education

If We Can Fund The Wars In Afghanistan And Iraq, We Must Fund Education, Police And Firefighters!

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Democratic Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa is promoting a supplemental funding bill for $23 billion to save the jobs of educators all over the country.

Also, $1 billion each is being set aside for police and firefighters, and an additional $1 billion for early childhood education.

The Obama Administration and Education Secretary Arne Duncan are fully backing this move, and Obama has reminded people that if we had listened to the opposition, we would be in a much deeper economic downturn than we have been!

Critics are saying we cannot afford these expenditures to save jobs and provide a decent education, and promote public safety!

Well, if we can afford to spend billions upon billions on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq–nearly $1 trillion combined since the wars began in 2001 and 2003–then we simply MUST find a way to save jobs and promote a quality of life domestically!

This is NOT frivolous spending on unimportant matters! It is the lifeblood of communities all over the country, and will prevent more unemployment, which would help to provoke an economic downturn just as we are emerging from the deep recession we have been in for the past two and a half years!

Further federal stimulus is ESSENTIAL, not optional! And if conservatives and Republicans don’t like it, well, tough it out, gentlemen! 🙁

The Need For Ethnic Studies Courses As Electives In Schools!

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Arizona’s Governor Jan Brewer has just signed a bill that bans ethnic studies classes in public schools and charter schools, with specific attention being paid to the Tucson public schools, which have a Chicano Studies course, that many claim has promoted discontent and anger among students who have taken the course.

The law actually bans ANY ethnic studies courses, meaning including African American, Asian American, Native American–and by extension–Jewish and Women and Gay Studies courses, which would also be covered under the ban by extension! 🙁

If all of the above groups were covered fairly and comprehensively in American History courses below the college level, then one could possibly understand the reasoning behind the legislation, although it is still censorship!

But as it is, the public school curriculum around the nation lacks the ability to even cover the basic facts and concepts of American history! It is, therefore, outrageous to promote the banning of coverage of the various groups in American society who have been denied equality and justice throughout most of the nation’s history!

This is clearly a right wing attempt to promote distortion, and it now makes Arizona similar to Texas, where the entire history curriculum is being politicized and distorted to teach a conservative oriented, narrow minded view of our national history!

The biggest loser in both Texas and Arizona are Mexican Americans and other Latinos, and yet, as stated many times, the future of the nation is the reality that people of Spanish descent will become, more and more, the largest minority group in America, as in fact, they already are!

Of all ethnic groups that have made up the American nation, only those of German ethnicity have rivaled the numbers who are of Mexican heritage. So the future is here, and the nation needs to learn to deal with it! People of Latino heritage, whether Mexican or other Spanish speaking nations, will not sit back and allow continued discrimination and denial of their history!

All that this outrageous legislation does is promote racism, hatred, and ignorance! It must be appealed by law suits, and Arizona should be ashamed of itself, as it continues down the road of being the inheritor of the racism of Mississippi and Alabama in the 1960s!

In the present, it represents more a state, such as South Carolina or Texas, in its disgraceful state government actions! This demonstrates the danger of states rights, which many conservatives still claim to be existent, although in reality states rights as a legitimate concept was settled by the Civil War, like it or not! 🙁

Cinco De Mayo And The American Flag: Why Can’t They Coexist? :(

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A really ridiculous example of educational administrators using bad judgment is what happened on Wednesday in the suburbs of San Francisco.

May 5 was the celebration of Cinco De Mayo, the Mexican national holiday. There is nothing wrong with Mexican Americans celebrating their national heritage!

But a group of high school boys came to school on Wednesday wearing clothing bearing the American flag. They were ordered to remove the flag items or turn the shirts inside out to hide the flag symbol. They were threatened with suspension or being told to leave school for the day.

The story was that supposedly some Hispanic students would be affronted by the flag clothing. There was concern that there could be confrontations between Hispanic and white Anglo students.

The school apologized for the action against the white Anglo students, as well they should. One must not give in to threats or intimidation from any source!

The answer is that this situation was a perfect opportunity to promote tolerance, open mindedness and patriotism to both the Hispanic students and the Anglo students! It should not be that students are denied the right to express their patriotism just because of an ethnic holiday!

In the future, there is a need to hold assemblies for students, in which both tolerance of cultural diversity and demonstrations of patriotism by people of differing ethnic backgrounds should be seen as positive matters that do not conflict with each other’s sensitivities. These students must enter a world in which understanding and appreciation of others who are different than us is essential to promote good will and peace in our society and in the world!

The Coming Collapse Of Print Newspapers And Periodicals! A Sign Of Reading Decline And Loss Of The Work Ethic!

Ronald 1 Comment

As part of the economic recession that America has been experiencing for the past few years, we are, tragically, witnessing the rapid decline, and in many ways, collapse of print media in America! 🙁

After seeing earlier the disappearance of daily newspapers in Seattle and Denver, and the rapid loss of advertising revenue and circulation of many other daily newspapers, causing major layoffs at even leading newspapers, such as the NY Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune, we are now also witnessing the apparent end of the Washington Times, and even of news magazines on a weekly basis. 🙁

The Washington Post is out to sell Newsweek, which it has owned since 1961, and which has been in publication since 1933. Time Magazine is also losing its advertising and circulation base rapidly, and US News and World Report went from a weekly to a monthly in 2008. 🙁

It is not just the economic crisis, but also the rapid growth of cable and the internet and blogs which has caused the deterioration of the print media.

But also, there are signs that the decline of daily newspapers and weekly news magazines in print is due to the accelerating downturn of READING by millions of Americans, not only the young who would rather spend time on social media and listening to music, but also their parents and older people in general. 🙁

With this rapid collapse of reading, we are in danger as a nation of becoming more ignorant and dumb, and that is a danger sign for democracy, as demagogues can more easily manipulate those who are ill informed! 🙁

It is also a threat for the work ethic and the sustainability of a society, in which the motivation to work and contribute is lost to many younger people who care more about fun and entertainment than work and responsibility! 🙁

When the work ethic and ambition and desire to learn is lost, as it is rapidly occurring even in the colleges of the nation, the United States is entering a crisis of massive proportions! 🙁

How can a nation advance and progress, and remain a world leader, if educational standards and reading are in rapid decline, and it is considered that it is, somehow, good, to be ignorant and dumb? 🙁

Obama Is Wrong On Central Falls, Rhode Island, Mass Firing of Teachers!

Ronald 2 Comments

The controversy over the mass firings of the entire teaching staff at the lowest performing high school in Rhode Island, in Central Falls, has reached a new level with President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan endorsing the action by the superintendent.

The fact that the teachers union was demanding more pay for extra time and commitment led to this action by the top administrator of the school district. And certainly, the scholastic performance of the students is atrocious, with half the students failing every class, and only seven percent on the normal grade level in math!

But realize that a vast percentage of the students in the school and district are immigrant children who have a language barrier adding to their problems in performing well in school.

No one is saying that it is acceptable for students to do this poorly, and for no one to have accountability. But did it ever cross the President’s mind and that of the Education Secretary that there is also accountability on the part of students and parents?

Immigrants through many generations have had to deal with poverty and difficult times, but have achieved and accomplished through their own strength of character. To blame teachers en masse is unjustified and scapegoats them for the failures of students to commit themselves to learning, and also the importance of family involvement!

Certainly, it can be argued that teachers unions tend to protect inferior teachers, and that besmirches the many good and dedicated educators. There is an argument for periodic reassessment of teacher performances, but it should not be based solely on student performance, but rather on how teachers relate to students on a personal level. That is, are the teachers putting out efforts to educate, and are they sympathetic and caring in their personal approaches to their students?

If it is shown that a teacher is refusing to provide help to their students, and are antagonistic toward them and fail to fulfill the expectations we have of professionals in the classroom, then there are grounds for their removal, and tenure alone should not protect such inferior, incompetent teachers. But let’s not go ahead and endorse the mass firing of teachers in Rhode Island or elsewhere based on a power play by the superintendent, or the desire of conservatives to go after unions as an anti labor strategy!

Oh, and by the way, IF we truly want the best people in the classrooms all over the country, it is time to stop blaming them for societal ills and start compensating the “best and the brightest” so that we gain the best minds committed to the education of our future generations!

If we continue to go down this road of scapegoating and mass firings, it will only lead to more teachers leaving the profession, and therefore, furthering the decline in our educational system!

Treat teachers with dignity and respect, and insist on excellence and maximum effort, and you will gain much more than by using them as a political football, whether on the part of the Obama Administration or the conservative enemies of our education system!

The Greatest Crisis For National Security: Education And Our Future

Ronald 4 Comments

As a college professor, I have witnessed the catastrophic decline in educational standards in public education over the past 40 years. This represents the greatest crisis for our national security in the 21st century.

Young people today may be able to do well at video games, and to connect socially via Facebook and other social websites, but they do not have the basic skills or higher level thinking processes necessary for the secure future of our nation.

When half of our students drop out of high school before graduation in many urban districts, and when only one third of high school graduates come to college, if they do at all, in a well prepared way without the need for remedial work in English and Math, that is a real warning sign for our future.

When countries in Asia and Europe outdo our graduates, and are ahead of us in many fields of knowledge, that is a sign of impending emergency. How are we, the leaders of the free world, to compete and to meet the challenges that face us in this new century?

I wonder, as many do, are we in the direction of dramatic decline, when we have young people who have no thirst for knowledge, who are easily bored, who lack an attention span, who come out of high school with no GK, general knowledge base, to build on?

When we have so many examples of college students, including many who are so ill equipped and lacking in motivation, who seem to show up just to gain financial support from government, and are more interested in the money than the learning, it screams out that we MUST raise standards of what our country expects from its students.

But also, it mandates that our parents MUST instill in their children the importance of learning, not just the acquisition of money for “trying” college, but really putting education first as a priority goal, over video games and “hanging out” on social websites as the way young people “waste” their youth NOT learning what they need, and we need, for their and our survival long term!

If one thinks about it, this is exactly what President Obama has said over and over again. Education is the single most important goal and aim that all of us must emphasize for our own personal futures and our national security.

Do not forget that even in this Great Recession that we are going through, that those with education and professional degrees, have a LOWER unemployment rate than other groups. So again, it rings true: EDUCATION, EDUCATION, and EDUCATION–similar to the saying that when one buys a home, what matters is LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! 🙂

President Obama And Staying In School

Ronald 1 Comment

President Obama is going to spend an hour next Tuesday speaking to the nation’s students via cable and television as the Fall term begins, or has already begun for the education community.

His goal is to emphasize and support the idea that all students should stay in school and graduate high school, and that college students should complete the degree that they start.

Is there anything wrong with the President advocating this to American students as a goal for the nation’s growth and prosperity? I would say certainly not, but apparently already there is a backlash of so called parents who seem to think it is none of the President’s business to be pushing education on their youngsters.

This growing criticism is just mind blowing to me. Have America’s parents been doing a good job of emphasizing education when millions of parents have no time for their kids; do not provide books, magazines and newspapers to their children in their homes; do not work to prevent their sons and daughters from dropping out and going to work at a dead end job; never emphasize learning and education as an important part of the parenting role; and in many cases fail to improve their own educational levels so as to create the chance of changing their own occupational future?

While there are many parents who do what should be done, is there any harm in the President raising the standards of the nation by encouraging “stay in school”? I think not, and all we can do is ignore these stupid complaints and the President move ahead and do what he plans to do–promote education as the best way to mobility in American society!

Damon Weaver And President Obama

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It was really pleasant to see an 11 year old African American boy from Pahokee, Florida, get the chance to interview President Obama at the White House yesterday, after earlier having had the opportunity to interview Vice President Joe Biden.

As usual, President Obama put on a great performance and encouraged Damon and other young people to study, work hard and accomplish their goals. The President is a great model for youth in this country, and it was wonderful to see such an inspiring interaction between the young man and the President.

It is certain that Damon will not forget this exciting moment in his young life!