TFP Column: SOTU 2013

Once upon time, the State of the Union speeches were at least supposed to mean something, but those days are long gone.  I would personally like to see us go back to the Jeffersonian period when Thomas would send them in written form.  Today they are slightly less entertaining than listening to back-to-back monologues by all of the late night hosts.

It was with this in mind that I listened to the President's entire State of the Union speech last night, plus not only Mark Rubio's Republican response but Rand Paul's Tea Party response.  For the record, you are not obligated to thank me for the time and sleep that I lost; but you probably should thank me for at least trying to separate the wheat from the chaff.

This week's harvesting yielded this week's TFP effort:  "SOTU 2013", whose title is about as interesting as the hour long, 78 applause breaks, no laugh track performance by the Commander-in-Chief.  

Fortunately for you, this will probably be the least interesting part of the Star and weekend edition combined.  But don't take my word for it, go online youself to catch up with Toledo's largest Sunday circulation newspaper and Ohio's Best Weekly newspaper of the year ... The Toledo Free Press.

 

Is There A Doctor In The House?

Warning:  If you say "yes" around me, you had better be prepared to produce a stethoscope!

Don't get me wrong, I've read up on the history of the awarding of academic degrees, and I have nothing but the highest respect for higher education (a term which had multiple meanings for those of us in college in the 70's); but I have just about had it with some of those whose so-called academic credentials make them insist that you call them Doctor these days.  

I wish that I had managed to stick it out and get a BA or BS (though the latter term is often used in descriptions of me regardless of the level of education that I've attained).  I have even greater respect for those like my daughter Laura Demaria, who managed to follow through and earn a Master's degree in education; and am grateful that she does not insist that family, friends, or students address her as 'Master' (though I'm equally sure that sometimes she would like to).  It's some of those who as Yoda once said "have completed their training", and insist on having this achievement recognized wherever they go that I have a bone to pick with. (Sorry, since we're talking about education, I suppose I should have said "with whom I have a bone to pick.)  

But let me not be hasty in making such judgment.  Let's instead analyze what it takes to achieve such a learned and lofty status:

*  Having already dedicated what is probably some 4-6 years to the rigors of academia, you must commit yourself to spending a couple of more at least. (I don't know about you, but most college campuses are far nicer, safer, and more congenial surroundings than your average factory or office floor full of cubicles; and one which I would freely choose instead.  Besides, the scenery is usually better no matter which team you're playing for.)

*  You have to be willing to slave away for a few years for a number of people for which you have no respect (and if you're lucky, a couple that you all but worship); bending your will to their every need, desire, and whim will become your sole mission in life; regardless of whether such labors are noticed, appreciated, or properly compensated.  (Which pretty much sounds like every apprenticeship program or entry level position that I have ever worked at, or even heard of.) 

*  You have to spend considerable hours reading.  (While this might sound like hell to some, I'm sure that I could name an equal or greater number that would consider this little short of the promised land.  Put my name on the top of that list.)     

*  At some point you are going to have to write a report (dissertation) which will be reviewed by this select group of people whose respectability you have previously called into question, knowing that only by their approval will you be allowed to continue down your chosen career path.  You must be prepared to be asked to rewrite sections of this work, no matter how brilliant, accurate, and lyrical that it is; so as to allow this group of mostly hackneyed academics to feel that they have contributed to your abilities in some way.   (As someone who has written a novel, hundreds of newspaper columns, hundreds of blog posts, and some 30 years of sales forecasts, some of which actually had to be done in Microsoft PowerPoint, I can tell you that this isn't as tough as it sounds.  The latter however, will require swallowing your pride, if not your tongue.  You will find it a far easier task if you accept grovelling and scraping, while attempting to cater to every pet theory on your subject held by those on the review board that you can without contradicting yourself too often.  A next to incomprehensible title filled with polysyllabic terms that fills up most of the title page would probably help as well.) 

Of course many of those out there running around with the designation more commonly held to stand for 'Piled Higher & Deeper' have been asked to complete none of these steps.  They instead are merely famous or rich enough to have been asked to come and speak to the assembled faculty and students, receiving an honorary degree instead of the honorarium that such a performance would normally command.  Having achieved both fame and fortune (something that those who got their degrees by the more conventional and difficult path are likely never to attain) they are invited to share their wit and wisdom with an appreciative audience in exchange for the ability to add an undeserved, unearned, and meaningless title to what is already probably a pointless existence.

You know ... one of the running gags of the original "Star Trek" series that's remembered even today was Dr. Leonard McCoy (played by Deforest Kelly) admonishing Captain James T Kirk (William Shatner) that he was only a humble medical practitioner, and incapable of performing any number of other impossible tasks handed to him by his intrepid superior.  It was used for example, in "The Devil in the Dark" episode; when 'Bones' (as McCoy was nicknamed) was presented with a alien patient that seemed little more than a living rock (and looked like a steaming cow patty).  In a well tested formula,  McCoy replied "Damn it Jim, I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer".

Of course he nevertheless managed to patch the creature's wounds with a McGuyver-like concoction of what appeared to be bathtub caulk and concrete; which allowed him to assume a smug and self-satisfied attitude (much like those with PhD's), and produce the happy ending that was required.  These days however, it's not the physician attempting to usurp the domain of the construction worker with which we are confronted.  Instead it's the academic whose knowledge of English Renaissance Literature or The History of Basket Weaving in the Western World that allows them to assume the preeminence of a healer with which we are challenged.

One of these days I'm afraid I'm liable to give one of these self-important little pip squeaks who insists on being called by his academic achievement a short dissertation of my own.  I suspect that it will be one that calls on the medical skills that the title they insist upon being called by purports to carry ....  

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Stabilizing The MCP

For most of my life, I've kept a Miscellaneous Crap Pile on or near my desk.  It was comprised of tidbits of information gathered that I found enlightening, interesting, or simply bizarre that I hadn't yet managed to find a use for. I knew however, that sooner or later, most of the collection could or would contribute to the greater good.  And while not quite so precariously piled as the image depicted, that MCP needed periodic review to increase its stability (something around here certainly needs some increase in stability), to determine what actually still remained in the pile, and whether the aging process had caused items to either pass their expiration date or produce something that could or should now be consumed.

While there is a physical MCP that must be addressed at Just Blowing Smoke, there is a mental one as well.  In it are any number of ideas that I have about subjects that I always think I want to get around to writing about, but never seem to find the time or the right hook required for the piece to actually do so.  Considering its location, the stability of the pile is seldom considered; storage capacity however has increasingly become an issue.  There was little enough to begin with, and my continued predilection to fill it with useless information doesn't help things.  Since spreading useless information (like fertilizer) is what we live for at JBS, perhaps it's time to share some of these tidbits.

Those at the head of the uprisings cleverly dubbed the "Arab Spring" are now assuming power.  In sharp contrast to the pronouncements about seeking democracy and freedom from despots that the mainstream media attempted to convince us was the goal of these movements, all now seem intent on adopting Sharia Law as their cornerstone of government.  Strangely however, having apparently misjudged, misrepresented, and missed the boat on the goals of these movements; that same media is now curiously silent as what they initially deemed a spring falls back on demonstrably restrictive principles and a kind freedom that the Spanish Inquisition would be proud of.  I wonder in the days ahead if some of them won't look back with fondness on the days living under the tyranny of dictatorship that they have now escaped.

While restrictive practices are returning to the Middle East, their end may be seen in yet another place here in the Midwest; as voters go to the polls in Ohio to vote on Issue 2 which seeks to end the stranglehold that public-sector unions have on government in this state.  Curiously, those against this Issue seem only capable of defending policies which are bankrupting cities, counties, and this state by the use of what is known in NW Ohio as "half-truths, mistruths, and outright lies".  Also curious is that after accusing those in favor of the issue of funneling outside money in to break unions in Ohio, we find that those opposed to Issue 2 are outspending those in favor by almost 4 to 1; most of which has been funneled into their coffers from out-of-state unions.

(I have to note here that I have been getting robocalls from the AFL-CIO for weeks now, urging me to vote no on Issue 2.  What fascinates me is that these calls never come from a number in Ohio, that their efforts are wasted since I now live in Kansas  and cannot vote on it, and that their calls are pre-recorded as opposed to using a live union employee.  Is it a lack of solidarity that causes them not to use a union employee, or can they simply not afford to pay someone scale to make the calls?)

Kansas City parents are facing a curious educational dilemma these days.  The Kansas City school district recently lost its state accreditation, and the support of much of the community; especially those with students in it.  It's unlikely that this situation will be resolved quickly, quietly, or cleanly; as far too much time is currently being spent on accusations and recriminations about who's at fault and faretoo little on how to repair the damage.  Parents cannot hope to find relief from the Parochial school system in KC however, as the increasing uproar over priests and alleged child-abuse continues.  One priest is under indictment, and three others are facing some tough questions.  Even the bishop of the KC diocese has been indicted on a misdemeanor charge for failing to turn information over to authorities in one of the cases.  Talk about being between 'the devil and the deep blue sea'!

And how would such a clean up be complete without talking about the 'Occupy Movement' whose areas of occupation in most parts of the country could do with a bit of cleaning up themselves?  What can we say about these intrepid idealists braving increasingly inclement weather without proper shelter; desperately seeking social justice and egalitarianism (I wonder how many of them know what that word really means), while likewise searching for a WiFi connection and a cup of coffee from Starbucks (one can normally be found at the other BTW)?  Perhaps what we should say is that those who apparently didn't get a marketable education in college are now getting a rather brutal one from 'the school of hard-knocks'.  Theft, assault, and rape occurring in these encampments are not the lessons I would have wished for them however, in spite of the fact that I am a supposedly evil Conservative.  

Idealism and a desire for change are often the last notions that the real world manages to batter out of us on the path to maturity (a path BTW, that I am unwilling or incapable of following).  Age, time, and responsibility will have their way soon enough without giving humanity's worst elements and predators the opportunity to further disillusion if not permanently scar them.  My only advice is for those of you out there (who will probably never see this) is to take a closer look at the world and adjust your target identification systems.

One more bit I should mention is a farewell to fellow Curmudgeon Andy Rooney.  At age 92, Mr Rooney managed to precede me at attaining room temperature by passing away yesterday, hopefully by as many years as he preceded me at attaining the position of 'grumpy bastard'.  It was a role for which he was perfectly suited in both appearance (Who can forget those eyebrows?) and temperament.  He had a wry wit and a great delivery that annoyed while enlightening, which is the highest aspiration of any in our trade.  If there is a heaven, has probably  already secured a great spot inside from which to bitch about things.

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Education Quotes

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My disdain for some of that which calls itself higher education has been increased recently by some of those in 'Occupy' movements across the country.  It appears however, that I am not alone; and that such thinking has roots in minds far greater than mine for a far greater period than I have been around:

Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. 
- Oscar Wilde

Education is a state-controlled manufactory of echoes.
- Norman Douglas

An education was a bit like a communicable sexual disease.  It made you unsuitable for a lot of jobs and then you had the urge to pass it on.
Terry Pratchett

Nothing in education is so astonishing as the amount of ignorance it accumulates in the form of inert facts.
- Henry Adams

Education is a method whereby one acquires a higher grade of prejudices.
- Laurence J Peter
  
The advantage of a classical education is that it enables you to despise the wealth that it prevents you from achieving.
- Russell Green

Strange as it seems, no amount of learning can cure stupidity, and higher education positively fortifies it.
- Stephen Vizinczey

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Higher Education

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You know, you have to sympathize with the complaints of some of the recently graduated college students in the 'Occupy' movement.  After all, leaving the safety of protection of the academic world after 4-6 years, only to find yourself saddled with a debt equivalent to the purchase of a small home in the Midwest can be a rather startling revelation.  Discovering that this encumbrance has provided you little in the way of earning collateral, since your degree in English Renaissance Literature has as much value in the real world as one in Underwater Basket Weaving can be unnerving.

Listen, I can feel your pain.  Back in the days when I was seeking a degree in Philosophy (and no, Socrates and Aristotle were not teaching then, but I think Descartes was), I remember how interesting the courses were and how exciting and fun it was to be learning things that I'd never dreamt existed.  Fortunately for me, I was waylaid in my quest for ultimate knowledge by a professor at the University of Missouri at Kansas City from whom I was taking two courses from at the time.  Though not my academic adviser (who curiously enough, I never met during my time at UMKC), Dr. Minton took the time to patiently explain to me that my Bachelor's degree would do little more than qualify me to sort mail at the Post Office.  He further explained that I would need both a Masters degree and Doctorate to pursue the one job open to such graduates, becoming a professor like him.  Soon after that, I left school forever to pursue the full-time employment in the printing industry that led me to where I am today.

(Of course looking back, getting a job at the USPS in the mid 70's would have meant that I could have been retired by now with a pretty decent pension, instead of having to restart a career after the all but demise of the daily newspaper business; so I should probably be a little pissed at the man.  He at least did me the favor of explaining the hard realities of the world to me however.) 

Knowledge is a beautiful thing in and of itself, and continuing education is a goal to be pursued, not a destination to be reached.  Nor is the process limited to the academic environs of a university and the structure of a classroom.  I have achieved far greater knowledge and insight in the last few years under the tutelage of friends now living in Virginia or still living in Toledo than I did in many of the years before (Thanks Brian and Maggie).  With no more instruction than, 'if this is what you believe, figure out why and keep your thinking logically consistent' and 'here's the title of a few good books you might want to read'; they sent me on a voyage of discovery that will likely never end. The cost of this instruction by the way, has been that of the books themselves, and the treasured and all too rare opportunity to provide reimbursement to those instructors through the purchase of an adult beverage.

I understand that not all were or will be as fortunate however, and the cost of a college education continues to rise.  While the rest of the world is suffering in the economic malaise and many commercial concerns are seeking strict cost cutting measures, the world of academia seems to be living a far different existence.  Many universities across the country are building new dormitories to provide what most would consider 'high-end amenities' to current and prospective students.  Sports facilities, long a source of contention between academics and alumni, likewise continue to be erected or upgraded in an effort to attract the best and brightest on and off the field.

At a time of complaints over the reductions of aid to education by states already strapped for cash is demonized, pay continues to increase for both instructors and administrators.  Here in Kansas, the Board of Regents approved modest increases of 1.8% for all; but in spite of the tough times, slightly larger ones for some who they felt were being paid less than their peers.  Kansas State's Kirk Schultz's pay will go from $350,000 to $400,000, President of Pittsburg State Steve Scott's compensation will go from $213,000 to $248,000, Hays State's Ed Hammond's pay will jump from $222,860 to $255,200.  By comparison, the increases of University of Kansas Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little from $425,000 to $432,650 seems hardly worth mentioning (except that she's making over $400k); as does the increase of Wichita State University's Don Beggs from $277,160 to $282,150.  (And don't get me started on the pay of full professors, the madness of  the tenure system, how much of their responsibilities they delegate to TA's and graduate students, or the concept of paid sabbaticals.)

I know that Universities, like other businesses, seek to attract the top flight administrators; and compensation is certainly a way to do that.  While recognizing this necessity however, I cannot help but deplore what at best is an example of poor public relations and at worst an almost intolerable insensitivity to current economic realities shown by such compensation packages. 

Perhaps those camped out and sleeping under tarps in places where they aren't allowed to do so might want to redirect their faulty target identification systems from the fat cat bankers who loaned them the money for an education they can't find a use for to the institutions of learning that accepted that borrowed money in what they believed was a legitimate contract to provide them with not only an education, but a future.  (A situation which has apparently been solved now by insuring that most if not all student loans in this country will come henceforth from the government.)  Perhaps they might also set their sights on those in Washington DC who strangely seem oblivious to the fact that education costs have been going up at rather startling rates lately.  

I fear however, that until we either stop telling young people that they need a college education to succeed in life, or start telling everyone in this country that tuition rates have been going up at twice the rate of inflation since 2000, those entering universities around the country will indeed be seeking and getting a 'higher education'.


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Schools Can't Seem to Count Properly

In a story coming out of Kansas City, Forbes and the Associated Press are reporting that States across the country will be bracing for "plummeting high school graduation rates". Could these numbers be the result of the draconian cuts to education by evil Republicans at the national level? Perhaps they are the result of reductions of funding from conservatively-led State governments unable to support local districts at the same levels in a down economy? Maybe its just local districts facing lost revenues from the reduced housing values that are being experienced across the country? Certainly it could have nothing to do with curriculum, textbook accuracy, or the dedication of classroom educators. The truth of the matter is that these numbers will be dropping because it appears that many States were not tracking individual students but were instead using a form of sampling. In other words, they have been using flawed calculation methods in determining these graduation rates. As a result these errors in theory and math, States could "see numbers fall by as much as 20 percentage points". The article goes on to say: 


"Much of the blame for past problems went to something called the "leaver method," a popular calculation for determining graduation rates also gained a reputation for being the most generous. The method, used by about half the states last year, works like this: If a school had 100 graduates and 10 students who dropped out from their freshmen to senior year, 100 would be divided by 110, giving the school a graduation rate of 90.9 percent. Schools weren't dinged if students took more than four years to graduate. When students disappeared, they often were classified as transfers, even though some of them had actually dropped out. Many schools weren't required to document that transfers showed up somewhere else." 


Michigan, which made the switch four years ago, says its graduation rate drop by 10%. In Kansas, the rate is expected to drop from 89% to 80% this year as it makes the transition (though one district is anticipating a 20% drop). Georgia school officials have stated that their rate could drop some 15% statewide. Interestingly enough, it's the Department of Education that is mandating the conversion to more accurate counting methods; and it's the DOE that could be mandating sanctions against individual districts and states as part of the benchmarks in "No Child Left Behind". 


Also interesting is the hoopla surrounding the change in the calculation method. In these days when residents in so many local districts are resisting property tax increases or additional levies, there is apparently considerable concern that these apparent drops in graduation rates would have a negative impact on public perception of education. 


Really? While this may in fact be the case, I would think that even more may be concerned that those responsible for teaching their children math skills have been attempting to circumvent proper calculation methods in the name of expediency, government funding, and public perception. Of concern to me as well, is the concept that rather than apologize for these factually correct but lower numbers, what we are hearing is yet more obfuscation of the issue. 


In a statement quoted in the piece by Kelly Smith, superintendent of the Belle Plaine school district, which is southwest of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, "The new system is not changing what we're doing in our schools, and we need to get that point across." 


All I can say in reply to Kelly Smith and many of the rest in education is: "I'm not sure if you should be more ashamed of these graduation rates or the false and self-serving methods of calculation that you were using. As to not changing what you're doing in schools however, perhaps you should ... "

TFP Column: Worth Preserving

A strange coincidence led me to pen an effort for this weekend's Toledo Free Press, when I discovered that Libbey High School (which has been much in the news again lately) was built just one year before the main building of my old alma mater, Mt Carmel. And while both were city schools built in neighborhoods that have since seen great change (as have the structures themselves), the fates of the two are far from the same. I hope that you find my take on what the passage of time has done to both and why, "Worth Preserving", worth reading. Besides the research for the piece allowed me to remember (and maybe brag a bit) about a place that still holds a significant place in my life. And to put up these images here: The Past .... The Present ... And as for the future of this venerable old academy, it looks brighter than ever; perhaps because of what they instill in their students from the first day that they see the school crest.

Zelo Zelatus Sum Pro Domino Deo Exercituum

"With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of Hosts"

I hope that you get to enjoy some part of what promises to be a wonderful weekend, and to enjoy Toledo's largest Sunday circulation newspaper, the Toledo Free Press.

Media Intervention

Now that the dust has settled, perhaps we can all look back more objectively at the furor over Brian Wilson's comments on WSPD about education in this country. 

We all watched Tom Troy and The Blade's painfully obvious efforts to paint the man and the radio station into a corner in order to get either his resignation or firing. We watched as well as the subsequent vindication unfolded based on the work done by the Toledo Free Press to reveal the facts of the case and the failed machinations of the daily paper. We even watched as Mr Troy wrote a response to the TFP coverage, published on January 19th, which did little to vindicate him or settle his part of the controversy.

Now anyone who has listened to Brian Wilson over time or read the Blade know that there is no love lost between the two (nor between Mr Wilson and Mr Troy). As someone who was involved intimately with the daily newspaper business for over thirty years, who is acquainted on a personal level with Brian Wilson and WSPD, and who listened to the entire show in question; I found the entire situation both fascinating and sad.

How could a newspaper that condemned out-of-context soundbites and a rush to judgment in the case of Shirley Sherrod find itself at the heart (if not behind) this case? How much further will management (and ownership) permit the continued blurring of the lines between objective reporting and editorializing? How many more setbacks can daily newspapers in Toledo and elsewhere across the country suffer to their credibility and survive as a reputable source for news?

For there is a relationship between talk radio and newspapers. Personalities like Brian Wilson are dependent to some extent upon daily newspapers for a part of the basic basic research required for them to do their job. Show preparation to fill three hours a day is an arduous task, and commenting on the events of the day usually requires that someone first report on them. Whether the source is a column by a well-known writer, an internet news website link, or something from a newspaper website itself; the ultimate source material for much of the news today remains the research and reporting of daily newspapers.

Now it's obvious to anyone paying even occasional attention to the goings on in the newspaper industry today, that such organizations continue to suffer from declining circulation and revenue, reduced reporting staffs, and desperate and often inconsistent business plans to cope with their current downward business trends. This decline should be no cause for celebration for their detractors however, as a co-dependency between newspapers and other forms of media exist whether they like it or not.

When was the last time that you watched a TV news broadcast that did not reference at least one newspaper story? When was the last time that you listened to a radio show (nationally syndicated or local) that did not do the same? When was the last time that you watched cable news pundits get through an hour without talking about something a newspaper said? Without newspapers as source material, these now more timely an relevant media sources would be hard pressed to fill their programs.

OK, that establishes a dependent relationship, but not co-dependency.

One need only look at the recent elimination and consolidation of newspaper titles and production sites, the switch in some cases to online-only products, and the downsizing of product and reporting staffs at these former print properties to understand that they are facing doom as a means of communicating the news. 

The constant reference by other media forms of material in daily newspapers may be the best advertising that they could receive, and may allow them to retain the relevance in the marketplace of ideas that they still deserve. Without being used and referenced for the source material that they provide however, I fear that their decline would be even more dramatic and precipitous.

Daily newspapers may not like it, but will eventually have to understand that much like the free standing insert advertisements that they once looked down upon, these other media are now an integral part of the effort required to promote their continued existence. Other forms of media like radio and TV likewise need to understand that without the labor on source material done by daily newspapers to repeat and comment on, their jobs would be much more difficult than they already are.

While anything but a believer in the philosophy of "can't we all just get along", I cannot help but think that perhaps some form of Media Intervention is in order to tell both that while they aren't required to like each other (and in fact it's a lot more interesting when they don't), they do in fact have to recognize that they need each other; if for no other reason than to know who to demonize.

Freshman Excuses

A recent article in the Kansas City Star got me thinking about my college days. Oh I know that looking back that far is difficult, and am sure that Socrates and Plato have long since retired as philosophy professors (but that's a story for another day). I could not help but be taken by the point of view of the article, and of the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute study that it reported on. For it seemed that UCLA and the KC Star's Diane Stafford, rather than welcoming these young people into this fledgling period of adulthood, have instead discovered yet another way to produce a class of victims in today's society. While I'm sure that in fact many of those entering higher education today are under a degree of stress, I'm not sure that it's any higher than it was for previous generations, including my own lo, those many years ago. Of course as they enter college, these young people are:

• For the most part, on their own without daily parental supervision for perhaps the first time in their lives.
• Attempting to balance class work, a social life, and sometimes even part or full-time jobs while attempting to learn.
• Having to begin to make decisions as to long-term goals and their employment futures.

So have students entering college for many generations. This is a required skill set of maturity, and a necessary part of growing up and accepting adult responsibility. In fact, I would suggest that this has been the case since higher education became a realistic goal for most in this country. I would dispute however, that the nation's economy has a greater influence on their long-term coping skills. After all:

• Students in their first year of college are far less likely to be concerned about what department they will be earning a degree in, as they are required for the most part to take general education credits.
• Early choices of major are largely made without much real understanding and are likely to be change multiple times before a chosen field is settled on.
• While there are always majors that lead to higher paying jobs (medicine was one of them until the government recently decided to take it over), it is still the case that a degree in almost anything will do as a stepping stone to a better job.
• The economy that they will be looking at four years from now will, according to most predictions, be far better than today's; and far more likely to offer them greater opportunities.
• The availability of grants and low interest loans is far greater than at any time past, and it appears likely that the forgiveness for any such debt incurred will be far more likely in the days ahead if the government who now controls it has its way.

The article instead goes on to point out that in order to cope with the stress of this situation, some students are either going home more on weekends, or "partying hard on weekends as a relief mechanism". I hate to seem unsympathetic to the mental anguish described, but going home to mommy (probably to have your laundry done as well) or underage drinking is something that has been going on far longer than the current economic downturn, and can hardly be lauded or written off as today's version of 'coping skills'.  


What I do agree with in the study however, is the conclusion that students "are arriving in college already overwhelmed and with lower reserves of emotional health". I would further suggest that they are arriving without the requisite educational tools to gain higher education. So perhaps instead, this study should be used as an indictment highlighting the failures of the education system at the college level as well as those we are increasingly becoming aware of in K-12. 


Students ill-prepared academically in grade school will certainly experience stress as they enter middle school. Middle-schoolers whose education skills are not up to snuff will experience stress as they enter high school. It certainly follows that as those students graduate without the expertise required to take on advanced learning, they will feel even more stress when those failures become a hindrance to further educational achievement in college. (I was recently told a story by a friend who has returned to college that in the first day of class, a student asked the professor if papers submitted needed to be written in complete sentences.) 


We must then ask ourselves who it is that trains the teachers that go on to instruct these young people in their first twelve years of education? Is not in some part the failure of those educators to provide basic skill sets required of their students not also a failure of the college professors who trained them to be teachers? Are today's professors themselves not also a product of the same failed education methodology at every level? Is not their failure yet another example (like the UCLA study) of a system that focuses far too much attention on the feelings and self-image of students and far too little on the acquisition of knowledge, the achievement of goals, and the ability to compete with others who are doing the same? 


It seems however, that rather than admitting that they have failed to equip these young people to cope with the challenges presented by a university education in every way, the study simply hands them a victim button. Perhaps instead, it's time we told these young people the truth about life before they are forever thrust into it. It is and always has been a tough, competitive world out there; and you will have to work hard and compete in order to succeed. That may at times mean stress and perhaps even failure, but excuses in most cases will be neither accepted nor tolerated ... unless of course, one's long-term goal is to remain always a freshman.

Who Isn't Learning

Major metropolitan school districts across the country are seeing significant declines in enrollment. Suburban school districts are likewise seeing a downswing in enrollment, though perhaps on a smaller scale. Both began closing older buildings, and lately find themselves doing the same with even more recently built facilities; while laying off teachers in an increasingly desperate effort to cut costs and balance their budgets. 


They are for the most part victims of the failed strategy of fighting the last war, in this case the growth of urban and suburban population centers and the accompanying growth of the number of students to be served. Having been far behind the curve in facing up to the period in their existence when they faced swelling numbers and were forced to use trailers and split school days to deal with these burgeoning hordes, they are now equally behind in facing the dwindling numbers now seeking K thru 12 education. 


Having gorged for so many years on the housing boom, the growth of property values, and the willingness of taxpayers during prosperous economic periods to supply them with a seemingly endless supply of money to reward teachers and subsidize every hair-brained scheme of an educational elite; they now live on starvation rations in a poor economy, forced to withhold even scraps from their most loyal minions. And though most of the school board members have long since moved on to higher elected positions in city, county, and state governments; those that took their place learned nothing of the lessons being taught by the mathematics of population growth during 'baby-boom' years and the harsh economic realities of attempting to live by a tax and spend philosophy.  


It is not surprising that this should have been the case, but it's interesting today that those who taught these well-educated administrators and elected education officials should likewise prove unable to learn. For much like their elementary, middle school, and high school predecessors, it is now at the college level that we will soon find those unable to accept the hard lessons of reality. You probably haven't heard much about it, but universities across the country today have been building (and continue to build) an ever increasing number of classrooms and dormitories to accommodate the continuing growth of students seeking to attend college. 


Many of these new living areas are in fact 'luxury dormitories', constructed with a rather pampered vision of campus living in mind to entice students to spend what are now easily accessible federal student loan dollars at their campuses. Some are even using local motels as temporary substitutes while such construction goes on. Building is not the only thing on the increase, as salaries for tenured professors likewise swell, even as we see the first complaints about the cutbacks in support for public universities (as well as other levels of education). 


The fact that the reduction in funding is made by state governments desperate to reduce their own budget deficit issues falls on the deaf ears of academics to whom principles like teaching sabbaticals are sacred. What no one is apparently asking however, is what will happen to all of this classroom and dormitory space when the enrollment declines currently occurring in K thru 12 education begin to graduate from high school. 


Having seen the boarded up windows of empty buildings constructed with the hard-earned money of taxpayers at these lower levels of education, one cannot help but wonder how those same taxpayers will feel when the harsh reality of this math hits the newly constructed structures at these campuses of higher learning (as it eventually must). One also cannot help but wonder if the discontent that parents have over the compensation packages of primary and secondary educators will translate to the level of university academia. Will there be similar outrage as taxpayers discover what some of these tenured professors earn from universities supported by taxpayer funding? 


While we might be still a few years away from seeing this worm begin to turn, it is nevertheless fascinating to think on those who find it impossible to see the cruel nature of the laws of supply and demand and the harsh reality of recession economics as they appear on the horizon. It also seems ironic that it's those in education itself that seem either unwilling or unable to learn from the very subjects that they teach.

TFP Column: The Utility of Education

It's Friday once again, and that means it's time for another Toledo Free Press. That won't be the case for long however, as yesterday Publisher Tom Pounds and Editor-in-Chief Miller Miller made the announcement that the TFP will expand to two issues per week with a Wednesday "Star" edition. The TFP Plan also calls for an expanding circulation area that will include Bowling Green. 


As for my own work this week, I have penned an initial take on the Toledo Public School ballot initiative for a .75% income tax called The Utility of Education. There is not a lot of information out there as to the consequences to the district if the tax is not passed, there is enough out there to make this situation worth looking at. 


Though spring is supposed to be near, this weekend promises cold and snow here in Toledo. I don't know about you, but I plan to spend my time keeping warm, and some time keeping up with things going on in NW Ohio with the Toledo Free Press.

A Gentleman & A Scholar(ship)

One of our current Mayoral candidates, a young gentleman by the name of Ben Konop, has staked out a rather interesting idea as part of his campaign. 

As outlined at least briefly in last week's Toledo Free Press "10 ways Ben Konop can save Toledo if he is elected mayor", he proposes to call for an $80 million scholarship fund for higher education funded on cost savings that would be achieved by the County through cost cutting measures and privatizing the EMS service for the County.  

This is not the first time that this particular mayoral candidate has sought County funding for college tuition, the last time suggesting that such funding could in some part be obtained by refusing to replace windows in a County-owned building that already had an approved capital improvement budget. (This seemed confusing to me at the time, as more energy efficient windows would show our desire to do the right "green" thing by saving energy, and would also save County money through reduced heating and cooling bills. Perhaps I simply don't understand the County Commissioner's priorities however.) However, the concept of where the money comes from deflects our attention from the real questions here: 

- Why would you choose to saddle the county with reduced revenues at a time when you are choosing to remove yourself from responsibility for the county by running for Mayor of Toledo? 

- If you could have saved money for the County by these measures (or any others for that matter), why haven't you already instituted them? - At what point did college tuition become the responsibility of the County (or any level of government for that matter)?

Oregon, OH Mayor Marge Brown and her city council evidently agree with me on this one. Spearheading an effort to shoot this concept down, Oregon just passed a measure opposed to this effort by a vote of 7 to 0 on Monday. As reported in FoxToledo.com yesterday, Mayor Brown in fact pointed out yet another potential problem in this scholarship effort, that being that since Commissioner Konop is a teacher at the University of Toledo, directing County funding to it may well be a conflict of interest.


I wonder sometimes whether it has occurred to any of our mayoral candidates that we could more easily bear the burden of things like tuition, both for ourselves and for our children, if our government were more efficient and our level of taxation were not so high. I wonder what they are really thinking when they propose pie-in-the-sky things like wind farms on landfills with taxpayer funding that can never be repaid by such a project, at a time when every taxpayer in the area could use more of their money back simply to make ends meet. I seriously wonder at any politician who believes that government does a better job of spending the taxpayer's money than that taxpayer does. 

So while I'm sure that Mr. Konop proposed this plan with only the most altruistic of motives, I for one would like to politely decline his offer. We have seen again recently through the behavior of our current Mayor that we may well need a more of a gentleman in office, but we don't need this or any other county-funded scholar(ship). 

(In the spirit of full faith and disclosure, I must also point out that "Ben 10" has been until recently, one of my favorite cartoons. The article in the TFP however, though cleverly titled and illustrated, may possibly have ruined it for me.) 

 

TFP Column: Fixing Public Education

I may not know much about "Fixing Public Education", but as this week's effort in the TFP shows, neither apparently does the government.  Never has so much been spent in such wasted effort with so little result.  But heck, don't take my word for it.  Take a look at the numbers and judge for yourself.

While your at it, take a little time to find out what else is going on in Toledo by reading what is fast becoming the true paper of record in the Glass City, the Toledo Free Press.

A Blade Editorial - Cash to Learn

I have been bugging the Blade lately with a lot of Letters to the Editor (some of which have actually been published). In order to give them a break, I have decided to take them to task this time on my home turf.  

The Blade printed an editorial today (2/08/08) entitled "Cash to Learn". In it, they proclaim whole-hearted support for program soon to start in Baltimore that will pay students who attend tutoring sessions and show progress in subjects up to $110 per student, per subject. This program, which is estimated to cost nearly $1 million, is part of a larger $6.3 million initiative in the Baltimore schools. 

They claim in this editorial that critics of the plan complain that these "bribes ... are unlikely to have any lasting effect on student behavior". They further claim that this is little different than parents rewarding their children's school performance. Well I disagree with both assertions. I am a critic of such a program, and I believe there is a difference.  

Here is my disagreement:  

First, once again we see government seeking to supplant the role of the parent in the upbringing of a child. Every education group agrees that parents are an important part of the education process, and in this program the parents are not only ignored, they are replaced. How can replacing parental support, guidance, and reward be good for the students in question?  

Second, I disagree that this will not have an effect on student behavior. I believe that such programs will only brainwash young minds that all things come from government. This program is nothing more than conditioning that all incentives and all rewards come from the government. This may be great for a government that seeks to control its citizens, but seems counter-productive to creating an enlightened, well-educated populace.  

Call me a cynic, but it appears that the City of Baltimore and the Toledo Blade are both encouraging the expansion of the "nanny state" and the suppression of the role of the family in the education of our children. I believe that this is wrong.

The Cost of Education

I have recently been looking at the education system in America, and the picture is not a pretty one. I don't want to seem particularly negative here, but this is where I see the education system of the US today:

• Government regulations at the state and federal level stifle discipline, creativity, competition, and prevent any real effort at improvement.
• Taxation that creates funding levels that should provide plenty of financial support (my local school district in Toledo spends over $10,000.00 per pupil, per year); but never seem to provide enough (even with supplemental income provided through the state-organized gambling more commonly known as The Lottery).
• Local governments that seem to be in bed with the Teacher's union. With the two of them feeding off of each other in a rather disgusting bit of symbiosis, resisting any change in the failed status quo of education.
• Teacher's unions doing what unions do best, getting a better deal for their members, even if it at the expense of "the children".
• Teachers' contracts with more twists and turns than the Monaco race track and rivaling the tax code for sheer bulk and complexity.
• School boards that are handcuffed by the federal regulations on one side and the contracts that they have signed in the past on the other; who have become at best apathetic, and at worst corrupt.
• Parents who won't or can't take enough time to find out what's actually happening in the schools that there children attend, but complain about their children's education and what they have to pay for it.
• Kids who can't excel in the current system, either because we don't measure success or are unwilling to accept the achievement of the few as being unfair to the rest.
• Kids who fail in the system and are knowingly passed along anyway as a self-esteem issue, allowing a small failure to snowball into a lifetime of ignorance and illiteracy.
• The small part of the system that is working (privately funded education, either through religious based schools, home schooling, or charter schools) being written off or demonized in spite of their successes.

The sheer momentum that has been allowed to build up over the years is like a super tanker with a crazy, drunken captain (can we all say Exxon Valdez?). It can't slow down, stop, or even change direction without a huge amount of effort; and that effort will never be made because the one at the controls has lost his mind and is out of control himself.

Now I grew up in the dark ages, when all children were forced to walk to school in the snow year round, up hill, both ways. Actually I am a product of a mostly Catholic education. Eight years of Catholic grade school, three years of Catholic High School, and year of Catholic College (DePaul, for those interested). The interesting part of this personal process is that I spent my freshman year (9th grade) in a public high school. The lack of discipline, disinterest of the teachers, 'dumbing' down of the curriculum, and time wasted following federal mandates almost ended my ability to be educated right there and then. It took me three years of fairly intense effort, while being challenged at an unprecedented level, to bring my GPA back up to a respectable level. Even then, the damage done caused me to place 17th in my graduating class. (Of course this is when we competed for such things instead of simply patting every student on the fanny.)

It was only in the disciplined and rigorous environment of parochial schools that I found the framework necessary to excel at learning. It was only in an environment that separated students by their ability to learn that I was able to be exposed to a curriculum not designed for the lowest common denominator. It was only when I was able to be challenged by knowledge outside of the basics and allowed to stretch myself to the limits of my abilities that I was able to discover what they were and how much fun learning could be. Now my experience may not be typical, but I suspect that it could be. Likewise, I don't have all of the answers for the ills of the public education system; but it is obvious that as analogies go, this patient is hanging on by life support. Only drastic change will hold any hope of bringing it back from the deaths-edge coma that it is in.

So here are my solutions:

• Abolish the NEA and every other federal bureaucracy that has to do with education. This is far too important to allow the government to experiment in more failed social dynamics. The only way to understand and serve the needs of a community is to put the process back in the hands of the community that the process serves.
• We need to get the government bureaucracy, the constant regulation, and union restrictions out of education entirely. Too much of the money that could be spent on education is spent on administration instead. Eliminate the paperwork that shows compliance with government rules and regulations and the people required to fill it out and put the money spent back into true education, and you cannot help but make the process more efficient.
• Take taxation of of school funding. It is unfair and tantamount to theft to charge people for services that they do not need or receive, even in the common good.
• Give people back this tax money and let them purchase the education for their children that they want. Let public and private education compete on a level playing field and "the children" cannot help but be the winner.
• We need to put parental choice back into the education process, choosing the amount and the type schools that they want for their children. Who knows better than they what the talents and abilities of those children are, and by what right do we choose to usurp it.
• We need to bring back classroom discipline and competition. No one can learn to succeed without facing and overcoming challenges. They provide true self-esteem and life lessons that will serve them well in their future.
• We need to separate children in school based on their ability to learn. As painful as it might be to their egos, we cannot hold all students back in the name of equality and fairness. Those who can learn more should be given the opportunity to do so. Such an opportunity is their right in a free society and that society will benefit from it.
• We need to build schools to be run like businesses, which in fact they are. They are businesses that provide a valuable service, but need to be held accountable for the service that they provide like any other.
• We need to hire and pay teachers well, but like the employees of any other business, hold them accountable for the job they do. Pay scales should be based on ability and performance, not the number of their degrees or their tenure in service. Let teachers compete for better pay like the rest of the world and they and their students will benefit.

The true cost of education is not that of the value of the money we spend on it, but the futures that we jeopardize by doing it improperly. We need to step up and take control of the ship before it's too late. In case you hadn't noticed, there are icebergs ahead.