Read the contents and see if they agree with the headlines. Of course, the content does NOT support the Headline.
Fake news everyday day in every way/
Thursday, May 31, 2018
School Shootings? Of Course Children Have a Right To Worry
With constant headlines about school shooting while deaths in teen drag racing and teens texting while driving is 15 times greater than all the very sad school shootings COMBINED.
Kids using drugs and dying is 100 times greater than all school shootings COMBINED.
But what makes the best reading headlines? Not headlines about the increase in sexual herpes, the disease that never quits giving? Naw, who cares? Only the person that got the 'gift', not headline stuff today.
Peoria leads the State in STD's not headline stuff. Maybe once, and then back to attacks on Gun Rights, school shootings overkill and attacks on EVERY action made byPresident Trump.
Clark Gable Accused - Today, He Would Be Guilty As Accused and Relegated To the 'Dust Bin'
Pete Martin wrote an article titled " The King" dated 1979 and published in Movie Book, p. 6 and 7, by the Saturday Evening Post about an interview with the famous actor in which he stated to Martin that he was accused of being the father of a child from a woman he did not remember ever meeting. I'll shorten the story. The accusation was proven not true and the accuser was eventually indicted by the Postal Department for using the mail to defraud.
Happen today? Being accused is being indicted.. No Clark Gable.
As many of you know, a Florida misdemeanor accusation was made against me in 2013 and forwarded from Florida by Jerry Stowell, an Elementary school teacher in Florida to his brother Jim Stowell, a local stock-broker in Peoria, who forwarded my arrest to all the local Peoria medias and bloggers. In July, 2014, I appeared before a Florida Judge who did not indict me. My arrest record is being removed by the State of Florida. Due any day now because of the huge backlog of all courts in the country.
Like who cares, my friends say. People are free too BELIEVE WHAT THEY WANT BUT THE LEFT WING LOSERS ARE FED FALSE NEWS DAILY.
Happen today? Being accused is being indicted.. No Clark Gable.
As many of you know, a Florida misdemeanor accusation was made against me in 2013 and forwarded from Florida by Jerry Stowell, an Elementary school teacher in Florida to his brother Jim Stowell, a local stock-broker in Peoria, who forwarded my arrest to all the local Peoria medias and bloggers. In July, 2014, I appeared before a Florida Judge who did not indict me. My arrest record is being removed by the State of Florida. Due any day now because of the huge backlog of all courts in the country.
Like who cares, my friends say. People are free too BELIEVE WHAT THEY WANT BUT THE LEFT WING LOSERS ARE FED FALSE NEWS DAILY.
Porn 'Actress" Whore Looks, Even With Botox and Boob Jobs, Like She Was
Dragged through a knot-hole. Probably now broke and too old for her career, she is trying to regain some publicity and more money as older porn tapes are probably no long in much demand. Have to ask Bill Clinton as he would know.
Accusations are now truths so why wouldn't an 'aspiring' person want to "buy" off the accuser. Today, if accussed, the media finds you are proven guilty.
Did you read my article on Clark Gable?
Accusations are now truths so why wouldn't an 'aspiring' person want to "buy" off the accuser. Today, if accussed, the media finds you are proven guilty.
Did you read my article on Clark Gable?
Samantha Bee and All Those Leftist Liberals Can go To HELL (and Probably Will)
I am going through a bad health patch but will recover. I am also so sick of all the crap making headlines from the left wing medias. Wrong headlines such as "North Korea EMINENT threat to our country" The General didn't phrase it as 'imminent' meaning NOW so it is A FALSE statement by the journalist and publisher. There is NO IMMINENT THREAT FROM ANY COUNTRY EXCEPT THE THREAT FROM OUR OWN TALKING HEADS FROM HOLLYWOOD AND NEW YORK AND BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA AND HIS ILK. THAT INCLUDES MILLIONS OF OUR OWN INTERNAL ENEMIES being 'egged' on by the loser Democrats and their media buddies.
I'll believe John Bolton over al the above. We have more enemies in Peoria and Chicago including black militants making millions playing in the NBA and NFL.
I'll believe John Bolton over al the above. We have more enemies in Peoria and Chicago including black militants making millions playing in the NBA and NFL.
Monday, May 21, 2018
Immigration and Hard Work
A Mirror to How I feel About Illegal Immigrants
Forwarded to me by a friend.
From: "David LaBonte"
My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to "print" it myself by sending it out on the Internet. Pass it along if you feel so inclined. Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange County Register:
Dear Editor:
So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.
Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.
They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture. Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity.
Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany, Italy, France and Japan . None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan. They were defending the United States of America as one people.
When we liberated France, no one in those villages were looking for the French-American or the German American or the Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.
And here we are with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags.
And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty, it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just yet.
(signed) Rosemary LaBonte
KEEP THIS LETTER MOVING. FOR THE WRONG THINGS TO PREVAIL THE RIGHTFUL MAJORITY NEEDS TO REMAIN COMPLACENT AND QUIET!! LET THIS NEVER HAPPEN!!
I sincerely hope this letter gets read by millions of people all across the nation!!
From: "David LaBonte"
My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to "print" it myself by sending it out on the Internet. Pass it along if you feel so inclined. Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange County Register:
Dear Editor:
So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.
Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.
They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture. Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity.
Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany, Italy, France and Japan . None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan. They were defending the United States of America as one people.
When we liberated France, no one in those villages were looking for the French-American or the German American or the Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.
And here we are with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags.
And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty, it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just yet.
(signed) Rosemary LaBonte
KEEP THIS LETTER MOVING. FOR THE WRONG THINGS TO PREVAIL THE RIGHTFUL MAJORITY NEEDS TO REMAIN COMPLACENT AND QUIET!! LET THIS NEVER HAPPEN!!
I sincerely hope this letter gets read by millions of people all across the nation!!
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2010
Afraid of Hard Work?
Here is what our founding fathers said: Frequent traveler John Adams in a letter to his wife Abigal, "The education of our children is never out of my mind..Fire them to be useful and make them disdain to be destitute of any useful or ornamental knowledge or accomplishment. Fix their ambitions upon great and solid objects."
The Founding Fathers were not inclined, as today's parents are, to lavish their students with praise. "Good job" was not in their vocabulary. Nor did they leave it up to their children to "make good choices". Instead, they moralized endlessly on the perils of indolence, time-wasting and thriftlessness. Jefferson reproved his daughter Nancy, "If at any moment , my dear, you catch yourself in idleness, start from it as you would a precipice of a gulph. Be assured that it gives you much more pain to the mind to be in debt, than to do without any article which we may seem to want."
The Founding Fathers would be twisting in their graves if they could see how we are producing a greater Welfare State than the one created by Lyndon Johnson. We are creating a nation of wimps (See my blog "Safe Fat Kids With Wimp Supervision". And certainly not just overweight kids. Also, "Opinion" in the Times-Observer on 8/20/08, "Employers want people with a healthy work ethic. Employers complain they see young people coming to them totally unprepared for the world of work."
Too many young people are growing up without the slightest perception of what the term "hard work" means unless of course they are learning from watching MTV.
Sorry, the "wrong" skills that may require "hard work" are being taught on that TV Station. Maybe they are learning more by text messaging at all hours of the night. So now these "so chic" kids are also worn out by lack of sleep or both.
So sad.
Another article written by Leo M. Murray of Belvidere, NJ who writes about times in 1933-36 and beyond, that "families in my working-class neighborhood reduced their trips to local merchants and started buying only the absolute necessary necessities". Those working-class workers would have taken ANY job, not today's products of computer games, text-messaging, welfare families and schools whose teachers mistakenly or are forced to "teach for the test".
On 1/20/10, J. Kenneth Blackwell, a senior fellow at the Family Research Council in D.C., wrote in the WSJ "No Role Model", "I fully support what Barack Obama's election means to my fellow Americans of African descent, I totally dissent from his policies. The Obama administration is presently working to undo welfare reform-the most important bipartisan achievement of the past 20 years. That reform stressed marriage and WORK over single parenthood and dependency.
It is not only black people who often shun hard work, it is also a large culture of white people who seek government largees, welfare and entitlements.
Some in Peoria, think all kids should go to college. I disagree, especially right after many of them have been partly "socially promoted" (75% of the kids going to "college" at ICC through Peoria Promise need to take remedial reading) but I do agree that the "college" experience is often a waste of parental and taxpayer dollars and are similar to our prisons where "inmates" come out more unprepared to be a society contributor than when they entered. Most parents have no idea what some of their kids are doing in either place. And the "elite" in Peoria, of which there appear to be many, do not wants kids and especially their kids to take Vocational training when their friends at the "clubs" brag that THEIR kids are graduating with a law or business degree.
Unfortunately for a lot of people, they are now forced to learn how to work and now perhaps harder work than they have previously done.
Some wonder why so many of the Tea Party types are upset with the way the country in descending into welfare Socialism. Perhaps, even worse if the public new all the subtle changes this administration is making or trying to make. Some Democrats are also seeing that the "change" promised may not get them re-elected.
The Founding Fathers were not inclined, as today's parents are, to lavish their students with praise. "Good job" was not in their vocabulary. Nor did they leave it up to their children to "make good choices". Instead, they moralized endlessly on the perils of indolence, time-wasting and thriftlessness. Jefferson reproved his daughter Nancy, "If at any moment , my dear, you catch yourself in idleness, start from it as you would a precipice of a gulph. Be assured that it gives you much more pain to the mind to be in debt, than to do without any article which we may seem to want."
The Founding Fathers would be twisting in their graves if they could see how we are producing a greater Welfare State than the one created by Lyndon Johnson. We are creating a nation of wimps (See my blog "Safe Fat Kids With Wimp Supervision". And certainly not just overweight kids. Also, "Opinion" in the Times-Observer on 8/20/08, "Employers want people with a healthy work ethic. Employers complain they see young people coming to them totally unprepared for the world of work."
Too many young people are growing up without the slightest perception of what the term "hard work" means unless of course they are learning from watching MTV.
Sorry, the "wrong" skills that may require "hard work" are being taught on that TV Station. Maybe they are learning more by text messaging at all hours of the night. So now these "so chic" kids are also worn out by lack of sleep or both.
So sad.
Another article written by Leo M. Murray of Belvidere, NJ who writes about times in 1933-36 and beyond, that "families in my working-class neighborhood reduced their trips to local merchants and started buying only the absolute necessary necessities". Those working-class workers would have taken ANY job, not today's products of computer games, text-messaging, welfare families and schools whose teachers mistakenly or are forced to "teach for the test".
On 1/20/10, J. Kenneth Blackwell, a senior fellow at the Family Research Council in D.C., wrote in the WSJ "No Role Model", "I fully support what Barack Obama's election means to my fellow Americans of African descent, I totally dissent from his policies. The Obama administration is presently working to undo welfare reform-the most important bipartisan achievement of the past 20 years. That reform stressed marriage and WORK over single parenthood and dependency.
It is not only black people who often shun hard work, it is also a large culture of white people who seek government largees, welfare and entitlements.
Some in Peoria, think all kids should go to college. I disagree, especially right after many of them have been partly "socially promoted" (75% of the kids going to "college" at ICC through Peoria Promise need to take remedial reading) but I do agree that the "college" experience is often a waste of parental and taxpayer dollars and are similar to our prisons where "inmates" come out more unprepared to be a society contributor than when they entered. Most parents have no idea what some of their kids are doing in either place. And the "elite" in Peoria, of which there appear to be many, do not wants kids and especially their kids to take Vocational training when their friends at the "clubs" brag that THEIR kids are graduating with a law or business degree.
Unfortunately for a lot of people, they are now forced to learn how to work and now perhaps harder work than they have previously done.
Some wonder why so many of the Tea Party types are upset with the way the country in descending into welfare Socialism. Perhaps, even worse if the public new all the subtle changes this administration is making or trying to make. Some Democrats are also seeing that the "change" promised may not get them re-elected.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2010
Phil Luciano's JS Column
On 2/10/2010, Phil wrote in the Journal Star, "Are some jobless just afraid of hard work?" Phil asks a question I could have answered years ago. Why do you think we have some many illegal immigrants seeking and often find hard work in the U.S.?
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
Coming Out Of My "Black Hole" - No Double Barreled Shotgun For Me
I'll get my energy back from my 2800 mile trip I just took alone. Trying to get myself back on a positive mental track. My blogs today's stem from PPS attempt to find every kids interest and try to teach around this interest while still teaching kids how to read, arithmetic and writing.
Way past time the belief that ALL KIDS NEED TO GO TO COLLEGE TO FIND A MEANINGFUL CAREER. They DO NOT. Dozens of well paying jobs do not demand a college education. It is way past time for the elite and especially the elite in education to understand that simple fact.
Read on.
Way past time the belief that ALL KIDS NEED TO GO TO COLLEGE TO FIND A MEANINGFUL CAREER. They DO NOT. Dozens of well paying jobs do not demand a college education. It is way past time for the elite and especially the elite in education to understand that simple fact.
Read on.
Creativity - Blogged 2/21/2008
Creativity Gap
An article in The School Administrator in February discusses the creativity gap between Americans and Asians. It states that Asians think more as a group and their constant obligations to the group and not to bring shame to the group. American parents and educators overall have low academic expectations of their students which is a sign that American parents and educators define success more broadly and strongly emphasis children as individuls and that it is important to respect their wishes and abilities.
Asian parents put a higher value on grades and test scores pressuring their kids that academic success is important not for personal reasons, but to please others. Asians are more apt to use a standardized and centralized curriculum.
The article states that "teaching at the same pace and from the same textbook for all students leaves little time for exploring individual interests. Creativity cannot be taught but it can be killed. The creativity gap exists because American schools teach creativity and do not kill it as much as do Asians."
Asians parents place an extremely high value on external indicators-grades, test scdores,and most importantly, admission to prestigous universities. Excessive or exclusive focus on external indicators of success such as grades and test scores can pressure children, sending the message that academic success is important, not for personal reasons, but to please others.
The article continues stating that more people crossing national borders requires communities to become increasingly diverse culturally and racially. Communities need to provide services that are culturally sensistive and linguistically competent to new immigrants, to attract international investments and tourists, and to get on the global stage. What used to be required of a small group of individuals - diplomats, translators,cross-cultural communications or international tour guides - has become necessary for most all professions.
Many American students lack sufficient knowledge about the rest of the world including languages and cultures and are not prepared to compete and lead in a global workforce. Most American schools do not teach foreign languages until high school which is a little too late and even in high school, most students are not required to take any foreign language. By contrast, in China, English is required beginning, in some cases, as early the first grade.
Much the same is true in South Korea, Taiwan and other nations. Whatever is happening in distant places of the world now affects communities worldwide. Terrorism, environmental destruction, disease and political unrest have all acquired a global nature. To understand what is going on in the world and the requirement to appreciate the interconnectedness and interdependence of peoples to respect and protect cultural diversity is required to ensure the very survival and continuity of human civilization.
This is a difficult assignment for American educators. NCLB already has squeezed out most room for any subjects other than what is being tested. The frightening description of job losses due to offshoring, trade deficit, foreign terrorists and the rise of developing countries and how children in other countries will "eat the lunch" of American children adds to the challenge for educators to convince a very American-centric public that helping our children develop a sense of global citizenship is actually a good thing.
Our well-being is is forever connected to that of other people in other countries. Our prosperity cannot be sustained in isolation from other countries.
"We know test scores don't predict the future of other individuals and nations. Author Daniel Goleman wrote the following in his classic book Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More Than IQ: "One of psychology's open secret is the relative inability of grades, IQ or SAT scores, desite their popular mystique, to predict unerringly who will succeed in life..At best, IQ contributes about 20% to the factors that determine life success, which leaves 80% to other forces."
I have written several blogs saying that there is too much emphasis on test scores. If we want to retain the creativity that has always separated this country from many others, especially in times of conflict, will not come from holding schools accountable for just adequate yearly progress in test scores. AP, AYP and similar measures have the greatest potential to destroy students' chances of success by forcing schools to narrow their curriculum, teachers to teach to the test and the public to adopt a single criteria to measure the success of students, teachers and schools. It aims to equip our children with knowledge easily found in other countries while squelching creativity and talents that are truly valuable.
"Instead of becoming more like others who are eager to become Americans, American education needs to be more American-to preserve flexibility, protect individuality and promote multiple intelligences. American education also needs to become more global - adopt a global perspective, add foreign languages and cultures and advocate global inter-realtionships."
Many people in Peoria thought it was wrong to bring in Chinese teachers and they made some good points. So many kids have no interest in learning and can hardly read and write. Often, at levels far below the level of many of thier peers. We must accelerate separating those who do not see the advantage of learning, after repeated failures of parents and teachers to show them why they need to learn, especially to read and reason well, from many who are eager to learn all they can. We fail because too many people believe one can only succeed without a higher education degree. We fail because we believe all our kids are higher level college material. They are not. Just because someone graduates from a college or university and makes more money than another or has an impressive title, does not make that person a greater success. Life was never going to a utopia where everybody is a Chief. Getting kids to believe that they are all going to be Chiefs' is a major failing of our American system.
You will not find my name in the top half of any high school or college graduating class. But I would not trade the creativity I acquired for all the rigourous, structured "rote" learning of any American or Asian school. Now this rote learning in America is driving many kids out of school before they are ready to accept and handle responsibility. They are not being sold or buying why they need to study and learn and pass all types of tests other than grade tests. And many teachers are caught in the middle; good scores or you are not a good teacher.
Too bad.
Creative people have ideas, behaviors, beliefs and lifestyles that that deviate from the norm and tradition. Research has found that, in general, tolerance of deviation from tradition and norm results in more creativity. Without American creativity, we would today probably not be a free country.
Much of the content of this blog comes from Yong Zhoa, director of the U.S.-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence at Michigan State University. E-mailzhaoyo@msu.edu
Asian parents put a higher value on grades and test scores pressuring their kids that academic success is important not for personal reasons, but to please others. Asians are more apt to use a standardized and centralized curriculum.
The article states that "teaching at the same pace and from the same textbook for all students leaves little time for exploring individual interests. Creativity cannot be taught but it can be killed. The creativity gap exists because American schools teach creativity and do not kill it as much as do Asians."
Asians parents place an extremely high value on external indicators-grades, test scdores,and most importantly, admission to prestigous universities. Excessive or exclusive focus on external indicators of success such as grades and test scores can pressure children, sending the message that academic success is important, not for personal reasons, but to please others.
The article continues stating that more people crossing national borders requires communities to become increasingly diverse culturally and racially. Communities need to provide services that are culturally sensistive and linguistically competent to new immigrants, to attract international investments and tourists, and to get on the global stage. What used to be required of a small group of individuals - diplomats, translators,cross-cultural communications or international tour guides - has become necessary for most all professions.
Many American students lack sufficient knowledge about the rest of the world including languages and cultures and are not prepared to compete and lead in a global workforce. Most American schools do not teach foreign languages until high school which is a little too late and even in high school, most students are not required to take any foreign language. By contrast, in China, English is required beginning, in some cases, as early the first grade.
Much the same is true in South Korea, Taiwan and other nations. Whatever is happening in distant places of the world now affects communities worldwide. Terrorism, environmental destruction, disease and political unrest have all acquired a global nature. To understand what is going on in the world and the requirement to appreciate the interconnectedness and interdependence of peoples to respect and protect cultural diversity is required to ensure the very survival and continuity of human civilization.
This is a difficult assignment for American educators. NCLB already has squeezed out most room for any subjects other than what is being tested. The frightening description of job losses due to offshoring, trade deficit, foreign terrorists and the rise of developing countries and how children in other countries will "eat the lunch" of American children adds to the challenge for educators to convince a very American-centric public that helping our children develop a sense of global citizenship is actually a good thing.
Our well-being is is forever connected to that of other people in other countries. Our prosperity cannot be sustained in isolation from other countries.
"We know test scores don't predict the future of other individuals and nations. Author Daniel Goleman wrote the following in his classic book Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More Than IQ: "One of psychology's open secret is the relative inability of grades, IQ or SAT scores, desite their popular mystique, to predict unerringly who will succeed in life..At best, IQ contributes about 20% to the factors that determine life success, which leaves 80% to other forces."
I have written several blogs saying that there is too much emphasis on test scores. If we want to retain the creativity that has always separated this country from many others, especially in times of conflict, will not come from holding schools accountable for just adequate yearly progress in test scores. AP, AYP and similar measures have the greatest potential to destroy students' chances of success by forcing schools to narrow their curriculum, teachers to teach to the test and the public to adopt a single criteria to measure the success of students, teachers and schools. It aims to equip our children with knowledge easily found in other countries while squelching creativity and talents that are truly valuable.
"Instead of becoming more like others who are eager to become Americans, American education needs to be more American-to preserve flexibility, protect individuality and promote multiple intelligences. American education also needs to become more global - adopt a global perspective, add foreign languages and cultures and advocate global inter-realtionships."
Many people in Peoria thought it was wrong to bring in Chinese teachers and they made some good points. So many kids have no interest in learning and can hardly read and write. Often, at levels far below the level of many of thier peers. We must accelerate separating those who do not see the advantage of learning, after repeated failures of parents and teachers to show them why they need to learn, especially to read and reason well, from many who are eager to learn all they can. We fail because too many people believe one can only succeed without a higher education degree. We fail because we believe all our kids are higher level college material. They are not. Just because someone graduates from a college or university and makes more money than another or has an impressive title, does not make that person a greater success. Life was never going to a utopia where everybody is a Chief. Getting kids to believe that they are all going to be Chiefs' is a major failing of our American system.
You will not find my name in the top half of any high school or college graduating class. But I would not trade the creativity I acquired for all the rigourous, structured "rote" learning of any American or Asian school. Now this rote learning in America is driving many kids out of school before they are ready to accept and handle responsibility. They are not being sold or buying why they need to study and learn and pass all types of tests other than grade tests. And many teachers are caught in the middle; good scores or you are not a good teacher.
Too bad.
Creative people have ideas, behaviors, beliefs and lifestyles that that deviate from the norm and tradition. Research has found that, in general, tolerance of deviation from tradition and norm results in more creativity. Without American creativity, we would today probably not be a free country.
Much of the content of this blog comes from Yong Zhoa, director of the U.S.-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence at Michigan State University. E-mailzhaoyo@msu.edu
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2008
Dropouts - Disrespect - Blopgged 11/13/2007
Drop Outs and Their Causes
A “Letter to the Editors” in today’s JS written by Bob Lillie titled “Do the math on Education Reform” prompts this blog. Mr. Lillie now lives in Phoenix but is formerly from Eureka. Mr. Lillie says he has been involved as a teacher and administrator for 27 years and has a master’s degree in education administration from Bradley.
Mr. Lillie writes “I would like to see a national survey asking the American public how many have used algebra and trigonometry since they left high school. I would also like our politicians (many who live in scholastic ivory towers; my comments) who mandate these tests, to themselves take the state required tests and have their scores published before each election.” He continues “Isn’t it a form of discrimination to force all our young people to compete with unequal abilities? (And unequal abilities and motivations? My comments).
On 10/30/07 the JS pushed an article by an AP writer “School Dropout numbers dismal” and on 7/23/07 the JS published an article saying one out of ten Illinois Schools are labeled dropout factories. A reputable study showed that 1700 regular or vocational schools held on to 60 percent or less of their students from freshman to senior year over a three year period.
No Peoria school was on that list. #150 graduation rate was 83.1% with Richwoods listed as the highest and Manual listed as the lowest at 66.5%.
I am somewhat suspect of these local figures as it was no more than two years ago; I was told by an administrator that #150 did not have a tracking system. Earlier, during the term of Ed Bradle and John Day, I was told that the suspected dropout rate from 1st grade thru 12th grade was 50% and that the district did not have a tracking system.
I also know that some kids picked up for excessive truancy attend school only because that is part of the agreement reached to get them back in the classroom. Being in classrooms does not necessarily mean any learning process is going on (don’t believe me, go visit some classrooms in session and see first hand)
Communities have continual dialogue over giving all kids an equal opportunity. I agree. Many teachers and administrators know that not all kids have the same abilities, interest or drive. Too many kids take the attitude that the school offers little or nothing of interest to them. This is where politicians who probably did like school and got a reasonable education have got it wrong. They feel the curriculums set by mandate will be accepted by all kids. That is mostly true of most college bound kids.
But what about kids who have unequal abilities, unequal interests and unequal motivations and at this early stage of their life have neither the means or interest in going to college? Those are the ones I feel we are leaving behind and those who often become dropouts. Curriculums have been broadened to try to keep kids in schools. Administrators do know that not all kids are college bound. So why have mandated requirements that they take college entry level courses?
Kids must be offered basic courses that kids have the skills and the interest to complete and to get passing grades. Administrators show that they do offer a diverse curriculum but if not enough kids sign up for these classes, the school can’t afford to assign a teacher.
I have long contended that school personnel have to do a better “selling” job to keep kids from becoming dropouts. Every kid has an interest in something meaningful and some type of talent. A column was devoted tin the JS a number of years ago about a dropout who made it big on Broadway of somewhere in the entertainment field. Maybe one out of 100,000; similar to high school or even college basketball stars ever making money playing as professionals. Very, very few.
Ask any kid not interested in school and over 13 years old and they can name less than half a dozen that were very successful in sports or entertainment. I have and some can’t even name more than three. The name many of them think of first is Hersey Hawkins. Wrong.
The kid and parent (yes, both) have no excuse for not being able to learn to read and write, reasonably well. That is a mandatory requirement for everyone. Starting immediately, schools must help kids develop a reasonably positive attitude, a work ethic, the ability to accept critiquing and leadership, the ability to have dialogue and communicate their feelings and needs, accept personal responsibility, be dependable, have integrity and to be clean and well groomed. With these basic attributes, I see no reason why any kid can’t become a positive contributor to society.
There are of course points of no return in school just as there are in life. When all else fails, the kid becomes a ward of society. With the help of social agencies or law enforcement agencies or other outside the school assistance, they eventually may become productive citizens of a community.
That is why society must make every effort to get kids involved in a meaningful and productively involved childhood by the time they reach fourth or fifth grade. It seems after 3rd grade, many kids fall too far behind and never catch up with their peers who have a greater realization of what it takes to make it successfully through at least 12 grades and with enough learning and preparation to lead a reasonably successful life.
You can’t force a kid to learn in any school or in life IF they have made up their minds that they do not want to. But give them plenty of opportunity to change their minds.
Many do. The rest fill our juvenile courts, jails, prisons or become welfare dependents and blaming others for the sad situations of their lives.
Mr. Lillie writes “I would like to see a national survey asking the American public how many have used algebra and trigonometry since they left high school. I would also like our politicians (many who live in scholastic ivory towers; my comments) who mandate these tests, to themselves take the state required tests and have their scores published before each election.” He continues “Isn’t it a form of discrimination to force all our young people to compete with unequal abilities? (And unequal abilities and motivations? My comments).
On 10/30/07 the JS pushed an article by an AP writer “School Dropout numbers dismal” and on 7/23/07 the JS published an article saying one out of ten Illinois Schools are labeled dropout factories. A reputable study showed that 1700 regular or vocational schools held on to 60 percent or less of their students from freshman to senior year over a three year period.
No Peoria school was on that list. #150 graduation rate was 83.1% with Richwoods listed as the highest and Manual listed as the lowest at 66.5%.
I am somewhat suspect of these local figures as it was no more than two years ago; I was told by an administrator that #150 did not have a tracking system. Earlier, during the term of Ed Bradle and John Day, I was told that the suspected dropout rate from 1st grade thru 12th grade was 50% and that the district did not have a tracking system.
I also know that some kids picked up for excessive truancy attend school only because that is part of the agreement reached to get them back in the classroom. Being in classrooms does not necessarily mean any learning process is going on (don’t believe me, go visit some classrooms in session and see first hand)
Communities have continual dialogue over giving all kids an equal opportunity. I agree. Many teachers and administrators know that not all kids have the same abilities, interest or drive. Too many kids take the attitude that the school offers little or nothing of interest to them. This is where politicians who probably did like school and got a reasonable education have got it wrong. They feel the curriculums set by mandate will be accepted by all kids. That is mostly true of most college bound kids.
But what about kids who have unequal abilities, unequal interests and unequal motivations and at this early stage of their life have neither the means or interest in going to college? Those are the ones I feel we are leaving behind and those who often become dropouts. Curriculums have been broadened to try to keep kids in schools. Administrators do know that not all kids are college bound. So why have mandated requirements that they take college entry level courses?
Kids must be offered basic courses that kids have the skills and the interest to complete and to get passing grades. Administrators show that they do offer a diverse curriculum but if not enough kids sign up for these classes, the school can’t afford to assign a teacher.
I have long contended that school personnel have to do a better “selling” job to keep kids from becoming dropouts. Every kid has an interest in something meaningful and some type of talent. A column was devoted tin the JS a number of years ago about a dropout who made it big on Broadway of somewhere in the entertainment field. Maybe one out of 100,000; similar to high school or even college basketball stars ever making money playing as professionals. Very, very few.
Ask any kid not interested in school and over 13 years old and they can name less than half a dozen that were very successful in sports or entertainment. I have and some can’t even name more than three. The name many of them think of first is Hersey Hawkins. Wrong.
The kid and parent (yes, both) have no excuse for not being able to learn to read and write, reasonably well. That is a mandatory requirement for everyone. Starting immediately, schools must help kids develop a reasonably positive attitude, a work ethic, the ability to accept critiquing and leadership, the ability to have dialogue and communicate their feelings and needs, accept personal responsibility, be dependable, have integrity and to be clean and well groomed. With these basic attributes, I see no reason why any kid can’t become a positive contributor to society.
There are of course points of no return in school just as there are in life. When all else fails, the kid becomes a ward of society. With the help of social agencies or law enforcement agencies or other outside the school assistance, they eventually may become productive citizens of a community.
That is why society must make every effort to get kids involved in a meaningful and productively involved childhood by the time they reach fourth or fifth grade. It seems after 3rd grade, many kids fall too far behind and never catch up with their peers who have a greater realization of what it takes to make it successfully through at least 12 grades and with enough learning and preparation to lead a reasonably successful life.
You can’t force a kid to learn in any school or in life IF they have made up their minds that they do not want to. But give them plenty of opportunity to change their minds.
Many do. The rest fill our juvenile courts, jails, prisons or become welfare dependents and blaming others for the sad situations of their lives.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2007
Disrespect Revisted
Today’s JSEB “Schools should pick their battles” would have better read “Schools should halt skirmishes before they turn into battles.” School Administrators, Boards and Teachers are becoming totally confused. First, the good parents who back the schools decisions involving discipline and distractions in the classroom and on the school grounds are ignored when a student and her parent challenge the kids dress or behavior in the media. Divisive media like the Journal Star say these are just kids and wait until there is something bigger. Bigger like what? More disrespect, such as challenging the teacher when the teacher tells them to please sit down and they defy the teacher with a remark like “make me”. Yes, I saw that happen twice in my classroom visits to #150.When I asked the teachers why she didn’t send the kid to the office; their replies were that “just causes them (the teachers) more problems”. I have blogged on this sorry situation before.
Again, bigger like what? Like coming to school with a shaved head like Brittney? Getting pregnant in the fifth grade or sooner? Dressing in tight and tighter clothes showing the boys the best you have to offer because it won’t be your stresses and your common sense that will cause them to “like” you? Wearing spiked hair and T-shirts with profanity like they allow at most colleges? Read Molly Messing’s letter to the editor in today’s JS.
“60 Minutes” is often too liberal for me, (I do like Andy Rooney!) but if you watched the program on “workplace entitlements” last night you are getting a better idea of where this once great country is heading.
It is parents who challenge school rules that have caused the problems described in an article in the WSJ on 11/08/07 titled “Adult Supervision”. Excerpts: “A Colorado Springs elementary school is one of the latest to ban tag on its playground. Running will still be allowed as long as there is no chasing. The ban wasn’t the idea of overprotecting educrats—it was the result rather of children and their parents who “complained that they’d been chased or harassed against their will.” Other schools have already banned swings, merry-go-rounds, teeter-totters, sandboxes and even hugs. You read about the discipline meted out to Megan Coulter for hugging two friends goodbye for the weekend-a violation of the schools ban on “public displays of affection? That rule came about because some inconsiderate and spoiled kids were all but “making out” in the hallways so all “hugging” had to be banned.
The old saying is that “a few bad apples” ruin the basket. But we used to have common sense and remove those apples before the good apples were ruined. Today, do that and you hear from an attorney.
One California school district worried about bullying, violence, self-esteem and lawsuits” also banned tag, cops and robbers, touch football and every other activity that involved bodily contact. In some schools, free play has been replaced by organized relay races in order to protect children from spontaneous outbreaks of creativity. This makes sense to the type of parent who thinks children must at all costs be protected from the scrapes of life and the prospect of having to deal with social interaction and disappointment.
We have parents wanting everybody that shows up to an event that used to be competitive to receive a “trophy”. Worry about a hot sun? Build a canopy over playgrounds. Worry about bacteria? Scrub everything and maybe eventually wrapping everything in bubble-wrap.
My parents always said “wash your hands”. Nothing wrong with that especially today but Dad didn’t say get soap and wash off the handle of the manure shovel. He said grab the shovel and learn how to work cause you aren’t living off Mom and I when you become of age. And speaking of manure, all this over protectiveness and defiance of authority are turning this country into a country of wimps. Some day, expect this once great country to be taken over by religious radical zealots and Socialistic-Fascists similar to Bin Laden or Chavez. Pacifists are going to be in what some call d..p s..t.
They can see the fear in our eyes and read it in our psychobabble.
Most of those that did the fighting to keep this country and its inhabitants safe from tyranny were shaped by the competitiveness of this countries character. We had better pray that our enemies of the future are enemies that value non-competitive, risk-free and self-esteem building play activities for its young. I suggest that while prayer may be powerful, prayer to stop aggressors who rather you would be enslaved or dead won’t work.
Don’t blame the schools for making all the stupid rules. Almost all these stupid rules come because of complaining parents, the liberal Medias and outside pandering. Blame over-protective, disrespecting parents and divisive medias to force administrations to set rules to protect the schools and the property tax payer from the NCAAP, the ACLU, attorney’s of the same ilk and parents who often times don’t have a clue about what’s going on in their kids lives. They do know they wield great power thru the press and that some liberal newspaper and some attorneys are going to force the school leaders into submission, no matter how small the perceived slight.
This attitude of let them go, they are just kids doesn’t work anymore. When you let them go, they often don’t know how to stop. And many kids become very good at embellishing a “story” they tell or are good at outright lying.
A recent article titled “Is Goodness Really Gone” reads “Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. No one to hide behind. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law or a teacher. Imagine that!
Not everybody made the teams. Those that didn’t had to deal with disappointment. Not today, you get a trophy for maybe occasionally showing up.”
This irony came home to me recently. I competed in sports at Western but never won or earned a varsity letter. Last year I received a Varsity Letter from Western apologizing to me for not being awarded a varsity letter many, many years ago. Their belated compassion still did not get them the expected donation.
Again, bigger like what? Like coming to school with a shaved head like Brittney? Getting pregnant in the fifth grade or sooner? Dressing in tight and tighter clothes showing the boys the best you have to offer because it won’t be your stresses and your common sense that will cause them to “like” you? Wearing spiked hair and T-shirts with profanity like they allow at most colleges? Read Molly Messing’s letter to the editor in today’s JS.
“60 Minutes” is often too liberal for me, (I do like Andy Rooney!) but if you watched the program on “workplace entitlements” last night you are getting a better idea of where this once great country is heading.
It is parents who challenge school rules that have caused the problems described in an article in the WSJ on 11/08/07 titled “Adult Supervision”. Excerpts: “A Colorado Springs elementary school is one of the latest to ban tag on its playground. Running will still be allowed as long as there is no chasing. The ban wasn’t the idea of overprotecting educrats—it was the result rather of children and their parents who “complained that they’d been chased or harassed against their will.” Other schools have already banned swings, merry-go-rounds, teeter-totters, sandboxes and even hugs. You read about the discipline meted out to Megan Coulter for hugging two friends goodbye for the weekend-a violation of the schools ban on “public displays of affection? That rule came about because some inconsiderate and spoiled kids were all but “making out” in the hallways so all “hugging” had to be banned.
The old saying is that “a few bad apples” ruin the basket. But we used to have common sense and remove those apples before the good apples were ruined. Today, do that and you hear from an attorney.
One California school district worried about bullying, violence, self-esteem and lawsuits” also banned tag, cops and robbers, touch football and every other activity that involved bodily contact. In some schools, free play has been replaced by organized relay races in order to protect children from spontaneous outbreaks of creativity. This makes sense to the type of parent who thinks children must at all costs be protected from the scrapes of life and the prospect of having to deal with social interaction and disappointment.
We have parents wanting everybody that shows up to an event that used to be competitive to receive a “trophy”. Worry about a hot sun? Build a canopy over playgrounds. Worry about bacteria? Scrub everything and maybe eventually wrapping everything in bubble-wrap.
My parents always said “wash your hands”. Nothing wrong with that especially today but Dad didn’t say get soap and wash off the handle of the manure shovel. He said grab the shovel and learn how to work cause you aren’t living off Mom and I when you become of age. And speaking of manure, all this over protectiveness and defiance of authority are turning this country into a country of wimps. Some day, expect this once great country to be taken over by religious radical zealots and Socialistic-Fascists similar to Bin Laden or Chavez. Pacifists are going to be in what some call d..p s..t.
They can see the fear in our eyes and read it in our psychobabble.
Most of those that did the fighting to keep this country and its inhabitants safe from tyranny were shaped by the competitiveness of this countries character. We had better pray that our enemies of the future are enemies that value non-competitive, risk-free and self-esteem building play activities for its young. I suggest that while prayer may be powerful, prayer to stop aggressors who rather you would be enslaved or dead won’t work.
Don’t blame the schools for making all the stupid rules. Almost all these stupid rules come because of complaining parents, the liberal Medias and outside pandering. Blame over-protective, disrespecting parents and divisive medias to force administrations to set rules to protect the schools and the property tax payer from the NCAAP, the ACLU, attorney’s of the same ilk and parents who often times don’t have a clue about what’s going on in their kids lives. They do know they wield great power thru the press and that some liberal newspaper and some attorneys are going to force the school leaders into submission, no matter how small the perceived slight.
This attitude of let them go, they are just kids doesn’t work anymore. When you let them go, they often don’t know how to stop. And many kids become very good at embellishing a “story” they tell or are good at outright lying.
A recent article titled “Is Goodness Really Gone” reads “Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. No one to hide behind. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law or a teacher. Imagine that!
Not everybody made the teams. Those that didn’t had to deal with disappointment. Not today, you get a trophy for maybe occasionally showing up.”
This irony came home to me recently. I competed in sports at Western but never won or earned a varsity letter. Last year I received a Varsity Letter from Western apologizing to me for not being awarded a varsity letter many, many years ago. Their belated compassion still did not get them the expected donation.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11
Adult Kids?? Blogged in 2007
Adult Kids?
“School teacher runs off with 13 year old boy” says today’s newspapers. At least, the teacher was a woman. However some feel; no problem, lots of 12 year old boys are carrying condoms in their back packs or wallets. She’s safe. Maine is making a full range of contraception available, including birth control pills and patches to 6th graders. Condoms have been available at King Middle School in Maine since 2000. The middle schoolers who are sexually active range from 10 to 14 years old. Maine is not alone. Maine’s actions were the latest to appear in the news I read.
On 2/27/04, I clipped an article “Youths are getting sexual diseases at high rates.” This Associated Press article stated “teenagers and young adults account for nearly half of the newly diagnosed cases of sexually transmitted diseases in the U.S. though they constitute just a quarter of the sexually active population, according to the first national estimate of STDSs among young Americans.” Check with our local County Health Department. They keep statistics on those who come for advice and recommended treatment of their diseased sexual organs. And most of them are treated on the taxpayer’s dole.
Also, no big problem to some because our growing welfare society now aided by an expansion of SCHIPS will pay for the medical treatment and there is no longer any stigma involved with sexually transmitted diseases and unwed pregnancies. (Senator LaHood, I was in disagreement of your yes vote again but I know you were under pressure to not make it look like you were opposed to child health care. I agree with Bush on this one that the program moves to far up the income ladder and is written as another step toward socialized medicine that I totally oppose.) I hope for children’s’ sake this bill is being reworded so our President can sign it soon.
For those of you who support socialized health, take time to listen to some of the experiences of people coming from the north of us and some parts of old Europe..
At a #150 Peoria Middle School I was visiting, a drop-out young "teener" was proudly showing off what many in this country used to call her “bastard” baby; sorry folks, look it up in history books, to an oohing and aahing group of 11-14 year old girls in the school hallways. I faulted school policy. If the school had a child care program, which none of #150 schools have, I could have understood.
Somewhat.
On 10/19/07, the JS reported “Officer gave alcohol to 20-year-old.” Preteen kids are having sex with permission sometimes of their parent or parents or some adult but a guy gets in trouble because at a party where in the heat of all the fun, he providing a 20 year old some alcohol that she misused! The paper says she was pulled over and arrested on a DUI.
How “totally” interesting. Studies indicate that the majority of 20 year old women have had at least one sexual experience outside of marriage by the age of 20 and many of our service people are dead in action before the age of 20.
Too many mothers and “Mothers” are letting their kids dress like sluts, dressing them up like models with lipstick, stylish hairdo’s and high heels at the age of 5; in a few cases younger. The media is hung up on youth “role model” types like Spears and 200 other Hollywood types who have less space in their brains than they have between their bosoms. Too many of our George Bush types are caught up in a total abstinence delusion while too many other are saying “we know you know its “there” so here are some condoms and birth control pills. Don’t forget to use them and good luck.” And maybe throw in “happy hunting” to let kids know they understand.
The problem many adults don’t understand at all and neither do most of the kids. You can read dozens of books on the problems created by having “casual sex” and if you don’t read, you can take the experts testimony as gospel that most causal sex before marriage and sometimes after marriage has a highly negative effect on millions of people’s lives.
No wonder some schools see less and less kids playing sports and participating in activities that wear them out so they go to bed at night to sleep and rest. The kind of sports most of us kids from Congerville and Normal Community played when I was in grade and high school. Many others went home to assigned jobs and learned a work ethic. Sure, sex was on our minds. But it wasn’t constantly flaunted in our faces and our Moms and Dads made sure it stayed just there. The school was to teach us other subjects. Big difference when it is on your mind instead or elsewhere with someone; nowadays, sometimes with either sex. Now kids can forget sports, work, extra-curricular activities and parental supervision; there are lots of physical actions available in many locations for some of these high testosterone foolish misguided kids.
Young women and now young boys carrying condoms and birth control pills are sometimes going to authorities protesting sometimes weeks or years later claiming that they were raped. No, I certainly don’t condone rape when it is really a forcible act totally against the will of the “rapee” but I have always know allegations of rape and actual rape can be a fine line especially if the girl becomes pregnant or gets a problematic sexual disease. Or it dawns on her later that her or his sexually overt acts weren’t such a good idea after all.
Do I think kids and most people lie? Surely, you jest.
I also know that there are a lot of animals acting like humans beings are out there in person or on the internet and nowadays they aren’t all men. These “people” should have a fair trial and if convicted, have the lawful sentences imposed.
Wait till you see what happens when our libraries load up on hundreds of unsupervised computers. Think about it.
On 2/27/04, I clipped an article “Youths are getting sexual diseases at high rates.” This Associated Press article stated “teenagers and young adults account for nearly half of the newly diagnosed cases of sexually transmitted diseases in the U.S. though they constitute just a quarter of the sexually active population, according to the first national estimate of STDSs among young Americans.” Check with our local County Health Department. They keep statistics on those who come for advice and recommended treatment of their diseased sexual organs. And most of them are treated on the taxpayer’s dole.
Also, no big problem to some because our growing welfare society now aided by an expansion of SCHIPS will pay for the medical treatment and there is no longer any stigma involved with sexually transmitted diseases and unwed pregnancies. (Senator LaHood, I was in disagreement of your yes vote again but I know you were under pressure to not make it look like you were opposed to child health care. I agree with Bush on this one that the program moves to far up the income ladder and is written as another step toward socialized medicine that I totally oppose.) I hope for children’s’ sake this bill is being reworded so our President can sign it soon.
For those of you who support socialized health, take time to listen to some of the experiences of people coming from the north of us and some parts of old Europe..
At a #150 Peoria Middle School I was visiting, a drop-out young "teener" was proudly showing off what many in this country used to call her “bastard” baby; sorry folks, look it up in history books, to an oohing and aahing group of 11-14 year old girls in the school hallways. I faulted school policy. If the school had a child care program, which none of #150 schools have, I could have understood.
Somewhat.
On 10/19/07, the JS reported “Officer gave alcohol to 20-year-old.” Preteen kids are having sex with permission sometimes of their parent or parents or some adult but a guy gets in trouble because at a party where in the heat of all the fun, he providing a 20 year old some alcohol that she misused! The paper says she was pulled over and arrested on a DUI.
How “totally” interesting. Studies indicate that the majority of 20 year old women have had at least one sexual experience outside of marriage by the age of 20 and many of our service people are dead in action before the age of 20.
Too many mothers and “Mothers” are letting their kids dress like sluts, dressing them up like models with lipstick, stylish hairdo’s and high heels at the age of 5; in a few cases younger. The media is hung up on youth “role model” types like Spears and 200 other Hollywood types who have less space in their brains than they have between their bosoms. Too many of our George Bush types are caught up in a total abstinence delusion while too many other are saying “we know you know its “there” so here are some condoms and birth control pills. Don’t forget to use them and good luck.” And maybe throw in “happy hunting” to let kids know they understand.
The problem many adults don’t understand at all and neither do most of the kids. You can read dozens of books on the problems created by having “casual sex” and if you don’t read, you can take the experts testimony as gospel that most causal sex before marriage and sometimes after marriage has a highly negative effect on millions of people’s lives.
No wonder some schools see less and less kids playing sports and participating in activities that wear them out so they go to bed at night to sleep and rest. The kind of sports most of us kids from Congerville and Normal Community played when I was in grade and high school. Many others went home to assigned jobs and learned a work ethic. Sure, sex was on our minds. But it wasn’t constantly flaunted in our faces and our Moms and Dads made sure it stayed just there. The school was to teach us other subjects. Big difference when it is on your mind instead or elsewhere with someone; nowadays, sometimes with either sex. Now kids can forget sports, work, extra-curricular activities and parental supervision; there are lots of physical actions available in many locations for some of these high testosterone foolish misguided kids.
Young women and now young boys carrying condoms and birth control pills are sometimes going to authorities protesting sometimes weeks or years later claiming that they were raped. No, I certainly don’t condone rape when it is really a forcible act totally against the will of the “rapee” but I have always know allegations of rape and actual rape can be a fine line especially if the girl becomes pregnant or gets a problematic sexual disease. Or it dawns on her later that her or his sexually overt acts weren’t such a good idea after all.
Do I think kids and most people lie? Surely, you jest.
I also know that there are a lot of animals acting like humans beings are out there in person or on the internet and nowadays they aren’t all men. These “people” should have a fair trial and if convicted, have the lawful sentences imposed.
Wait till you see what happens when our libraries load up on hundreds of unsupervised computers. Think about it.
PPS Is a Little Behind the Times and Kids Needs - Blogged 4/30/ 2007
"Playing at Professions"
Many times I have written and said that we need to reach the modern kids thru every type of learning possibility that arouses their interest. This article printed in last week’s WSJ, describes a system that appears practical and is being practiced in many communities other than in Japan. Learning experiences similar to this are practiced in our country but none seem to be gaining in widespread appeal.
The Article says “Job theme Park for children is huge success in Japan. A theme park that focuses on some 70 careers may not sound like fun and games, but the park that can accommodate 3000 kids a day, has been a huge success since it has opened in October. Advance tickets for weekends have already been sold out thru April. Franchise parks named “Kidzania” are being sold around the world but there are no immediate plans for a park in the U.S.”
“Behind the park’s popularity is the nagging worry in Japan that many young people lack the diligent work ethic of which Japan has been so proud.” Let me interject that this is more than a nagging worry in the U.S. but we seem mainly to complain about it. “More young Japanese are dropping out of jobs, and some can’t be bothered to look for even their first job. About 640,000 single Japanese are neither at work nor in school, compared with 400,000 in 2001.”
“Kidzania doesn’t allow any parents inside. They can watch thru windows of wait in the adult’s only lounge. On a recent day, 89 sixth graders visited the park from 63 miles away as part of their career-education program. The students did research before hand, analyzing their personalities to try to figure out what jobs might suit them best. The teachers stressed the importance of preparation. Children would, otherwise tend to chose the easy jobs or jobs in which they can eat, she explained.”
Kidzania concept is universal and could be developed anywhere says Ricardo Millan of Mexico where his founding company Kidzania de Mexico, SA is located.
There are great ideas all over the world as most countries are experiencing the same problems we have her; lack of interest, lack of responsibility and lack of a work ethic. Why, because we have too many systems and leaders out of touch with reality. We have cumbersome bureaucracies making work (everybody you ask says they are very busy and I sometimes ask, doing what?) and are using outdated methods of reaching many young people, especially those who come from uneducated, undisciplined and victimization obsessed families. Not to mention some drugged out and some absolutely undependable or to be blunt, too lazy. Others are so confused they can only look at their own problems and not their young kids.
After all, didn’t just 22.4% of registered adult voters, vote in the last election? Count the thousands who never took time to get registered or those who don’t keep their registration card current as they mobile around the community or country. Yes, I said lazy, I see them everyday.
With members of the black community complaining as there is not enough for kids to do, (recent articles in the JS) they might start out by teaching them a work ethic, responsibility, listen to their good teachers and counsel them hard about not getting into drugs and theft. That’s a start. There is plenty to do in this community but our schools, churches and social services must stop being mainly welfare centers.
The Article says “Job theme Park for children is huge success in Japan. A theme park that focuses on some 70 careers may not sound like fun and games, but the park that can accommodate 3000 kids a day, has been a huge success since it has opened in October. Advance tickets for weekends have already been sold out thru April. Franchise parks named “Kidzania” are being sold around the world but there are no immediate plans for a park in the U.S.”
“Behind the park’s popularity is the nagging worry in Japan that many young people lack the diligent work ethic of which Japan has been so proud.” Let me interject that this is more than a nagging worry in the U.S. but we seem mainly to complain about it. “More young Japanese are dropping out of jobs, and some can’t be bothered to look for even their first job. About 640,000 single Japanese are neither at work nor in school, compared with 400,000 in 2001.”
“Kidzania doesn’t allow any parents inside. They can watch thru windows of wait in the adult’s only lounge. On a recent day, 89 sixth graders visited the park from 63 miles away as part of their career-education program. The students did research before hand, analyzing their personalities to try to figure out what jobs might suit them best. The teachers stressed the importance of preparation. Children would, otherwise tend to chose the easy jobs or jobs in which they can eat, she explained.”
Kidzania concept is universal and could be developed anywhere says Ricardo Millan of Mexico where his founding company Kidzania de Mexico, SA is located.
There are great ideas all over the world as most countries are experiencing the same problems we have her; lack of interest, lack of responsibility and lack of a work ethic. Why, because we have too many systems and leaders out of touch with reality. We have cumbersome bureaucracies making work (everybody you ask says they are very busy and I sometimes ask, doing what?) and are using outdated methods of reaching many young people, especially those who come from uneducated, undisciplined and victimization obsessed families. Not to mention some drugged out and some absolutely undependable or to be blunt, too lazy. Others are so confused they can only look at their own problems and not their young kids.
After all, didn’t just 22.4% of registered adult voters, vote in the last election? Count the thousands who never took time to get registered or those who don’t keep their registration card current as they mobile around the community or country. Yes, I said lazy, I see them everyday.
With members of the black community complaining as there is not enough for kids to do, (recent articles in the JS) they might start out by teaching them a work ethic, responsibility, listen to their good teachers and counsel them hard about not getting into drugs and theft. That’s a start. There is plenty to do in this community but our schools, churches and social services must stop being mainly welfare centers.
FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 20
School Time - Blogged 4/27/2007
Schools an all day affair?
“Schools may be an all day affair” is the header of an article appearing on 2/25/07 in the JS. The article points out that U.S. students average less time on instructional school hours during a year than most other industrialized countries. On the average, U.S. students go to school 6.5 hours per day, 180 days a year, fewer than in many other industrialized countries. Some Massachusetts private schools are experimenting with classes starting at 7:30 A.M. to 5 P.M. The extended day costs an average of $1200 extra per student. One model is “Knowledge is Power” program used in public charter schools.
To prevent boredom, the students’ do such things as stage musicals, design book covers, learn to cook, forensics and plan new school cheers. I’ve said over and over that schools are not all about academics and teaching to pass tests. Schools are to develop a well rounded product; some of these products who may have skills and interests far beyond what can be developed by an over-emphasis on memory and testing.
For students involved in other school extra-curricular activities; which should always be encouraged, excuses could be granted or schedules rearranged.
Even Ted Kennedy, usually in the Teachers Union back pocket, is considering allowing schools that fail to meet annual progress goals to extend their day as a possible solution. As one might expect, the National Education Association has no official opinion on extending the school day. Considering and no opinion. What would you expect of a system that promotes tenure over ability, poor teachers making the same as good teachers, and bad teachers who can do bad teaching for their entire career?
As Congress considers updating the somewhat effective NCLB law, they might observe what is really happening in other countries public school systems and why other countries are catching up with us. Also include some of the most successful programs bein run right now in this country. Some countries are surpassing us now and in the next decade, so will many more. I guarantee one area that we will surpass all other countries, if we do not change our ways, is the number per capita incarcerated in our prisons and jails. We lead now and unless we change the direction we are heading, we will not be caught.
The system, as I’ve written over and over needs an overhaul from top to bottom. Expand on the good, improve what needs improving and weed out the rest.
Along the way, forget the ideal that all kids are going to college and all have clean nails, desk jobs and soft hands. Otherwise, illegal immigration will fill the needs of businesses..
And yes, teachers who read me, I know many of you are doing your best under trying circumstances in many cases. And yes, board members and administrators, I know that many of you are doing the same.
But any of you who do not support performance pay and competition, I thank you for what you do but you are out of step with most private sectors.
A story I read recently, decried the conditions of many of the schools and the plight of many good teachers; 18,000 teachers in Los Angeles left the system recently feeling that the school systems had deteriorated so badly that they no longer wanted to teach.
I’ve heard the same thing here in Peoria and I know that in talking with High School Principals recently, our systems here in Peoria are extremely challenged and progress is slow.
Until kids who aren’t interested now, get interested in what schools have to offer, we will continue to see them dropping out at an alarming rate. To get them interested, the Peoria Public School System needs more counselors at all grade levels and all interested and involved need to do a better SELLING job to get kids to enroll and apply themselves to what is already being offered.
And by the way, new schools are absolutely not proven to increase the value of the product that new schools turn out. On the other hand, this community does not want kids in schools that hinder or impair their ability to succeed. If I recall, Abe Lincoln learned by candlelight and fireplace and my family grew up and succeeded without air-conditioning, school buses, cell phones and text messaging.
To prevent boredom, the students’ do such things as stage musicals, design book covers, learn to cook, forensics and plan new school cheers. I’ve said over and over that schools are not all about academics and teaching to pass tests. Schools are to develop a well rounded product; some of these products who may have skills and interests far beyond what can be developed by an over-emphasis on memory and testing.
For students involved in other school extra-curricular activities; which should always be encouraged, excuses could be granted or schedules rearranged.
Even Ted Kennedy, usually in the Teachers Union back pocket, is considering allowing schools that fail to meet annual progress goals to extend their day as a possible solution. As one might expect, the National Education Association has no official opinion on extending the school day. Considering and no opinion. What would you expect of a system that promotes tenure over ability, poor teachers making the same as good teachers, and bad teachers who can do bad teaching for their entire career?
As Congress considers updating the somewhat effective NCLB law, they might observe what is really happening in other countries public school systems and why other countries are catching up with us. Also include some of the most successful programs bein run right now in this country. Some countries are surpassing us now and in the next decade, so will many more. I guarantee one area that we will surpass all other countries, if we do not change our ways, is the number per capita incarcerated in our prisons and jails. We lead now and unless we change the direction we are heading, we will not be caught.
The system, as I’ve written over and over needs an overhaul from top to bottom. Expand on the good, improve what needs improving and weed out the rest.
Along the way, forget the ideal that all kids are going to college and all have clean nails, desk jobs and soft hands. Otherwise, illegal immigration will fill the needs of businesses..
And yes, teachers who read me, I know many of you are doing your best under trying circumstances in many cases. And yes, board members and administrators, I know that many of you are doing the same.
But any of you who do not support performance pay and competition, I thank you for what you do but you are out of step with most private sectors.
A story I read recently, decried the conditions of many of the schools and the plight of many good teachers; 18,000 teachers in Los Angeles left the system recently feeling that the school systems had deteriorated so badly that they no longer wanted to teach.
I’ve heard the same thing here in Peoria and I know that in talking with High School Principals recently, our systems here in Peoria are extremely challenged and progress is slow.
Until kids who aren’t interested now, get interested in what schools have to offer, we will continue to see them dropping out at an alarming rate. To get them interested, the Peoria Public School System needs more counselors at all grade levels and all interested and involved need to do a better SELLING job to get kids to enroll and apply themselves to what is already being offered.
And by the way, new schools are absolutely not proven to increase the value of the product that new schools turn out. On the other hand, this community does not want kids in schools that hinder or impair their ability to succeed. If I recall, Abe Lincoln learned by candlelight and fireplace and my family grew up and succeeded without air-conditioning, school buses, cell phones and text messaging.
SUNDAY, APRIL 15, 2007
The Education Battlegrounds Blogged 11/20/05
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2005
Education Battlegrounds
We have been hearing a lot about how government must become more “transparent”. It is time to include schools in that category. Principals and teachers should welcome visitors to their classrooms so these visitors can see first hand the difficulties and joys of teaching and administrating. I suspect, like bad government, bad or weak teachers do not want visitors. Schools must be run more like a business with the school as the retail store and the students, parents and community as their customers.
All stores that sell products (schools) must be open for the customer; (parents and community) to come in and see the product they are going to buy or are buying (what is being taught and how). These customers want to see a clean store (school), lots of products openly displayed so they can make the best choices (the curriculum), knowledge people (teachers, ect.) to assist them in meeting their needs. They want to know about your reputation in the community, how sound your ownership is (the school board) and your financial stability to guarantee your product.
There is a book recently on the market which I plan to read titled “Our School”, a vivid account of the creation and first years of a charter school in San Jose, CA. “Our School” states that most charter schools take a while to succeed. They stress the basic verities of any school; discipline, hard work, an atmosphere of community, the involvement of parents, homework loads, required classes, teaching techniques—everything was a moving target, subject to change. “Our School-Downtown College Prep was able to adapt more quickly and the biggest reason was “attitude”. Admitting mistakes is part of the culture. What is more, the teachers that work there are usually young and open to new ideas, and usually hostile to unions or anything else that gets in the way of a fresh approach to teaching. (That doesn’t mean they are all good teachers; choice schools are subject to the normal variations of human ability).
Public schools have trouble learning from their mistakes and no one wants to admit to making any—the inertia of the status quo is paralyzing. The book details how this choice school takes many of the most difficult, under performing students. They are the least likely to attend school regularly or to graduate. By taking this type of student, the financial burden to the public schools is minimal.
Many teachers in #150 are embarrassed to have visitors in their classrooms. How sad. Yet we have many good schools, principals and teachers in Peoria. Take Columbia Middle School which may be the best kept secret in Peoria. Semi-retired ex-principal Stu Regnier ran a good ship and now Ms. Cindy Lochbaum-Janovetz as Principal, is doing an outstanding job of educating these 75% low income school students. A visit a short time ago found Cindy in the hallway and students passing quietly and respectfully down the hallways. Columbia made the AYP for the first time last year. The classroom or study area where I watched through an indoor window showed every kid involved quietly. Mrs. Janovetz keeps her office door open so she can hear and see what occurs in the hallways near her office. Cindy makes sure to visit classrooms on a regular basis. She welcomes visitors and asked me if I would like to visit a class. She is the type of person this community should be proud to have working with our youth in the public school system.
Richwood High School is under the capable hands of John Meisinger who replaced Jeanne Williamson who is now area leader Dunlap’s gain and District 150 loss. In a recent visit to Richwoods, I got a number of “you can’ts” from a person behind the front office counter; not a good way to greet a customer, but John showed up with “Hi, Mr. Widmer, can I take your coat. What would you like to do”? I said “I would like to have lunch; I’ll pay for it, and then visit a math or English class”. Principal Meisinger said “sign in and I’ll take you to cafeteria, then after lunch, you’ll find me in the hallways and I’ll take you to a classroom”. After a nourishing lunch (for $2.15) and friendly service from the lady behind the lunch bar, and eating in a well monitored cafeteria, I found Mr. Meisinger in the hallways and he took me to an algebra class being taught by Ms. Julie Robinson. What an engaging and energetic teacher! She involved everyone in her classroom, capturing their attention and creating an ideal learning environment.
As I’ve said in other blogs, I sometimes visit District #150 schools, going first to the office and signing in or as at Manual where I signed in at a security desk. At Manual, I was treated with courtesy by the people in the front office, the monitors and especially the janitor who was very much interested in the success of Manual.
People who live in School District #150 have the right (and obligation) to visit any school, follow proper procedure, sit where the teacher tells them to, do not look at the students who are sometimes trying to “cut up” in class and say nothing unless the teacher asks the visitor to make a comment to the students. On my visits most teachers do ask me to make a short comment at the end of the period as did Ms. Robinson. My statements are always positive and short and I appreciate this short time spent encouraging students to succeed and recognize their achievements.
District 150 will have a great deal of difficulty in winning the battle with the community. Even with some new board members with good ideas, I do not see an overall blending. When under attack, you can not “hunker down or strike back”. Instead admit your mistakes, open up your doors; hire principals who are like “sales managers” who know how to develop good attitudes of their salespeople (teachers and staff). Under present conditions I as a customer would only do business with about half of their stores (schools). I would be very concerned about the major move they are probably going to make Monday night. As a lender, I would look for more information as to how this plan is going to help make 150 succeed. At this time, based on the limited amount of information made public, I would not lend the money (taxpayer’s dollars). I would keep my money available for a better investment which might be in more schools of choice.
I know that this blog will irritate some and they will strike back with how great Washington Gifted School is. Of course it is and so is Whittier, Columbia, Richwoods, Hines, Northmoor and other schools. That’s why I paid $3000.00 of my property taxes to support #150’s $140 million dollar budget last year. Sorry. Peoria County Jail and Juvenile system passed 18,000 arrestees thru their doors last year, mainly very young, many members of the Vice Lords, No Loves, and Disciples. Most of those arrested come from Peoria. A Manual “lead teacher” told me that “there are no gang members attending Manual High School; that they all come from the area surrounding Woodruff and Peoria High”. When I told a leading security officer what she said, he laughed. But it was a sad laugh.
Why do kids join gangs? Gang members are disciplined and made to feel part of something. Too many kids in classrooms do not feel like they are engaged or fit in. Fewer schools and larger classes are not a solution for kids that are headed for the penal system. Why does the School District that needs it most still give lip service to Vo-Tech.? At least these kids might learn how to “flush a stool” or raise a kid or even learn how to get and hold a job.
The community knows the problem but as long as we have a goodly number of successful schools (stores), some community leaders can spend their time planning enhancements and eventually building more security buildings (warehouses).
Those coming out of “warehouses” with little education, no work ethics, disrespectful and undisciplined (no, the discipline they get in incarceration will not teach them respect) and with bad attitudes; many of these newly released are and will be a rising menace to the community.
“Pay me now or pay me later” as the saying goes. $30,000 to $40,000 to incarcerate yearly. Compare that with preventative and rehabilitation costs. No comparison.
And no, we can't prevent and rehabe all who are heading toward being a liability to society. But any additional successes are an improvement over what we are accomplishing now.
All stores that sell products (schools) must be open for the customer; (parents and community) to come in and see the product they are going to buy or are buying (what is being taught and how). These customers want to see a clean store (school), lots of products openly displayed so they can make the best choices (the curriculum), knowledge people (teachers, ect.) to assist them in meeting their needs. They want to know about your reputation in the community, how sound your ownership is (the school board) and your financial stability to guarantee your product.
There is a book recently on the market which I plan to read titled “Our School”, a vivid account of the creation and first years of a charter school in San Jose, CA. “Our School” states that most charter schools take a while to succeed. They stress the basic verities of any school; discipline, hard work, an atmosphere of community, the involvement of parents, homework loads, required classes, teaching techniques—everything was a moving target, subject to change. “Our School-Downtown College Prep was able to adapt more quickly and the biggest reason was “attitude”. Admitting mistakes is part of the culture. What is more, the teachers that work there are usually young and open to new ideas, and usually hostile to unions or anything else that gets in the way of a fresh approach to teaching. (That doesn’t mean they are all good teachers; choice schools are subject to the normal variations of human ability).
Public schools have trouble learning from their mistakes and no one wants to admit to making any—the inertia of the status quo is paralyzing. The book details how this choice school takes many of the most difficult, under performing students. They are the least likely to attend school regularly or to graduate. By taking this type of student, the financial burden to the public schools is minimal.
Many teachers in #150 are embarrassed to have visitors in their classrooms. How sad. Yet we have many good schools, principals and teachers in Peoria. Take Columbia Middle School which may be the best kept secret in Peoria. Semi-retired ex-principal Stu Regnier ran a good ship and now Ms. Cindy Lochbaum-Janovetz as Principal, is doing an outstanding job of educating these 75% low income school students. A visit a short time ago found Cindy in the hallway and students passing quietly and respectfully down the hallways. Columbia made the AYP for the first time last year. The classroom or study area where I watched through an indoor window showed every kid involved quietly. Mrs. Janovetz keeps her office door open so she can hear and see what occurs in the hallways near her office. Cindy makes sure to visit classrooms on a regular basis. She welcomes visitors and asked me if I would like to visit a class. She is the type of person this community should be proud to have working with our youth in the public school system.
Richwood High School is under the capable hands of John Meisinger who replaced Jeanne Williamson who is now area leader Dunlap’s gain and District 150 loss. In a recent visit to Richwoods, I got a number of “you can’ts” from a person behind the front office counter; not a good way to greet a customer, but John showed up with “Hi, Mr. Widmer, can I take your coat. What would you like to do”? I said “I would like to have lunch; I’ll pay for it, and then visit a math or English class”. Principal Meisinger said “sign in and I’ll take you to cafeteria, then after lunch, you’ll find me in the hallways and I’ll take you to a classroom”. After a nourishing lunch (for $2.15) and friendly service from the lady behind the lunch bar, and eating in a well monitored cafeteria, I found Mr. Meisinger in the hallways and he took me to an algebra class being taught by Ms. Julie Robinson. What an engaging and energetic teacher! She involved everyone in her classroom, capturing their attention and creating an ideal learning environment.
As I’ve said in other blogs, I sometimes visit District #150 schools, going first to the office and signing in or as at Manual where I signed in at a security desk. At Manual, I was treated with courtesy by the people in the front office, the monitors and especially the janitor who was very much interested in the success of Manual.
People who live in School District #150 have the right (and obligation) to visit any school, follow proper procedure, sit where the teacher tells them to, do not look at the students who are sometimes trying to “cut up” in class and say nothing unless the teacher asks the visitor to make a comment to the students. On my visits most teachers do ask me to make a short comment at the end of the period as did Ms. Robinson. My statements are always positive and short and I appreciate this short time spent encouraging students to succeed and recognize their achievements.
District 150 will have a great deal of difficulty in winning the battle with the community. Even with some new board members with good ideas, I do not see an overall blending. When under attack, you can not “hunker down or strike back”. Instead admit your mistakes, open up your doors; hire principals who are like “sales managers” who know how to develop good attitudes of their salespeople (teachers and staff). Under present conditions I as a customer would only do business with about half of their stores (schools). I would be very concerned about the major move they are probably going to make Monday night. As a lender, I would look for more information as to how this plan is going to help make 150 succeed. At this time, based on the limited amount of information made public, I would not lend the money (taxpayer’s dollars). I would keep my money available for a better investment which might be in more schools of choice.
I know that this blog will irritate some and they will strike back with how great Washington Gifted School is. Of course it is and so is Whittier, Columbia, Richwoods, Hines, Northmoor and other schools. That’s why I paid $3000.00 of my property taxes to support #150’s $140 million dollar budget last year. Sorry. Peoria County Jail and Juvenile system passed 18,000 arrestees thru their doors last year, mainly very young, many members of the Vice Lords, No Loves, and Disciples. Most of those arrested come from Peoria. A Manual “lead teacher” told me that “there are no gang members attending Manual High School; that they all come from the area surrounding Woodruff and Peoria High”. When I told a leading security officer what she said, he laughed. But it was a sad laugh.
Why do kids join gangs? Gang members are disciplined and made to feel part of something. Too many kids in classrooms do not feel like they are engaged or fit in. Fewer schools and larger classes are not a solution for kids that are headed for the penal system. Why does the School District that needs it most still give lip service to Vo-Tech.? At least these kids might learn how to “flush a stool” or raise a kid or even learn how to get and hold a job.
The community knows the problem but as long as we have a goodly number of successful schools (stores), some community leaders can spend their time planning enhancements and eventually building more security buildings (warehouses).
Those coming out of “warehouses” with little education, no work ethics, disrespectful and undisciplined (no, the discipline they get in incarceration will not teach them respect) and with bad attitudes; many of these newly released are and will be a rising menace to the community.
“Pay me now or pay me later” as the saying goes. $30,000 to $40,000 to incarcerate yearly. Compare that with preventative and rehabilitation costs. No comparison.
And no, we can't prevent and rehabe all who are heading toward being a liability to society. But any additional successes are an improvement over what we are accomplishing now.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2005education
Tuesday, May 01, 2018
Outrageous
CIA emails to journalists don't have to be released to public, judge rules
The CIA can selectively divulge classified information to selected reporters in emails yet withhold that information from other journalists or members of the public when they seek the same information under the Freedom of Information Act, a federal judge in New York has ruled.
The decision appeared in the court record on Friday but became more widely disseminated Monday.
The ruling comes amid vigorous national debate over leaks to the media and the use of anonymous sources in covering national security news, including an ongoing FBI investigation into Russian attempts to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Judge Colleen McMahon of the Southern District of New York ruled that the CIA does not have to release parts of five emails senior CIA officials sent to journalists from the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and The Washington Post in 2012. At the time, the CIA was facing pressure over links it may have had to a Pakistani doctor who helped American forces hunt down Osama bin Laden.
The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Adam Johnson, a freelance reporter, who was represented by a first amendment lawyer in New York City, Daniel Novack.
“The Director of Central Intelligence is free to disclose classified information about CIA sources and methods selectively, if he concludes that it is necessary to do so in order to protect those intelligence sources and methods, and no court can second guess his decision,” McMahon ruled.
McMahon ruled that such communication is not part of the public domain, and that the CIA was within its rights to discuss protected information in emails to reporters of certain media outlets, just as the media outlets are protected by law when sued to divulge anonymous sources.
The ruling may lend itself to concern in some heated corners of the national debate about possible complicity between a select group of reporters and the national security establishment. But one expert said such an interpretation would be wrong.
“It might make people wonder whether the agency is planting stories or manipulating reporters in a self-serving way. I don’t think that’s what’s going on here,” said Steven Aftergood, head of the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy.
The CIA had previously released 574 pages of correspondence between its public affairs office and numerous journalists, and the lawsuit specifically asked for five emails that had been redacted in that batch.
Judge McMahon’s ruling indicated that the CIA may have sought to press the journalists not to publish classified information.
“My sense of what happens in these situations is that the reporters initiate the contact with CIA having already learned some classified information and then are coming to the agency to comment or (offer an) explanation,” Aftergood said.
The CIA sent the emails to columnist David Ignatius of The Washington Post, New York Times national security reporter Scott Shane of the New York Times and Siobhan Gorman, a former national security reporter at the Wall Street Journal.
Novack said his client had not yet decided whether to appeal.
Novack questioned why the judge did not recognize emails from the CIA’s press office to individual reporters as public records once they left the confines of the agency. But he cautioned against reading a political context into the case.
“Some of the right-wing conservative media picked up on this case … and saw some sort of evidence that, you know, that there’s some sort of collaboration between journalists and the government,” Novack said. “If you look at the journalists themselves, they are across the spectrum.”
More troubling to him, he said, were earlier emails that indicated how the CIA couched its language when it communicated with journalists.
“There’s a ton of correspondence where they’ll say ‘off the record’ or ‘not for attribution’ or variants of that,” Novack said. “The CIA is able to get its words out there into the public without the public necessarily seeing its fingerprints.”
The CIA declined to comment on the ruling.
Tim Johnson 202-383-6028, @timjohnson4
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