1 The children can't learn if they don't play.
2 Balanced curriculum
3 Professionalization
4 Very limited testing
5 Arts and crafts
6 More learning by doing
7 Rigorous standards for teacher certification
8 Higher teacher pay
9 Attractive working conditions
10 No outsourcing of school management to for-profit or non-profit organizations
11 Did not implement merit pay
12 Did not rank teachers and schools according to test results
13 All principals, superintendents, and policymakers from inside the education world
14 Classes in art, music, cooking, carpentry, metalwork, and textiles
15 Small class sizes
There is more...read the article.
Look at Finland.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Dasterdly
The year is 1847. Imagine a situation where a company from the North moved its manufacturing facility to the South. The new employees were slaves or poor whites who would work for next to nothing. One requirement of the southern state was partial ownership of the company and transfer of the technologies and techniques used by the company. If the company decided later to leave, their facility and knowledge and expertise would remain. The profits of the company soared while the former employees in the North were unemployed. Who would have stood for it?
The year is 2011. Corporate profits are through the roof. Our president says we have to out educate and out innovate our competition as we hand over our hard earned knowledge to the Chinese as they undercut wages, benefits and the social safety net. The Republicans argue that insuring the risks of health and old age makes it too difficult to compete and these risks must be shifted to the individual. The Chinese are eating our lunch because we are giving it to them.
The year is 2011. Corporate profits are through the roof. Our president says we have to out educate and out innovate our competition as we hand over our hard earned knowledge to the Chinese as they undercut wages, benefits and the social safety net. The Republicans argue that insuring the risks of health and old age makes it too difficult to compete and these risks must be shifted to the individual. The Chinese are eating our lunch because we are giving it to them.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
The War on Christmas Continues...
to be waged against Christians by their "friends." Just a few thoughts.
What kind of weak God needs to be defended against liberals? The Soviet Union aka the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or U.S.S.R. outlawed religion for 80 or so years and yet it survived.
As much as it might upset some of my religious brothers and sisters to hold these two thoughts at the same time I must put it out there. There are many who are both Christian and liberal. Gasp.
Martin Luther King was a liberal. Robert Kennedy was a liberal. Daniel Patrick Moynihan was a liberal. Paul Wellstone was a liberal. Liberal is not a dirty word. Only those with small ideas about God and their fellow man would fear for Christmas.
The War on Christmas (TM) is a phony issue trotted out each year to offend the sensibilities of the devout. God bless and peace be with you. Do not fear for I am with you always.
What kind of weak God needs to be defended against liberals? The Soviet Union aka the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or U.S.S.R. outlawed religion for 80 or so years and yet it survived.
As much as it might upset some of my religious brothers and sisters to hold these two thoughts at the same time I must put it out there. There are many who are both Christian and liberal. Gasp.
Martin Luther King was a liberal. Robert Kennedy was a liberal. Daniel Patrick Moynihan was a liberal. Paul Wellstone was a liberal. Liberal is not a dirty word. Only those with small ideas about God and their fellow man would fear for Christmas.
The War on Christmas (TM) is a phony issue trotted out each year to offend the sensibilities of the devout. God bless and peace be with you. Do not fear for I am with you always.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
I Am The Ruling Class, Who'd A Thought
From John Foster's blog.
Mortimer Zuckerman says,
Whoo Hoo!!!!! I AM THE RULING CLASS! Ok then, everyone listen to me. Urumph. (About to speak...)
Cue the crickets.
John Foster goes on...
What? Doesn't it make sense to want to enact policies and take actions which result in higher salaries, greater job security and good benefits for all? Why would anyone insist that all should suffer? Especially a billionaire.
Just sayin' to myself.
Edit:
Five figure salary? I suppose his ilk will be happy when we are all earning a four figure salary compared to his ten figure net worth.
Mortimer Zuckerman says,
Forget the corporate rich, forget Wall Street, forget the bank bailouts, corporate bonuses and high-income tax breaks, forget the private jets and mansions. It is the millions of “public servants” with their outrageous five-digit salaries and their galling health insurance and retirement pensions, Zuckerman insisted, who have now become “the public’s masters,” seizing a disproportionate share of society’s rewards and bringing on the failures of the U.S. economy.
Whoo Hoo!!!!! I AM THE RULING CLASS! Ok then, everyone listen to me. Urumph. (About to speak...)
Cue the crickets.
John Foster goes on...
What we are witnessing is a concerted attack on government at all levels, extending to public sector workers and their unions. It is out of control government spending, we are told, that is at the root of all our economic woes. Public sector workers, it is claimed, enjoy higher salaries, greater job security, and more ample benefits than their private sector counterparts, while continually demanding and getting more. It is time that they shared in the crisis of the rest of the society.
What? Doesn't it make sense to want to enact policies and take actions which result in higher salaries, greater job security and good benefits for all? Why would anyone insist that all should suffer? Especially a billionaire.
Just sayin' to myself.
Edit:
Five figure salary? I suppose his ilk will be happy when we are all earning a four figure salary compared to his ten figure net worth.
Simple Sense
Banks should be in the business of banking. Lending money at a profit so others can build, buy, create, develop, whatever. Banks should be a service to the economy and the people. What sense does it make that top hedge fund managers make 900,000 dollars..........an hour?
Whose interests are they serving?
What are they doing to maintain their way of life?
At whose expense?
Whose interests are they serving?
What are they doing to maintain their way of life?
At whose expense?
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Drowning in the Bathtub
I am sure it was Grover Nordquist that said the Republicans wanted to get government down to the size where they could drown it in the bathtub. With states in trouble it looks like that is about to happen.
"When you've got an unemployment rate at 10 percent, I don't think that's a good time for us to tell Georgians that we need more of their money," Georgia House Speaker David Ralston said. "I'm going to resist that again this year."
So let's see. Unemployed people needing government services more than ever are going to face even fewer services from the state and more hurdles getting those that do exist because those of us with jobs are not going to be asked to help maintain these services.
Also, public employees who earn less compared to private sector workers by education level are greedy bastards because they want a decent wage and a secure retirement. Basically it is the fault of public employees that the states are in financial trouble. Pay no attention to the ________ behind the curtain. Fill in your choice, Wall Street, the rich and super rich, banks, healthcare industry, etc.
Look at the price we just paid for one year of unemployment benefits. 800 billion dollars over the next 10 years, borrowed from China, going to those who don't need it, as ransom to pay benefits to some of the unemployed in 2011. Meanwhile Rome burns or drowns in the bathtub or whatever.
"When you've got an unemployment rate at 10 percent, I don't think that's a good time for us to tell Georgians that we need more of their money," Georgia House Speaker David Ralston said. "I'm going to resist that again this year."
So let's see. Unemployed people needing government services more than ever are going to face even fewer services from the state and more hurdles getting those that do exist because those of us with jobs are not going to be asked to help maintain these services.
Also, public employees who earn less compared to private sector workers by education level are greedy bastards because they want a decent wage and a secure retirement. Basically it is the fault of public employees that the states are in financial trouble. Pay no attention to the ________ behind the curtain. Fill in your choice, Wall Street, the rich and super rich, banks, healthcare industry, etc.
Look at the price we just paid for one year of unemployment benefits. 800 billion dollars over the next 10 years, borrowed from China, going to those who don't need it, as ransom to pay benefits to some of the unemployed in 2011. Meanwhile Rome burns or drowns in the bathtub or whatever.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
To Teach or Not To Teach
Two years ago when my son was in second grade we had an interesting experience. He was having difficulty learning to read fluently and to write more than a minimal amount. When meeting with the teacher she said all the "right" things. I recognized the lingo and could tell that she had been schooled in all of the current techniques. Many of the students in the class were doing fine. Being a teacher myself I was worried that my bright, creative boy might be doomed to hate school and continue to have real difficulty. My wife on the other hand surmised quickly and accurately that his teacher was not motivating him. The teacher even suggested retention. We were stunned.
We asked that he be moved into the classroom of a much more experienced teacher. It was as if the clouds parted, the sun shone and the mind blossomed. Two years later he reads and writes fluently at grade level. Education is about much more than transmitting knowledge and requiring more of students. Knowledge and wisdom combined with high expectations are sent and received between teachers and students through their relationship with each other.
If you want to evaluate teachers, evaluate them on that. If you can.
We asked that he be moved into the classroom of a much more experienced teacher. It was as if the clouds parted, the sun shone and the mind blossomed. Two years later he reads and writes fluently at grade level. Education is about much more than transmitting knowledge and requiring more of students. Knowledge and wisdom combined with high expectations are sent and received between teachers and students through their relationship with each other.
If you want to evaluate teachers, evaluate them on that. If you can.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Saul Is Crying
In college I read Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky. Simply put the powerless can leverage their numbers and their ideas through direct action to create enough pressure to cause those in power to listen and even negotiate with them. The powerless can attain a little power.
Those in power are still the enemy because they think they know better, they don't have to listen to anyone else, they have the power and their self-interest is all that matters. Saul Alinsky must be crying in heaven to see one of his disciples having gone over to the dark side.
Dr. King went to Memphis to help sanitation workers. Arne Duncan goes to Chicago to meet with anti-teacher profiteers. As my daughter used to say, "How that can be?"
In the midst of an economic crisis without debate or amendment 4.5 billion dollars for education and authority for Race to the Top was put into the stimulus bill. Saul would be in awe of the audacity and application of the technique. 50 state legislatures, in control of an $800 billion public service, changed their laws and opened themselves to privatization to chase $4.5 billion or .56 percent which only a handful of them will get. The money itself is the small collective power, but it is not in the hands of powerless people. At best it in the hands of well intentioned but misguided politicians and education reformers, aka the powerful running amok. At worst this money and the reforms that go along with it is in the employ of ruthless politicians and their corporate paymasters, aka the powerful using the system to attain even more power and wealth. The human shields in this drama are the children.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Real Education Reform
If you want real education reform eliminate poverty.
Otherwise, Congresswoman Judy Chu from California has a grasp on what it will take to make American education more effective. Starting on page 4 of this proposal she outlines what is needed. Namely, flexibility and support.
I have seen many of these elements at work in my own district. It would be wonderful if the national focus through No Child Left Behind became one of opportunities for success instead of carrots and sticks. Effective strategies instead of rewards and punishments.
Imagine a battle where soldiers had to implement a military strategy regardless of what they found when they engaged in the battle. Then, when they are defeated, another group of soldiers is thrown into the battle following the same strategy. Race to the Top has been called NCLB on steroids. Implementing the same strategy more vigorously will only waste more time and money. It will also damage or destroy the institutions we are trying to improve.
You might argue that things would be different in education with full implementation of Race to the Top because the unions would be gone and teachers would have greater financial incentives through merit pay and fears of being fired. Without flexibility and support these changes are all window dressing. Teachers are much more likely to enter into survival mode when they can be fired arbitrarily and in fact these conditions lead to high teacher turnover and much less collaboration between staff members. A culture of learning, collaboration and success cannot grow. Student outcomes will not change and may even get worse. Many charter schools, promoted by Race to the Top, perform worse than comparable public schools, some perform as well and a few, 17% perform better. Amazingly and alarmingly these results are true even though charters routinely engage in selective admission and return students with academic and behavioral problems to their public schools. Something public schools cannot do.
Race to the Top, Waiting for Superman, No Child Left Behind, expansion of charter schools are misleading and failed ideas. Education is a messy and imperfect process, but it is important enough that our efforts need to be based on an approach that builds capacity to meet students' needs. Real education reform is not to be found in an effective political strategy wrapped around failed education policies.
Otherwise, Congresswoman Judy Chu from California has a grasp on what it will take to make American education more effective. Starting on page 4 of this proposal she outlines what is needed. Namely, flexibility and support.
I have seen many of these elements at work in my own district. It would be wonderful if the national focus through No Child Left Behind became one of opportunities for success instead of carrots and sticks. Effective strategies instead of rewards and punishments.
Imagine a battle where soldiers had to implement a military strategy regardless of what they found when they engaged in the battle. Then, when they are defeated, another group of soldiers is thrown into the battle following the same strategy. Race to the Top has been called NCLB on steroids. Implementing the same strategy more vigorously will only waste more time and money. It will also damage or destroy the institutions we are trying to improve.
You might argue that things would be different in education with full implementation of Race to the Top because the unions would be gone and teachers would have greater financial incentives through merit pay and fears of being fired. Without flexibility and support these changes are all window dressing. Teachers are much more likely to enter into survival mode when they can be fired arbitrarily and in fact these conditions lead to high teacher turnover and much less collaboration between staff members. A culture of learning, collaboration and success cannot grow. Student outcomes will not change and may even get worse. Many charter schools, promoted by Race to the Top, perform worse than comparable public schools, some perform as well and a few, 17% perform better. Amazingly and alarmingly these results are true even though charters routinely engage in selective admission and return students with academic and behavioral problems to their public schools. Something public schools cannot do.
Race to the Top, Waiting for Superman, No Child Left Behind, expansion of charter schools are misleading and failed ideas. Education is a messy and imperfect process, but it is important enough that our efforts need to be based on an approach that builds capacity to meet students' needs. Real education reform is not to be found in an effective political strategy wrapped around failed education policies.
Corporate Gangland
How does it work? Work hard, follow the rules, pay your dues, contribute to society and the system works for you too. Right?
In a gang members do what is necessary to be a member, obey the gangs rules, prove themselves, support the gang above all else and the gang supports the member. Right?
Is it possible that the powerful institutions of our country are
In a gang members do what is necessary to be a member, obey the gangs rules, prove themselves, support the gang above all else and the gang supports the member. Right?
Is it possible that the powerful institutions of our country are
- working harder than ever,
- playing by their own rules due to wealth, monopoly, deregulation or sweetheart deals in legislation,
- proving themselves to their organization without regard to society,
- exploiting and taking advantage of society?
Think health care, pharmaceuticals, defense, communications, banking and finance, politicians...
Who would you add to the list?
"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country."
Friday, January 7, 2011
Anecdotal
My daughter and I just went to Kroger for ice cream and pop. Friday night fun. Out of curiosity I asked her how many of her teachers were really bad. She is in 8th grade and has had 25 teachers. She said, one.
When I told her about the teacher and union bashing she said, "That's bullcrap! The teachers are the good guys. The students are the ones doing bad and not paying attention. Teachers are awesome."
Anecdotal, I know, but most parents and students give their own schools high marks. Think about it.
When I told her about the teacher and union bashing she said, "That's bullcrap! The teachers are the good guys. The students are the ones doing bad and not paying attention. Teachers are awesome."
Anecdotal, I know, but most parents and students give their own schools high marks. Think about it.
Wafting Flatulence
Corporations and Wall Street feed at the trough of government protection and subsidy, then blame public employees for the state of the economy. Newt Gingrich says that public employees are "the privileged class." Compared to who? Fostering a little intra-class warfare are we? The new Republican House wants to repeal RomneyCare increasing the deficit (CBO) and rob the insurance companies of 40 million new customers just to score political points with their base.
Why does anyone even listen to these people?
Why does anyone even listen to these people?
To Promote the General Welfare
Do you think George Bush ever really understood economics? I don't think so. What he understood was the Republican economic/political ideology. That was enough.
So, what are the economic/political priorities of DoubleDDemocrats?
Any policy that reinforces:
work - Civilian Conservation Corp,
dignity - unions,
lessening/elimination of poverty - an economy that works for all,
elimination of hunger - availability and affordability of good food,
health - universal healthcare,
freedom from tyranny - rules that are enforced and work for everyone.
That would be nice.
So, what are the economic/political priorities of DoubleDDemocrats?
Any policy that reinforces:
work - Civilian Conservation Corp,
dignity - unions,
lessening/elimination of poverty - an economy that works for all,
elimination of hunger - availability and affordability of good food,
health - universal healthcare,
freedom from tyranny - rules that are enforced and work for everyone.
That would be nice.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Pay The Pensions
Public sector workers are about to get the shaft. Up until the recession (not caused by public sector workers) according to Robert Reich "public pension funds had an average of 86 percent of all the assets they needed to pay future benefits." Many of these pension funds were sold overrated mortgage backed securities that have been at the heart of the recession.
Now major corporations, the banks and Wall Street are experiencing record profits and record compensation, yet they are not hiring. The richest in the country are getting tax breaks worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Their friends in government are saying state budget problems are caused by state employees, their wages and benefits. This is the victory of greed and ideological purity run amok.
Now major corporations, the banks and Wall Street are experiencing record profits and record compensation, yet they are not hiring. The richest in the country are getting tax breaks worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Their friends in government are saying state budget problems are caused by state employees, their wages and benefits. This is the victory of greed and ideological purity run amok.
Liberal... Yea!
Michael Dukakis made one huge mistake in 1988. He ran away from being a liberal. When challenged he should have pulled out his wallet, grabbed any business card, waved it around and said, "Yes! I am a liberal. A card carrying liberal. Here it is and this is what it means."
Everyone would have been listening to hear his definition of the word liberal. Instead he ran and the Republicans have been able to define it and Democrats are left moving to the right so as not to appear too liberal.
Everyone would have been listening to hear his definition of the word liberal. Instead he ran and the Republicans have been able to define it and Democrats are left moving to the right so as not to appear too liberal.
Third-Second Party
The idea of a third party is always interesting because it is rebellious and says things the major parties will not. Instead of a third party we need to take back the one that has gone astray. To do so our candidates should be Democrats, but identify themselves as more than that. We could call ourselves DoubleDDemocrats. The media would probably gladly identify us as such...
Mike Ombry (DD)
Mike Ombry (DD)
Depression
One of my goals with this blog is to write briefly yet accurately and truthfully. There are many others who write at length in exquisite detail, yet society remains unmoved.
Social Security has assets worth 2,000,000,000,000 dollars (that's trillions). Why is it that while we are in a recession we cannot afford Social Security, yet we were able to create it during THE GREAT DEPRESSION from scratch?
Social Security has assets worth 2,000,000,000,000 dollars (that's trillions). Why is it that while we are in a recession we cannot afford Social Security, yet we were able to create it during THE GREAT DEPRESSION from scratch?
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Union
Out of many, one.
This is the foundation of our country. Unions bring many together to act as one. They act as a balancing force against the raw power of capitalism. They are needed now more than ever. The Union is in peril from the forces of extremism be they economic, religious or political.
Those who will stand together against extremism in any form are today's patriots. Together we can resist tyranny.
This is the foundation of our country. Unions bring many together to act as one. They act as a balancing force against the raw power of capitalism. They are needed now more than ever. The Union is in peril from the forces of extremism be they economic, religious or political.
Those who will stand together against extremism in any form are today's patriots. Together we can resist tyranny.
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- Thomas Jefferson