All is well!

All is well in public education if you visit your state education department’s propaganda web page or the U.S. Department of Education’s propaganda page. So many nice things are happening that reality won’t trample over their fiction as they proclaim “All is well!” Yeah right.



Looking at the Texas 8th grade social studies TAKS scores from 2009 will tell you all is not well. The subject that is a bed rock of teaching democracy, individual responsibility, and patriotism has a little secret. The secret is that in order to pass the 8th grade TAKS test, the state criterion referenced test that is supposed to validate mastery of 8th grade learning objectives for U.S. History up until reconstruction, a student only needs to answer 25 of 48 questions correctly or score a 52%. No wonder Texans have forgotten their heritage and parade into the arms of socialism.

But this information led an inquiring mind down another path. I am quite frankly sick of hearing about the various STEM initiatives throughout this country. STEM is science, technology, engineering and math. The initiatives are promoted by the federal and state governments, along with the do-gooder filthy rich guilty conscience foundations, such as; the Gates Foundation, who focus on command economy driven initiatives formulated by captains of big business and government in order to evolve the people into what they think they need to be prosperous. Don’t try to rationalize that this is any different than the Soviet’s old plans or red China’s, or any other totalitarian state’s plan to command the economy by controlling what people study in order to satisfy those in power. The only difference right now is that people who don’t agree with this policy aren’t disappearing, but their voices disappear in the silence. It is also another reason to spend billions of dollars more under a new category, thus confusing everyone with acronym soup and smoke screens. Accountability to reality is absent.

One indicator of STEM success or public education’s success in general would be some math test scores. In Texas a new end-of-course exam for Algebra I required a 62% to pass in 2009. And the older Math Exit Level Test for high school required a 57% score to pass. But you also could be labeled college ready by the state if you scored a 72%. Wow, Johnny’s ready for college with that big score! And Susie is labeled an emerging mathematician with a score of 89%. I bet with an 89% she’ll win the Nobel Peace Prize in mathematics, or some dubious other category like Gore and Obama. Beyond my sarcasm, the point should be clear that as long as people depend on government, now engulfed in the luxury of egalitarianism, to set personal standards for education, mediocrity will prevail for all.

Parents, be sure that you are in command of your child’s educational experience and expectations. When you read that a school has received a certain rating, remember that the rating is based upon the number of students PASSING, and you should ask; “What was the score required to pass?” Also, don’t forget to ask about the score required for Johnny and Susie to receive those accolades because it may not be such a big deal after all. All won’t be well if you don’t.

Co-Teach, Why?

Co-teaching has gained favor in many school districts as a means of mainstreaming special education (sped) students by placing them in the classroom with students without disabilities. Special education students are typically students who have a learning disability, a behavioral disability, or a combination of the two. Historically, many of these students were placed with like students on a separate campus, in a teaching lab classroom, or in the case of behavioral disabilities, a self-contained classroom so they could be provided with strict structure and prevented from disrupting a regular classroom environment.

Districts are required to abide by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and part of the act requires special education students to be placed in a least restrictive environment (LRE). The LRE means different things to different people, but the determination is made by a committee that creates the student's Individual Educational Plan (IEP). Non-educators probably find this very confusing, and it is. Teachers find it confusing because districts services vary according to the dominant education philosophy. Not surprisingly this philosophy is influenced by expense and politics.

According to an alert issued by the Division for Learning Disabilities (DLD) of the Council for Exceptional Children co-teaching does not have the scientific research to support its continued implementation and expansion. There are 5 basic models of co-teaching and I’d like to focus on one that I am personally familiar with: Team Teaching. Team Teaching consists of two full salaried teachers; in San Antonio, Texas that can amount to $130,000 in payroll, who are supposed to share instructional responsibilities in a classroom that has less than 50% special education students. Therefore, a class may have 14 sped. students and 15 regular students. To make matters more complicated, the class may have a combination of sped students, regular students, advanced students, and gifted & talented (GT) students combined. There is a plethora of research to support homogeneous grouping of students and common sense would dictate that placing a genius with a low iq student won’t bode well for either student, but with little research on co-teaching in general, there is also little research about the negative effects of the aforementioned scenario on the genius or GT student, not to mention the advanced student. It’s as though they don’t matter. Worse yet, parents are uninformed of this scenario.

Even without the research, the idea of co-teaching defies logic. For instance, a teacher is required to show a minimum competency in mathematics in order to receive certification in math. There has been a lot of concern about having uncertified teachers teach. The co-teacher in a math class usually is a sped. certified teacher, NOT math certified. Why would a non-certified math teacher be expected to teach a math class? This is accomplished because the teacher of record is certified, but true co-teaching requires both teachers to assume equal responsibility for instruction. Consequently, the teachers figure it out real quickly that one has greater competency and the co-teach model digresses to one teacher teaching and the other assisting, and this is a very expensive teaching assistant. Is this effective use of education resources or a top down driven policy based upon other motivation besides the reality of outcomes? Can districts hope this to work like some Kantian scheme where the intention is more worthy than the result?

Parents need to ask tough questions of school leaders about co-teaching; especially, parents of advanced and GT students. Some districts offer advanced classes for students and those students won’t be in a co-teach situation, they will remain in a homogeneous group. However, not all districts offer this for all classes. Your child may be in GT or advanced math, but also in a regular science class with dispersion of aptitude, learning, and behavioral disabilities. Why would any parent agree to this scheme? Maybe it’s just a well kept secret.

The Crucifixion of Duncan Greenberg

Forbes.com posted Duncan Greenberg’s article entitled: “A Recipe for Riches” and I’m waiting for his crucifixion by the education establishment in America. Duncan analyzed characteristics of 400 billionaires and reported his admittedly unscientific results. His number one finding was:

“First, a significant percentage of them had parents with a high aptitude for math. The ability to crunch numbers is crucial to becoming a billionaire, and mathematical prowess is hereditary. Some of the most common professions among the parents of Forbes 400 members (for whom we could find the information) were engineer, accountant and small-business owner.”

Mathematical prowess is hereditary? How dare he mention this! Although his research was unscientific, hereditary aptitude is backed by noted researchers; such as, Jensen, Gottfredson, and all the way back to Galton who coined the phrase nature versus nurture. Since Duncan is a business writer maybe he will get a stay of crucifixion for speaking about a topic that is commonly accepted among many people, but vehemently denied by the education establishment and the social justice mongers. Maybe Duncan will be scheduled to pay for reeducation by taking a college educational leadership course where post-modernism can be inculcated in his lexicon, and he can become a more sensitive individual. Or maybe he’s telling it the way it is, and the deniers need to have their thinking liberated into reality; and maybe then the education establishment can truly help children discover their strengths, not focus on weakness, and allow all people to keep more of their hard earned money.

A recent news flash has brought to my attention that Duncan will have to drink hemlock, but I believe he will be better served if his spirit is destroyed in some unique way so that we get a differentiated message.

Health Care & Education: Birds of a Feather

Hearing the constant banter of the health care debate is reminiscent of discussions engaged in during my younger years. This is a simple liberty issue. You have a right to health care which means that you can pursue it on your own account, but to pervert the definition of a right to mean that it is ethical for another to have the right to forcibly extract the fruits of your labor is abhorrent. Health care and education have much in common at the macroeconomic level. Being that about 25% of the American population have college degrees, and most of our leaders do; I’m perplexed by their inability to understand Economics 101. Our leaders from the most prestigious universities appear to be the most screwed up in their thinking; however, noted author of Propaganda, Ellul; argued that those with the greatest education are the easiest to manipulate through propaganda. He must be right based upon what I see.

Both health care and education costs are outpacing inflation because of government subsidies. The government subsidizes students’ education at all levels and health care is subsidized by the government through a variety of welfare programs. When the government causes the price of a good or service to be cheaper than its fair market price, people will demand more of it- Economics 101. This is why parents demand and politicians advocate an endless number of courses for students because you cannot get enough education- right! This is why the elderly are upset at Obama because they want their cake and eat it too. They want a great system but also want someone else to pay for it, and since they don’t pay why not demand more? How dare Obama consider any form of rationing! How about this dare; people pay for their education and health care and start to wean people from government dependence. People would even save a few dollars and have freedom of choice. Do I live in America; land of the free, home of the brave? Makes me wonder if my teachers lied to me.

Duncan's Race

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has 4 billion dollars at his disposal to offer states who want to join the Race to the Top competition for education reform. What’s new? Duncan can call it whatever he wants, but what he has is 4 billion dollars that was taken from taxpayers in the various states or secured by indebtedness, and is now under the control of the education czar to redistribute to those states that due his bidding. The arrogance displayed by Duncan and the DOE to dictate that they know better how to improve education over the states and localities is pathetic. Duncan’s comment: “A low-income, middle class student in San Antonio should not be held to a lower standard in algebra than a student in Shaker Heights or a student in Shanghai,” may resonate with the hope crowd, but these platitudes are hollow where reality occurs. Did Duncan mean low-income and middle class students or did the DOE create a whole new tracking category called low-income, middle class? Is a new sub-population created for NCLB accountability? Probably not, but it shows either misplaced words or his misunderstanding of SES groupings. Additionally, it shows his ignorance of variation in student’s learning abilities. Sure, low and middle income students can learn algebra at a specific standard, but not all. Just the same as upper income children can learn algebra, but not necessarily at the same standard. So this begs the question; what is the standard, and does he really believe that all students can learn algebra at the same “high” standard?

Come on Duncan, this is the same regurgitated mantra that we hear all the time. How about letting the states keep their money to run schools and treat students as individuals; instead of, the federal government violating the 9th and 10th amendments and treating students like an automobile on the production line?

Something's Wrong Here

This is an example of what has happened to society. The children in this video are delinquents, but their mothers want to find blame with those who are in charge of keeping the peace. This is similar to behavior that I’ve seen in my career in education; where by, delinquents steal educational opportunities from others because of their disruptions, and everyone; not just their parents, make excuses for them. The damage is done- never mind the excuses. What’s pathetic is that these people vote to shape public policy.

World Cup Hope

Brazil beat the U.S. soccer team yesterday in a FIFA final, but it was the first time in history that team U.S.A. has made it to a FIFA final. Wow! But what lessons does this game and team U.S.A. have for education, or better yet, the state of the American mentality? I like to think that I’m balanced about sports in general. I cheer a good game, admire hard work, and cherish those memorable moments. However, I don’t live life vicariously through professional sports or youth sports as I’ve seen too many do in my life time.

Brazil has a GDP of $1.99 trillion and a per capita GDP of $10,100. The United States has a $14.9 trillion GDP and a $47,000 per capita GDP. How does Brazil, a third world country, successfully defeat the U.S.? Some would argue that Brazil is a seasoned organization, and that soccer in Brazil is a national sport. I’ve heard these types of excuses from U.S. soccer apologists for 20 plus years. When the Russians launched Sputnik, the U.S. spent a lot of money and made it to the moon. The U.S. spends billions on all levels of soccer and scores of time. Think about the leagues, coaches, public schools, and palatial athletic facilities that line the landscape; but no moon landing yet, or in soccer the equivalent World Cup. I remember reading about the Brazilian national soccer hero Pele. No big spending on this kid to make it; just a love for the sport, hard work, and natural talent. Have you noticed with the exception of football, which enjoys American and Canadian exclusivity; other sports are starting to be dominated by foreign players? It appears that the U.S. likes to spend a lot of money on many different things to hopefully find success, but Americans often forget about love, hard work, and natural talent. Whether it’s on the soccer field, in the classroom, or on the production line, the same public formula is used: More inputs equal more outputs. This is an antiquated model, but simple to understand. It’s an easy model; especially, when the money input is stolen from other people as is the case of public spending. Yes, lovers of democracy, you steal other people’s money, resources, quality of life in order to fulfill your hopeful dreams. Label it majority vote, but call it what it really is: Theft by the majority. Maybe the social studies curriculum should emphasize this reality; instead of, the infallibility of democracy. Since students don’t study the fall of Athenian and Roman democracy with any rigor, they remain in the dark. Maybe reasons for limited government, or the idea that government has been responsible for death and destruction escapes those who hope it solves all problems; especially, those of inequality.

Americans’ mentality is strong on hope, and we love to spend money on it. Hope is easy. Who can’t be hopeful? Title I spending and NCLB come to mind. I hope one day that we will cure disease, end wars, live in peace, and I hope that people will be responsible for their actions. Again money seems to fuel hope in America. If a kid isn’t doing well in a sport, parents pay $35 an hour for additional coaching to see marginal, if any, improvement. Americans don’t take the fact well that the kid just doesn’t have it to be a major league baseball player or World Cup soccer player. Just like not all students have a love for learning, discipline, and natural talent to attend college without diluting the curricula and standards. I remember all of the parents whose high school baseball players that I coached were insistent that Johnny was going to get a college scholarship or get drafted by MLB. This wasn’t audacious hope, but a psychotic disconnect from reality. But I had to listen, and deal with the outrageous behavior from parents when circumstances started to bring reality to light. Let’s hope that the current economy will get better by spending trillions of dollars. Let’s hope that bad people will be nice without taking measures to be strong against evil. Let’s hope that children will drop the video games, iPods, and junk food to practice, participate in pick-up games, and work hard to be better athletes and learn something about life along the way. Let’s hope that team U.S.A. will win a World Cup one day.