Will Someone Please Take the Mike Away from Daniel Scott Goeb?

As I age and reflect on Texas politics, especially those laws and policies related to public education, I never cease to be amazed at the elected officials we choose to allow to shape the future of so many children. There should not be a more important committee assignment than the education committee of both the House and the Senate. But alas, politics being what they are, folks get assigned to these committees as a result of their bias, their party and their opinions, not their knowledge or experience or background. Hence, we are always at risk of policy via demagoguery. We are in such a risky place right now.


You may not know Mr. Goeb. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1950 where he grew up in a blue collar neighborhood. He was an only child of a man who worked for the Baltimore Sun for 31 years. I do not know where he went to high school, but I would bet he went to a public school. After high school he went to the University of Maryland where he achieved a degree in English, and was the first member of his family to earn a college degree. He was married, then divorced, then married his current wife in 1976. First job on record was in 1977, which says to me either college or high school took longer than usual, or he was working his way through school, or his early employment is unknown. That job was working in Scranton, Pennsylvania as a TV broadcaster. He did the same gig in Washington DC, and then moved to Houston as a sports broadcaster. At about that time he officially changed his name.

Mr. Goeb loves the mike and the camera, and has made a small fortune as a result of that romance. He bought his own radio station and started his own talk show. It is for that talk show that most Texans first knew him. The talk show was very conservative, which is bizarre considering his background of blue collar neighborhoods, divorce, name changes, etc. But, he is a conservative. Very much so. He founded the TEA party caucus in the Texas Senate. The really nice thing about being a talk show host is that you really do not have to know anything; you must just be glib with your opinions on everything. Meet Mr. Goeb.

Mr. Goeb is now chair of the education committee in the Texas Senate. He is pro-charter schools, pro-vouchers, pro all conservative causes. He has absolutely no background in any of these areas. His entire resume prior to the Senate is in front of camera or just a microphone. He is now shaping Texas Education policy from a position of belief, not fact or reason. He is articulate, the camera loves him and his ability to posture before an audience is truly gifted. But his arguments are shallow and not at all in favor of public education, though he seeks every microphone he can find to espouse his opinions.  Asking Mr. Goeb to draft educational policy is akin to asking an atheist to pick the next Pope.

Will someone please take the microphone away from Mr. Goeb? He is dangerous when it comes to education.

He is now known as Senator Dan Patrick.

Happy Anniversary to Me and You

This is the third anniversary of this blog.  That is a long time.  I am thrilled by the numbers of folks who check in to read my posts, the comments, the feedback.  Thank you.

As long as I am able, I shall post my thoughts on the topics prescribed.  I have not been boiled in oil, yet.  That gives me hope for the future of this country.

I received a tweet yesterday that really touched me and help summarize at least some of my beliefs:  "If you do not want your tax dollars to go to help the poor and needy, then stop saying you want a government run on Christian values."

Amen.

What Do You Expect?

I went to see “Die Hard” with an octogenarian friend yesterday. I was terribly disappointed. Turned out it was a Bruce Willis action movie. I had been told it was a risqué movie set in an old folks’ home where the male residents fatally overdosed on Viagra much to the pleasure of the female residents. My expectations were not met, and I found the movie boring compared to what it could have been. No one else in the theatre seemed bored. They were on the edge of their seats. But they did not have the expectation I had. They came to see stuff explode, people get beat up, and Officer McClain escape from situations that defied the odds. Ho Hum. I lived through the Depression, World War II and the Korean War and such Hollywood special effects mean little to me.


The issue is expectations. We feel joy when our expectations are met or exceeded and disappointment when they are not. Settings in which we are consistently disappointed are not where we want to be. Hence, if I have two bad experiences at new restaurant, I am done. If I have years of positive experiences at a restaurant and then have a bad experience, I am likely to come back and try them again.

So, let’s look at this from a 16 year-old point of view. I am a 16 year-old boy, I have access to my family car and several 16 year-old females. I have a computer. I have a smart phone. And I have an X-box connected to my TV. I have instant communication with all my friends, I can surf the web, and I can play exotic, erotic, visually stimulating games on my TV, and I can watch blu ray movies in HD. I live in a world of digital connections, instant answers to every question, and amazing digital entertainment. I unplug, power down and go to school.

There I find one adult female standing in front of a group of other 16 year olds telling me stuff that came out of a book. A book for Hector’s sake! No pictures, no click here for more info, a bound piece of dead paper that will be just the same tomorrow as it was today. The teacher expects me to sit quietly and listen. She does not want me to interact with my peers. She does not want me to go on-line to gather information about the topic of the day. She wants me to absorb. She would rather me be a sponge than a person. I barely survive the boredom until the bell rings, I quickly power-up and catch up with the real world, then power-down to go to another room with another adult female who expects the same thing of me as the first adult female, except this one is talking about another subject. Subjects? What is that all about? The world is connected, not subdivided into little knowledge compartments. Issues flow across social science, science, math and the written or texted word all the time. This deconstruction must be for the adults because it makes no sense to me.

And I do not get this notion of cheating at all. If I do not know an answer and the teacher tells me that is not cheating. If I do not know an answer and I look it up on my smart phone that is cheating. How do you figure that? Isn’t all learning cheating and then remembering the answer? OK, sometimes I figure out the answer by myself, but I use technology when I do that. Why must I perform individually based only on my own memory when no one does that in the real world? There is just too much to know. But I have a gizmo in my pocket that knows everything!

I am bored and I do not want to be here. I do my time, and then escape to a real world, an exciting world of friends and information on the digital highway. I am having fun until I power-down again tomorrow and go back to school. I am a 16 year-old boy.

No wonder kids do not want to go to school. We are way behind them in technology, way behind them in the speed of information processing and discovery. Way behind them in the ability to multi-learn, not multi-task, but from a given digital page learn a host of information by following links, clicking buttons, etc. No textbook can compete. No teacher can compete. We are boring and our information is static. No kid expects to come to school and learn in ways that are exciting, vibrant, flexible, digital, and interactive. They expect to be bored. They get what they expect. They become problems for teachers who sit in the lounge and wring their hands about today’s youth. This hand wringing is more severe than in the past because today’s youth know more than teachers do and they know how to learn faster than teachers can spit it out. The best a teacher can do is slow them down long enough to listen. They are probably pocket texting while it appears they are paying attention.

Die Hard was not what I expected it to be. School has become what kids expect it to be: a mandatory structure where they are at the mercy of adults who don’t get it and will not allow the kids to get it. If we keep the confirmation of this expectation going much longer we will not have any real learners at school, just compliant kids. Time to rethink how we teach and how kids learn. Forcing them into the model we experienced will not work. Let’s surprise our kids and make school interesting, stimulating, interactive, self-learning, collaborative learning citadels of digital excitement! That would be so cool.

Yippee Ki Yay.

School Boarding

I journeyed to the neighborhood theatre with another octogenarian to see Zero Dark Thirty. We created quite a site: two little old white-haired ladies in a suspense and action packed movie where most of our fellow attendees where quite young and dressed in camo. I found it to be an excellent movie, though some scenes made me squirm. I hated the torture scenes, and though my patriotic heart was proud at the end, I did not like seeing the violence. Guess I am getting old. Older.

If you have not seen the movie I recommend it. If you have not seen the movie then the following includes some spoilers.

The scenes where we saw water boarding of prisoners to gain information were especially hard for me to take. I know these were enemy combatants of the US. I know we had to get information. I am appalled that we used violence to extract information from those who commit violence. The inherent cognitive dissonance resonates with me even today. I wonder at the times we have resorted to such strategies with other human beings what makes our cause more noble, more just, and promotes the US as a superior culture for the rest of the world to emulate? Are we the good guys if we practice the same strategies as the bad guys? I took away several messages from those scenes: The ends justified the means; under torture truth will be told; and place someone in enough pain and they will do what you want them to do.

I found it fascinating that in the pursuit of killing Osama Bin Laden that we were in no way lacking resources. The men, machines and technology necessary to accomplish the mission were all provided. These men were supported by a large group external to the mission who very much wanted the men to be successful and accomplish their mission. Interesting. Especially when I think about what we are doing to public schools.

Public school people are being tortured. Admittedly it is more psychological torture than physical torture, but it is torture none the less.

The so called school reformers are doing the following to public schools: they are constantly raising measurable standards while promoting both a decrease in resources and redirection of resources to other forms of education. They are constantly seeking new ways to demonstrate that we are failing to achieve our mission and rather than promote and support they punish and belittle. They have placed every public school person in a double bind: Do more with less while being held accountable for ever rising standards. That is organizational torture, and it is being committed by our elected officials against public schools.

Every time you hear we have failed, that is part of the torture. Every time you hear that we do not need more resources, that is part of the torture. Every time you hear that teachers should be held accountable for the test scores of children, that is part of the torture. Every time you hear we need to raise standards and make the tests more difficult that is part of the torture. Every time you hear that what we need is more choice and the solution is to divert scarce resources to alternatives like charters and vouchers, that is part of the torture. We are being drowned by ever new accountability measures, expectations, standards at the same time our resources to accomplish those things are being reduced. We are blamed and belittled. We are cast as the enemy of student learning, not the dedicated professionals in pursuit of a lofty and noble goal.

School people are flat on their backs while the government pours more and more down our throats. This is not water boarding. This is school boarding. And it has to stop.

One wonders what the goal of this torture is. Do legislatures want us all to quit? Do legislators want data to show we failed? Do legislatures want to beat us into some kind of submission, and what would that submission look like? Or, is the real mission of school reform to end the notion of public education in the US? Is their mission to provide an educational system for the haves and forget the have-nots?

Zero Dark Thirty portrayed a mission accomplished via a vast array of human and technological resources devoted to the mission. State and federal legislatures, even the Secretary of Education and the Commissioner of Education in Texas, are contributing to the torture of public schools by doing just the opposite. If you want schools to do better and accomplish their mission then provide more resources, support the folks who are working hard every day to accomplish the mission. It is hard to imagine asking Seal Team 6 to accomplish this mission if they were constantly told they are worthless, incompetent and that they must accomplish the mission on their own with ever decreasing resources, or tell them that we are redirecting some of their resources to private military groups to give them a sense of competition. We cannot blame the people in the field, we must support them. We cannot reduce resources we must increase them. We cannot make our heroes the bad guys.

Stop the School Boarding!

News Weak

I decided to share my take on the news of this past week. I suspect it may be different than what you are hearing at the water cooler.

I am amazed that the armed services will now allow women in combat roles. They will not allow them on the Joint Chiefs, but in combat. I am amazed because this is too long coming, in fact it never should have been there in the first place as it is a vestige of the old women must be protected because they are weaker and child bearer mentality. But now women can get shot and IED’d. Theory has always been if women went to war we would never have war. But that is a vestige of old thinking too. Gals, we are going to have to decide if we really want equality. I think so. But that means real equality: battlefront, open your own door, get cut off in lines, stand up on subways, and get punched in the nose by a man if you offend him. (I know some women right now who are at real risk of having their faces reconstructed by fists if we go totally equal. Guess we will have to man-up.) On the other hand, we can hardly argue for a fair shake in employment practices, leave, salary, etc., and argue against equality. This will be interesting.

Lance did performance enhancing drugs. So? In a world where competition means more than morality we should never be surprised at what some are willing to do to win.

Te’o faked his girlfriend and his heartbreak. So? In a world where gaining attention and support is paramount we should never be surprised at what some are willing to do to gain such attention.

Stock market hits 15,000 for first time since 2007. Hurray, but no big deal. The recovery continues despite those who say it is not. The very ones who say we are not recovering continue to insist on policies that caused the collapse in the first place. Grow up GOP and let Obama do what he has to do.

Sarah Palin leaves Fox News. So? If you watch this conservative op ed station calling itself “news” then maybe you care. Amazingly in the world of the right wing, if you do not totally agree with me you are wrong. Sounds like Islamic extremists to me.

Super Bowl hype has begun. There are commercials advertising Super Bowl commercials. Really? Again I am amazed. The most watched show in America is the ultimate clash of two sets of overpaid boys who will battle in a medieval game of conquering land, vestal virgins, trumpets announcing their arrival on the field, and serious and life-long injury. I admit I do not get it. I like football and will probably watch the game. But it is such a sad commentary on our culture that this is our main event. Why not Celtic Woman on PBS? Such a show will amaze you, inspire you, and warm the cockles of your heart. Super Bowl inspires blood lust, blood and lust. And once again it is a competition, structured so that someone loses. So sad.

Speaking of, Phil Mickelson who was paid $60 million last year (notice I did not say earned) is upset that his taxes may go up. So upset, he publically considered changing his citizenship to another country where he could retain more of his wealth. Prime example of some folks will do anything for a buck. All of you with sympathy for this left-handed millionaire golfer will vote Republican. All of you who think, however, will be teed off.

In Texas, school boards are passing policies to allow teachers and others to bring weapons on campus. So, our solution to violence and the proliferation of weapons is to bring them to school? Yeah, that makes sense. We have more guns per person than any civilized nation in the world, assuming you still count us as one of the civilized nations. We have more than ample evidence that we have more deaths by gun than any other nation. We have more than ample evidence that arming the public does not deter crime, it increases crime. We have more than ample evidence that civilians who attempt to defend themselves with weapons more often are shot than those who do not. Criminals are not discouraged by an armed citizenry, they are inspired by it and in fact armed by it. Geeze. Now it really will not be safe for a little ole grandma to go on campus.

And, our Legislature has convened and is already up to its typical stunts regarding schools. The prevailing philosophy is create competition for schools, increase accountability, and decrease spending. They do all this under the rubric of improving our schools. What a hoot. As soon as we are concerned about school safety they quickly consider throwing money at the problem. If they are concerned about school performance they cut spending. Go figure. The part of this that makes me most sad is that this philosophy is rubbing off on educators. I have witnessed educators who have shifted from the notion of public service to the notion of self-service and are willing to do anything to get a better title and more money. I have witnessed school boards who believe the most important program a district offers is athletics. I continue to read about educators who promote cheating on the high stakes tests, no different than the behavior of Lance or Phil or Te’o. So sad.

Do the right thing. Keep your chin up. Have a good week.

Smokin' on the Back Porch

As if we did not have enough issues dividing us in this country, we now take up the gun control issue. And in the ongoing deterioration of our human relation skills, we are polarized on this issue like all the others. So sad. It all reminds me of my second husband. (Yes, Dearie, I have had more than one and less than 10 husbands.)

My second husband smoked. He loved a cigarette with his first cup of coffee. He loved a cigarette with a cold beer or after a meal or after a movie or after church, etc. He loved smoking. He was addicted and you could tell he was addicted every time I started telling him when and where he could smoke and encourage him to quit. (I have since learned you neither argue with an addict nor nag. Neither strategy works.) I think his long term fear was that cigarettes would be banned. Probably an irrational fear because too many people smoke, there is too much money in making cigarettes, and it evidently is eminently pleasant for the smoker. Non smokers probably wonder why they aren’t banned already and surely would have no problem if they were.

Things changed when our son was born and we were concerned that he always seemed to have a cold. His little eyes were red and would water, his nose would run, he seemed grumpy and ill-content. We did everything we could in terms of cleaning carpets and curtains, etc. to try to eliminate whatever was driving him crazy. Nothing worked. Finally we wondered if it might be my husband’s cigarette smoke. At that point he was smoking in the house. He started smoking on the back porch. Son’s respiratory issues immediately cleared up! My husband did not come inside to smoke from that day until his death, RIP. His smoking was hurting our son so he limited where he would smoke. He did so without resentment or anger. He did so because he did not want to hurt another because of his habit.

Since then I have been very sensitive to where others smoke and I know my husband would not have smoked anywhere around people who are bothered by it. He limited his behavior for the sake of others. I feel anger toward smokers who are not nearly so sensitive, who argue they have the right to smoke anywhere they durn well please and light-up possibly causing harm to others. Those smokers couch their argument in the individual freedom domain and personal rights and feel like they are being stripped by big brother of those rights if they cannot smoke anywhere, anytime. They are addicts and show their addiction via their irrational response.

Self limitation to increase the safety of others is a noble and honorable position. Much more so than taking the same position the tobacco companies took when they argued second-hand smoke did not hurt anyone. Some slogans could work just as well on this issue: Cigarettes do not cause death -- People smoking cigarettes cause death. If cigarettes become illegal, only criminals will smoke. I have a constitutional right to act in ways that could harm others.

A little self-limitation is not a bad thing. No matter how you read the 2nd Amendment it is not an absolute right. I think it is time for the NRA and gun owners to learn to smoke on the back porch.

Criminal Minds

It is the first day of a new year and I should be busy making black eyed peas, ham and cornbread. I’m not. I’m bothered and therefore driven to write.

I ache for our world, our country, and a host of individuals. There is so much pain, so much conflict. How I wish I had the ability to resolve Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, China, North Korea, the pain of Newton, the fiscal cliff, the sadness of kids going without on Christmas, educational reform, etc. I do not have that power, and it is a good thing I do not. My solutions would not be acceptable to many.

Why? Because I deeply believe we either help, support, love, cherish, and improve the lot of our fellow humans even at our own expense, or we pursue paths that are in our own self interest and for our own gain, and discount all others. I believe such a path is criminal, but that is just me.

How can a person justify a criminal act? It is simple, really. There is something I want; therefore, it is good because I want it. The “I wants” can be physical like jewels and cash, can be emotional, can be sexual, can be avoidance of fear and discomfort, etc. I will take what I want and not worry about you because what I want is by definition good. If you are in my way, then you deserve the consequences. It is all about me, it is not about you. It is the mindset of the leadership in many other countries, and in a large number of our elected representatives. It is the mindset of many in prison, and many who should be. What is good for me and people like me is good. Any loss to me, any risk to me is bad. I want what I have and I want more.

I am a criminal if I am willing to hurt others, take from others, deceive others, to get what I want. The most sophisticated of criminals couch their pursuit of self interest in rhetoric that sounds wonderful and rationalizations that sound valid. They are neither wonderful nor valid. If you pursue something that is beneficial to you and harmful to others you are in a criminal mind set. If your mission is self-service rather than service to others, you are in a criminal mind set. The core arrogance of the criminal mind set is that the criminal believes what they want is more important than any other human’s wants. They are wrong. It is for this reason that I love educators and preachers. Most have clearly been willing to forgo personal financial reward to operate in the arena of service to others.

My only resolution for the coming year is to avoid the criminal mind set. To have integrity, honesty and practice service to others regardless of what it costs me. I want to want what is best for you, not what is best for me. If I can do that, I believe I will be a real human being. I will have a year full of grace, peace, joy and love. I will carry the spirit of Christmas into January and beyond.

Time to make peas, cornbread and ham.

Happy New Year.