When will I graduate?

 I had a very funny dream last night.  I was seriously talking to my parents about why I was still in school.  "I already went through middle school and high school and I didn't like it then.  Why do I have to do it again?"  I asked them.
       They responded, "Yes, it's true.  You finished your school years."
       "Yeah!  I have a high school diploma to prove it! Why am I in school again in NYC?!"
       "What are you?  A junior now?" they asked.
       "I'm in 11th grade.  I don't want to be in school anymore.  I've had enough suffering."
       "Well, ok, but you are one year away from graduating.  Think about this..."
Then, I was left to make up my own mind about whether I would finish my senior year or not....

This dream really makes me laugh.  I am in my fourth year as a public school teacher.  I have one year left before I reach my five years (which is when a teacher is "vested" in the pension and I will be tenured, as well.)   I still frequently feel like I am still a student with compulsory responsibilities. There are highly structured days with no room for stretching out a meaningful activity or taking a creative rest or having an important conversation about a big idea.  Things often feel restricted and controlled, and I am watched over like a hawk.  If I break a "rule," I am punished.  Teachers in public school just have to deal with this system.  It's a very antiquated way of learning and being. School feels more and more like a prison these days.
       I have been researching new methods of education and alternative schools since 2007.  I first heard about a different kind of school on an on-line radio show.  It was about Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts, where kids have the freedom to structure their own days and figure out what THEY want to learn.  I immediately joined AERO - Alternative Education Resources Organization.  I began finding out about all alternatives to traditional public schools.  It opened my mind so much and I realized it was my mission to help kids and teachers find schools where we are teaching in the 21st Century the skills and values that human beings need NOW.  There are many people like me out there now, questioning the system and trying to formulate educational alternatives for our society.