Politics and Culture

I feel sorry for Mr. Gates. He has to endure an evening of humiliation in a police station and all he has to comfort himself are national notoriety; possibly millions of dollars from either the police or, indirectly, from his instant fame; and relevance. Let's face it: academic fields based on victim status like black studies must be struggling to stay hip.

The police were "stupid" for arresting Gates. Perhaps. They should be able to take insults from spoiled, self-important academics in stride.

By the way, on my Cubanocast section, I just finished putting up a song called, "El Negro Bembon." It's about racial profiling. Here it is again (above). Lyrics, below:

Read more »

Well, it had to happen some day: I ended my first real vacation in 13 years (I've always moonlighted whether at another school, the California Youth Authority, the Army, or someplace else like a Circuit City) and returned to work today. It had been a glorious two months filled with blogging and ...well, blissfully empty of everything else.

I work at a year-round school which means that the school is divided between three tracks. At any given time, two-thirds of the school population is attending classes, with the other third on vacation or off-track. The district proposed this as an alternative to new construction some years ago and has been a success, overall, despite some inconveniences to parents, mostly, who may not have their high-school students on vacation at the same time as their younger children. It works out well for teachers because we have an opportunity for more income if we choose to work off-track and we get four months off instead of the three months from traditional schools. The school days are a little longer to compensate for the shorter work year.

I'm teaching an ESL class, a regular English class, and two classes we call Life Skills which some teachers consider a waste of time, but I like because I have the more freedom to teach things that interest me. The students were very nice and cooperative. One particularly bright new student-in the country only a month, Saul, got my don't let the school ruin you speech where I point out that he's received a great gift by being able to attend an American school and have a chance to make a life in the United States; and to not waste it like many of his classmates. Do you know how many children in the world want to be in your seat right now? it starts.

I covered a class for an absent French teacher one period and we played, ask Mr. Guirado where they may ask me any tasteful question and I answer to the best of my ability. I got three Michael Jackson questions in a row followed by: 1. Will Saddam Hussein's death effect the economy? (no); 2. What's the difference between Muslims and Christians? (Muslims don't believe in the Trinity, but believe Mohamed was the prophet of God); and 3. Will China take over the U.S. (No, but like all countries except modern Europe, they will try to expand their influence in the world).

Anyways, look for more education-related posts in the future if you find them interesting.

Link: http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Nov15/0,4670,JuniorROTC,00.html

The decision from the San Francisco school board to ban JROTC is bad because it ignores the fact that some students have a military personality just like some kids have an artsy personality. Without JROTC, kids who have this military personality will be left for nothing, forcing these young students into the undoubtedly many less masculine programs available. It would be as bad as getting a drama student and putting him in JROTC. When students don't have an outlet for their interest, it's natural for them to lose interest in school.

Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-friedman17nov17,1,7165615.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage

...he contended that parents should be allowed to choose which schools their children attend, laying the foundation for ongoing arguments about school choice.

This latter belief animated Friedman's final years, and promoting choice in schools became the mission of his foundation. "Why do America's universities have a greater reputation around the world than its public schools?" he once asked. "You have choice. That makes all the difference in the world."

It's beyond belief that anybody can think that school choice would lead to worse schools. And they don't. What opponents fear is a loss of government power and the rise of religious education. Everybody will eventually adopt the free-market, economically, but when will people get onboard school choice?

I have three kids in school, kindergarden, third, and fourth grade.

Quiz:

What did my kids learn more about last week; that great American holiday called dia de los Muertos or Veteran's Day?

To be fair, the third grader did say she learned more about Veteran's day. But the fourth-grader told me he spent about a week doing projects for the quasi-religious Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday honoring the family's dead family members. It wouldn't be too bad if the teacher hadn't decided to do this instead of Veteran's day. I don't know what more to say except that the teacher missed a wonderful opportunity to teach about America's heroes.