Flavor du Jour

While flipping through the channels earlier I came across a program on PBS called “A.K.A Creek: Educating a Big City Schoolboy” which looked at urban schools and their problems, as well as three different groups viewpoints on how to fix them. It also trailed an approximately 17 year-old Latino male attending a public school in LA and his daily life both with school, and outside of school. A few things were blatantly obvious to me as I watched the documentary. Our school systems are horrible, and are in need of serious reforms. But in order to fix the education problems many kids are faced with, it will take a lot more than throwing money at the schools, protesting “racist” tests and curriculum, and demanding affirmative action to make up for what teachers and parents fail to do for their own kids. Here are just a few things I noted.

1) The overuse of “racism.” This buzzword is quickly heading down a path to losing its meaning. Any time a minority group doesn’t like something they slap this word on it and suddenly everyone jumps up to the cause. No matter that many times the word doesn’t belong in the context. PROVE to me that racism is what is keeping these children from getting a quality education, and from having the opportunity to succeed. Just saying there is racism in the schools isn’t enough. Telling me that minority students tend to get lower test scores, or don’t go to college as much as white students isn’t enough. Plus, many of those statistics are severely flawed and biased. As a matter of fact, low income white males enter college at a far lower rate than do low income blacks, and low income Hispanics. Should I cry racism against whites? No. That does nothing to pinpoint the real cause, and does nothing to fix it.
2) Social promotion. In the interest of kid’s “self-esteem” our school systems have been in the practice in recent of years of allowing kids to promote up to the next grade level, regardless of whether or not they are ready and qualified, just so that they can stay with their friends and not feel stupid because they are older/bigger than the other kids that would be in their classes otherwise. Social promotion does not give children a fair opportunity to learn. By telling Johnny that despite the fact he can’t read, you don’t want his self-esteem to be hurt and so you’re going to allow him to go to the next grade anyway, you are doing him a great disservice. Instead of Johnny learning to read in the next grade level he’s going to find that all of the other kids are able to do what he can’t, and he’s going to get further and further behind to the point that it will be impossible for him to learn. And what do you think this will do to his self-esteem? Make him feel just as “bad” and “stupid,” if not much more so, than if he had been held back a grade. Social promotion is a horrible idea, and does way more harm than good. Children should be taught, not passed off to someone else to deal with.
3) Poor teachers. And I don’t mean “poor” as in “they don’t get paid enough.” We can argue teachers salaries till the cows come home, but that says nothing about their jobs. At this point I think many teachers (particularly in lower-income urban schools) are not even earning their pay. Teachers know coming into the job that it doesn’t always pay so well. They should come into the job with a passion to teach. And teaching children should come above everything else, including their salaries. When teacher’s strike over pay issues, it hurts the kids more than anyone else. It’s hardly fair, or right to make the kids suffer. Any teacher who puts their paycheck above the success of their students is sick and greedy. Certainly teachers have an important job, and should be paid well enough to live well in their communities, but should that come at the price of the kids education? Show your protest by leaving the district to go to better paid schools, or finding another job besides teaching that pays better. When suddenly the school districts realize they can’t attract qualified teachers something will have to change. And eventually, things will change for the better. The real problem with many teachers is that they give up, or don’t try. They pop a movie into the VCR instead of teaching the kids (this was showcased constantly in the documentary). Or they’ll ignore kids who are sleeping in the back of the classroom. And instead of taking the time to help a struggling child learn, they’ll ignore them because it’s just too much work. I can vouch for this in my own hometown’s school district with my younger brother. Teachers just don’t care. They look for the easy way out.
4) Parents who don’t care. Many parents, particularly those in lower class families, don’t give enough care or attention to their children’s education. In the documentary the mother told her children that since it was raining they didn’t have to go to school. That sends a message to the children that school is not a priority, and that it’s not that important. Of course the kids jumped on the opportunity to stay home all day and watch TV and play video games. I remember the day after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 my mother sent my brothers and I to school. The school wasn’t damaged, and my mother realized it would do us no good to be sitting around the house all day, and so we went. Many kids were absent that day. But, my mother sent us a strong message that school is a priority. Many parents do not instill proper values in their children. They do not teach them that school is important, and why. They don’t show their children that they value academic success. They aren’t involved in their children’s education, and in many cases they are hardly involved in their lives. These parents set their children up to fail, and should be held accountable for that. I understand that many parents work long and hard hours in order to support their families. But that brings up two points. One, if you cannot afford the kids in the first place, you shouldn’t have them. That is poor family planning. It’s a lot easier, and cheaper to raise one or two than to raise five or six kids. Birth control is much cheaper than children. And the second point is that the parents can use their situation to encourage their kids to be successful. These parents would do a great service to their children by helping them understand that they work very hard, in often unpleasant and low paying jobs because they did not have enough education to do anything else. They can help open their children’s eyes to see that if they work hard in school they can be something more so that they don’t have to take the jobs nobody else wants. Certainly money is a factor, but there are many options available to low-income students including state and federal grants, scholarships, and job opportunities that can help them get a college education. Even going to a vocational or community college is better than quitting after high school, or just plain dropping out. Parents must be held accountable, and take responsibility for their children’s chances in life.
5) Kids who make poor choices. In the case of very young children it is often not up to them to make important choices, and they often lack the skills, values, and ability to make good decisions. That again is a responsibility which falls on the parents. Parents have to teach their children right from wrong, and good from bad. Parents must teach their kids how to be responsible and to make wise decisions. After children hit their teenage years, the parents have more or less missed their opportunities. The teenage years are the time when kids begin to make choices for themselves, and often ignore or disregard their parents advice. At this time children are old enough to make choices for themselves. Many kids choose to put popularity over academics, or to get into life’s of crime, drugs, violence, sex, and disregard for the future and their education. This is a small point, but an important one nonetheless. As children get older they need to be held increasingly accountable for their actions. As they grow, parents, teachers, and the community need to be responsible for teaching them how to make the right decisions.
6) Absence of the “three R’s.” Reading, writing, and arithmetic. Those used to be the key focal points of every child’s education. Even minority children of the past were better educated than many children today (in many cases, regardless of class) because they were taught the essential skills above everything else. All of the other curriculum that teachers focus on today will do nothing for a child’s success without the basics. If a child does not learn to read, write, and do basic math, they will never be able to succeed in society. There is no chance for them to go to college. They will be forced to take manual labor jobs. And everything else they have learned will be meaningless. Schools need to make a priority out of teaching children the essentials first and foremost.
7) Bilingual education. Most of the programs we’ve had in the past are jokes. I’ve seen them firsthand. Children are left in bilingual classes for years, sometimes throughout most of their education, and they barely learn to speak English. Children should be put into total immersion English classes (it has been proven that this kind of language teaching works best, particularly by our own military). This way children could potentially be out of bilingual education, and into mainstream classes within a year—less time if the student is younger, since younger children pick up new languages quicker. These kids will have an awesome benefit over most other people. They will have the opportunity to not only speak English well, but to also fluently speak another language. However, without being able to speak proper English, children will find a hard time finding good jobs and being successful in society. And the longer you leave them in bilingual education classes, the less likely they are to learn proper English, and the less likely they are to learn the basics too.

September 11 Remembered

Rory has a fitting tribute for the one year anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

As for myself, there are so many things I’d like to say, so many things going through my mind. I woke up this morning 20 minutes early so that I could observe a moment of silence with the rest of the country at the time the first plane hit. As I began to get ready for work, I was reminded of that morning one year ago. I woke up at 6 am to get ready for school. After dragging myself tiredly out of bed I headed for the bathroom. Moments later I heard a knock on the door and my dad shouting something about a plane flying into the World Trade Center. Opening the door I looked at him oddly, wondering if he wasn't pulling my leg. I followed him into his bedroom where my mother sat on the bed watching quietly at the burning tower in the distance.

After that moment it was hard to peel my eyes from the television. My mother and I watched as the second plane hit (I remember I had gone back into my room to get ready for school and had been watching the television as a low flying plane headed towards the towers. I screamed out to my mother in the other room that there was another plane, and seconds later it hit.) It was then that I knew something was wrong. The first plane, I thought, could have been a horrible accident. But two planes were no accident. I knew we were under attack.

I watched as news of the attack on the Pentagon was announced, as the first and then the second tower collapsed, as reports of flight 93 came in. And then I headed off to school. The entire ride on BART was filled with a different kind of silence. It wasn’t unusual for the passengers on BART to keep quietly to themselves. But there was a heavy silence that seemed to flow through the train like. It was liquid and thick, and I swam through it in my own silence throughout the entire ride.

At school I hoped to find some comfort through those around me. I hoped to hear that it wasn’t as bad as I thought. But when I got out there I got exactly what I should have been expecting. People making nasty comments about how “we got what we deserved,” “it serves us right” and “now we’re getting a taste of our own medicine.” Such hatred and spite. But I was the fool for thinking that Berkeley would understand that not only had New York and Washington been attacked, but so had they. Their country, their families and friends, their freedoms, dreams, rights, and way of life had been attacked as well.

I wish I had stayed home that day. From the nasty comments from classmates, to the complete ignorance and dismissal of the morning’s tragedies by a professor (she came into class, dropped her stuff on the table, and said something to the extent of “I heard there’s something going on over on the east coast. Something about a plane crash. Whatever. It doesn’t matter,” and immediately began lecturing. I don’t know how I managed to sit through that class without standing up and explaining to her how horrible and insensitive her comment was) being in Berkeley only rubbed salt into the wound.

Since that day we’ve learned a lot about the events. We know who did it, and we know why. What I still fail to comprehend is how so many people (particularly here in the Bay Area) believe that we should not fight back, and we should not rid the world of the scum that wish to destroy it. Al Qaida and the other Islamo-fascists are no better than the Nazi’s who attempted to rid the world of all people, including Jews, gays, the Gypsies, that did not fit into their “blonde-hair blue-eyed” picture of the ideal world. The Muslim extremists who are hell-bent on destroying the US will not stop there. They are racist religious fanatics who believe that the world is meant only for them. They act through their own hegemonic thoughts and processes. The US is their biggest threat because we represent everything they despise: women’s rights, gays, freedom, liberty, multi-ethnic society, freedom to practice any religion, and the list goes on. They hate the things many people in Berkeley have fought so vehemently for, yet the people in Berkeley continue to defend the terrorists. They continue to say that we should not fight back, we should not do what it takes to defend not only ourselves, but the world. This fight is not about just the US. It’s about every country, every culture, every religion, and every life that does not meet their idea of what the world should be. Once the US is gone, it will be a field day for Al Qaida and the other Islamic fundamentalists. They will tear through the rest of the world so quickly and easily that the world as we know it will fail to exist. It will be one world of only one people. Forget tolerance and diversity. It will all be dead.

The terrorists have chosen to wage war on us, and we cannot, and must not choose to take it lying down. We must stand up and fight for everything we have, and fight for the rest of the world. This war isn’t just about us. It’s a war against the entire Western civilization. It’s a war against diversity, freedom, and nearly the entire world. To wage this war with “peace” would lead us to now victory. The terrorists do not want peace. There is no reasoning, negotiating, bargaining, or even talking with them. They've shown through their actions and words that they have no interest in mediation, discussions, compromises, or fairness. They have left us with the option to fight back or die. Pacifism will only lead us to certain death and destruction. If we fight, we will win. If we do not, we will suffer countless more acts of terrorism and death. If we do not, our inaction will kill us all. Gone shall be our freedom to believe (or not believe) in any God or faith we choose; the many great cultures and societies that share this world with us; the history and legacies of the world; the ability to live our lives as who we are and how we choose; the struggles of many before us to secure rights for women, minorities, gays, children, for everyone; the wealth of knowledge and education both in this country and throughout the world; and political and personal freedom.

There is a time for war, and a time for peace. And unfortunately now is not the time for peace. On this day I hope that people are reminded of what we are fighting for. We should remember that a love for our country should not be displayed only on a few select days per year, but every day. And we should also remember that we are not invincible. I knew of Osama bin Laden well before he was a household name. I knew there were groups that hated the US and wanted more than anything to see it fall. I knew that war was not far off. But when I told people in the past that someday we would see war on our own land, that our own home would be attacked by people who hate us with every fiber of their being they told me I was being crazy, paranoid, and that I subscribed to one too many conspiracy theory. I hope this is a wakeup call to everyone that we are not entirely safe and protected in a happy little bubble called America. To all the people who told me that the US could never fall, that an attack was highly unlikely on our own soil, that our number one enemy Osama bin Laden was probably just some joke of a person who was relatively powerless to hurt us, I have to say “I told you so.” I knew September 11 would come, and it did. You told me it wouldn’t, and it did. Let this be a lesson in your own ignorance.

Let us not allow those who died on September 11 to have died in vain. Preserve their memories, this country, and the world by supporting necessary action and defense. This is war. It is not pretty, and it is not fun, but it is most definitely necessary.

PETA has gotten a bug up their ass about fishing. Claiming that "fishing hurts," they want to see all fishing banned. Since fish have a central nervous system they can feel pain. PETA argues that fishing is cruel because it causes fish to suffer pain from hooks piercing through their flesh, and because fish suffer pain when they are out of the water since they can't breathe.

Well, not eating a healthy diet hurts too. There's a reason human's have always included meat as a staple in their diets. Without protein humans can suffer debilitating, and even painful effects. Some (though not all) effects of too low or no protein diets can include hair loss, muscle loss (causing frailty and susceptibility to other ailments), diabetes (particularly when coupled with a high carb diet), malnutrition (such as PEM or kwashiorkor), and delay or hinderance of repair to of body tissue. Certainly protein is not the only nutrient important to our health, but it is one of the key factors. By banning our ability to get and eat meat, PETA is potentially contributing to the poor health of millions of people.

It's one thing to fight cruel and uneccessary treatment of animals (like the kind of abuse we've recently seen Al Qeada imposing on dogs). It's another to deny humans the ability to eat. We're animals too. Isn't depriving us of a healthy diet cruelty to the human animal? PETA needs to pick their battles a little more wisely. Eventually people are going to stop taking them seriously (many already have). There are some things they push for that make sense, but lately they've begun to push it too far.

And on another note, if it's wrong to kill fish (or any animal) because they have central nervous systems and can feel pain, then is it also wrong to kill a fetus? A fetus does, after all, have a central nervous system, and can presumably feel pain. Oh, but a PETA member would quickly change the topic to avoid that snag in their argument.

One can only wonder what idiotic stunt PETA will pull out of their sleeves next time. I hear they're going to start lobbying the animal kingdom to stop its cruelty towards other animals. After all, animals do eat meat, and if you've ever watched a nature show, you know how brutal their killing methods can be.

A San Leandro school teacher, Karl Debro, won a $1,087,500 lawsuit against the San Leandro school district for alleged discrimination because he was gay. He claimed that the school district discriminated aginst him by imposing a "vague gag order" on him by not allowing him to discuss his homosexuality.

This settlement will have to be paid out from the general funds of the San Leandro School district, taking vital dollars away from the schools, and the children's educational needs. The right thing to do would be for Debro to return his settlement back to the schools in the form of a donation to benefit the education of the students. How can a teacher, whose primary concern is supposed to be the education of children, take more than a million dollars away from those same children? That money could, and should, be used to pay for books, supplies, computers, or any other necessary educational materials to help the communities children have the chance to have a bright and prosperous future. And not only will the settlement money be taken from the children, but money will also have to paid out by the school district for legal and other fees incurred by the selfishness of Debro.

Secondly, I have no problems with gays. I personally know a number of gay people who I admire and respect greatly. But they don't cram their sexuality down my throat. Sexuality does not belong in the schools unless it is a part of the specific class (i.e. in a "health" course). And unless it is a necessary part of the material being studied (i.e. homosexuality as an issue in a book in an English class, sexuality discussions from a scientific standpoint in a science class, a history lesson that specifically involves homosexuals, etc.) it should not be discussed in other classes such as English, Math, Science, PE, etc. Straight teachers don't spend valuable learning time that should be spent teaching kids how to read, write, and do arithmetic talking about their sexuality. It's not appropriate for straight teachers, just as much for gay teachers.

My Honors English teacher in my Junior year of high school was gay. We all knew it, but he never talked about it. He was secure in his sexuality, and didn't feel he needed to shout it from the roof tops. It wasn't discussed in class, and it was never an issue. He was there to teach us advanced English, not about his homosexuality. This teacher happened to be one of the best teachers I had in high school. I had the utmost respect and admiration for him. He was a wonderful human being, and a brilliant English teacher. And I would have thought so regardless of whether or not he was gay, or whether or not I knew. He understood that. He knew that his sexual life had no, and should have no bearing on our relationship as teacher and student. We avoided awkward, out of place discussions, unnecessary time away from studying, and inappropriate knowledge of the others personal life. School is, and should be a professional environment, not a personal one. Developing relationships outside of that is one thing. I am friends with many of my former teachers. But while I was in the classroom learning from them, they were my teacher, not my friend.

As president of the Human Relations Committee in my Senior year of high school, and one of the founders of the club, I knew there were numerous other avenues on campus for discussing homosexuality. There were plenty of other venues for building levels of awareness and understanding. I recognize that children should be given the opportunity to learn about groups and cultures different from there own, but it should not replace time learning the fundamentals. There are plenty of opportunities outside of school time for discussing these topics, and the valuable but limited time teachers have to teach students the critical skills they need to be successful in our society should not be gobbled up by such matters.

Little things never fail to make me happy. Like showing up at the BART station at 8:15 in the morning to find an up front parking spot waiting for you. At that time in the morning, the only thing that's usually left is at the far end of the lot.

I learned from a source at the county Sherrif's department that a home invasion robbery took place in San Leandro early this evening. From her report, the would-be robbers entered the house through an open window, with knives and screwdrivers in hand. The family was home while this was happening, and one family member reportedly shot one of the intruders as he came through the window. I don't know if the intruder was killed (though I hope the scum-bastard was), but I do know that this case shows how powerful and necessary the second amendment is to our safety. The family member was able to save his entire family, and catch the people trying to victimize them, before they became victims. A big thumbs up for that guy for defending himself.

The media is demanding a press release, and at this time the Sherrif's department doesn't have one ready, so they've stated "no comment." But I can't wait to see what kind of anti self-defense spin the media tries to put on this story. I'm sure they'll find some way of making the family member out to be some horrible monster who *gasp* used a gun to hurt/kill someone else (all while ignoring that it was self defense). They always do. Even though guns are only evil in the hands of criminals.

Private Airport Screening companies are charging more now that the government has taken over control of airport security, and that taxpayers are footing the bill. It's another instance of how allowing the government to control and run things leads to inefficiency and waste. One private screening company has almost doubled its rates since the government took over, and many others have been billing the government for employees who actually didn't work.

These companies claim they are raising the costs because the workers need raises. But it's more like they are raising the rates to line their pockets, and because they know the government is so grossly inefficient that they'll likely get away with it. I was opposed to the governments taking over airport security in the first place, and this is just another nail in that coffin.

As a sign that airport security is as horrible as ever, I have now had two experiences where airport screeners failed to find something that should not be allowed. The first instance was from my flight to Vegas last November. The screener was convinced that there were "big scissors" in my carry-on, and began searching through my bag. In an effort to help I started trying to think of everything in there, and what it could be. I realized that it may be something inside my makeup bag. Opening it up, I dug around to the bottom and pulled out a small pair of fold up scissors. Without either looking closely at them, or unfolding them, you may not know what they were. However, when unfolded they are long enough to do considerable damage. When I pulled them out and asked the screener if that was what he was looking for, he asked me what they were. When I told him, he quickly snatched them out of my hand. Had I not pulled them out and told him what they were, I would have gotten onto the plane with those.

The second case happened on my trip to New York last weekend (which I'll talk about a little later). After we had arrived in New York from a six hour non-stop flight, we headed to the hotel. I was switching a few items from my main purse to a different purse when I realized I had accidentally forgotten to remove my pepper spray from my purse before going to the airport. My purse passed through screening machines at the Oakland airport, and the screener did not catch it. I was careful to package it in a plastic bag and store it in my checked luggage on the way back, but the fact that I was able to get that onto the plane on the way to New York was scary. I easily could have sprayed the flight attendants, passengers, or the pilots. Plus, just releasing some of that into the cabin of the airplane woould cause it to enter the ventilation system and effect everyone on the plane.

These instances scare me, and make me wonder what other items have been actually smuggled onto a plane, or what items may me smuggled on in the future. The government controlling airport screening isn't going to make any of this any better, because there really is no accountability there. If it all goes to hell the publc will complain, politicians will pretend to be outraged and "attempt" to do something about it, but in the end, it will just continue to get worse.

The NEA has provided a website and lesson plan to guide teachers in discussions on 9/11. The lesson plan has been receiving criticism from many groups, including the FEA, for making it sound like America was to blame for the 9/11 attacks. It suggests talking about the history of American intolerance (as if we don’t ram that point home enough in school and the media) and to not assign blame because blame is often hard to assign in terrorist attacks. Never mind the fact that we know who was behind it, and they’ve accepted responsibility for it. This lesson plan does nothing but teach our children to hate this country. It also serves to further our societies sick habit of not putting blame where blame is due. Oddly enough, instead of us blaming someone else for what we did, we’re attempting to blame ourselves for the actions that someone else planned and carried out. Al Qaida is responsible, regardless of whatever “atrocities” people claim the US did to bring the attack on. The US did not make or carry out the decision to attack and murder thousands of innocent people and terrorize a nation. So not only are kids taught to blame someone else when they do something bad or stupid, but now we’re also teaching them that when something goes wrong on the national level (or even worldwide), just blame the US because it’s probably our fault anyway.