WHAT A STUPID TIME TO BE ALIVE!
Please take time to read the previous blog and/or listen to the previous podcast in order to understand the intent of this one. Part I blog can be found here and Part II blog can be found here. The challenge: We, as a nation, are choosing not to end the chaos in our schools, streets, cities and states.
What are my American alphabet axioms?
ABORTION
BORDERS
CHRISTIANS
DEBT
EDUCATION
FENTANYL
GIRLS
HOMELESSNESS
IRAN
JUDICIAL SYSTEM
KNOWLEDGE
LIES
MARIJUANA
NATIONAL ANTHEM
OPIOIDS
PHOBIC
QUID PRO QUO
RACISM
SOCIALISM
TEACHERS
UKRAINE
VIOLENCE
WOMAN
XENOPHOBIC
YOUTH
ZELENSKY
So let’s dive into the remainder of my perceived axioms, how they affect our educational system with viable solutions offered.
Racism
exists in our culture, our government and our schools. I’ve experienced it first hand. During the 80’s and 90’s I ran a performing arts camp for kids for 10 summers. My partner in this venture was an Afro-American man who instilled passion and genuine love into his teaching. He passed away in 2018 and I was honored to speak at his funeral. Charles Bowling was a fixture in the education of thousands of students in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Every summer we would end the camps with a bus ride south to Kansas City and perform at Worlds of Fun. Afterwards Charles and I would find an air conditioned restaurant to enjoy a lunch while our students rode all the rides possible in two hours. During one of those well-deserved lunches, Charles and I were waiting in the buffet line. A crass-voiced woman cut in front of Charles, pointed at him and told him to get more chicken from the kitchen, thinking he was a server. Charles laughed at the lady’s impertinent command but I was standing in shock that someone would consider Charles a server only because of the color of his skin. It didn’t stop there.
When Charles and I would walk together before or after concerts, the contorted, sometimes hateful facial expressions of white people were not lost on me. But in all transparency, Black people looked at Charles in the same disgust. Granted it was decades ago, but I have seen the same repulsion from both cultures in present day.
SOLUTION: Teaching Black children they are oppressed and are victims of a racist country because of the color of their skin denies the success of Barak and Michelle Obama, Louie Armstrong, Cicely Tyson and Oprah Winfrey and thousands more. Instructing white children they are responsible for slavery and the scourge of racism denies the attributes of Anne McCarty Braden, John Brown, and many others who were white activists.
A year ago I proposed the Golden Rule Project which could be implemented in the schools. Here is the mission statement: Applying the principle of the Golden Rule, students, parents, teachers and administrators will better demonstrate “treating others as you wish to be treated”. Recognizing each student’s story and fostering an atmosphere void of prejudice is paramount to success-based outcomes. This will be accomplished through a 30 minute student/teacher meeting (at least one time per week), with a regularly assigned teacher. This instructor will provide mentoring, appropriate social interaction and guided discussions regarding possible mental health issues. (Paula Baack, April 27, 2022)
Socialism
is not what the majority of Americans wish for their country. The redistribution of wealth, powerful government, higher taxes and government regulations is contrary to the ideas of our republic. Unfortunately Civic and U.S. Government classes are either no longer taught or they are taught through an anti-American lens. How does this affect education?
The very idea of public schooling is directly correlated to socialism, according to Jacob Hornberger (The Future of Freedom Foundation). Under public schooling, the government owns, operates, controls, and dictates the provision of education in society. In a purely socialist system, like North Korea, this means that every child in the nation is required to receive his education in a government facility.
SOLUTION: Private and home schools have grown exponentially. Whereas the pandemic generated more interest in both, the rise in Private and Home Schooling continues. Most Americans do not want the public schools sexualizing their children, Critical Race Theory or the cancelation of parental rights. The main issue facing private schooling is cost while time and resources are challenges for the home schools. With a School Voucher system, this could be remedied.
Teachers Unions
have been cast in a poor light with the shutdowns of the pandemic to the controversial teachings of gender and race. In all transparency, I support Teachers’ Unions. And here is why.
Teaching in both Nebraska and Colorado, I found myself, more than a few times, with unsupportive administrators and complaining parents. One time my life was threatened, several times my job was in jeopardy and then there were always a barrage of unsupported parental complaints which made teaching almost impossible. Every time I turned to my union. Every time my union listened, gave me great advice and was ready to do battle if that was the final scenario. Where have today’s unions gone wrong? Many became political, financially obligated to left-leaning ideologies and crossed over the arbiter line into the activist lane. The politicalization of teachers’ unions began in the 1980’s. Today’s unions give 90 percent or more of all PAC contributions to education advocacy groups. Teachers and their unions are also very successful in school board elections—nearly a quarter of all school board members are current teachers or former educators. Because teachers unions are almost always more politically powerful than their opponents, elected officials have strong incentives to pay attention to union demands.(Michael Hartney Education Next)
SOLUTION: Again, in transparency, my “union” was actually an association. It did not have the power to dictate subject matter or close schools. Union representatives were helpful in negotiating issues between teachers, parents and administration. Teachers’ Unions should not have the power in shutting down schools, forcing curriculum on gender fluidity and Critical Race Theory. Or canceling parents from inquiring about their child’s classroom environment.
Ukraine
appears to be a war America, once again, has committed resources and financial aid to without much accountability. Could this become another Viet Nam, Iraq or Afghanistan? Will our generals, congress and president fight this war on a scale of winning it quickly or prolong it as has happened so many times before? No one seems to be answering those questions. Meanwhile our homeless, border crossings, and crime rise unabated. Our educational system is broken.
SOLUTION: Can our country ever learn from its past experiences? Prolonged wars, with no real set course for ending those wars, is causing great financial woes to America. What if we put the effort into those things broken in our own country instead of a war which appears to be unwinnable? Our leaders need to have a reality check as to what can be accomplished in Ukraine. Our generals must be held accountable for past and present decisions.
Violent Crime
not only affects our children directly but it is killing them off. Homicide is the leading cause of death in kids and rates are rising according to Jen Christensen, CNN. The overall homicide rate had an especially “precipitous” rise from 2019 to 2020, with rates increasing across several demographics, the study says. In that time period alone, the number of children who were killed in a homicide rose 27.7%.
SOLUTION: Please take the time to read Safe from the Start: On June 22, 1999, Attorney General Janet Reno and Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna E. Shalala, with the leadership of Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, brought together 150 practitioners and policymakers in a National Summit on preventing and reducing the negative impact of children’s exposure to violence. This blueprint for Federal, State, and local action is the product of their commitment, energy, and expertise.
What is a woman?
is the question resonating from the U.S. Supreme Court to Kindergarten classes. What a stupid time to be alive when our government tells us discerning who is a woman and who is a man is not based on biology.
SOLUTION: I used to tell my gay students, when they felt safe to “come out” to me, I represent a time where people were defined by who they were and not who they slept with. That is why I would best describe myself as a Christian Independent: One who is in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and also believes in voting for the best person and not the loudest party. I loved my students unconditionally, tried to live the Golden Rule as a teacher, and really did not need to know the sexual preferences of my students. I live that still today. If you are LGBTQ+, that is your decision and business. God did not equip me (or anyone else) to judge you. All He asks me to do is live a life of Grace and grant it to all I come in contact with. That is the solution.
Xenophobic
is yet another example of stereotyping and political name-calling. Let me count the ways we can demean one another: racist, commie, pig, fascist, snowflake…well you get the idea. Our rhetoric has been denigrated to the level of sixth grade playground insults.
SOLUTION: Let’s just stop using those terms which insult people who disagree. Instead of attacking our fellow citizens when their thought process is different from ours, let’s debate. Ask questions. Listen. The best solution: compromise to find common ground. Sounds a bit Kumbaya I know. It takes courage to change!
Youth employment
in decline and of course, the pandemic exacerbated it.
SOLUTION: High school and college kids would rather play games on their devices instead of getting off the couch to seek work. There is irony of electronic device usage. As parents and grandparents we want to unplug our children from those devices. Yet the schools want every child to have an iPad or laptop for almost every class. My admin lowered my evaluation one semester because as a choir teacher, I refused to use iPads or apps in my classroom.
In addition, high schools need to offer technical classes for all students. Counselors should not tell all students to attend college. Blue collar workers are now scarcer than white collar workers. As a society, the work/rewards benefits no long appears as a top priority, as is also true regarding the payment of debt.
Zelensky
a former comedian and actor is directing his country’s war against one of the world’s superpowers with the U.S. handing over more money and resources than any other country. Meanwhile America’s kids are homeless, victims of crime, behind in their education and uncertain about their future or even if they have one.
SOLUTION: The best way to solve a problem is:
Identify the problem.
Give a solution to the problem.
Make sure there is a timetable for the problem to be solved.
If the problem is not solved within a certain time period, there must be consequences.
Again, the ball is back in the court of America’s lawmakers and president. To my knowledge there is no solution, timetable or consequences for failure to win the war with America’s involvement in the Ukraine.
It is my hope you found A-Z well defined and with solutions. My intent was never to draw this process out but as I put fingers to keyboard, the words just kept coming. Which is a little amazing to me since I was fired after 46 years of teaching in 2017. I would have surmised after the denigration and despair I suffered at the hands of my administrators and colleagues, I would be done with anything to do with education. Yet my passion prevails. Final words? What you are mot changing you are indeed choosing.
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America’s 21st Century Alphabet of Axioms