Don’t let President Obama’s recent stimulus to community colleges fool you. He’s using an old trick I first saw politicians and college administrators use in the 60’s when dealing with upset people.
A trick is to appoint the leadership of grassroots protests or movements to an investigative committee. The committee is then tasked to research the facts of the grievance, find a solution, and report back to the appointing authority at some distant date. The college administrators (and Bill Clinton) were masterful at picking dates that coincided with spring break or some other major holiday so no one was there to hear the results.
It kept the protesters busy and out of the way while the program they were protesting solidified itself. It also made the protesters feel like they were actually doing something.
President Obama’s “new college plan” is like that.
This week he “unveiled” a $12 billion plan to help community colleges prepare people for those new green jobs he says he is inventing. What he is really doing is keeping people busy while his 30 various Czars solidify programs that are changing this country into something that would make the founding fathers weep.
Just as a wise mother carries a coloring book when she knows there is a long car trip coming up, Obama is searching for ways to keep us busy while he drives us further into this economic mess. He’s busy so he’s given us something to do.
And besides, the unemployment rate seems smaller when you put the unemployed in school learning things they don’t need.
We don’t need community colleges to teach courses on “green” technology. We’ve already got plenty of people inventing wonderful green stuff and thousands more studying to create more.
People who went to work in textile mills didn’t have to go to community college first to know that there was a cloth making industry. Auto workers didn’t start off studying assembly lines or emissions systems. Most of the jobs we are losing are jobs where the industry itself taught interested workers how to operate the press or loom and then counted on them to do so responsibly. The wind generator industry will do the same thing.
So when Mr. Obama sends the released workers of GM off to community college under a bevy of taxpayer provided scholarships remember that he is just keeping them busy until he thinks of something else.
Those now unemployed people were intelligent enough to take learning skills taught in high school, learn various manufacturing skills, and be productive. They recognized the importance of responsibility and following instructions. It was GM who taught them how to use the machines and build cars, not school. Neither will community college teach them to run wind generators or build solar panels.
We don’t need to teach people about the industry to get them to work there, we need to put an ad in the papers saying, “Wanted – workers to build _____ . Must be physically capable and willing to learn new skills.”
The $12 Billion Mr. Obama has promised the community colleges would be better spent lowering taxes on industries that create jobs than on giving the unemployed busy work.
Your time would be better spent writing your federal, state and local representatives about all the things that concern you. Agree with you or not, they tally your opinions and know that people who write also vote.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Read a good book--or a bad one!
Make the most of the summer for you and your kids. Read a good book…or a bad one.
Every school knows what the kids will read next year, ask them for a list. Read those books now so you can be ready for your kids’ questions or be able to initiate intelligent discussions with them at the dinner table in the fall.
If the school stonewalls you with “The teachers are all gone” or “we don’t have that list” check their website on line. You might get lucky. If that fails ask if you could have the admin staff forward an e-mail to a language arts teacher for you. (They won’t give out addresses or phone numbers for reasonable privacy issues.) If that fails try a friend whose kids are older than yours and find out what they read. If THAT fails, try the PTA president for some contacts. If all else fails…try the obvious: ask your kids if they know. They are probably dreading a couple books. (Everybody HATES Dickens – but Tale of Two Cities has so much Christian imagery, that it ought to be taught in Sunday School).
Though the elementary reading lists have their issues (Two Daddies…etc.) the high schools have some real land mines. Pay particular attention to foreign and ethnic authors. Some are naturally wonderful in prose and message but others can be quite negative and coarse. You don’t want to be surprised in mid-semester with a book you feel is inappropriate when you could have quietly found a replacement book before school started (making both your student and the teacher happier).
Some books the schools teach were selected to match requirements like those for the International Baccalaureate. Capitol High here in Olympia, for instance, teaches The Death of Artimio Cruz, by Carlos Fuentes and The Stranger by Albert Camus to satisfy IB requirements. The former is highly objectionable to most Christian readers for its crudeness and sensuality. They both are dramatically negative and dark for the sake of being dark. As a teacher, I participated in student/parent protests against both.
There are alternatives. Try Night Flight by Antoine de Saint Exupery, Don Quixote by Cervantes, or Cyrano de Bergerac by Rostand. Even Hemingway’s work qualifies for some IB requirements (if memory serves – “translated from a foreign language or in English by an author immersed in a foreign culture.)” Try The Sun Also Rises or For Whom the Bell Tolls which meet the locale and theme needs of IB.
Even books like the rightfully acclaimed To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) should be read so you can add to the classroom discussions. Most teachers, from fear or ignorance, for instance, fail to note the repeated Christ image (character sacrificing for the lives of others) in that book. They tend to emphasize the civil rights issue of the story and miss the Pulitzer Prize winning quality of the symbolism. (Hint: ask yourself as you read, “Who is the Mockingbird?)"
Many schools teach One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest which can also be crude in spite of its Christ images. (Note the main character’s initials and how many people he ultimately dies for).
Ethnic literature is all the rage now as we try to become more diverse and celebrate various cultures. That certainly has its place. I love sushi and enchiladas more than the next guy but in a true melting pot we choose what we like from the stew and let the rest fall away. I don’t eat blowfish soup or snails and neither do I embrace all that modern ethnic literature has to offer.
Whereas earlier offerings were often artful like Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, or the poetry of Langston Hughes, the post-death of Kennedy and King literature tends to be more angry, crude, and destructive. A mere description of ghetto life or ethnic injustice does not make a novel worth reading and tends to give teachers a chance to blame Americans for having crushed the African spirit for 200 years. (They inevitably fail to note that 90 percent of the slaves brought from Africa were sold by Spanish and Portuguese traders to Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Central and South America).
Watch out for themes that justify suicide, drugs, gangs, or sex as natural acceptable responses to oppression. Grit your teeth for the language as well.
Schools teach a lot of fun stuff as well. A lot of what you read is just good lit. A Separate Peace, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and Shakespeare are all great lit. (Twain is wasted on kids. Adults recognize the irony and foibles of youth much better than youth itself). Don’t forget the short story collections either if you can get them.
So, no mindless beach books for you this summer. If you want to win the battle of influence you must work as hard as those who want your children’s minds. Just as you spend time each day with God, spend time each day for your kids. Read a good book before they do. Read a bad book so they don’t have to.
Every school knows what the kids will read next year, ask them for a list. Read those books now so you can be ready for your kids’ questions or be able to initiate intelligent discussions with them at the dinner table in the fall.
If the school stonewalls you with “The teachers are all gone” or “we don’t have that list” check their website on line. You might get lucky. If that fails ask if you could have the admin staff forward an e-mail to a language arts teacher for you. (They won’t give out addresses or phone numbers for reasonable privacy issues.) If that fails try a friend whose kids are older than yours and find out what they read. If THAT fails, try the PTA president for some contacts. If all else fails…try the obvious: ask your kids if they know. They are probably dreading a couple books. (Everybody HATES Dickens – but Tale of Two Cities has so much Christian imagery, that it ought to be taught in Sunday School).
Though the elementary reading lists have their issues (Two Daddies…etc.) the high schools have some real land mines. Pay particular attention to foreign and ethnic authors. Some are naturally wonderful in prose and message but others can be quite negative and coarse. You don’t want to be surprised in mid-semester with a book you feel is inappropriate when you could have quietly found a replacement book before school started (making both your student and the teacher happier).
Some books the schools teach were selected to match requirements like those for the International Baccalaureate. Capitol High here in Olympia, for instance, teaches The Death of Artimio Cruz, by Carlos Fuentes and The Stranger by Albert Camus to satisfy IB requirements. The former is highly objectionable to most Christian readers for its crudeness and sensuality. They both are dramatically negative and dark for the sake of being dark. As a teacher, I participated in student/parent protests against both.
There are alternatives. Try Night Flight by Antoine de Saint Exupery, Don Quixote by Cervantes, or Cyrano de Bergerac by Rostand. Even Hemingway’s work qualifies for some IB requirements (if memory serves – “translated from a foreign language or in English by an author immersed in a foreign culture.)” Try The Sun Also Rises or For Whom the Bell Tolls which meet the locale and theme needs of IB.
Even books like the rightfully acclaimed To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) should be read so you can add to the classroom discussions. Most teachers, from fear or ignorance, for instance, fail to note the repeated Christ image (character sacrificing for the lives of others) in that book. They tend to emphasize the civil rights issue of the story and miss the Pulitzer Prize winning quality of the symbolism. (Hint: ask yourself as you read, “Who is the Mockingbird?)"
Many schools teach One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest which can also be crude in spite of its Christ images. (Note the main character’s initials and how many people he ultimately dies for).
Ethnic literature is all the rage now as we try to become more diverse and celebrate various cultures. That certainly has its place. I love sushi and enchiladas more than the next guy but in a true melting pot we choose what we like from the stew and let the rest fall away. I don’t eat blowfish soup or snails and neither do I embrace all that modern ethnic literature has to offer.
Whereas earlier offerings were often artful like Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, or the poetry of Langston Hughes, the post-death of Kennedy and King literature tends to be more angry, crude, and destructive. A mere description of ghetto life or ethnic injustice does not make a novel worth reading and tends to give teachers a chance to blame Americans for having crushed the African spirit for 200 years. (They inevitably fail to note that 90 percent of the slaves brought from Africa were sold by Spanish and Portuguese traders to Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Central and South America).
Watch out for themes that justify suicide, drugs, gangs, or sex as natural acceptable responses to oppression. Grit your teeth for the language as well.
Schools teach a lot of fun stuff as well. A lot of what you read is just good lit. A Separate Peace, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and Shakespeare are all great lit. (Twain is wasted on kids. Adults recognize the irony and foibles of youth much better than youth itself). Don’t forget the short story collections either if you can get them.
So, no mindless beach books for you this summer. If you want to win the battle of influence you must work as hard as those who want your children’s minds. Just as you spend time each day with God, spend time each day for your kids. Read a good book before they do. Read a bad book so they don’t have to.
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