incipit vita nova

If I Don't Graduate From High School, What Will Happen?

If students fail to complete high school and receive their diploma, many bad things will happen to them. Nationwide, about 70% of high school students do graduate, while 30% fail to make the grade.

Over the course of their lifetimes, high school graduates earn as much as twice as those who drop out. A little-addressed fact of government spending and deficit reduction are the estimated savings in government aid if large numbers of dropouts complete their high school education. As much as $1 trillion over a decade could be saved if 700,000 of today's dropouts could be convinced to stay in school and finish.

The dropout problem has been going on for years. In 2006, the Los Angeles Times covered the graduation of the class of 2005 at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, where less than half of the 1,100 freshmen who entered four years earlier ended up graduating. Instead of pat excuses, the article covered the factual reasons for dropping out. Some students failed to pass classes, being pushed from grade to grade, but without credits to graduate. Eventually, they were sent to alternative or adult school, but most just dropped out.

Other young women became pregnant and dropped out to have their babies and start life as young mothers on aid. Only 40% of teen mothers end up getting their high school diploma, according to the March of Dimes.

After going down for a number of years, the birth rate among teen mothers started to increase again in 2006. Almost 89% of teen girls who had not had a baby graduated from high school or received a GED. Only half of teen moms went on to get a diploma or GED.

Anywhere between 60 and 75% of babies born to teen moms live in poverty. 

How about other stuff? Like . . . incarceration?

A 2009 study sponsored by the Center for Labor Market Studies found that male high school dropouts had a 68-times (not percent - TIMES) greater chance of going to jail or prison than did men who had a 4-year college education. Nearly one out of 10 male high school dropouts is incarcerated in America. If, as a young student, a lot of these guys thought they'd get "freedom" by dropping out to do whatever they felt like doing each day, the freedom wasn't long-lived. They traded a classroom for a jail cell.

Many people think that the failure of the educational system is so widespread, we may have doomed an entire generation to nowhere lifestyles. Young men who don't graduate from high school are likely to have very low earnings and can easily end up incarcerated. Young women who don't graduate from high school are likely to find themselves and their children living a life of poverty and deprivation.

When does this start? Most kids who drop out do so between 8th and 9th, and 9th and 10th grades. But problems start at a much earlier age. A 2009 report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that if children aren't reading well by the end of third grade, they are much less (75%) likely to graduate from high school than those who are reading well.

According to results of the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading test, a stunning 83% of children in low-income families, and 85% of children attending school in high-poverty areas nationwide failed to test as "proficient" in reading. The lack of proficiency was across the board, in large cities, rural and suburban areas. Half of these children couldn't even score at a "basic" reading level.  

So, here are some facts that high school dropouts can look forward to:

1. Lifetime earnings will be about half of those who graduate from high school.
2. Three quarters of the single mom high school dropouts will live in poverty, and their children will, too.
3. Young men who don't graduate from high school have a one in ten chance of being incarcerated . . . on any given day. They are 68 times more likely than male college graduates to serve time in prison.
4. One third of high school dropouts will be obese.
5. Three quarters of high school dropouts cannot even serve in the military to get GI benefits. They are either too unfit physically or too poorly-educated to qualify for military service.

So, we have a generation of parents who has now raised children who are too fat, too poorly-educated and too incapable to do anything but sit at home, or pursue activities that land them in jail or prison. Whose fault is it? If you're in high school and reading this for a report, it doesn't matter whose fault it is. You may be a teen, but you can take charge of your life. Don't be a statistic. Don't drop out of school.

Teacher Abuse Linked to Autism, Aspergers

I watched a non-autism related abuse video about a North Carolina teacher screaming at students this a.m. I only watched half the nine-minute video and in this brief period, heard the teacher shriek at the top of her lungs six times, and bang either a desk or book for emphasis. Her point? No criticism of President Obama. Trouble was, she had introduced the topic of the Mitt Romney bullying allegations and the students had been asked to discuss that. That's not really a fit topic for high school "discussion," whether or not the class is in civics, history or heaven knows what else. Maybe even homeroom or English! How about science or math? Sure! Topic of the day: Trash Mitt Romney at length and add "You WILL not disrespect the President!!!" Lesson of the day: "My teacher can't control herself."

Many comments on YouTube videos of teachers misbehaving are from students saying, "You think that's bad? You should see/hear  ___________________________[fill in the blank - their district or school]."

Last month, the story of 10 year-old Akian Chaifetz hit the news.

According to his father, Akian was always happy and pleasant, but from the first week that he attended school in New Jersey, he came home with reports that he was violent, hitting other students and the teacher. For the better part of a year, Akian received behavior therapy, and was never violent with the behaviorist: only in his self-contained class. All of the students in Akian's class had autism and couldn't tell parents or others what was going on. Akian's father Stuart put a tape recorder on Akian on February 17, 2012, which brought home hard evidence of abuse against Akian on the part of his teacher and aides. "Shut up!" the teacher screams. The rest of the unprofessionalism is appalling, beginning with "I'm doing the happy dance -- I had a bottle of wine with my girlfriend last night and no dinner." Isn't that what parents expect any child to be greeted with at the start of their school day?

Is Akian's situation unique? Doubtless, the New Jersey schools will say it has never happened before, and would never happen again. With today's journalistic commitment to excellence, these repeated assertions on the part of individual districts will always go unchallenged, and nobody's really putting them all together or looking at a pattern. YouTube has over 1,000 videos of "teachers yelling at students." The majority are real, not satire. Many aren't just the always-popular teacher-meltdown/destroying cell phone scenes. They feature teachers verbally abusing developmentally-disabled or special-needs children.

In 2008 in Indiana, New Albany/Floyd County kindergarten teacher Kristen Woodward was suspended (and eventually allowed to resign a year later) for telling 5-year old Gabriel Ross he was "pathetic, ignorant and self-absorbed," finally getting the other kindergartners to say in unison that they did not want to be Gabriel's friends or be around him. Ms. Woodward's union defended her to the bitter end, stating she had "tried everything" and the student had given "trouble" all year, rolling on the floor, kicking and biting.

First, he's five. Second, Gabriel appears to have been somewhere on the autism spectrum.

What level of training did this kindergarten teacher have that indicated that calling a 5 year old autistic child "selfish," "self-absorbed," and "pathetic," and singling the child out for the ridicule and ostracism of his peers was a good thing to do? With a reported 13 years of experience, this teacher had no indication that a five year old with special needs might not be able to help some behaviors and could not be "shamed" into stopping them by such abusive tactics?

In the case of Akian Chaifetz, a happy child, upbeat child with special needs was bullied and abused for months by teacher and complicit aides, exhibiting violent behaviors for the first time as a desperate form of self-defense. Reports now indicate that as many as one in 100 children has some form of autism or Aspergers Syndrome. Gabriel Ross, at only five years of age, was presented as such a problem child by the teacher's union and problem teacher in Indiana, that the teacher's only resort was abusing the child with adult language and singling him out for ostracism and bullying.

Is this new? Hardly. When I was between 6th and 7th grade, I went to summer school at Clement Junior High, not my "normal" junior high. I don't know if it was increased enrollment or other pressures, but on the first days of school, I was singled out by a teacher similar to these abusive teachers and placed in the "special-ed" class.

That summer probably gave rise to a lot of the stories I've written as an adult. I didn't learn much in terms of facts or school work, but I did learn, and have never forgotten, what it felt like to be in the "special-ed" class. The actual special-ed teachers in this class were young, enthusiastic teachers who wanted to work with special-needs kids, so no one was abused in this class. They quickly recognized I was far from "special-needs," so I became like a junior aide. I helped the other students with physical and learning tasks throughout the summer and made friends with kids I was unlikely to ever have talked to had this not happened.

I certainly know what it felt like to be singled-out for no reason. I was embarrassed, ashamed, and could not believe somebody was saying I was "slow" or "special needs." To this day, I don't know what inspired the teacher who placed me in that class to do so. I believe I was talking too much or behaving in an overly-exuberant way. I was probably messing around and being rambunctious with some of my friends from our girls softball team, who did go to that school and were the only kids I knew there. The teacher who did this to me was very much like the YouTube abusive teachers, yelling, berating, using inappropriate language, and singling out students for other kids to abuse/harm.

You might think that teacher unions and all the good teachers out there would be outraged that this type of behavior persists more than 30 years later. You might think that; I couldn't possibly comment.

Chopped School Lunch Ladies are Chefs With Heart

Who would expect a Food Network competitive cooking show to educate, inspire and tug at your heart in a brief half hour episode? "Chopped" outdid itself with its incredible "school lunch lady" episode.

Four east coast school cafeteria chefs competed on an episode of Food Network's competitive cooking series "Chopped," with all coming out as big winners. The half-hour show covered nutrition for everyone, not just kids, taste, high-level molecular gastronomy (one chef used Ultratex to thicken her sauce), and the world of today's school cafeteria -- a very different world from the one most of us grew up making fun of or being nauseated by.

Many have commented on how touching the show was. Each of the so-called "lunch ladies" had such a warm, caring personality -- high contrast to the majority of chefs on the competitive cooking shows. From the first moments of the appetizer course, they were helping and supporting each other in the kitchen. All had kind, supportive statements to make about each others' cooking and ideas. They were sincerely impressed and it was truly charming and inspirational to see them express appreciation, not criticism, of each others' efforts.

And these were no slouch efforts, either. I don't watch "Chopped" all the time, but I've seen enough episodes to know that the four school cafeteria chefs could have competed successfully against "regular" chefs at any time, in any other show. The foods presented by the four competitors were beautiful, creative, for the most part, healthy, and from the judges' sincere reactions, tasty as well.

When it came time for the main course, I was a little surprised to see that two of the three remaining chefs were unfamiliar with Quinoa. Quinoa is a yummy, healthy grain-like product that I know kids would like. It isn't ultra-inexpensive, but it could add good nutrition to school meals and be a nice substitute for rice or pasta. Unfortunately, in this round, the one chef who did serve quinoa at her school got chopped.

The lady I was most rooting for did win. Probably the warmest-hearted school cafeteria chef ever, Cheryl Barbara from New Haven, Connecticut, won the competition. I am sure there were no dry eyes in the Chopped studio, and I was teary-eyed myself when Cheryl came out on top. All of the cafeteria chefs were exceptional, but Cheryl radiated love and caring in every piece of food she placed on every plate, and in all of her movements, expressions and the things she said.

The Chopped judges discussed the new government nutrition guidelines, with the divided plate graphic for fruits, vegetables, grains and proteins. While many have argued about this graphic, there's no question that over half the plate shows fruits and vegetables, and only 1/4 of the plate has grains -- and if they are whole grains, few would argue that would represent an unhealthy meal. The plate is hilarious to me, because this is of course the way I grew up eating, have always eaten by preference, and will continue to eat as long as these foods are available.

I thought about what the school cafeteria chefs are teaching our children. If they are like these four Chopped competitors, they are teaching something more than just good nutrition, and encouraging children to try new, healthy foods. I think they are teaching kindness and caring. I have seen what many school cafeteria chefs have to work with. Especially if the cafeteria receives government commodities or foods ordered on behalf of the school lunch program, the cafeteria chefs can receive boxes of frozen, dried, pre-prepared staples or main dishes that aren't very nutritious or appetizing. All of the chefs featured on Chopped were cooking with fresh foods, and some even had school gardens or agriculture programs that were providing really fresh foods such as eggs and produce. It takes an unbelievable amount of caring and creativity to put together good meals out of the inexpensive materials most school cafeteria chefs have to work with. To establish food service with fresh produce, protein and grains, cooked with a high level of quality such as these four chefs presented is an heroic effort. All of these foods were served up with love for the children and genuine caring about their nutrition and well-being.

If I were a little one these days, I would give all of the school cafeteria chefs the biggest hug ever -- and especially Cheryl Barbara, the winner, who packed backpacks with nutritious food for the weekend for kids she knew wouldn't get good meals at home.

It isn't about quantity of food, it's about nutrition. As we see today, the obesity epidemic is rising because of the lack of good quality, nutritious food that will fill kids' stomachs with appropriate sized portions and variety. The epidemic is directly related to the availability of cheap fast food and cheap prepared foods. Even the quick, inexpensive foods that parents on low incomes would turn to will be fattening if eaten to excess (peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, for example). This epidemic isn't about soda or candy, except that these items are addictive, relatively inexpensive, and considered "staples" in many homes. We will not solve the obesity epidemic or help genuinely hungry children by banning soda and candy in schools, by lecturing or hectoring parents, or be telling others what to do.

I think we'd go a long way to solve the problem by paying school cafeteria chefs more, and helping them to get training and education to cook the way the Chopped "Lunch Ladies" do. Children will ask for the tasty, nutritious foods they eat at school. Instead of making fun of their school lunches and throwing all their vegetables and fruits away, the kids will eat nutritious, attractive meals and develop a palate for healthy food. They can develop a palate for good food - they do not have to be doomed to a lifetime of Doritos, Mountain Dew Code Red, Big Macs, Nuggets and Ranch, and Snickers.

The sweetheart school cafeteria chefs touched my heart in so many ways. I knew some of their quiet statements were true. I think Cheryl mentioned that they were not allowed into the teacher's lounge, and each competitor mentioned they were not paid very much. Arlene Leggio, one of the other chefs, said that it would take her a whole year to earn the $10,000 Chopped prize.

These were truly the kindest, most gifted chefs ever, ideal to work with children. What a great way to dispel the stereotype of the "school lunch lady" as an uncaring, lazy, hostile person serving "slop" (in Cheryl's words) to little kids, and demanding that they "like it."

Meth Prof Breaking Bad

This is someone I know. I didn't know him well, but he had a strong, positive influence on my daughter. I knew his nickname and could recognize it on the picture of the seized drug paraphernalia, weapons and other items from his Highland, CA home.

Students from Cal State San Bernardino are devastated that one of their favorite instructors, Prof. Steve Kinzey, has been the subject of a six-month investigation that took down the methamphetamine ring police say dealt pounds of meth a week in the eastern San Bernardino county area. I'm seeing a lot of commenters referring to "liberal" faculty and it being no surprise a "liberal" would do something like this. They don't know too many Devils Diciples, and obviously didn't know Steve. This has nothing to do with politics, it has to do with falling in with the wrong people and doing what came naturally, being a leader. This is somebody who liked to live on the wild side and who went too far - way too far.

Now as a fugitive, his family and friends are probably overwhelmed with worry. Meredith is heartbroken and sad that a man she looked up to tremendously has gone to the "dark side." All you have to do is see the pictures of the neatly-laid out weapons, paraphernalia and huge bricks of meth to know the allegations are true. No one innocently has huge amounts of meth ready to cut and deal at their house "by accident." This is a story about an individual, not any type of politics whatsoever.

Bleacher Report: English Teacher's Nightmare

The subliterate errors at Bleacher Report are funnier than their comedy features. I thought I'd get a few laughs checking out all the bad pro athlete film performances, but I got more laughs out of how horrible the "writers" were. One guy put his name on the stuff; the other one just went by "Co" for "correspondent." Smart move. 

They "scourged" through YouTube clips, and wrote about "the highest profile athlete with the highest profile Disney animation profile." How about - the lowest profile sports humor writers on the lowest profile sports humor profile! 

Further slamming Michael Jordan in Space Jam, "As lovable of a movie as this is, Jordan's role is certainly deservant of a spot on this list."

They're all like that. All the athlete thespians? They might be bad actors, but not as "bad of" writers as these two dingbats.

* * * *

This is the quote that inspired me: "Arnold's muscles obviously wooed girls, but didn't do quite enough for movie critics, who teared this apart." There's nothing like writing at the top of your game, with those words just teared apart.

Jane Yolen Slams LAUSD's Deasy for Devastating School Libraries

Jane Yolen, acclaimed author of more than 300 books and one of the original members of the Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), has written an outstanding letter to LAUSD administrator John Deasy, who has been in the process of devastating the already devastated school libraries in what is today, a large urban district competing as hard and as fast as possible to be America's worst, most hurtful, least-functional and pathetic public school system. My friend Bruce Coville has also joined the campaign to advocate for LAUSD libraries, librarians and library aides. Neil Gaiman has added his powerful support.

Not that Deasy cares. I'm sure he has no idea who Jane Yolen is, and possibly only a glimmer that Neil Gaiman wrote some book they made a movie out of. Neither Jane nor Bruce nor even Neil is a "person of color" always up for taking children out of school and class to march in the streets for the popular political pressure movement of the day. Nor, I am sure, do the high-priced attorneys hired to give the librarians the 5th Degree in order to preserve high administrator salaries and neverending $ billion building projects for schools with talking benches, filled with alienated, illiterate kids, care that the most beloved children's authors of the last 3 decades who have enriched countless children's lives and sparked imagination and a love of reading - are as disgusted as I have been (and I'm REALLY nobody) for a number of years with this Kafka-esque charade.

It's Red Scarf Girl time at LAUSD for the teacher-librarians and aides. All that is lacking is for Deasy to assign high-paid administrators to recruit students to denounce the librarians and begin to destroy what few books remain in the empty, little-used school libraries. This may not happen, however, as to do that would require that at least a few high-paid administrators leave their cushy offices. We are coming up on summer, with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees in the San Fernando Valley and well over the 90's in South Los Angeles. I know those administrators would never go there. They might see a line at the welfare office, get a whiff of body odor, and experience difficulty in locating a Starbucks.

I think that the librarians are safe for now from Red Scarf Girl tactics if only due to the weather and the inconvenience of travel in the greater Los Angeles area.

But the kids aren't safe, and have not been for some time. Children can't learn if they have no books to read: it's as simple as that. This is what we have come to. A tragedy and a shame. We are now reduced to individuals teaching children as they are able. We do not need administrators, we do not need more buildings, we do not need more "programs" and we do not need Jamie Oliver monitoring school cafeterias. Children could find breakfast on their own, and could possibly eat dinner at home with their families - or at a damn shelter if their families are caught in that mess! We do not need public school "reform" - we need . . . schools. Real teachers. Real classrooms. Real libraries. Real librarians.

The Los Angeles Times has done its best to reveal the truth of how LAUSD punishes students, teachers, librarians and everyone else actually involved in education to benefit the hierarchy of administrators and "officials," all while demanding more and more and more money and "power." The power to punish, harm and fail at the most basic tasks of public education.

This student said it best, regarding Rosemarie Bernier, librarian at Hamilton High School.

"You're really lucky if you meet a good librarian because they teach you how to succeed," says Sarah Robinson, 16. "I know I'm going to remember Mrs. Bernier for the rest of my life."

Among other things, Mrs. Bernier links on the Hamilton High school library web page to Diana Hacker's research and documentation standards. As a college English teacher, this makes me want to drive to that school, thank her profusely, and shake her noble hand. And cry.

 

 

 

To the Manner Born

It's supposed to be "manor," I believe.  I signed up on Ancestry.com, and I still haven't made the connections that I signed up to make -- I know that through my great-grandfather, William John Turnbull Doak (who doesn't yet exist in terms of these genealogical records), I'm descended from "Squire Doak," who founded Doaktown, New Brunswick in 1610.  I thought that was the old-timer in my family background.

How wrong I was?  See the family resemblence?  Only 11 generations back, my direct ancestor was Anne of York, daughter of Edward IV of England.  Her granddaughter married William Warriner, who is a direct ancestor of mine, and his son, also William, was an early - I'm not going to say "Pilgrim," but immigrant to Connecticut.  Back in the day, as it were - as in about 130 years before the American Revolution.  So he beats Squire Doak to Canada.  As do some other relatives, as in Lois Bostwick, who married William the immigrant's grandson John Warriner.  Their daughter Sarah married George Sexton, a full-on Irish immigrant.  And my great-grandmother, who I know very well, was Nallie Sexton Doak.  I knew her sister, my grandmother's Aunt "Sterling" (Lida Sterling . . . wouldn't have know that without the census records) was married to John P. Baumgartner, the founder and first publisher of the Santa Ana (now Orange County) Register.  Nallie, I was always told, referred to herself as "Black Irish," and had, "three very beautiful daughters," as well as 10 other babies, all boys, who were either stillborn or lived only a short time.  As this was at the turn of the 20th Century, no one knew why this would occur.  It sounds to me, pretty royally familiar, as in Henry VIII familiar. However, I am no Tudor so far as I can tell.  These people (Edward IV, Anne, the other children and their queen Elizabeth Woodville - Anne's mother, so my x-13 times great-grandmother) were Norman French, and Anne's surname was "Plantagenet."

Clearly you can see the family resemblence here!  This is Edward IV's famous queen Elizabeth Woodville.  I was pretty excited to see her name, because she was one of the renowned great beauties of history.  A relatively young widow, I believe she had ten children prior to her marriage to Edward IV.  Afterward, she had another seven.  Among the seven were the tragic "Princes in the Tower."  Yes - it's that family.  My 13x grand-uncle was history's worst uncle - the hunchback Richard III.  He also drowned his brother in a butt of malmsey (a type of wine kept in a barrel, also called a "butt"). I'm giving the Shakespearean version here.  History's real version might well have been a little different.

Now, through the Bostwick side, my lineage is easily traced even farther.  I'm sure everyone will notice the strong, immediate family resemblence.

This is Robert I "The Magnificent" First Duke of Normandy. Robert was born in 1000 AD in Normandy, France, and died at a relatively old age for the time, 36, in Turkey - on crusade.

Why was he called "The Magnificent"?  For his love of fine clothing.  His rather was Robert "The Good," which is pretty awesome.  My descent is through his son by the redoubtable Harlette of Falaise (seriously "Harlette"), Ancitel de Bayeux, Ranulph de Meschines.  Ancitel did not live to be very old.  In fact, I wondered how he and his wife could have had even 3 children, as both seemed to have died as young teens.  Nevertheless, they did.

All these folks went on over across the Channel after a big event.  Remember that "Bayeux Tapestry"?  Another of Robert "The Magnificent's" sons was William the Conqueror. Ranulph got to be the Earl of Chester after this military triumph.

Already in the family's line were ladies named "Hawise," and it is Hawise their great-granddaughter who married Lord Bostock . . . many years later to be called "Bostwick," and to become a well-known colonial family here in America.

You can call me a retard, but until I kept connecting these lines of descent, I truly didn't realize that "Norman" referred to "NOR way," in which there were Danes settled, who later went on over and harried all the people in France until they acquired this portion of France that was then called "Normandy."  Norman French.  Which sort of casts a different light on the "Danish play," does it not?  And a different light upon the end of the Danish King's line and usurpation by Hamlet's uncle.  And there were more English children named Hamlet or Hamnet than just William Shakespeare's sons . . . I even saw a few in my own English ancestry.  I bet Shakespeare was related to old Ranulph or William, just the way I am.

See, the truth is, nearly everyone is in some way "to the manor born".  Genealogists and mathemeticians have teamed up to show how nearly everyone in Europe is descended from Charlemagne and Mohammed, and nearly everyone worldwide is descended from Nefertiti and Confucius.  A 2002 Atlantic article by Steve Olson concisely explains this amazing phenomenon. Now, as to how I spent a few hours connecting the genealogical dots having discovered my great-great grandfather William Q. Sexton and his descent from very early immigrants to New England and thus discovered a relationship to the Plantagenets and even the first Norman French English conquerors, I'm not sure everyone can do that so quickly.  Apparently those who can trace their ancestry to colonial days will have an easier time doing this, as many colonial settlers in England did have royal blood.

They seem to have all come as many have said, "In search of a better life."  Indeed!  The laws of inheritance meant that younger sons and daughters might end up with very little property, and their chance at wealth and a better life entailed coming to a new world.  Hence, I am this many hundreds of years later, to the manner born.

AIR-O-GANT

It's been a long time since I've read Dilbert, but Scott Adams is as funny as ever.  Another great article on OpsLadder provided ten ways to tell if, as a leader, you're arrogant or confident. 

Hanging around with sci fi writers for years has exposed me to a pretty significant number of people who come across as arrogant.  One very common trait among arrogant writers is the desire to always have the last word, or "topping" comment.  Carmine Gallo, the Ops Ladder author, mentioned a person with a rep for arrogance who was talking with Carmine about a shark documentary.  I'm guessing Carmine was watching "Shark Week" and mentioned one of the shows.  "That's nothing," Mr. Arrogant topped.  "I swim with the sharks."

One person we're seeing a lot of lately is Donald Trump.  The Donald has quite a reputation for arrogance, but I've watched quite a few of The Apprentice shows (I thought about trying to go on it when it was first on!  What did I know?  I'm sure I never would have made it).  Anyway, here's a picture of The Donald letting Larry King play with his famous hair.  Why is The Donald's hair famous?  Well . . . I'm one of those who comes down on the side of - his combover is super-long and I think he delicately folds it over like egg whites on lemon meringue pie, then "glazes" it in place with some type of hair product.  Just a theory.

I don't think The Donald is arrogant.  I think he's supremely confident.  I've never heard The Donald "top" egregiously.  He always looks others in the eye.  He waits to speak and seldom interrupts.  All of those bad traits are arrogant-person traits.  

One of my "favorite" (not) traits of arrogant people mentioned in the article (twice, actually - I'm guessing Carmine isn't too fond of it either) is the way that some of the Arrogants always look past or beyond you when they're talking to you.  Carmine said, "The arrogant person will constantly be looking past you for someone else to talk to — someone they think will benefit them more than you."

The Arrogants also know everyone and will lose no opportunity to mention their connection to the rich, powerful and/or famous.  They frequently minimize or overlook the accomplishments of others.

Speaking of a pretty obvious Arrogant - How about them Dodgers?  Just as hurt as all the others who bleed Dodger blue.  Thanks, Mr. McCourt.  Let's hope the people who really do care about the team can work it out.

 

 

When You Don't Graduate From High School, What Does it Cost You?

Many studies have shown that graduating from high school and receiving a diploma is a good thing, especially from an economic perspective.  As jobless rates remain high, Americans who lack a high school diploma suffer from even higher rates of unemployment than those who did graduate.  

As of last year, the national unemployment rate was 9.7% (currently at 9.6% officially), and the unemployment rate among adults who lacked a high school diploma was 14.5%. The Employment Policies Institute (EPI) is a nonprofit research organization dedicated to the study of entry-level employment.  EPI scholar Michael Saltsman pointed up some sobering facts regarding high school dropouts and their job prospects last year.  While analyzing Bureau of Labor Statistics information collected between 1998 and 2007, EPI discovered that jobseekers without a high school diploma spent an average 154 more days unemployed than their counterparts with a diploma. The Institute also discovered that compared to workers with a bachelor’s degree, those lacking a high school diploma spent an average 315 additional days unemployed. 

A brief glance to the right sidebar of this blog will show that readers here are primarily college- and graduate-school educated, a trend that has remained steady for over 2 years of Quantcast ratings.  So, not very many people who failed to graduate from high school are likely to read this blog, and probably even fewer will seek out information prepared by policy research institutes like EPI.

Nationwide, many states, counties and cities are struggling to improve the gaps in education that seem to have grown wider over the past decade.  When the national will came to favor universal public education in the 19th Century, and various educational reforms and movements led to much greater school accessibility throughout the 20th Century, nobody could have predicted that although education is accessible to all, free to all, and pretty much mandatory from ages 5-18, voluntary dropout rates of as high as 50% in districts like LAUSD, and other factors such as generational poverty and deteriorated inner-city or rural schools cause circumstances like those found in Yuma County, Arizona, where 27% of adults lack a high school diploma and literacy rates are not good. 

Some studies and fact sheets on high school dropout rates include "chicken and egg" information - for example, the correlation between failure to complete high school and incarceration is quite high.  However, there is little research to show that one characteristic (dropping out of high school) automatically causes the other (criminal behavior and incarceration).  

According to the National High School Center, "Estimates indicate that approximately 30 percent of federal inmates, 40 percent of state prison inmates, and 50 percent of persons on death row are high school noncompleters."  Did the inmates turn to crime because they were unable to obtain income through employment, preferably enjoyable and rewarding employment?  Or did built-in traits or other concerns (including learning disability - many dropouts have undiagnosed and diagnosed learning disabilities) play a role in co-occurring criminal activity?

People politicize these issues, they use dropouts as weapons to bludgeon others for totally unrelated political or financial gain, and at the same time, dropouts impact virtually every social and public system at the local, state and Federal levels. Failing to graduate from high school will reduce the dropout's potential future earnings by as much as 75% less than those who do graduate.  Those who graduate from college will earn much, much more.

As to today's debates about taxation and funding for education, the current dropout rates, regardless of what people believe to have caused them, are costing the public vast sums of money in lost tax revenue.  According to the National High School Center, which is a division of the U.S. Department of Education, "America loses more than $26 billion in federal and state income taxes each year from the 23 million high school dropouts aged 18 to 65."  

Now, again, I'm the math-usin' English teacher, so - with national dropout rates averaging what they are, I wonder about that 23 million figure.  I believe there are more dropouts than that.  But then, this type of math thinking is a little bit what's wrong with a few of our Federal and State departments and budgets.  Uh Thinking.

What I'm trying to say is, I think that figure is only accounting for estimated taxes that would be received if the dropouts were able to work at full-time jobs paying more than the minimum wage.  It's not accounting for the cost of services, funds and goods provided to the dropouts because they cannot easily find reliable, decent-paying employment.  One way to parse the professional Educationalese that refers to "single mothers" and "early dropout rates" is - a lot of young women drop out of school because they become pregnant.  They become teen mothers, and only a handful nationwide can be on MTV's Teen Mom.

This is the type of talk that this teacher uses to retain students to her classroom.  What type of talk and assignments can teachers use to retain students to their high school and middle school classrooms?  

Here is my opinion on the "It's the parents' fault that students are performing so poorly these days."  Absentee parents, abusive parents, dropout-themselves parents (i.e. - it's only 5 years after "Teen Mom" when teen baby is ready for kindergarten, right?), foster homes, etc.  Chicken-egg, chicken-egg.  It is the teacher's responsibility to deal with whoever comes into their classroom. They have an education, a job, a classroom and a paycheck and benefits.  So, students who have unskilled, unsupportive parents who could be standing in their child's way is a feature of the job these days.  It's a part of the landscape.  If you don't want to walk on that path, don't put on those shoes and stay indoors . . . 

In other words, the students are dropping out of the classroom, and the solutions available to educators should be sought first in the classroom.  It's like this:  if I decide I want to be a supermodel like Zoolander, and I apply for dozens of agencies and am turned aside because I'm still a dozen pounds overweight and unfortunately really am not 5'6", not to mention I'm a little LONG IN THE TOOTH - is my solution to fix the entire world so that suddenly gnarled little creatures such as myself are the ideal of beauty, or is it to . . . uh . . . I'm just not going to be a supermodel, am I?  But what can I do that I can do?

Some students may never be able to complete high school, and may not ever be able to compete in the 21st century economy.  But we can and must educate and motivate more students than we're currently reaching.  With some Districts experiencing a 50% dropout rate, and with some racial/ethnic communities also experiencing 40- and 50% dropout rates, the issue in my opinion is relevancy and care.  Advocates for concepts like "Ebonics" had the right idea when they wanted to make education relevant and useful for students.  However, their exclusive focus on unique language that wasn't "portable" to other environments was a hindrance to taking the high relevancy they created and moving into the "useful" category.  At the same time, people who insist that "reading, writing and 'rithmatic" are mandatory are also correct.  

Because education is about gaining practice, gaining skills and gaining ability and confidence in doing useful things.  Work is by definition, doing something of use and benefit - to yourself and others.  Therefore, K-12 public education doesn't need to cost less - it is already free to students and parents (I'm putting aside how nearly all schools require parent participation, volunteering and fundraising).  It doesn't need to be more "accessible."  It needs to be more relevant, and it needs to be unwilling to accept failure.  It needs to meet students where they are and help them to move forward, not complain about where it wishes they could be.

 

 

Teacher or Teacher's Union Member? Natalie Munroe Case Lessons

I'm not really upset by the Natalie Munroe case - I still think she's somewhat unfairly being singled out, probably just because her school district is a wealthier one, and her ugly blog comments about students got circulated on Facebook sparking a nationwide debate.  But the whole situation coupled with the teacher sick-out protests (including bringing students with them) in Madison, WI, seasoned with the verbal abuse I've personally experienced any time I've suggested that teachers might be able to improve their own performance and *might* be playing a role in poor learning outcomes and drop-out rates, makes me think that the real lesson of these current events isn't that bad teachers are bringing everyone down, as bad teachers have always been with us, or that teachers are worse than ever.  It's that the bad apples are threatening to spoil the whole bunch more than ever before.  I don't know of a time when a number of vocal teachers are comfortable with the following:

• Verbally abusing those they oppose in semi-literate terms (from Natalie Munroe misspelling her trash-talk about students to the "Hilter" posters in Wisconsin) with no self consciousness whatsoever. 
• Active, rage-filled resistance to any type of reform or deviation from the "system" - from vouchers to home-schooling to charter schools to merit pay for good teachers. Auto-tenure or use of part-time teachers to maintain high salary and benefits of full-time teachers who entered in more financially stable times aren't even discussable in most areas.
• Happy to use online forums to trash talk students, parents and anyone else they dislike.
• Seeing no contradiction in telling the public as loudly as possible that getting raises or spending more money in general is the only way that kids will learn in their classroom.  
• Having no dismay whatsoever at the terrible things that happen in some classrooms - teachers who sexually abuse students, teachers who harm students physically and mentally, teachers who are openly discriminatory, teachers who use their position of dominance to get students to do any number of non-classroom related things, such as running personal errands, doing chores at home, etc.  
• Enlisting students to help in their own union campaigns or demonstrations, or - as occurs in Los Angeles, any protest the individual teacher wants to recruit warm bodies for - i.e. the "Undocumented Immigrant" protests of the past 3-4 years.  The last 2 years, almost 100% of the "protesters" were students let out of area high school and middle schools for the day and given t-shirts and posters.

 

Physician, heal thyself.  It seems as though a lot of people in the 35+ age range in the teaching profession are addicted to the deterioration in priorities and basic job skills that has occurred in . . . gosh, I don't know.  I'm willing to guess that as soon as it became socially acceptable for teachers to ungrammatically bag on their students in public, there had probably been a 15-20 year period of downhill classroom and teaching esprit d'corps.  

I'm pretty sure that foul-mouthed "advocates" would tell me that this was all George Bush's fault.  Him and "Hilter."  (I was totally searching for the "Hilter" poster but couldn't find it).

On their own, I'm not seeing angry teachers demanding higher salaries and more more more deciding to enter recovery and change their job priorities from "being a Teacher's Union member" to being a teacher.

This type of teacher isn't the majority.  I'm pretty sure that about 87% of teachers are silently gritting their teeth and looking the other way, while continuing to do their jobs day-in and day-out.

And that's what's so sad.  This whole thing doesn't just feel like a slap in the face to me - big dummy putting up with part-time teacher slave conditions and wages and no benefits - it really hurts me to think that these loud-mouthed, abusive protesters who see no problem with "sickouts" (newsflash: you take a sick day and still get paid, it's not exactly a "strike" showing solidarity) and bringing their students along as stooges - are what's "representing" the great teachers of today and the past.

I'm the one who wrote the book about John Dewey. "Founder of American Liberalism."  If Mr. Dewey read Natalie Munroe's blog comments, and learned that teachers were totally abdicating teaching in favor of taking their students out of the classroom to protest along with them for higher salaries, I'm going to go out on a limb and say he would not approve.  It was one thing to be "Liberal" in a day when there was nothing for people who didn't already have something.  Today, everybody has something.  And what's going on in Natalie Munroe's classroom and the classrooms of others like her, and in these angry, semi-literate protests using students as troops - that's not "liberalism."  It's selfishness.  And it's the last-ditch effort of total losers who want something for nothing.  

Hey - the students in Central Bucks East Schools are protesting today!!!! Go kids, go!  "Students of Central Bucks East are planning a rally today in the school parking lot to show the world they are not the whipping boys and girls for what's wrong with education today."  Let's see.  Today is Sunday of President's Day Weekend.  Guess what?  Those students chose to do this on their own time . . . not during school time.  I wonder if any teachers will go to support them.  I hope so.