circumstances, I would do it again in a heartbeat.

When I was single, I looked at guys who were married (and with kids) and wondered how they did it all. Now I look back and wonder, how could I have done it all without Tracy? She has always been my bedrock of emotional support; never wavering a second. Of this I am truly confident: I could not have done this without her.

In one of those unique circumstances that just seems to work out that way, I start law school and my new job on the same day. How's that for a new journey!

Building A New Culture Of Teaching And Learning (Dr. Tae)

Dr. Tae — Building A New Culture Of Teaching And Learning from Dr. Tae on Vimeo.

New Contract Approved By Baltimore City Teachers

According to the Baltimore Sun, "union members ratified the revised agreement by a 1,902-1,045 vote, just weeks after the original proposal was defeated by a wide margin. The earlier rejection spurred an aggressive campaign by the union to inform members about the details of the contract."

Here is the text of the agreement:

Revised BTU Board TA

Landmark Baltimore teacher's contract defeated

Update: the text of the tentative agreement that was defeated today is posted below.

The landmark agreement that I talked about here has been rejected by teachers.  From the Baltimore Sun:

Baltimore teachers rejected a landmark contract agreement that would. have paid them top salaries but would have eliminated a longstanding seniority based compensation system.

In voting Wednesday and Thursday the final count was 1,540 against and 1,107 in favor. The Baltimore Teachers' Union represents about 6,500 employees.

This is surely disappointing because it would have placed Baltimore schools among the forefront in making performance a key issue. It is doubly disappointing because the union leadership actually supported the agreement, which is a significant step in and of itself. Apparently the support for seniority-based pay is so strong that teachers couldn't resist giving it up. Rather than keeping pace with the significant progress made in D.C., Baltimore schools have once again regressed.

There were a number of reports today from union officials that turnout was "near-record."  I'm not sure what to think when less than 41% of teachers is "near-record" turnout.

Here is the proposed agreement that was defeated:


Baltimore Teachers Union Tentative Agreement

Baltimore teachers begin voting on progressive contract; Rhees resigns in DC

Update: The Washington Post comes out in favor of Rhee's reforms, and questions whether Vincent Gray will continue them.

From the Baltimore Sun:

Baltimore teachers began voting Wednesday on what is being hailed as one of the most progressive union contracts to emerge in the nation, which, if ratified, would give teachers unprecedented pay and autonomy and tie raises to proven effectiveness in the classroom.

Hundreds of the union's approximately 6,500 teachers participated in early voting at the Baltimore Teachers Union headquarters Wednesday evening, shaping up for what union officials anticipate will be a near-record turnout for the ratification vote.

See more here.

Photo courtesy of Michael DeAngelis via dcps.dc.gov

Meanwhile, the news in the District of Columbia is not so good as D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhees resigned in the wake of outgoing Mayor Adrian Gray's loss in the recent mayoral primary:

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee will announce Wednesday that she is resigning at the end of this month, bringing an abrupt end to a tenure that drew national acclaim but that also became a central issue in an election that sent her patron, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, to defeat.

Rhee survived three contentious years that made her a superstar of the education reform movement and one of the longest-serving school leaders in the city in two decades. Student test scores rose, and the teachers union accepted a contract that gave the chancellor sweeping powers to fire the lowest-performing among them.

Presumptive mayor-elect Vincent Gray says the reforms started under Rhee will continue, but that seems unlikely. Gray was supported by teacher unions that largely oppose the radical changes Rhee wanted; if he truly wanted to continue the reforms, he'd keep her on.

City schools, teachers union to end practice of linking pay to years of employment

Image courtesy of madmaven via Stock.XCHNG

From the Baltimore Sun:

The Baltimore school district and its teachers union have struck a landmark agreement that would end the longtime practice of linking pay to years of employment and place the city at the forefront of a national reform effort, according to sources familiar with the pact.

The two sides have discussed a pay system that would reward skills and effectiveness and are expected to announce the details of the agreement Wednesday.

Experts in teacher compensation said Baltimore was poised to become one of only a handful of places in the country, including Washington, D.C., New Haven, Conn., and Pittsburgh, that have moved toward paying teachers for performance as a way to improve the quality of education in their schools. The Obama administration has been pressing for such changes.

Read the rest of the article here.

Shifting teacher pay from being longevity-based to performance-based is not a panacea that will save the schools, and it is certainly not as radical as some of the great things NJ Governor Chris Christie is trying to do statewide in New Jersey, but it is at least a step in the right direction. Frankly, it is remarkable that the teachers unions (in this case, the American Federation of Teachers) are even considering something like this. You have to think that President Obama's Race to the Top initiative is at least partially responsible for bringing the union to the table here.