There is so much going on in this country that it is often hard to make sense of it all. From battles over education, to budget debates, to Wall Street bonuses, to banking reform, to assaults on collective bargaining, to corporate propaganda disguised as grass-roots advocacy, to tax cuts for the wealthy, to cuts to the safety net, to multi-billion dollar corporations paying little or no taxes. It just seems to be out of control and beyond belief, as if ignorance, anger, greed, and self-indulgence trump everything that occurs in this land.
Just look around the nation. Vindictive proposals are being peddled as fiscal restraint; fingers of blame are being pointed across the country, from right to left, and back again. And so few people are capable of engaging in honest and fair discussions that it is almost impossible to distinguish the truth from the lies.
The problems are most evident in the Congressional budget debate in Washington. Last year, during the midterm elections, Republicans declared that the Democratic controlled House and Senate should not pass a budget for the current fiscal year because of an anticipated change in power. Senate Republicans in the 111th Congress even blocked any budget deal with filibusters, and Democrats seeking re-election were more than willing to allow them.
Now, we are faced with a possible government shutdown, with the Republicans, who are seeking excessive cuts that cannot and should not pass, claiming it’s the Democrats fault, and vice versa. Meanwhile, the ignorant among us scream that the government should be shut down, as if sending 800,000 government workers home for a week or two will resolve the systemic problems that plague the government.
We know that making major cuts in the budget at this time would further slow the nascent economic recovery. Yet, Republicans and Tea Party operatives seek to slash every program for the sake of slashing. Retrenchment now, when confidence is beginning to build, would set back efforts to pull the nation out of its financial funk. That does not seem to matter to too many people, including those in Congress.
Instead of creating a workable solution to our economic problems, they rage and bellow against liberal policies, greedy unions, Socialism, and high tax rates for companies that actually may not even have to pay taxes because of numerous loopholes.
The same is being played out on local levels across the nation. There is no need to recount the assaults on collective bargaining rights for public employees in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, and Florida. They have been discussed ad nauseam. Nor is it necessary to detail the extensive cuts that various governments have proposed to education and social services programs, while giving tax breaks to businesses and the well-to-do.
There is such a disconnect in this country that honest and sincere debate is almost unheard of. Instead, everything is the fault of liberalism and socialism.
For example, The Detroit News ran two columns recently. One column, by Daniel Howes, tried to make sense of Detroit, asking whether the city is headed for further decline or revival. The second column, by Laura Berman, detailed how home vacancies had increased in the well-to-do communities of Oakland County, MI.
According to some of The News’ readers, at least those that are most vocal, the problem in Detroit and Oakland County were caused by liberals and socialism. It doesn’t matter that the economic meltdown began under President George W. Bush, who can be confused for many things, neither of which is liberal or socialist.
Missing from the debate about Detroit and Oakland County were the words greed, misguided optimism, economic crisis, hysteria, and the relation each has to the other.
It was greed that prompted lenders to provide money to anyone who asked, regardless of whether they could pay it back. Some lenders even went so far as to fudge numbers to make home loans. Who cared if the loans were paid back? The money was made by bundling the loans early, and passing the risk on to someone else.
Then, of course, there was the misguided optimism that the housing bubble would never burst, or if it did it would burst so far down the line that it would not matter to most people. That optimism was shattered by the very real economic crisis that saw a booming Wall Street pressed hard against a struggling Main Street.
As Wall Street struggled the hysteria set in. It’s the fat cats who caused the problems, critics screamed until the lobbyists and public relations firms turned everyone’s attention to other culprits. It’s the government, others said, particularly the public sector unions whose members have fat pensions and health packages. Actually, its teachers. It's all a liberal and socialist plot.
The result is we have become a country of Don Quixotes, lost in our delusions, unable to see the world for what it really is. Peasants are now princesses, buffoons are great thinkers, and the most honored are the most dishonorable.
It’s becoming harder and harder to make sense of it all.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Making Education Flexible
Across the country, the education debate rages. The problem is it rages over the wrong things. Instead of the conversation being dominated by what is going on in the classroom, we are arguing the merits of unions and collective bargaining rights; the costs of pensions and health insurance premiums.
Meanwhile, the children of America slip further into the educational abyss, sinking into a muck that slows their entry into college and the job market. I have already written about how Michigan found that many of its graduates in the Class of 2010 were ill prepared to begin college level courses, or lacked the job readiness skills needed to enter the workforce. (The Not-So-Proficient Graduate, Feb. 22, 2011). In that post, I also mentioned the graduation rates for four-year and two-year institutions across the country, as well as the percentage of students who needed remediation on entry to the state of Washington’s community colleges and technical schools.
The statistics mentioned in that article speak to the fact that students across the country are not being properly prepared for adult life. It is not an urban problem or a suburban problem. Yet, we make the argument an urban versus suburban; union versus non-union; inexperienced teacher versus experienced teacher; charter school versus public school; tenure versus non-tenure. The list goes on and on.
Luckily, not everyone is distracted by the noise. Instead, many are seeking solutions to the problems that plague education. While those educators use different programs and different ideas to lift students from the educational morass, they share some common traits -- flexibility and freedom in the classroom.
In western Massachusetts, for example, a high school allowed eight students to create their own school within a school. The students, two of whom were at-risk of dropping out, decided to split their September-to-January term into two halves, according to a March 14 Op-ed piece by Susan Engel in the New York Times (Let Kids Rule the School).
The students, aged 15 to 17, developed their own curriculum under the watchful eyes of their guidance counselor and several teachers who provided advice. The students were responsible for monitoring one another's work and giving feedback. They also wrote evaluations for each other.
According to Engel, the students became not only learners, but teachers. And they excelled, with one of the students who had considered dropping out changing his mind. Another student who had failed all of his previous math courses ended up spending three weeks teaching his fellow students about probability.
The upshot, Engel concluded, was that the students were more engaged and invested in their educations.
Other schools that have given teachers -- and even students -- greater flexibility have also seen transformative results.
In Oakland, Calif., a third-grade teacher at a public school there began writing a children's novel. Each time the teacher finished a new chapter, he shared it with his students, who offered critiques.
"It really has gotten them excited about writing," the teacher, Joe Imwalle, told Grace Rubenstein of The New York Times. "Seeing their teacher try to do it brings writing closer to home. It bridges the gap between published novels they see in the library and the idea that they come from a person and a process."
How important is flexibility in the classroom?
So much so that flexibility in developing academic plans is a major concern for operators who may want to help Robert Bobb, the emergency financial manager in Detroit, convert 41 failing public schools into charter schools.
Todd Ziebarth, vice president of state advocacy for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools in Washington, told the Detroit News that charter school operators will want to know if "they have the flexibility to innovate."
Too often teachers are micro-managed by principals, who are micro-managed by school board officials, so much so that every last minute of the school day is directed from somewhere up high with little deviation to accommodate student needs.
During a recent conversation with a friend who operates two private schools for special needs students, my friend detailed a promotional film his school was making. According to that friend, a teacher with decades of experience in the classroom was asked why he continued to teach at the school.
"Because I have the freedom to do what I think is necessary," the teacher said.
And that is the rub. Teachers often find themselves victim to what Engel says has dogged public school reform efforts.
"We have tried making the school day longer and blanketing students with standardized tests," she wrote in that March 14 Op-ed piece. "But perhaps children don't need another reform imposed on them. Instead, they need to be the authors of their own education."
The only way students can become authors of their own educations is to give teachers -- and them -- flexibility and freedom in the classroom.
Meanwhile, the children of America slip further into the educational abyss, sinking into a muck that slows their entry into college and the job market. I have already written about how Michigan found that many of its graduates in the Class of 2010 were ill prepared to begin college level courses, or lacked the job readiness skills needed to enter the workforce. (The Not-So-Proficient Graduate, Feb. 22, 2011). In that post, I also mentioned the graduation rates for four-year and two-year institutions across the country, as well as the percentage of students who needed remediation on entry to the state of Washington’s community colleges and technical schools.
The statistics mentioned in that article speak to the fact that students across the country are not being properly prepared for adult life. It is not an urban problem or a suburban problem. Yet, we make the argument an urban versus suburban; union versus non-union; inexperienced teacher versus experienced teacher; charter school versus public school; tenure versus non-tenure. The list goes on and on.
Luckily, not everyone is distracted by the noise. Instead, many are seeking solutions to the problems that plague education. While those educators use different programs and different ideas to lift students from the educational morass, they share some common traits -- flexibility and freedom in the classroom.
In western Massachusetts, for example, a high school allowed eight students to create their own school within a school. The students, two of whom were at-risk of dropping out, decided to split their September-to-January term into two halves, according to a March 14 Op-ed piece by Susan Engel in the New York Times (Let Kids Rule the School).
The students, aged 15 to 17, developed their own curriculum under the watchful eyes of their guidance counselor and several teachers who provided advice. The students were responsible for monitoring one another's work and giving feedback. They also wrote evaluations for each other.
According to Engel, the students became not only learners, but teachers. And they excelled, with one of the students who had considered dropping out changing his mind. Another student who had failed all of his previous math courses ended up spending three weeks teaching his fellow students about probability.
The upshot, Engel concluded, was that the students were more engaged and invested in their educations.
Other schools that have given teachers -- and even students -- greater flexibility have also seen transformative results.
In Oakland, Calif., a third-grade teacher at a public school there began writing a children's novel. Each time the teacher finished a new chapter, he shared it with his students, who offered critiques.
"It really has gotten them excited about writing," the teacher, Joe Imwalle, told Grace Rubenstein of The New York Times. "Seeing their teacher try to do it brings writing closer to home. It bridges the gap between published novels they see in the library and the idea that they come from a person and a process."
How important is flexibility in the classroom?
So much so that flexibility in developing academic plans is a major concern for operators who may want to help Robert Bobb, the emergency financial manager in Detroit, convert 41 failing public schools into charter schools.
Todd Ziebarth, vice president of state advocacy for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools in Washington, told the Detroit News that charter school operators will want to know if "they have the flexibility to innovate."
Too often teachers are micro-managed by principals, who are micro-managed by school board officials, so much so that every last minute of the school day is directed from somewhere up high with little deviation to accommodate student needs.
During a recent conversation with a friend who operates two private schools for special needs students, my friend detailed a promotional film his school was making. According to that friend, a teacher with decades of experience in the classroom was asked why he continued to teach at the school.
"Because I have the freedom to do what I think is necessary," the teacher said.
And that is the rub. Teachers often find themselves victim to what Engel says has dogged public school reform efforts.
"We have tried making the school day longer and blanketing students with standardized tests," she wrote in that March 14 Op-ed piece. "But perhaps children don't need another reform imposed on them. Instead, they need to be the authors of their own education."
The only way students can become authors of their own educations is to give teachers -- and them -- flexibility and freedom in the classroom.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
What's Going On
We seem to be channeling Marvin Gaye these days. Two quick examples:
Atherton, Calif.: A school teacher rattles a table to get the attention of his eighth-grade math students. One girl is so startled, she pulls out her cell phone and calls 911. The police arrive to find a calm classroom. Nonetheless, the teacher is placed on leave because the police were called to the school.
Texas: A Republican member of the state House introduces immigration legislation that would make it illegal to hire "unauthorized aliens." Anyone caught doing so can be punished by two years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The legislator offering up the bill is backed by the Tea Party, but don't label her as one of those raving, heartless, lunatics usually associated with the party. Rep. Debbie Riddle's law will not apply to people who hire "unauthorized aliens" to do household chores. Why? Rep. Aaron Pena, another Republican, told Yahoo News: "When it comes to household employees or yard workers it is extremely common for Texans to hire people who are likely undocumented workers. It is so common it is overlooked." Riddle says the distinction between job categories is needed because if not "a large segment of the Texas population" would end up in prison if the bill became law.
Oh, make me wanna holler and throw up both my hands. Yea, it makes me wanna holler and throw up both my hands. Ow!
Atherton, Calif.: A school teacher rattles a table to get the attention of his eighth-grade math students. One girl is so startled, she pulls out her cell phone and calls 911. The police arrive to find a calm classroom. Nonetheless, the teacher is placed on leave because the police were called to the school.
Texas: A Republican member of the state House introduces immigration legislation that would make it illegal to hire "unauthorized aliens." Anyone caught doing so can be punished by two years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The legislator offering up the bill is backed by the Tea Party, but don't label her as one of those raving, heartless, lunatics usually associated with the party. Rep. Debbie Riddle's law will not apply to people who hire "unauthorized aliens" to do household chores. Why? Rep. Aaron Pena, another Republican, told Yahoo News: "When it comes to household employees or yard workers it is extremely common for Texans to hire people who are likely undocumented workers. It is so common it is overlooked." Riddle says the distinction between job categories is needed because if not "a large segment of the Texas population" would end up in prison if the bill became law.
Oh, make me wanna holler and throw up both my hands. Yea, it makes me wanna holler and throw up both my hands. Ow!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
The New Macho
It's easy to be a curmudgeon, a complainer, a whiner, to live in a world where everything is horrible, and niceties are the stuff of wimps. You disagree? Then how does one explain Glenn Beck and Andy Cohen?
Beck, the Fox News darling who spends his time attacking anything progressive, decided to take on Detroit, berating the city as being worse than Hiroshima after the atomic bomb. Cohen, the senior vice president of original programming and development at Bravo, decided to make cultural points by directing smarmy comments at the fifth grade students from Public School 22 on Staten Island.
That Beck would attack Detroit is no surprise. Whenever national conservative commentators have nothing of worth to say they trot out Detroit or some other Midwestern city, usually one led by an African-American, for ridicule and scorn. But for Cohen to denigrate a bunch of school children who were invited to sing "Over the Rainbow" at the end of the Oscar telecast is just cheap even for someone who is a master of cheap programming.
Cohen's comments came on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" show. The host, Willie Geist, asked Cohen what was his "lowlight of the night" Sunday. Cohen quickly turned to the kids from Staten Island, saying their appearance was inappropriate for the Oscars. Wrong time, wrong place, Cohen lamented.
While the song and the student's performance were schlocky at best, a sentimental tug at the heart, they were what Hollywood is. Criticizing little children for singing at an Oscar's telecast is even low for him. I'm quite sure that other people can pick even greater "lowlights": the virtual Bob Hope; Billy Crystal; the boring speeches; the tacky dance scenes; the contrived music video using clips from the Best Picture nominees; the telecast itself. Any of those could have easily been cited as lowlights.
Not for Cohen, though. Instead, he decided that the performance of 10 and 11 year olds were the lowest lowlight of the evening. Why? What was the point of lambasting the children's appearance? What is gained by doing so?
The same can be said of Beck. Detroit is always the subject of ridicule, so much so that the comments have become old hat. Yes, Chrysler and General Motors were insular and poorly run companies that got bailouts. Yet, neither created the financial meltdown that sent America spiraling into an economic abyss. Many of the people who were at the forefront of that disaster continue to operate on Wall Street after receiving bailouts, and are quickly trying to return to their old habits.
Yet, there is little criticism of those entities. Attacking Detroit allows one to attack unions and the American auto industry, both of which have been convenient whipping boys. Too attack children is to say one is above sentimentality. Neither adds to the dialogue that needs to exist in this country.
Both, of course, are easy to do when you have nothing of worth to say and a lot of time in which to say it. Apparently being nasty and appealing to the worst within us is the most favorable fashion trend, the new macho look for America.
Beck, the Fox News darling who spends his time attacking anything progressive, decided to take on Detroit, berating the city as being worse than Hiroshima after the atomic bomb. Cohen, the senior vice president of original programming and development at Bravo, decided to make cultural points by directing smarmy comments at the fifth grade students from Public School 22 on Staten Island.
That Beck would attack Detroit is no surprise. Whenever national conservative commentators have nothing of worth to say they trot out Detroit or some other Midwestern city, usually one led by an African-American, for ridicule and scorn. But for Cohen to denigrate a bunch of school children who were invited to sing "Over the Rainbow" at the end of the Oscar telecast is just cheap even for someone who is a master of cheap programming.
Cohen's comments came on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" show. The host, Willie Geist, asked Cohen what was his "lowlight of the night" Sunday. Cohen quickly turned to the kids from Staten Island, saying their appearance was inappropriate for the Oscars. Wrong time, wrong place, Cohen lamented.
While the song and the student's performance were schlocky at best, a sentimental tug at the heart, they were what Hollywood is. Criticizing little children for singing at an Oscar's telecast is even low for him. I'm quite sure that other people can pick even greater "lowlights": the virtual Bob Hope; Billy Crystal; the boring speeches; the tacky dance scenes; the contrived music video using clips from the Best Picture nominees; the telecast itself. Any of those could have easily been cited as lowlights.
Not for Cohen, though. Instead, he decided that the performance of 10 and 11 year olds were the lowest lowlight of the evening. Why? What was the point of lambasting the children's appearance? What is gained by doing so?
The same can be said of Beck. Detroit is always the subject of ridicule, so much so that the comments have become old hat. Yes, Chrysler and General Motors were insular and poorly run companies that got bailouts. Yet, neither created the financial meltdown that sent America spiraling into an economic abyss. Many of the people who were at the forefront of that disaster continue to operate on Wall Street after receiving bailouts, and are quickly trying to return to their old habits.
Yet, there is little criticism of those entities. Attacking Detroit allows one to attack unions and the American auto industry, both of which have been convenient whipping boys. Too attack children is to say one is above sentimentality. Neither adds to the dialogue that needs to exist in this country.
Both, of course, are easy to do when you have nothing of worth to say and a lot of time in which to say it. Apparently being nasty and appealing to the worst within us is the most favorable fashion trend, the new macho look for America.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
The Not-So-Proficient Graduates
School districts across the country are quick to point out recent increases in the percentage of students graduating high school, a sign of the good work they are doing. Yet, if we look beneath the surface of those statistics we find some startling news: While more students are graduating with high school diplomas, few students are leaving high school with the skills needed to enter college or the job market.
The results are most striking in Michigan, where a recent study found that the statewide high school graduation rate was 76 percent for the class of 2010. It would seem that such an increase would be worth lauding, except the same study found that statewide only 49 percent of students who graduated in 2010 were proficient in math; 60 percent were proficient in reading; and 56 percent were proficient in science.
In Detroit, for example, one high school had an 89 percent graduation rate in 2010, but a year earlier only 6.4 percent of those students were considered proficient in math and just 10.5 percent were proficient in science based on state administered tests. It was the same in suburban schools. At one suburban high school, 93.2 percent of students graduated in 2010: Only 26.9 percent were proficient in math though. It was not much different for another suburban school where 94.1 percent of students graduated, and only 19.6 percent were proficient in science.
The study by the Michigan Education Department raises serious questions about the quality of education in that state. More important, it raises startling questions about education across the nation. Michigan is not alone in its dismal results. Other states have discovered that their high school graduates often lack the basic skills needed to enter college or the job market.
The result is that in 2008 graduation rates for students who took six years to complete their studies at four year colleges ran from a high of 69.1 percent in Massachusetts to a low of 22.1 percent in Alaska, according to a ranking by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. The results were more horrendous for students who completed associates degrees in three years: The high was 60 percent in Wyoming, and the low was 9 percent in Delaware.
It doesn’t stop there.
In Washington, for example, 56 percent of students who entered community or technical colleges in that state in 2006 needed remediation. The need for remediation crossed racial lines: 56 percent of Asians; 59 percent of African-Americans; 61 percent of Latinos; 52 percent of Native Americans; and 50 percent of whites.
The nationwide results lead one to ask: What exactly are we teaching our high school students, and have we decided that when it comes to high school graduates quantity is more important that quality?
Both questions are important. As the political winds shift in this country, we find ourselves reinventing the wheel and looking for excuses or someone to blame for the failures of our educational system. In Michigan, some school leaders blamed what amounted to student apathy for the dismal results. Others pointed the finger at teachers and their unions. Still more cited the standardized testing wave washing across the nation.
Regardless of who or what is to blame, students are leaving our nation’s schools without the critical thinking and problem solving skills needed for successful lives. Students with strong critical thinking and problem solving skills have the best chance of performing well on any standardized tests and in completing tasks on the job. In addition, the lack of proficiency suggests that we are not attacking the problem from all angles. While all students should indeed have the right to attend college, not all students should.
For years, school districts have made vocational education the unwanted step child of the academic process. Yet, statistics show that vocational education students are often better prepared for the job market, and those who later attend college graduate at a higher rate than students who enter college right after high school or who go to community colleges. In addition, while students do balk at learning things if they cannot see a direct link to their daily lives, it should not stop teachers from pushing concepts, processes and ideas that enhance student skill sets. (Recently, one of my GED students questioned why he needed to learn math concepts -- until I showed him how triangulation could be used to pinpoint from where a cell phone call was made or how the Pythagorean Theory might be used to determine the path of a projectile.)
So what are we to do?
Increasing funding to schools and paying teachers better is not the sole answer. We have been putting money into poor performing schools for decades, and the results are pretty much the same. Rewriting standardized tests also is not the solution. Each new test only seems to create a bonanza for test-taking tutors. Criticizing teachers and unions does not change the culture of the classroom. In too many districts, principals concerned with standardized test results so micro-manage classrooms that teachers are left with little flexibility to adjust lessons and curriculum to students’ needs.
Michigan in general and Detroit in particular offer good examples of the problems we face. The emergency financial manager in Detroit announced recently that the 2010 graduation rate increased to 62.27 percent, up from 59.65 percent in 2009. (The rate was 58.22 percent in 2008 and 58.42 percent in 2007.)
But few of those students can read, write or even complete basic mathematical problems. And that means they will not be able to help themselves or society in the future.
The results are most striking in Michigan, where a recent study found that the statewide high school graduation rate was 76 percent for the class of 2010. It would seem that such an increase would be worth lauding, except the same study found that statewide only 49 percent of students who graduated in 2010 were proficient in math; 60 percent were proficient in reading; and 56 percent were proficient in science.
In Detroit, for example, one high school had an 89 percent graduation rate in 2010, but a year earlier only 6.4 percent of those students were considered proficient in math and just 10.5 percent were proficient in science based on state administered tests. It was the same in suburban schools. At one suburban high school, 93.2 percent of students graduated in 2010: Only 26.9 percent were proficient in math though. It was not much different for another suburban school where 94.1 percent of students graduated, and only 19.6 percent were proficient in science.
The study by the Michigan Education Department raises serious questions about the quality of education in that state. More important, it raises startling questions about education across the nation. Michigan is not alone in its dismal results. Other states have discovered that their high school graduates often lack the basic skills needed to enter college or the job market.
The result is that in 2008 graduation rates for students who took six years to complete their studies at four year colleges ran from a high of 69.1 percent in Massachusetts to a low of 22.1 percent in Alaska, according to a ranking by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. The results were more horrendous for students who completed associates degrees in three years: The high was 60 percent in Wyoming, and the low was 9 percent in Delaware.
It doesn’t stop there.
In Washington, for example, 56 percent of students who entered community or technical colleges in that state in 2006 needed remediation. The need for remediation crossed racial lines: 56 percent of Asians; 59 percent of African-Americans; 61 percent of Latinos; 52 percent of Native Americans; and 50 percent of whites.
The nationwide results lead one to ask: What exactly are we teaching our high school students, and have we decided that when it comes to high school graduates quantity is more important that quality?
Both questions are important. As the political winds shift in this country, we find ourselves reinventing the wheel and looking for excuses or someone to blame for the failures of our educational system. In Michigan, some school leaders blamed what amounted to student apathy for the dismal results. Others pointed the finger at teachers and their unions. Still more cited the standardized testing wave washing across the nation.
Regardless of who or what is to blame, students are leaving our nation’s schools without the critical thinking and problem solving skills needed for successful lives. Students with strong critical thinking and problem solving skills have the best chance of performing well on any standardized tests and in completing tasks on the job. In addition, the lack of proficiency suggests that we are not attacking the problem from all angles. While all students should indeed have the right to attend college, not all students should.
For years, school districts have made vocational education the unwanted step child of the academic process. Yet, statistics show that vocational education students are often better prepared for the job market, and those who later attend college graduate at a higher rate than students who enter college right after high school or who go to community colleges. In addition, while students do balk at learning things if they cannot see a direct link to their daily lives, it should not stop teachers from pushing concepts, processes and ideas that enhance student skill sets. (Recently, one of my GED students questioned why he needed to learn math concepts -- until I showed him how triangulation could be used to pinpoint from where a cell phone call was made or how the Pythagorean Theory might be used to determine the path of a projectile.)
So what are we to do?
Increasing funding to schools and paying teachers better is not the sole answer. We have been putting money into poor performing schools for decades, and the results are pretty much the same. Rewriting standardized tests also is not the solution. Each new test only seems to create a bonanza for test-taking tutors. Criticizing teachers and unions does not change the culture of the classroom. In too many districts, principals concerned with standardized test results so micro-manage classrooms that teachers are left with little flexibility to adjust lessons and curriculum to students’ needs.
Michigan in general and Detroit in particular offer good examples of the problems we face. The emergency financial manager in Detroit announced recently that the 2010 graduation rate increased to 62.27 percent, up from 59.65 percent in 2009. (The rate was 58.22 percent in 2008 and 58.42 percent in 2007.)
But few of those students can read, write or even complete basic mathematical problems. And that means they will not be able to help themselves or society in the future.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Diasppearing in Wisconsin
Is Wisconsin in the First or Third World?
It's hard to tell by the recent action in Madison, the state's capitol. The idea that an entire party would disappear from a chamber of the state legislature in an effort to block legislation sounds like something out of a banana republic.
Parliament is in session. The opposition does not like the government's action. The opposition party walks out or resigns en masse.
It just happened in Bahrain, where the opposition party representing Shiite Muslims decided to quit Parliament over the Sunni government's crackdown on pro-democracy Shiite protesters. One can understand the actions of the Shiite leaders in light of the killings and beatings at the hands of government thugs. It is a life-and-death situation.
But in Wisconsin? In the heart of America? In a state that was once seen as progressive? Is this the new democracy?
Don't get me wrong. The legislation offered by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is indeed onerous, an attempt to cloak anti-union sentiments in fiscal responsibility. It must be defeated. However, hiding from one's responsibility, which Senate Democrats are doing, seems a childish way of doing the state's business.
Wisconsin, like many other states, has a major deficit. To balance the budget, the state's Republican lawmakers decided to ask state workers to assume a greater share of pension and health care costs. Such a request seems reasonable considering government workers in Wisconsin contribute less than what workers in other states contribute.
The problem is Wisconsin's anticipated budget gap for the next fiscal year -- an estimated $137 million -- was self-inflicted, created by Republican efforts to reward their supporters. According to one fiscal group, Wisconsin recently approved $117 million in tax breaks for businesses. If not for that tax give away the state would have a surplus, the fiscal group concluded.
According to Republicans, the problem isn't the tax cuts. No. It's the fact that government workers, including teachers, can negotiate benefits beyond their base wages. The Republicans want to eliminate collective bargaining rights for state workers, limit contracts to one year, and drop pension and health care from bargaining.
If the goal is to reduce the state's share of benefit costs then reopen contracts and seek concessions. Unions, corporations and governments have been doing it successfully for years. However, taking away collective bargaining rights strike at one of the things that has made this country great.
While unions have become big business in many industries, the lack of collective bargaining units will return us to the days of when workers were at the mercy of employers. Yes, some employers sought to pay workers well in an effort to keep unions out. Even more did the opposite, paying low wages, firing anyone who missed work, and threatening those who sought any semblance of dignity in the workplace.
Apparently the Republican majority in Wisconsin wants to return to those days, when employers could remove employees without cause, when workers too sick to work were fired. They are not alone. The anger that swept Republicans into power in several state houses and the U.S. House of Representatives is being vented in legislatures where social issues are being spun as fiscal sanity.
It sounds like the kind of thing Third World youth are fighting against.
It's hard to tell by the recent action in Madison, the state's capitol. The idea that an entire party would disappear from a chamber of the state legislature in an effort to block legislation sounds like something out of a banana republic.
Parliament is in session. The opposition does not like the government's action. The opposition party walks out or resigns en masse.
It just happened in Bahrain, where the opposition party representing Shiite Muslims decided to quit Parliament over the Sunni government's crackdown on pro-democracy Shiite protesters. One can understand the actions of the Shiite leaders in light of the killings and beatings at the hands of government thugs. It is a life-and-death situation.
But in Wisconsin? In the heart of America? In a state that was once seen as progressive? Is this the new democracy?
Don't get me wrong. The legislation offered by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is indeed onerous, an attempt to cloak anti-union sentiments in fiscal responsibility. It must be defeated. However, hiding from one's responsibility, which Senate Democrats are doing, seems a childish way of doing the state's business.
Wisconsin, like many other states, has a major deficit. To balance the budget, the state's Republican lawmakers decided to ask state workers to assume a greater share of pension and health care costs. Such a request seems reasonable considering government workers in Wisconsin contribute less than what workers in other states contribute.
The problem is Wisconsin's anticipated budget gap for the next fiscal year -- an estimated $137 million -- was self-inflicted, created by Republican efforts to reward their supporters. According to one fiscal group, Wisconsin recently approved $117 million in tax breaks for businesses. If not for that tax give away the state would have a surplus, the fiscal group concluded.
According to Republicans, the problem isn't the tax cuts. No. It's the fact that government workers, including teachers, can negotiate benefits beyond their base wages. The Republicans want to eliminate collective bargaining rights for state workers, limit contracts to one year, and drop pension and health care from bargaining.
If the goal is to reduce the state's share of benefit costs then reopen contracts and seek concessions. Unions, corporations and governments have been doing it successfully for years. However, taking away collective bargaining rights strike at one of the things that has made this country great.
While unions have become big business in many industries, the lack of collective bargaining units will return us to the days of when workers were at the mercy of employers. Yes, some employers sought to pay workers well in an effort to keep unions out. Even more did the opposite, paying low wages, firing anyone who missed work, and threatening those who sought any semblance of dignity in the workplace.
Apparently the Republican majority in Wisconsin wants to return to those days, when employers could remove employees without cause, when workers too sick to work were fired. They are not alone. The anger that swept Republicans into power in several state houses and the U.S. House of Representatives is being vented in legislatures where social issues are being spun as fiscal sanity.
It sounds like the kind of thing Third World youth are fighting against.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
The Poetry of Democracy
There is a saying in politics: "You campaign in poetry, but govern in prose." Our nation's foreign policy seems to follow that maxim. America poetically campaigns for the spread of democracy around the world, but uses a stilted prose when it comes to supporting democratic movements. The popular uprisings roiling the Middle East and North Africa are good examples. Because when it comes to many of those Arab countries, the democratic principles and concepts we so loudly proclaim as basic to human existence become too complicated and convoluted to implement.
For years, our presidents have spoken forcefully about the need to introduce western-style democracy to the Arab world, especially in those nations we oppose. Yet, when our "friends" find themselves pushed against the wall by people yearning for freedom, we become mute: our voices constricted, our principles diluted. And when that occurs, we find ourselves and our policies out of step with reality.
Just a little less than three months ago, the people of Tunisia set the Arab world on end, taking to the streets in protest against a corrupt and stifling government. The Tunisians were not asking for an Islamic Republic or seeking to install a communist regime, they were simply looking for the kind of dignity and rights we so often take for granted. The fervor that sent Tunisia's president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, packing erupted in Egypt, eventually leading to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.
Since then, the movement has spread across the Arab world, igniting protests in Algeria, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, and other countries. Each country has responded differently, with leaders of Iran's Islamic Republic calling for the execution of opposition leaders, and Bahrain's royal family sending what amounts to mercenaries to crackdown on protesters. (Bahrain's Sunni minority so distrusts its Shiite majority that it has brought in Sunni Muslims from such countries as Pakistan and made them police. Those police are now cracking down on demonstrators, creating the Arab world's equivalent of Hessian soldiers.)
In the aftermath of these broad-based protests -- many of which crossed religious, ethnic, economic and educational lines -- our government issued constrained statements of support, particularly in countries where our friends were brutalizing their own people. We saved our most poetic democratic cries for those regimes we abhor. The result has been an uneven and crackling voice that at times seems to embarrass more than it informs.
America's tepid response is somewhat understandable. Too often we have reacted wrongly to the dynamics of the Arab world. The result is that we have become the Evil Empire to too many people there. To avoid such labels, we halfheartedly enter the dialogue. But we cannot allow our fear of Islamic extremists, nor our desire to be seen as not meddling in the politics of other nations, to keep us from standing by the principles we so loudly extol.
We are at the crossroads, where the youth of North Africa and the Middle East seem to be yelling for our support, pleading desperately for a chance to be a part of the world. We can help the protesters accomplish their dreams by showing our allies that they are empowered when they empower their people. Or we can withdraw and hope that the democratic movements sweeping that part of the world are not hijacked by extremists.
We don't have to do much to accomplish our goal of spreading democracy. The current generation has already shown that the Internet and social networking are viable organizing tools. Making such tools available to more of the world will help further the principles of freedom. And once those tools are available we can bring about change by not waging ideological war against a particular regime, but by opening new marketplaces for ideas.
For when ideas are accessed, great things can happen. Just look at Gene Sharp, a former professor living in Boston. Sharp is the author of “From Dictatorship to Democracy,” a 93-page guide to toppling autocrats that is available in more than 20 languages. According to The New York Times, leaders of the nascent democratic movements of the Arab world have adopted his tome as their road map to freedom. As a result, dictators seem to revile him as much as they do the United States government.
For years, our presidents have spoken forcefully about the need to introduce western-style democracy to the Arab world, especially in those nations we oppose. Yet, when our "friends" find themselves pushed against the wall by people yearning for freedom, we become mute: our voices constricted, our principles diluted. And when that occurs, we find ourselves and our policies out of step with reality.
Just a little less than three months ago, the people of Tunisia set the Arab world on end, taking to the streets in protest against a corrupt and stifling government. The Tunisians were not asking for an Islamic Republic or seeking to install a communist regime, they were simply looking for the kind of dignity and rights we so often take for granted. The fervor that sent Tunisia's president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, packing erupted in Egypt, eventually leading to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.
Since then, the movement has spread across the Arab world, igniting protests in Algeria, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, and other countries. Each country has responded differently, with leaders of Iran's Islamic Republic calling for the execution of opposition leaders, and Bahrain's royal family sending what amounts to mercenaries to crackdown on protesters. (Bahrain's Sunni minority so distrusts its Shiite majority that it has brought in Sunni Muslims from such countries as Pakistan and made them police. Those police are now cracking down on demonstrators, creating the Arab world's equivalent of Hessian soldiers.)
In the aftermath of these broad-based protests -- many of which crossed religious, ethnic, economic and educational lines -- our government issued constrained statements of support, particularly in countries where our friends were brutalizing their own people. We saved our most poetic democratic cries for those regimes we abhor. The result has been an uneven and crackling voice that at times seems to embarrass more than it informs.
America's tepid response is somewhat understandable. Too often we have reacted wrongly to the dynamics of the Arab world. The result is that we have become the Evil Empire to too many people there. To avoid such labels, we halfheartedly enter the dialogue. But we cannot allow our fear of Islamic extremists, nor our desire to be seen as not meddling in the politics of other nations, to keep us from standing by the principles we so loudly extol.
We are at the crossroads, where the youth of North Africa and the Middle East seem to be yelling for our support, pleading desperately for a chance to be a part of the world. We can help the protesters accomplish their dreams by showing our allies that they are empowered when they empower their people. Or we can withdraw and hope that the democratic movements sweeping that part of the world are not hijacked by extremists.
We don't have to do much to accomplish our goal of spreading democracy. The current generation has already shown that the Internet and social networking are viable organizing tools. Making such tools available to more of the world will help further the principles of freedom. And once those tools are available we can bring about change by not waging ideological war against a particular regime, but by opening new marketplaces for ideas.
For when ideas are accessed, great things can happen. Just look at Gene Sharp, a former professor living in Boston. Sharp is the author of “From Dictatorship to Democracy,” a 93-page guide to toppling autocrats that is available in more than 20 languages. According to The New York Times, leaders of the nascent democratic movements of the Arab world have adopted his tome as their road map to freedom. As a result, dictators seem to revile him as much as they do the United States government.
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