Our Values and Culture Shape Our Schools

As I mentioned in my last entry, money is not the only problem facing our schools, the real problems are teaching style, culture, and values. According to the TIMSS results on schools, “In fourth grade, American kids do above average internationally. By eighth grade, they slip a bit, and by 12th-grade, they’ve slipped a lot.” The U.S. is the only country that slides down that much from 4th to 12th grade, so what is the problem?
Now of course there are many reasons why schools fall behind, but I believe that besides teaching style, which I explained previously, the problem is our culture’s values. There has been a change in both students and parents mentalities that is creating students, who are not motivated to learn, or who do not see the point. Many students no longer consider studying, planning for college, and learning as priorities and instead are consumed by fads, celebrities, fashion, being thin, and most importantly being popular. Since our media and environment is covered in useless information about these things, children do not see the point is researching the mass genocide in Darfur, or our countries involvement in the middle east. While living abroad, I was shocked to find out that in other countries the national and international news is actually news and not celebrity gossip, or diet fads. Improving the actual schools and teachers is not going to go very far, if our culture’s values do not change. We must create an environment for learning and growth outside the classroom that motivates children to pay attention and understand the world around them. In other countries, teenagers discuss politics and world events over dinner, or while shopping, while in the U.S. teens gossip about Britney Spears, or how fat the girl they just passed was. I’m not saying that preteens and teens in other countries do not care about celebrity gossip, what I am saying is that they understand at the end of the day what really matters in the world. The reason why student performance drops so much more from 4th grade to 12th grade in the U.S., is because of our culture and its values. If we change the way we think and what we value, everything from our schools to our foreign relations will improve. Contrary to popular belief in this country, ignorance is not measured in how well you scored on a test, it is measured in how you go about your daily life, the decisions you make, and how you react to the world around you. More than anything, these are cultural, social, and environmental problems, not problems related to what U.S. children are currently learning in school, although they should be. The only way U.S. children are going to catch up with international students, is if we rewrite the values that are promoted in our country and make sure that those values are emphasized in all areas of our cultural environment.

Money is NOT the SOLUTION

While researching this blog, I keep coming across articles that blame every problem with public schools on lack of funds. As much as I would love to share their simple solution, WAKE UP AMERICANS’ money is only a fraction of the problem. If you don’t believe me look at Washington D.C, which ranks third in spending per student and yet is arguably the worst school district in the country. According to the Washington Post, “ More than half of the District of Columbia's kids spend their days in "persistently dangerous" schools, with an average of nine violent incidents a day in a system with 135 schools. "Principals reporting dangerous conditions or urgently needed repairs in their buildings wait, on average, 379 days.” WOW, I’ll remember never to send my kids to our National Capital, although it’s probably not that much worse than the majority of public schools in big cities in the U.S. So I’ve touched on a lot of specific things in this blog concerning why the U.S public school system is so bad, but I want to explain a few broader facts. Most importantly, it’s the teaching system and the cultures and values of the people that make up the foundations of every education system.
In this entry, I’m going to focus on the teaching style and then in my next post I will explain how our values and culture shape the school system. There are some fundamental things wrong with teachers in the U.S. compared to teachers in countries that rank higher than us. Now this is not a problem of individual teachers, this is a problem in how and what teachers are being forced to teach students. According to the Washington Post, which I highly agree with,
“The United States focuses more on procedure, and we try to teach many topics fast. Other countries tend to break topics up and go much more in-depth. They work on the concept, not just the procedure...Countries that did well in rankings focused on teaching the ideas and taught a few topics a year. Kids will learn what a fraction really is, not just how to add or subtract them.”
This is a great point, U.S. schools try to condense topics to the point of students only memorizing a few key facts that they then forget ten minutes later, which is basically a waste of time. If we really want students to learn, teachers must focus on a single subject and actually explain the who, what, how, where, when, and even how it relates to the world around them. Although it may seem like less can never mean more in education, but teaching the actual concepts behind a subject will enable students to easily understand the many other topics that somehow relate. This should be common sense, since it was discovered years ago that the brain stores information based on how many connections it can make to already stored information and also the significance of those connections. Our brains are not designed to store random facts and statistics that have no real significance to our past, or present situation. When teachers just recite facts and procedures, as most U.S. schools do, students just memorize, but create no real connections to why the information is significant. As Matias Sueldo, an Argentinean who is now a sophomore at a U.S college explained, “Kids here learn to pass a test, but they don’t learn the concepts. In Argentina, you either know it or you don’t.” Another student pointed out, “Because the only way we measure how well students do is through testing, teachers end up teaching how to take the test, and not necessarily the subject matter...Great, students can take a test, but they don’t know anything.” This is exactly my point, the U.S. teaches students how to get good grades, but not why the information is significant, or how to use the information in the real world. We must change the way teachers are expected to teach, as well as change how teachers grade students in order for our school system to stop falling so far behind.

Presdient Bush's Scare-Tactics Remind Me of Someone else

I was recently writing a short essay on fascism for my world history class and I was reminded of how President Bush has used scare tactics similar to those used by Hitler and Mussolini during World War II. Now I’m not putting Hitler and Bush on the same level, as the death and destruction that Hitler created should always stand on its own and should never be grouped, but I am comparing the actual tactics each leader used in order to gain and maintain power. After WWI, Germany faced one of the worst economic situations in its history, which resulted in worry and unrest amongst citizens.
Hitler used his country’s vulnerability in order to strengthen his own power, by escalating people’s already developing fear. By using scare-tactics, Hitler created citizens that were terrified of communism and willing to do anything to regain their country’s glory and power. This brought about a surge in ultranationalism that allowed Hitler to have authoritative rule over his people and develop extremist economic and social policies. The brainwashed citizens welcomed fascism and totalitarian rule, as they believed it was for the good of their country. They also allowed their dictators to initiate violent foreign policies and invade territories in Eastern Europe, which completely violated the Versailles Treaty, but they had no idea.

Fast-forward to 9/11 and remember how President Bush reacted to the situation by using terror alerts, threats, heightened danger levels, which the media then plastered over everything. In fear, Americans allowed the government to take away some of their liberties and impose extreme policies at home and abroad in order to protect against terrorists, or Al-Qaeda, or maybe it was Hassam Hussein. Everywhere you went you were reminded of how dangerous it was in the United States and how inhumane and evil the ‘terrorists’ were. Of course it got a little confusing to who we were actually fighting against and at one point the majority of Americans somehow believed Hassam Hussein was behind 9/11, but who cares Iraq was in the Middle East and thus was threatening our freedom and safety, right? As more ‘threats’ were announced, there was a huge surge in patriotism and nationalism as Americans joined together, willing to do anything to protect our glorious country, even if it meant invading Iraq, which of course had nothing to do with 9/11. Hmm, sounds familiar, the congressman, Keith Ellison explained last year, “It’s almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that..After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it, and it put the leader [Hitler] of that country in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted.”
Now I would never make a statement saying that President Bush planned 9/11, but I do believe he used our vulnerability in order to brainwash us into thinking that we needed to give up some of our freedoms and invest over $500 billion into an unwinnable war. This is similar to how Hitler convinced the people of Germany that violating the Treaty of Versailles was for their own protection and well-being.
When researching this entry, I came across a startling quote from President Bush that compared Congress' Democratic leaders with people who ignored the rise of Lenin and Hitler, saying "The world paid a terrible price then and risks similar consequences for inaction today." REALLY...I’m sorry, writing this blog has really made me ashamed to be an American, which I don’t believe any citizen should ever have to feel. Isn't a democracy supposed to be a government for the people, by the people? No wonder the entire world hates us, I really feel bad for the next president, who is going to have to restore our reputation and hopefully our economy.

California Schools Some of the Worst

Since I graduated high school four years ago, I’ve noticed some major changes taking place in public schools, especially those in California. I would love to say that those changes have been for the better, but sadly I would be lying. Instead I’ve observed, more overcrowding, programs being cut, less parent involvement, more non-English speaking students, and overall poor achievement in almost all subjects, or at least the subjects that still exist. Since California schools used to be ranked towards the top of the list nationally, I decided to do some outside research and find out how they compare now. I figured that California would still be towards the top, especially since it is the only state included in the top 10 largest economies worldwide, but I was mistaken. Instead I found:

1. Per-pupil funding is consistently below national average
2. Teacher pay falls below national averages when adjusted for cost of living
3. California’s fourth and fifth graders have consistently scored lower on reading and mathematics tests, currently ranking only above Mississippi and Louisiana
4. Teachers lacking full credentials account for 15% of California public school teachers
5. The most inexperienced teachers teach in the neediest school districts
6. California has the second highest teacher-to-student ratio in the nation
7. California is below the national average in spending per pupil on school construction
8. California’s Latino and African American students are on average amongst the lowest achieving in the country

Now, a lot of people may argue that the decline of California public schools is due to the increase of non-English speaking students and that they are the reason for lower test scores. Personally, I do not feel I’m enough of an expert on the subject to state my opinion on non-English speakers, although I will say that there is evidence that in many schools, especially in Southern California, English speaking students are often ignored because teachers have to spend more time teaching them. The real problem here is that California schools are underfunded, face the same problems as all public schools, and many of its teachers are not trained to handle both non-English speaking students and English speaking students, but really who blames them? On top of having non-English speaking students, California teachers on average have 50% more students than teachers across the nation and since on average there is only one counselor for every 556 high school students in California, teachers are also expected to handle those problems. Hmm, so California is one of the wealthiest economies in the world and yet its schools are some of the worst. Something is definitely wrong here and like schools in other parts of the country, things must change or our country will continue to slip behind. It’s time for the U.S. to understand that we no longer rule this planet and we must determine why the schools and economies in other countries are passing us up. I know it’s crazy, but maybe we could even study the school systems in countries like Japan, Belgium, Finland, or the other 20+ nations whose schools rank higher than us, but it’s just a thought.

Intercity Busing Does Not Mean Equal Opportunity

My last two points have been about equal opportunity and Americans’ misconceptions about what it is. I listed a few examples in my last posting about how schools are incorrectly interpreting the meaning behind equality and actually doing more harm than good, with programs that level the playing field. There is one more program that I believe I have to touch on, as it is a perfect illustration of why schools will not be improved until we change the way we think, which in turn will change the way we act. Busing children from failing intercity schools to better schools in order to create equality, doesn’t solve anything and is completely counter productive as it doesn't address any of the real problems. Similar to the majority of U.S. solutions over the past few years, “busing” students was instituted because of Americans’ desire for instant gratification and results in all aspects of life. The real problems lie in the actual structure of all U.S. public schools, with everything from teachers to the curriculum and even the grading system needing to change. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, we must also change the way we think and view human existence. Specifically, for the school system we must understand a few underlying principles, including there is no single quick solution for schools, just as there is no quick solutions for the environment, or any other major problem. We must also realize that the world functions as a machine, with every change to an individual part affecting the entire mechanism, which means we must individually operate for the good of all humankind, not just for our own personal gain. This may seem off topic, but it is actually the foundation of all change that must occur in order for our species to survive. Until we recognize that all individuals are fundamentally equal as members of humankind and that we are also a part of the animal kingdom and not superior to it, we will continue to destroy not only our schools, but the entire world.
Busing underprivileged minority students to the suburbs, only addresses the visible surface of the education problem, just as driving a few thousand hybrids, or protecting a few forests, does not solve our dire environmental problems, although both problems require the same fundamental solution. When attempting to explain this point, I like to visualize an iceberg and how 75% of its body is below the surface and not visible to those unwilling to look beyond its perceptible appearance. When humans are able to think and act in relation to the iceberg and also the world as a machine, we will be able to not only save ourselves, but also the entire ecosphere of the earth.

The Real Definition of Equal Opportunity

As I touched on in my last post, the concept of equality is very complex and although it appears to have a straightforward definition, it is actually quite dynamic and interpretive. With that, the most difficult part of transforming our school system and providing equal opportunity is having Americans realize that these problems cannot be fixed solely by money. In order to see progress, we must change the way we think and view the world, as well as what we believe is the purpose of our existence. I’m still not sure whether equal opportunity is attainable, or at least not in the way that most people interpret it. Included in changing the way we think, is understanding that pure equality does not exist with humans and if it did, it would only result in uniformity and restrictions. In that way, we must accept that each human is unique and thus variations will always exist in every aspect of society, including education, wealth, religion, and political policy. Creating equal opportunity does not mean leveling, or producing identical students and schools, it means establishing equal concern and preventing actions that exclude persons from equal membership in a shared community. The school system must be designed in a way that provides students with options and offers equal access to different programs based on interest and skill level, rather than location, income and social status. When equality is allowed to be interpreted in a simple and standard way, it normally results in counter productiveness, which is what is occurring in many different areas of our education system. Listed below are a few examples of how the misinterpretation of equality has resulted in a move backwards instead of forwards for our schools.

1. Title IX and the inequality in men's and women's intercollegiate athletics often limits athletic options, instead of improving them. For instance, at Brown University they proposed the solution of cutting the number of opportunities available to male athletes until they reached parity with the lower number of opportunities for female athletes, which has also occurred in colleges all over the country. Glorious

2. After losing an equal protection challenge to its males-only admissions policy, the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) threatened to become private and very expensive in order to remedy the problem instead of admitting women.

3. In response to the successful challenging of inequality in public school funding, the former Governor of New Jersey, Christine Whitman, proposed a plan to level down spending in wealthier school districts in order to reach equality with poorer districts. This has occurred all over the nation and although it improves under privileged schools, it also punishes schools that are able to raise money within the community, which completely defeats the purpose of improving schools.

4. Many of the school districts that have been charged with discriminating against gay and lesbian student groups in violation of the federal Equal Access Act have responded by banning, or threatening to ban, all extracurricular student clubs.

5. NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND results in LEVELING


The list goes on and on, but I think you get the point that if we continue to have such a literal interpretation of equal opportunity, we will actually create more problems than we solve. Before we can even attempt to outline a plan for equal opportunity, we must first make it plausible, which requires a complete rearrangement of the public schools that gives all students more freedom in choosing their own path based on their individual wants and needs. This of course requires every aspect of the school to be changed, which most Americans do not believe is possible without a huge tax increase. I’m not going to go in depth about this point, as I’ve already touched on it before, but just remember that ever-growing number in the upper right corner of the page. I bet a lot could be done to our school system with $512 BILLION, especially if the community is able to work together towards a single goal.

Bill Gates is Right About Schools

I recently read Bill Gates speech from the 2005 National Governors Association Education Summit and I must admit I completely agreed with him. Being a college drop out himself, I was pleasantly surprised to find out how passionate he is about improving the public school system. Although I am familiar with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and its generosity towards schools, I was unaware of the actual programs and initiatives he has created in order to transform the school system. Unlike the majority of charitable public figures, who just give money and supplies to schools, Gates goes above and beyond and has dedicated time and money to researching every intricate detail of the public school system. Based on his findings, he has created special initiatives and become an activist for equal and better public education. I was delighted to hear him say, "The key problem is political will," when discussing the public schools resistance to change and also that it is, “Morally wrong to offer more advanced levels of coursework to high-income students compared with that offered many minority and low-income scholars.” Now as much as I applaud him for bringing this up, especially considering it goes against the stereotypical view of people with wealth and power being spoiled and insensitive to the lower class, I was saddened to find out his own children go to a small private school. At first I was extremely irritated, especially since only a few minutes prior to my findings, I had considered Bill Gates an inspiration, a glimpse of hope in a seemingly failing system, where people talk big, but barely ever deliver results. After I really considered the situation, I no longer blamed him for preaching about equal opportunity and then sending his own kids to private schools; personally I would probably do the same, although I’m not sure that makes it right. This is when I too faced a dilemma and wondered how are we going to achieve equal opportunity in education when the people that have the ability to make it happen and want it to happen are unwilling to actually send their own children to public schools, or is it even possible in the first place? This is when I realized that until all Americans have faith in the public school system and believe that a form of equal opportunity is conceivable, the achievement gap will continue to grow. Of course, the public schools must also be completely revamped and reorganized in a way that actually produces intelligent graduates, who are motivated to learn. Basically, every component of the school system must be changed, including the curriculum, the grading system, the teachers, the rules, and just about everything else, in order for there to be any chance of saving our schools. The actual changes are not going to be black and white, or at all simple, instead the transformation will require in-depth consideration and participation in the community.

C Role Models Equals C Students

Since my posts have been pretty long, this is actually a continuation of the previous post, where I discussed how President Bush is a C student and a terrible role model for kids. Now, I’m completely aware of how many people in this country do not approve of the president, but there are still thousands of Americans out there that do, and sadly many of them are very influential. Even though the majority of public school teachers hate the president, the school system is not controlled by teachers, it is run by the government and specifically the president. Hmm, what happens when you have a C student controlling the schools, who thinks he is intelligent enough to run a country? YOU CREATE A SCHOOL SYSTEM THAT ONLY PRODUCES C STUDENTS WHO THINK THEY ARE A STUDENTS. That is exactly what is happening in the U.S., children are taught at a C level, a minimalist level, where only the basics are required to pass with high marks. We must develop schools that teach at an A level, where children are taught more than reading, writing, and arithmetic. As simple as this sounds, nothing is going to improve until we force the people in charge to be A students, who are intelligent enough to know something is not working. When those people finally open their eyes and see a country full of failing machines, the same machines that one day will be running this country, maybe they will realize how desperately things need to change. Of course, the problem is the people in charge are C students and they too are machines, unable to comprehend how a generation of dumb children affects them directly, since the school system also forgot to teach them common sense. Yep, the majority of Americans do not have common sense, they cannot connect the dots in life and only understand information based on memorized facts that if not presented exactly how they were in school books, do not make sense. When the people in charge are able to see the bigger picture and begin thinking in a way that reflects on that notion, we will have a country full of A students, and not C students.

Really Bush???

QUESTION: Do you think there’s a risk of a recession? How do you rate that?

BUSH: You know, you need to talk to economists. I think I got a B in Econ 101. I got an A, however, in keeping taxes low and being fiscally responsible with the people’s money.

I know this is from a few months ago, but I came across it again randomly today and I just had to laugh. I wasn’t laughing because it was funny, or a joke, I was laughing because I’ve gotten to the point of delirium where instead of facing the problem, I just laugh and pretend it’s a figment of my imagination and there is no way Bush is actually our president. I mean really, this is the man that has been running our country for 8 years and he’s still getting away with this shit. Now, Bush forgot to mention as he was JOKING about the U.S. being in a recession, that he was also a C student and probably wouldn’t have even passed if it were not for his daddy. No wonder the public school system is so bad and American’s are so stupid, look who we are letting run this country; a C student, who needed his daddy to bail him out of the National Reserves. The president is supposed to be an icon, a super role model that everyone strives to be like. Personally, if I had kids, President Bush would be the last person I would tell my kids to look up to, or at least one of the last as there might be a few individuals in his cabinet that could give him a run for his money. Maybe if we put better role models in power, we would not have a generation of children striving to be C students.

ONE Campaign Changing the World

As a change of pace, my post today will not be negative, or angry in nature, but instead hopeful. The ONE Campaign is a coalition of Americans from all walks of life, joined together as one, in a fight against global poverty and disease around the world. With the motto “Powered by you,” the ONE Campaign is based on the idea that everyone has a voice and united we can make a difference. The campaign was launched in 2000 by the joint efforts of 11 American aid groups who were inspired by the signing of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which was signed by 189 nations around the world. This coalition of Americans inspiring other Americans is a sign of great changes that are occurring in this nation that have the potential to change the world. As cliché as that might sound, the ONE Campaign proves that we must change the way we think, in order to change the way we act. Since its start, the ONE Campaign has inspired over two million Americans to stand up and demand their voices be heard and now its satellite campaign, ONE Vote’08 is encouraging the American public to insist that the presidential candidates make ONE goals part of their campaigns. Over the past year, ONE Vote’08 has successfully stopped foreign aid budget cuts by having over 100,000 members sign a petition, encouraged President Bush to visit Africa, and had all presidential candidates pledge their support to the campaign. This is what is going to change the public school system, end American isolationism, and hopefully change the world. You may be wondering how a campaign to end poverty is also going stop ignorance, but it’s simple, CHANGE THE WAY AMERICANS THINK. The ONE Campaign asks Americans to think and act as if they are equal to all humans, and not superior to those living abroad. It also asks Americans to see human existence and the world as connected, with every culture, society, and individual affecting each other. When the American public begins thinking this way, they will also begin acting this way, joining together as ONE in order to solve the world’s problems. We must remember that Americans are not necessarily ignorant because of the lack of historical facts they have memorized, or because of their math scores, they are ignorant because of how they think and view the world. If this still does not make sense, I suggest you read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, it is a life-changing book that should be read by everyone. More importantly, we much understand that we are not superior; not only as Americans, but as humans and that this change in thinking is something that must occur with all humans, not just those living in America.

2008 Budget What Is He Thinking?

The 2008 budget for education sets aside $56 billion for U.S schools. This sounds like an adequate amount of money, but don’t forget the growing clock in the corner, $502 billion and counting. So what is Bush’s big idea in his last year in office, that is going to reverse all the harm he’s already caused on our schools? Forcing every student to be proficient in reading and math by 2014 based on No Child Left Behind standardized testing. You, didn’t really think he was going to do something right, did you? I mean why would the President abolish an act that the majority of teachers and schools around the country hate. I guess the White House didn’t get the memo, because they quote, “Under NCLB, States and local school districts have made enormous strides in putting these reforms in place, and the first returns are promising...show that we have reversed a decade of stagnation in student achievement, with scores rising significantly in both reading and math in the early grades”(http://www.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget08/summary/edlite-section1.html) My favorite part about this quote is how obvious it is, that other than improving scores for younger students, the No Child Left Behind failed miserably. It gets better, $24.5 billion of the $56 billion dollar budget goes towards No Child Left Behind. This is the same act that FairTest Executive Director said is, “Aggravating, not solving, the real problems that cause many children to be left behind.” The extensive study you can find at
<> outlined key problems with the act including,

•The law falsely assumes that boosting test scores should be the primary goal of schools, an approach that has not improved education when implemented by individual states;

• Widespread school "failure" is an inevitable outcome of NCLB's one-size-fits-all design because of rigid "adequate yearly progress" provisions, which set unrealistic goals for academic gains, punish diversity, and ignore measurement error;

• NCLB's school transfer policy undermines ongoing reform programs and disrupts the lives of students and teachers. Heavier sanctions required for schools that do not boost test scores have previously been shown to be counter-productive;

• The requirement that limited English proficient students score "proficient" on English exams is self-contradictory, as is the provision that most children with special needs demonstrate competency in the same manner as other students;

• Education is being damaged as students are coached to pass tests rather than taught a rich curriculum that will help prepare them for life in the 21st Century; and

The federal government has failed to adequately fund the law.

Now all of these points seem very familiar, it could be that if you type in No Child Left Behind in google, you get thousands of articles and interviewers from teachers, students, and just about everyone else urging it be abolished. Let’s recap, there is no evidence it succeeded at all, Bush is trying to require all students by 2014 to pass its tests, people from all corners of the country are speaking about how much it has hurt our schools and not helped them, and of the $56 billion dollars dedicated to schools in 2008, $24.5 billion goes to No Child Left Behind. This is all very strait forward, easy to understand. It is obvious No Child hasn't been successful and the majority of educators are against it, and yet we just allowed half of the 2008 budget slip back into its grips. As the American Federation of Teachers put it, “Flaws in the law are undercutting its original promise. Guidance for states has been unclear, untimely and unhelpful, and the U.S. Department of Education's attempts to make the law more flexible have brought about only minimal improvements” So what did Bush have to cut in order to pay for the No Child Left Behind in 2008? Just 44 education programs including,

•Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants: $770.6 million
•Enhancing Education Through Technology: $273.1 million
•Even Start: $111.6 million
•Tech-Prep Education State Grants: $104.8 million
•State Grants for Innovative Programs: $99.2 million
•Smaller Learning Communities: $90.4 million
•Physical Education: $72.7 million
•Federal Perkins Loans Cancellations: $65.5 million
•Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnerships: $64.5 million
•Teacher Quality Enhancement: $59.9 million
•Byrd Honors Scholarships: $40.6 million
•Parental Information and Research Centers: $39.6 million
•Arts in Education: $35.3 million
•Elementary and Secondary School Counseling: $34.7 million
•Civic Education: $29.1 million
•Star Schools: $14.9 million
•School Leadership: $14.7 million
•Ready to Teach: $10.9 million
•Comprehensive School Reform: $10.1 million
•Gifted and Talented Education: $9.6 million

Unions Teachers How Do They Get Away With This?

When I was writing my last blog on teachers, I spoke again to the President of the School Board in my former home town. The first thing I asked him was about a part in “Stupid in America,” that mentions how hard it is to fire a teacher, even if they did something as bad as sexually abusing a student. To my disbelief, I was given a similar answer to the one presented in the film that explained a specific case in New York City where a teacher had sent a very sexual email to a 16 year old student and the school was unable to fire him for 6 years, even though he admitted sending it. To make matters worse, while the school was trying to fire the sex offender , he was still getting paid and allowed to stay in what the school calls a “rubber room.” Personally, I had never heard of this term, but it basically is a place where teachers who are under investigation go and hang out, that is away from the students. The film said that last year New York City spent $20 million dollars on “rubber rooms.” Why the hell are schools responsible for babysitting bad teachers, while they are on trial? I’ll let that question resonate in your minds and point out that the school district is also responsible for all the legal fees of the normally lengthy process of firing a teacher. I can only imagine how much a 6 year long trial cost the school, not to mention the amount of press they probably had to deal with.
So why does is a school, that is supposed to educate our children in a safe environment, not able to fire a potentially dangerous teacher? Once again it’s the good old union behind this and a book of rules and regulations that a school must follow when firing an incompetent, or dangerous teacher. Yes, I said a book because that is literally how complicated it is to fire someone, no matter what, even if they are clearly guilty. Even more disturbing is the fact that no matter how terrible the offense is, the union still stands behind the teacher and provides a lawyer and anything else they may need to win the case.
You may be wondering if this is a very rare event, as you’ve probably only heard of a handful of cases like this. Well it’s not and the only part that is actually unusual, is going to trial. Most cases of this nature are covered up by the school, which frequently offers money and other incentives, in order to have the teacher leave quietly. This also means that nothing goes on the teachers record and he, or she can easily go to another district and start working without anyone knowing what happened. When I was discussing this with the President of the School Board, I could hear a sadness in his voice, as he stumbled over his explanation, repeating how costly and hard it is to handle these situations. It was pretty obvious to me, that he had seen this first hand and was not happy about the outcome. After a few seconds, he also informed me that a proposed new law is under review in Oregon that will force schools to put everything in a teachers record and report any past offenses to future employers. At first I was happy to hear this and then I realized it’s actually legal for a school to let a teacher go quietly? I just assumed the schools were breaking the law, but I guess they’re not yet. It’s really depressing and scary when you think about it, considering a proven sex offender could be teaching your 8 year old child, legally.
I’m not even sure I can continue writing right now because I’m so appalled by the school system and more importantly, the union. I thought that unions were created to improve working conditions, not hurt them. How can a union member preach about improving schools and the importance of a good education, when they are draining millions of dollars out of the budget, defending unarguably guilty teachers, and allowing dangerous individuals to teach our children? Not to mention, the millions of dollars being taken away from schools normally leads to good teachers being fired, which is a pretty big contradiction when you think about it. I’m still having a hard time fully taking in just how horrendous this situation is and how the American people can allow this to happen.

What's Wrong With Teachers?

Many Americans point to teachers as the source for any school’s success, and maybe they are right? It seems like a reasonable answer, considering they are the ones providing children with the knowledge that is supposed to lead to their success. If this is true, then shouldn’t improving the school system be as easy as improving teachers, or maybe it’s not that simple.
In my last blog, I spoke about the video “Stupid in America,” which I didn’t mention also talked about teachers. During the video, the subject of teachers was brought up in a variety of situations and from many different points of views. The students that were interviewed commented on specific teachers mentioning things like, “He only teaches for the benefits,” “She could care less about her students,” and “He even showed up intoxicated one day.” As I watched this part, I tried to remember all of my past teachers and although I went to a top high school, I too had experienced many of these things. I specifically remember a science teacher whose short temper and opinionated lessons almost got him in a fist fight with a student. There was also a math teacher who blatantly picked favorites to the point of openly giving certain people right answers during tests, while leaving the rest of the class to fend for themselves. Both teachers should have been immediately fired and yet to my knowledge they are still teaching and probably doing the same thing. I also had some amazing teachers that I will never forget, one of which was let go after I had her, due to budget cuts. At the time I didn’t understand how one of the most liked teachers could get fired over a teacher that kids had been complaining about for years. I later learned how the system works and as the film points out, even the most amazing teacher is still at risk of losing his, or her job if there are other teachers who have worked there longer. That is exactly why my favorite teacher got fired and the two teachers who made it clear they could care less about the success of their students, got to stay. What kind of system does not differentiate good from bad and bases who they fire on length of stay and not competence? It’s definitely not how successful corporations work, or any business of that matter, because why would an employee be motivated to put in the extra effort if they knew they weren't getting fired? In that respect, why would they put in any effort at all, especially since they were not getting rewarded? These are the questions that trouble almost all unified schools and as the budget continues to get cut, so do the eager new teachers, who often bring new knowledge and teaching styles to schools stuck in their ways. Most of the time, these potentially amazing teachers turn to private schools, or give up teaching all together. It doesn’t help that most young public school teachers only make around $30,000 a year, which is not effected by how well they do their job. In this day and age, you can make a lot more money with 6+ years of higher education than a public school teacher.
So if teachers are so important, why do we pay them so little and why do we not fire incompetent ones? The issue with income is a little bit complicated, but I will remind you of the continuously growing Iraq budget in the top right hand corner of this page and the already $502 billion dollars we have spent in Iraq. I bet there is a lot of great teachers that would still have their jobs and probably be paid a lot more, if it wasn't for that $502 billion dollars. The issue of firing new teachers over veterans, even though the new teachers are doing a better job is a matter of the union. The teacher’s union is one of the strongest and most influential unions in the country and it is their rules that make it so hard to fire long time teachers. This is not the only negative effect they have on schools, but I will wait till later to get into that.
Back to the real issue at hand, what is wrong with our teachers, other than what I’ve already mentioned? This is of course highly dependent on the individual and the school district, but there are some fundamental problems that are not necessarily the teacher’s fault. One of the biggest issues is teachers lack of input on curriculum and teaching styles, due to state and district regulations. Why do teachers even have to go to college if they are going to be forced to teach directly out of a book and why do students have to attend class? I know that in college I never went to my classes where the teacher read directly off of a power point. Why would I go to class when I could be reading the same thing in my bed? We must encourage teachers to be creative in their approach and motivate students to share their own ideas. Teachers must also be allowed flexibility with the curriculum and urged to find new sources of information that could relate to the subjects being taught. We must also find a way to reorganize the union and its rules, so that the best teachers get rewarded and those who fall behind get cut. If our children are the future of this country and teachers play such a crucial role in their success, then why do we spend so little on both our teachers and our schools?

Why Do American Schools Rank So Low?

I just finished watching “Stupid in America,” a recent 20/20 special on failing public schools that compares American students to students in Belgium. Although I was happily surprised by the content of the episode, I once again found myself wondering why so many people are concerned and yet doing nothing. As Americans, we are given the right to stand up and fight for what we believe in, which I believe is something we all take for granted. The video showed individuals from all over the country, who are outraged with the public school system and how little their children are learning. What these people do not seem to understand, is that they are not alone and there are thousands of others out there that feel the same way. As cheesy as it sounds, I’m going to say it again, “OUR CHILDREN ARE THE FUTURE,” and we must always make them our first priority. Taking money away from schools, should be the last thing considered when making budget cuts. Now I’m not saying that money is the solution to all our education problems, I’m just using it as a metaphor to show how desperately we need to fix our schools.
Going back to the episode, I wanted to address a few points that it brings up. First, why did we score so much lower than the students in Belgium, even though we were confident with our performance? I also forgot to mention that the American students that took the test, went to one of the top high schools in New Jersey and have continuously ranked above average in test taking. With that said, the New Jersey students scored an average of 40% lower on the test than the Belgium students and were unable to answer simple question like what is the Bill of Rights, when asked? The video also showed Jay Leno asking college students, where is the Kentucky Derby held? Sadly, many of them answered incorrectly and it was not a skit.
You would think that even a person that had never heard of the Kentucky Derby, would still guess that it had something to do with Kentucky. In my previous blogs, I’ve spoken about current events, relating education to the real world, and removing standardized tests, but this brings up a slightly new problem. Do American’s not have any common sense, or as many like to call it, street smarts? In my opinion yes, our schools do not teach kids how to survive the real world and most importantly, how to problem solve. This is a perfect example of how vital it is for our schools to re-prioritize what they teach and how they teach it. If we spent more time teaching students how to think analytically and relate what they learn to the outside world, we would not have college students making such dumb comments. It is very likely that those same people, who were unable to decipher where the Kentucky Derby is, attend great schools and probably even earn above average grades.
Again, this is not an isolated problem, it is a problem that stems from the difference between real knowledge and book knowledge. I’ll never forget my friend in high school that was a straight A student, who whenever we went out in public, made a complete fool of herself. She literately, had no common sense when it came to real life situations and would frequently make stupid comments about the most obvious things. As funny as it was at the time, I’ve met tons of people that are exactly the same and I’ve realized this is a much bigger problem than my one sheltered friend. You may be wondering how street smarts has anything to do with how badly Americans ranked compared to the Belgium, as they took a standardized test. Even though I do not approve of standardized testing, I do believe that common sense and problem solving are crucial when trying to find a single right answer from a group. They are also critical in almost all day to day situations in any environment.
How do we teach students common sense in a classroom? We don’t, we take them outside the classroom and give them hands on experience, volunteering, visiting local businesses, and talking to kids their own age with different backgrounds. Most importantly, we encourage children to speak up, ask questions, share their own experiences, and relate new knowledge to as many other subjects as possible. When they are in the classroom, we follow the same guidelines, offering only an outline of subjects and encouraging students to learn from each other and ask questions. Its common knowledge that the best way to retain information is by actively participating in a situation and not just listening to someone else speak.
The reason why students in countries like Belgium and Finland, which is ranked first, do so much better than the US is because how and what they are teaching their children. Students in Finland spend less time in class than any other Western country and remain with the same classmates throughout their learning. So what’s their secret? A recent article pointed out a few major differences in Finland’s education philosophy. Ms Haatainen, a minister in the government stated, “...widening participation in education is the most effective way of finding the most talented students.” and that the economy is best served, “... by having a broad-based, open-access education system.” The Finland Programme for International Student Assessment, “Aims to assess the knowledge and skills needed for full participation in society, rather than mastery of a curriculum,” which is the belief behind their school system. I believe those quotes sum up everything, I’ve been trying to explain about what US schools are missing. Maybe its as easy as analyzing and emulating the schools abroad that have already proven their success.

PLEASE WATCH "Americans are NOT Stupid-With Subtitles"

Please watch “Americans are NOT stupid-WITH SUBTITLES” on youtube or on my page in the top right corner. I had to turn this video off, I was so ashamed to be an American. As much as I wanted this to be a joke, I knew it wasn't and most likely the Australian interviewer didn’t even have to spend that much time finding such ignorant Americans. Basically, this video sums up exactly why I’m writing about the public school system and why I felt like such an idiot while living abroad. For 6 months, I lived in Australia and went to a University where 50% of the students are from countries all over the globe. In those 6 months, I learned more about myself, my country, and the world than I had in 21 years living in the U.S.
Everyday I was surrounded by people from different nations, who were constantly discussing the U.S and issues around the world. Sadly, even as a college student at a top university, I was unable to contribute to the majority of conversations going on around me. Now this wasn't just something that happened during class, but something I experienced EVERYWHERE. Even at the pub, I found myself talking about politics, world hunger, and other important issues occurring everyday. I’m guessing, that many of you are thinking that they only talked to me in order to attack America, but that wasn't the case. I never was cornered or picked on just because I was American and none of these conversations were ever negatively directed towards me. Instead, I found that everywhere I went, people were talking about important issues and not just about what Britney Spears was wearing last night.
Now that I’ve said all this, please turn the video back on and watch the entire thing no matter how embarrassed, angry, or ashamed you feel and please try not to transfer your embarrassment to the fact that Australia is making fun of us. All those people out there that think it is pretty fucked up when they hear a foreigner making fun of Americans, this is why. This video is how they see us and you know what, I would make fun of us too.
So why are there hundreds of thousands of people all over the U.S, that are just as ignorant as the ones on the video and why was I amazed by the fact that people actually discuss politics regularly around the world? First off, these two questions are related, due to the fact that Americans’ lack of knowledge and concern with world affairs has led to our ignorance. Now there are many things that contribute to our stupidity, so I’ll just mention a few. First and most importantly, our school system does not motivate and or educate our children about what goes on outside our borders. Second, our NEWS IS NOT ACTUALLY NEWS, ITS ENTERTAINMENT. CNN and every other major news channel, make me sick when I watch stories about wedding cake makers and a dog that survived falling off a building during the NATIONAL NEWS broadcast. Yes, those were actually stories on CNN’s national news coverage, I’m not making it up. There is also the problem in this country with individualism and isolationism, that has led to a population of citizens who only care about themselves and don’t even listen to what is going on around them. Guess what, the world is all connected and an event in Africa could easily effect even the most isolated American. It really makes me sick when people blatantly show how little they care about the environment outside their small bubble. For instance, the other day I was at lunch and two of my friends bragged about how they weren't voting, just to piss off their Republican fathers. I’m curious how they made that connection, but more importantly, I’m really concerned that people are willingly giving up one of the fundamental rights of a democracy in order to piss off their fathers. How can we claim we are a free democracy when the majority of Americans don’t even vote and could care less about what’s going on in their country, even when it effects them.
Originally, I was going to write this blog on the dumbing down of Americans due to a lack of education, but I realized that unless we change our mindset, education will not make a difference. We must address the bigger problem, which is our individualistic take on life and our utter lack of concern with anything that does not directly affect us. This is an American problem and as much as people want to argue that the French, or British, or any other nationality is just as selfish and ignorant as us, THEY ARE NOT. Travel the world, talk to people, you’ll discover just how little you know when it comes to the bigger picture and how much more time people in other countries spend talking about it.

Reflection on America

This morning I posted some of my thoughts on the inconceivable amount of money the U.S continues to spend in Iraq, while we are facing what arguably could be a recession back home. Throughout today, I returned to the Web site and the continually increasing Iraq budget. I’m not sure exactly why I found myself regularly checking the ongoing count, as each time the same HOW THE FUCK ARE WE LETTING THIS HAPPEN? thought popped into my head. Maybe I just hoped that some miracle would make it stop, or I would somehow realize it was all a result of my slightly delusional mind after studying all night.
Of course neither of these things have happened and at this moment I’m still finding it hard not to glance at the rapidly growing number in the right corner of my computer screen. Now I could just remove it from my desktop, in hopes of returning to the cluelessness of day to day life, but its too late, it already impacted me. I wonder how many other Americans would experience a similar fate, if they too, were exposed to its simple clarity? Does it even make a difference if ten, or twenty, or even thirty thousand people speak up, or are we already in too deep? The fact that even though I find it appalling, I still remain seated, unable to construct any feasible form of action against it, is kind of scary to me. It is as if I’ve become immune to the US’s fraudulence in foreign affairs and I don’t believe I’m the only one.
Why is it that California teachers and the thousands of other American’s that have lost jobs due to budget cuts, are not joined together? Not to mention the record number of families who have had to foreclose their homes and businesses as a result of a struggling economy. To tell you the truth, I can’t think of a single person who has not felt in some way the negative effects of the backlash of the war in Iraq and yet, I don’t see them knocking at the Presidents door. Maybe they think its too late, we’ll just wait for a new President to figure it out, or maybe they are just too consumed with trying to fix their own problems as a result of His actions. Either way, I can’t say I’m PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN at this time, which is not something I believe I should have to feel as a member of this country.

Imagine All the Wonderful Things We Could Have Done with $501 BILLION

A few moments ago I was browsing the Internet and came across a Web site called National Priorities Project Bringing the Federal Budget Home . As I watched the digits on the Web site’s active Iraq budget change, I became memorized by how quickly the numbers continued to ad up. Within a few seconds, the number had increased more than the average American makes in a year. I continued to stare at my computer screen for several minutes, dumb founded by the reality of this utterly simple representation of such a horrific ongoing event.
At 8:30 am on Tuesday March 11, 2008 the U.S had spend over $501billion dollars on the war in Iraq. Please take a moment to really picture that quantity of money and all the things you could spend it on that could better not just this country, but the entire world. I know it is a lot to fathom, so think about it in relation to something specific, such as the budget cuts occurring in California schools, or even a specific city in California being affected. For example Long Beach, CA announced a few weeks ago that it was closing an elementary school and had already sent 305 employees notices of their termination. Recently the Los Angeles Times said that, “The San Francisco school district may take city "rainy day" money to help balance its budget.” Two completely different cities in California both being drastically affected by the budget cuts and guess what, it was only a $4.8 billion dollar cut over the next two years, compared to the $501 billion spent on the war. Now think about all the other budget cuts we could have prevented, or maybe how many thousands of people we could have saved from mass genocide around the world. There really are endless possibilities on where $501 billion dollars could have gone, maybe all American’s should take a minute to think about it.

“No Child Left Behind” Pushing Education System Back in Time

I was shocked to hear President Bush openly praise the success of “No Child Left Behind,” during his recent State of the Union Address, especially considering my own observations with this backwards attempt at improving education. In 2002, President Bush signed the bill claiming that every child deserves ‘high quality’ education and no child should be denied that. This of course sounded great, especially considering the state of many inner city schools, but in reality, it was just one more step backwards. Bush’s plan was based on a decades old school system, that was designed to produce efficient machinelike workers during the industrial boom of the early 1900s. At the time, the purpose of public schools was to mold able children into skilled laborers ready to enter the working class. Many would even argue that the school system of the 1920s, encouraged unfit workers to drop out and take up low skilled jobs, similar to how the “No Child” act fails schools with students who are unable to take the test, such as those with disabilities. With that in mind, the “No Child Left Behind,” has been a great success, producing standardized graduates, who are proficient in multiple choice test taking, as well as following rules, which gives them great potential as laborers.
I recently discussed the “No Child Left Behind” act with the president of the school board, in a city that in the past has been noted for its impeccable public schools. I must also note, that some of their schools recently failed according to the “No Child Left Behind,” because a handful of children with disabilities were unable to take the test. The president of the school board summed up the act by saying, “It is a one size fits all solution,” and went on to explain “There is an unbelievable amount of testing, reporting, and rules.” He also mentioned the fact that the act does not work in middle schools where teachers often have to teach multiple subjects, because “No Child,” forces teachers to get certified in a single subject and there is not enough money for more teachers to cover the other subjects. On the subject of funding, he explained to me, “Its not funded correctly, its trying to put everyone in the same box and supposedly bring kids that are behind up, but its not improving the kids that are already there.” After talking to the school board president, I realized he was completely right, “No Child Left Behind,” puts all children in the same box, generalizing an entire diverse community into one standard. Basically, teachers are being forced to transform children into a single mold of what the “No Child Left Behind,” says is intelligence.
Looking at the overall picture of public schools, we have taught our children to do the minimal because success in learning is not measured in how much they actually grow intellectually, or how well they understand the world, it is measured in grades and statistics. For example, concerning my last post, U.S politics are taught in a way that can be standardized, which means the complex ever-changing nature of politics is minimized to a series of definitions that can easily be memorized and then forgotten. This is also true for all non-linear subjects, such as philosophy, psychology, the arts, and any other topic that is not supposed to have a single right answer, but have been minimized in our educational system. That is of course if a school can still offer those subjects, considering the “No Child Left Behind,” doesn’t cover those areas and in turn doesn’t fund them. By minimizing all subjects to a standard, it becomes easier to judge a child's success based on grades, that can then be easily compared to any other child in the country. Standardized multiple choice tests such as the SATs, move even farther away from real learning, reducing a person’s overall intelligence to about 100 questions. One of my biggest pet peeves is how much time the public school system dedicates to teaching children how to take tests, specifically multiple choice exams. I would really like to know how understanding strategies of a standardized test are going to help our children one day contribute to this country? Why does the US have a school system, that besides teaching students basic skills such as reading and writing, provide none of the tools they need to successfully enter the real world?

School System Not Promoting Real Intelligence

Over the last few months, I’ve spent a lot of time discussing politics and the presidential candidates with both friends and strangers, and it has occurred to me how little the average American knows about U.S politics. After hearing another Chapman student attempt to cover up their cluelessness with a rant about something completely unrelated to the subject at hand, I began to think about my own experience and why so many educated Americans are so unaware of how their own country works. As I contemplated this question, I realized even I had some major grey areas in understanding the U.S political system and knew next to nothing about many foreign countries’ political policies.
Since it was obvious to me that this is a national problem and not just a problem at Chapman, I began tracing my own political history and I realized little of my current understanding was a result of my years of schooling. Of course, I had received the basic facts about the different government branches and offices early in my childhood, but to my recollection there was little importance put on actually understanding how the system worked. Instead, I was forced to memorize empty definitions in elementary school that I was too young to fully understand, and after that, I was left hanging, not even encouraged to keep up to date on current political trends.
In my opinion, education is one of the most influential factors to a countries success, and this is a perfect example of how the US is failing its kids. How can we justify a school system that is producing graduates that only have a trivial understanding of how their own country operates and are unable to fully grasp how it directly relates to them, or at least don’t care enough to think about it? Not to mention, the average American has little knowledge of the world outside its own borders, which really makes us shine in the international arena. I guess I can’t blame the last one completely on our school system, considering the media may play a small part in it, but it definitely contributes. When you consider the current state of the US economy and our problems abroad, it really makes you think about how much our school system impacts our country’s success and its citizens. I’m just throwing this out there, but maybe if our schools focused on subject matter relative to the current state of our country and its relation to the world, and then encouraged them to think analytically about cause and effect, we would have a lot more successful citizens. It could be that teaching our children how to successfully master the art of standardized testing in math, reading, and science does not produce future innovators and leaders of this country.

Dumbing Down of America's School System

As the popular phrase goes, “The youth is our future,” and over the past few decades the US has steadily declined as the super power of the world, which I would argue is mostly due to our failing public school system. According to recent research, the US ranks 18th in the world for reading, 22nd in science, and 28th in math, with countries like Belgium, Finland, Canada, Japan, and even Poland ranking higher. Being the supposed ‘world leader,’ you would think that the US would be first in not only education, but also everything from engineering to medicine. Of course, that is if the US was actually the ‘world leader’ as most Americans’ believe, but the truth is, it is not. Sorry to pop everyone’s bubble, but the U.S IS NOT THE WORLD LEADER ANYMORE AND WE DO NOT HAVE EVEN CLOSE TO THE BEST SCHOOLS IN THE WORLD.
Now that we’ve settled that misconception, lets get back to the source of all our problems, or at least most of them; EDUCATION. You hear politicians, like President Bush and others, constantly talking about closing the achievement gap between social classes, improving reading, science, math scores, and most importantly not leaving any “child behind.” These things all sound great, especially considering the statistics, but they are missing the big picture. While the U.S spends billions of dollars to make sure “No Child is Left Behind,” based on standardized testing in the areas of math, science, and reading, other countries are looking at the big picture when it comes to education. That picture, is their country’s future and how they are going to teach their children to one day be world leaders, not just reciters of mostly pointless memorized facts. I’m not saying that reading, math, and science are pointless, what I am saying, is that what we are teaching on those subjects and how we are evaluating a child’s success is wrong and not beneficial to our future. Being able to draw the periodical table, or list all the Presidents, is not going to help our children think critically about real world situations, or analyze the global economy. While other countries are teaching their children to be global citizens, who understand not only how their country runs, but also how other countries’ economies, political systems, and cultures function, U.S children are stuck memorizing pointless facts that they will forget the second they leave their standardized test. We must teach our children to think outside of the box and not just be able to recite a theory, or policy, but actually be able to apply that information to the real world. Hands on learning that gives children the opportunity to think creatively and analytically about a subject must replace rigid standardized curriculum that is outdated and not designed to prepare children for the real world. Most importantly, there must be an emphasis on analyzing and understanding both national and international current events at all grade levels.
If the US continues to encourage isolationism remanent of the Cold War along with a school system judged solely on the basis of standardized testing and fact based learning, it will continue to fall behind not only in education, but in all areas of development.