Words of Wisdom

" 'I don't think--'
  'Then you shouldn't talk.' "

UFC? I think you mean UFT, they're the real thugs.

“Wait! Keys, you forgot your keys!”

My older sister runs back into the house and grabs the keychain from our mom’s outstretched left hand while her right was engaged in a battle with my defiant little brother, wrestling him into a very large raincoat. Within seconds my sister is back down the driveway, leaping into her awaiting carpool.

“Did you grab an umbrella?” My mom calls after her.

“I’ve got it!” she yells over her shoulder, sliding the van door shut.

“Will you please do something with that hair?” My brother reluctantly runs a licked palm over his unruly hair while my mom tosses me a brown paper bag lunch.

Another eight minutes of “oh, I forgot this!” and “are you sure you have everything?” and I’m helping my mom load my kid brother into the family car.

I take off at a speed-walk down the street, finally starting my twenty minute walk to middle school.  

I know that it wasn’t like that every morning, but somehow I look back and remember those chaotic mornings fondly. I can imagine that most families had some similar semi-dysfunctional, morning routine that got everyone to school just as the bell was ringing its final warning. I find myself both in awe and admiration of my mom for those many mornings she somehow manipulated time and got three, half-asleep kids fed and to class before the bell (…usually). I know though that reminiscing with her about the “good ole days” she’d probably shrug and simply respond, “Well, I had to get you guys to school somehow.”

And that was it.

That’s all there was to it and I think parents today are of an equivalent mind. There isn’t a parent out there who doesn’t want the best education for their children but, like my mom, sometimes they lack the time and resources to know exactly where that can be found.

Thanks to NCLB, we have a brilliant array of statistics that clearly illustrate an achievement gap among minorities and those of low-income areas… Unfortunately, the Act has done little to close that gap in the now eleven years it has been in effect.

The situation is this: Many public schools in urban areas are failing. And I don’t mean that the students attending these schools are failing, I mean the system is failing them in that it fails to provide a quality education or even a decent means of learning. Take the city of New York, which has the largest public school system in the United States. Of 23 public zoned schools in a district, 19 have fewer than 50% of students reading at grade level.  More specifically at PS 241, only 10% of eighth graders were reading at grade level. The statistics are astonishing and frightening and are similar in urban cities throughout the country.

So what can be done? We know there’s a problem. Let’s fix it.

Charter Schools are making tremendous breakthroughs in education and have the success rates to prove it. What’s the difference between a charter and a regular public school? Charter schools aren’t held back by typical union restrictions and are able to hire teachers outside of the union and create curriculums that they feel best serve the students. This enables teachers to have more artistic freedom in the classroom which has proven to be successful. Unlike the goals of NCLB, the academic objectives of charter schools go beyond the graduation of high school and stress the importance of obtaining a higher education degree. Moreover charter schools don’t reject students based on their zone or geography! They typically accept any student who registers unless the demand exceeds capacity in which case a public lottery is held.

It is clear from lottery turnouts that Charter Schools are in overwhelming demand. Why is it then that these failing schools aren’t being reformed to resemble the charters in hopes of recreating this success? It seems obvious, right? We’ve discovered this great system that not only provides students with a phenomenal education but also paves the road to a future higher degree, so why aren’t these charters popping up all over the place?

Unfortunately this is where the face of politics rears its ugly head, impedes success, and puts the priority of adults before the priority of children. The United Federation of Teachers, the largest teacher’s union in the United States, has slowed the expansion of charter schools in a desperate attempt to protect personal interests. The charter system is threatening to the UFT in that it is outside union policies. Teachers, if not performing up to standards can be fired without an unnecessarily drawn out, 3 year, and nearly $200,000 process (in the public school system, once a teacher is awarded tenure it is extremely difficult to dismiss them even based on low performance). Many charter schools also take advantage of the “open door policy”, a policy that enables principals and fellow colleagues to observe a teacher in the classroom. The idea is success through collaboration. This is prohibited in the union contract.

The fight extends beyond the political arena. Proactive reformers and charter school advocates (Geoffrey Canada, Eva Moskowitz, and Michelle Rhee to name a few) have suffered personal insults and attacks (spearheaded by the UFT) on their careers.  

What does all this mean to parents, and more importantly, what does it mean to students? Absolutely nothing. Nothing. Parents  worry about the tardy bell. They worry about sandwiches. Basketball practices. Carpools. Snow days. Report cards. Clarinet recitals. And above all, they worry about giving their kid a better life than the one they had.

Families aren’t concerned with the egos of educational bureaucrats and they shouldn’t have to be. This country strives for innovation in every industry. The education system is no different and the charters should be the future of it. 

For more information, I highly recommend checking out this documentary. 

Minimum Standards

In civil engineering were taught how to design to specific criteria. Any beam must be able to withstand an expected dead load (that is, the weight and force of other non-living, generally structural elements) and an expected live load (the weight and forces on the beam). Now we can say that the beam must be able to withstand these specific loads. There is an equation: W (or the maximum load) equals the Dead Load plus the Live Load.

W=DL+LL

Simple, right?

Ah, but would we really feel comfortable knowing our security is being designed based on this bare minimum criteria? Certainly not. There are “unforeseeable circumstances” we must include in this design. So what we learn as engineers is this:

W = 1.2*Dead Load + 1.6*Live Load

We incorporate these load factors for the “unforeseeable circumstances” so that we know the design is, without a doubt, prepared for the future. We want to know the beams we’re building are ready for more than just the bare minimum.

“Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.”

-JFK

Why then are we teaching them to achieve the bare minimum standards in their education? This is what the “No Child Left Behind” act does, doesn’t it? It teaches kids that they just need good test-taking skills.

The NCLB act is an act concerning public education passed early on in the Bush administration. NCLB stipulates that each grade level is to meet certain standards in order to receive government funding.

Unfortunately this has had the repercussions of students being “taught to test”. It also stresses failure over success. If you don’t get this score, you fail. Standards should emphasize success and success with flying colors. We don’t want the young students today leaving school with the bare minimum. They deserve the best.  

Interesting Overview of Race to the Top

Dolan, Deirdre, and Tess Stovall. "Ramping Up Race to the Top." Third Way Fresh Thinking. N.p., March

2011. Web. 27 Feb 2012. <http://content.thirdway.org/publications/379/Third_Way _Idea_Brief__ Ramping_Up_Race_to_the_Top.pdf>.

Dolan and Stovall, policy advisors at a progressive movement organization take the education reform initiative of President Obama’s administration, Race to the Top (RTTT) and compare it to that of former President Bush’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB). There is a clear admiration and approval of RTTT in this article that stems from its focus on success to that of failure, a side effect that became apparent of the NCLB policy. The article has a clear format first describing the initiative itself along with the impacts of the program then proceeds to address and refute select criticisms and concludes with support for the continuation of the program. The article draws support from the National Center for education Statistics and the opinions of education periodicals. I found the article to be informative for an audience unfamiliar with reform policy but rather simple in its language and execution. It serves well as an initial overview of a much deeper subject.  

Bit of a Guilty Conscience

9:56.

I look at the clock just as the seconds hand is beginning a fresh cycle. Tick. Tick. Tick. Deep breath. Yes, that’s it I say to myself, just breathe. I uncross my legs, then immediately cross them again. Left over right. No! Now right over left. How does my collar look? I smooth the lines in jacket. This business attire is foreign to me. I look up at the clock.

9:56 and forty-five seconds.

Exhale.

My name is called.

Dry palms discretely in pant packets.

Now stand with confidence, big smile.

“Pleasure to meet you.”

“And you as well, let’s get started.”

Similar to a first date, a first interview can be nerve-racking (as they were quite frequently for me). I had such an experience on the first of what would be four rounds of interviews for a consulting firm I’ve just been hired to work as an analyst for. Hm, wait. Analyst? Consulting? I thought you were studying civil engineering? Well yes, I am. Oh, okay I see so it’ll be some kind of engineering consulting? Uh well, no, more business management and systems integration.

Pause.

Let me cut in here and say that this wasn’t the future I saw for myself when I started college. Like most people my age, I started college extremely idealistic –probably unreasonably so– I wanted to feel that whatever I did when I graduate d I’d be helping people or doing something that really meant something.

Perhaps some background?

I came from a military family. I was brought up with patriotism and loyalty the way most kids are brought up with religion and God. I was all set to enlist at seventeen right out of high school when my family persuaded me that I could better serve my country by going to college and eventually giving back, improving the state. I was (and still am) enamored with the idea of creating something that can last forever (my draw to literature, I suppose). I had watched a documentary on fresh water. It focused on the privatization as well as the scarcity of the world’s fresh water. I suppose it was in this moment that I thought to myself, “I can really change things with engineering.” And not just change, improve. Unfortunately the unrelenting politics of the construction industry drove me away from civil engineering. And for a moment I considered teaching. I started the application process for Teach for America. They had a strong need for math and science majors.

So how did I end up with the title, “systems integration consulting analyst”? (I’m teased now about being the Chandler Bing of the group, ‘what is Chandler Bing’s job?’)

I know that not everyone can be a teacher. But it scares me that I took a job that doesn’t mean much. There’s something to be said about supporting oneself and being part of the economy and I know that. But what happened to my idealism? I’ll tell you, the forty thousand dollars in student loans sent it running on its way. 

Trifecta

Hello, World

“Left shoulder down a bit. No, no too much. There, that’s it. Chin just a little to the right. Yes. Yes. Now up. Up! Yes, nice and tall. Perfect. Big smile.”

Click. Flash.

“That’s it.”

With a deep exhale I let my shoulders fall and my back slouch. I took a minute to allow my eyes to surrender to the red and blue spots of vision the camera flash had now created while massaging my cheeks free from the unnatural position they had been forced into.

“Would you like to see your proof?”

Certainly.

I lifted the oversized gown that would’ve dragged a likely six inches behind my feet and made my way to the screen.

My hair fell in front of my shoulder, just short of the gleaming university logo and the black and gold tassel seemed to match the glow I could see in my own eyes.  

Whoa.

It really was proof. Proof that this was all happening in just a few months. At twenty-one, I’d have my Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering.

Whoa.

That was several weeks ago and although I still have a few months left to tackle, the thought of graduating is still quite daunting. Senior year, though a time to live in the present and enjoy these last memorable experiences, is also a time of reflection. I can’t help but look at the road that lead me here and smile… And cringe. And laugh. And smack my forehead. And appreciate. But mostly I look back and I’m just grateful.

I spend most of my time on my college campus. I live here, I work here, I study here. It isn’t often that I venture home to Palmdale, but when I do I’m more and more aware of the economic disparity that plagues it. Just recently folks back home have congratulated me on overcoming such a “disadvantage”. Friends from high school raise a drink with me for having “made it out”. Somewhat shamefully I’ve realized that living in my college bubble has made me a stranger to my own home. Reality has now set in as I look back at the years before college.

It was never in my nature to think of the odds I was up against when approaching a challenge. You just gave it your all. That’s how I was brought up. I didn’t see my journey to college as a rough one or an unlikely one because I had nothing to compare it with. Few of my classmates in college are products of the public school system and even fewer (In fact, I think I can only count myself) came from a Title 1 School and low income family. I rarely let this discourage me and I have been blessed to have an amazingly supportive family, but I look back on what’s now been sixteen years of education and I wonder just how lucky was I to make it out of the black hole that is America’s public school system?

                The quality in the public school system is grossly lacking and as a result children (and our future) are suffering. Many fingers have been pointed. Teaching Unions. Poor neighborhoods. Tenured instructors. Uninvolved parents. Unmotivated students. Technological distractions. Whomever or whatever is to blame, the call for reform is urgent. When we start referring to these solutions as “Waiting for Superman” or as winning “ The Lottery ”, I think we can all agree that something’s not right.

I know just through living my life, that coming from these economic and academic hardships can be a hollowing and exhausting experience (for student, parent, and teacher alike!) but then I hear men like Geoffrey Canada speak and I see the benefits of programs like Teach for America and I think maybe we’re not as alone as we thought.

Profile

One does not have to look long or far to find strong opinions on the state of America’s educational system but it may be hard to find few more passionate and evocative as those of Whitney Tilson. WhitneyTilson is an investor, writer, and philanthropist. (Why thank you Wikipedia and the free legal sharing of information). I find that he is quite an amazing guy and has lead a thoroughly full life.

Now, I’ve found that it helps to have a background in whatever area you choose to study, work, or simply endeavor in. It came as little surprise to me then, to learn that Tilson is the son of two educators who met during their service in the Peace Corps (Whoa). Pretty safe to guess he grew up knowing the importance of education and of volunteerism. Clearly on the right track to success, Tilson majored in government and business, graduating from Harvard (Again, whoa!) After college he helped launch Teach for America, although I’m not certain the extent of his involvement. Nevertheless, it is clear that the saving of America’s educational system is a passion of Tilson’s.

He posts in his blog, “Whitney Tilson’s School ReformBlog” (I know, original) often, at least monthly. Although he writes fewer posts himself, he constantly links and references literature that he believes helpful, enlightening, or interesting on the topic of school reform and provides a smidgeon of insight and opinion. Tilson has been posting in this blog since October of 2005 and considering how long he’s been an advocate of this subject, I’d say the articles and links he finds worthwhile are probably pretty damn interesting and worth some time to explore.

In his post, “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior” (Here.) I could really feel the extent to which he cares about this issue. The article, which points out the glaring differences between the American style of family support and education versus that of the Chinese family style, is commended by Tilson for pointing of the crippling effect over-nurturing can have on children. Like myself, he holds parents accountable for the lack in responsibility they take in their children’s educations. Not all blame can be placed on the school system and it is important to keep in mind all possibly issues.

In another short post about an increase in tuition for private schools, I discovered what it was that really drew me to his blog. It was the difference in our perspectives or our current places in life. Although both passionate about this issue Tilson is a proud father of three, graduated, and successful. And somehow Im guessing he didn’t come from the single parent, title 1 life I did. I am still a student and am still living through the consequences of not receiving the best early education. I find this contrast in perspectives and backgrounds refreshing and unique. I know there may be times when because I am a subject of this environment, I may not be able to (or be unwilling to) see flaws in its system. It is here that Tilson’s point of view from the outside is so important.

I look forward to reading the articles that Whitney Tilson finds worthy enough to share and to picking apart his brain for the duration of this blog. I can see that there is a lot to learn from his example and because I was raised by a single mom (superwoman by the way) it’s comforting in a way I can’t really explain to know that this Dad cares so much about the future America his children will grow up in.

Voice Critique

                After nearly four years of busting my ass in engineering and attending countless career events and interviews, I’ve finally done what every senior hopes to do: I’ve tied down a full-time job for after graduation. Ah, what a relief! Yes. Above average starting salary (if you can bear to let me brag a bit). Nice signing bonus. Benfits.

                With graduation looming so near, it’s been hitting me more and more frequently how soon and just how much my life is going to change in the next year. I wonder if educational reform will still be this important to me once I’ve achieved financial independence or if I’ll look back on it as just a speed bump I’ve now overcome. It’s important to me that, once a parent, I seek the best education possible for my children but I wonder if I’ll still be an advocate for those who suffer from the economic disparity that plagues the public school system.

                Whitney Tilson gives me hope that I will.  Although providing a comfortable life for himself and his family, Tilson devotes much of his energy (and his frustration, and his annoyance, and sometimes his applause) to this issue. The attitude of a concerned father resonates within his blog. Caring, concerned, firm, and at times a little jaded.

                Tilson establishes his justification for having such opinions as a parent and merits them as an intellectual. Looking at two posts already mentioned in my blog, we can see that this style. From his post, “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior”:

                “It’s hilarious, hyperbolic and provocative, and will surely provoke strong emptions, especially among people (like my wife and me) raising young children.”

                He is a father. First and Foremost. And although he’s paying “three private school tuitions as mentioned in his post “Bracing for $40,000 at City Private Schools”, he maintains an awareness of the problem that is school reform in the United States.

                Tilson uses strong diction and long, detailed sentences to portray his own sense of frustration with the problems around education.

“In a world filled with endless, cheap, mind-rotting entertainment via hundreds of TV channels (heavily weighted toward 24/7 sports, cartoons and other junk) the internet, video games, music and movies, I’m firmly convinced that nearly all children will spend every waking hour messing around with these activities and wasting their lives…”

I can hear him as a frustrated parent, “every waking hour!” It almost makes me smile that this evokes such strong emotion in him. He is sure, always, to add sensibility in his posts. He is not simply an angry, jaded victim of the educational system (a frustrated witness more likely) but he is also an intelligent philanthropist. With every claim Tilson makes, there is support to follow.

“Lest you think I’m perpetuating stereotypes about American youth, check out this data about how they spend their time…”

Or in another post, “…I’d bet that tuition payments account for a lower percentage of total income for the majority of families whose kids attend these schools… I could find apples-to-apples 10-yr-data, but from 1979-2007…”

This claim/support pattern to his writing gives his words merit and authority. I trust Tilson’s opinions. It is not blind passion and frustration. It is clear-sighted, level-headed thinking. Despite the inclusion of frequent data and statistics (a characteristic that can dry up any blog if done poorly) he maintains his passion which is hard to oversee through the use of italics and the shouting favorite, CAPS LOCK.

“It depicts lots of stressed-out, overworked kids… As a nation, our real problem is EXACTLY the opposite!”
“For more on how Chinese (and Indian) youth are just HUSTLING a lot more than American youth are, I highly recommend a great documentary…”

Ultimately, Tilson’s blog is intelligent, passionate, and personal. Three things I’m certain you need to have in order to move the heart of any reader. 

Intelligent, Passionate, and Personal

A comment on how Tilson’s words affected me.

After four years of busting my ass in engineering classes and going to countless career events and interviews, I’ve finally tied down a job for after graduation. Above average starting salary and a pretty nice signing bonus. My life will soon take on a serious change. I wonder now if the things I’m so passionate about currently and have been passionate about throughout college will still be that important to me in the future. Once I’m finally financially independent and one day when I have kids of my own can ensure that they get the best education available, will I be aware of the economic disparity that plagues the education system? Will I even remember what that childhood was like for me?

Whitney Tilson gives me hope that I will. Although in a comfortable life of his own, he still cares about this issue. He comes off so fatherly. Caring, concerned, firm and, at times, a little jaded.

“In a world filled with endless, cheap, mind-rotting entertainment via hundreds of TV channels (heavily weighted toward 24/7 sports, cartoons and other junk) the internet, video games, music and movies, I’m firmly convinced that nearly all children will spend every waking hour messing around with these activities and wasting their lives…”

He uses strong detailed diction. I can hear him as a frustrated parent, “every waking hour!” It makes me smile, that he’s so passionate. But he’s not just an angry, frustrated parent. He’s an intelligent philanthropist. With every claim he makes, there’s support to go with it.

“Lest you think I’m perpetuating stereotypes about American youth, check out this data about how they spend their time…”

This claim/support pattern to his writing gives him merit and authority. I trust Tilson’s opinions. It is not blind passion and frustration. Its clear-sighted, level-headed thinking. His passion is not lost in his blogging however, and he gets this across by select use of italics and the shouting favorite, CAPS LOCK.

“It depicts lots of stressed-out, overworked kids… As a nation, our real problem is EXACTLY the opposite!”

“For more on how Chinese (and Indian) youth are just HUSTLING a lot more than American youth are, I highly recommend a great documentary…”

He starts this particular post by establishing his authority and personal relationship with the issue.

“It’s hilarious, hyperbolic and provocative, and will surely provoke strong emptions, especially among people (like my wife and me) raising young children.”

He’s a father. First and foremost. And although he’s paying “three private school tuitions” as mentioned in another recent post of his, he maintains an awareness of the problem that is school reform in America. His blog is intelligent and passionate and personal. Three things I’m certain you need to have in order to move the heart of any reader.