Tag Archives: President Obama

Hear Yourself, Mr. President

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“Smarter government, “invest in the best ideas,” “partners for progress.”

“It’s about listening to what our scientists have to say, even when it’s inconvenient—especially when it’s inconvenient. Because the highest purpose of science is the search for knowledge, truth and a greater understanding of the world around us. That will be my goal as President of the United States.” December, 2008.

487817Hear yourself, Mr. President, and listen to a variety of perspectives as you said you would. “The time has come for a president … who will listen to you and learn from you even when we disagree…. I will be that president for America.” — Obama, after winning the Iowa Caucus

What makes “smarter government”?

Hear this: Some of the best ideas come from our own past by way of new and sometimes unlikely messengers. It is time for reflection on your part. What do you see as the proper role of the federal government in education?

“The control and operation of education in America must remain the responsibility of State and local governments and private institutions. This tradition assures our educational system of the freedom, the diversity and the vitality necessary to serve our free society fully.

Let us put to rest the unfounded fears that ‘Federal money means Federal control.’ From The Northwest Ordinance of 1787, originally conceived by Thomas Jefferson, through the Morrill Act of 1862, establishing the still-important and still-independent Land-Grant College system, to the National Defense Education Act of 1958, the Congress has repeatedly recognized its responsibility to strengthen our educational system without weakening local responsibility.” JFK 1965

This was about partnering on way more than early childhood education.

In far too many places, local responsibility has been shirked. We need a return to the “proper Federal role of assistance and leadership.”

Beware: Education and Immigration

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Will we see “unintended consequences” of “immigration reform” play out in the “education reform” arena?

Things happen for a reason. Sometimes seemingly unrelated things happen.

Once in awhile, you need to put two and two together, and, if you see red flags flying, ask questions especially if bipartisanship on the part of Congress is in the equation.

In the aftermath of 9/11, restrictions on foreign worker visas for temporary (lower-paid) science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related (STEM) jobs had some large corporations seeing the need to help improve U.S. public education in order to help fill their needs. As part of a grant sponsored by a corporation, I was invited to be part of a team from my district attending a Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) Institute. It was one of the best learning experiences of my life – very hands-on – so much fun!

So, a decade or so later, I’m riding the Metro in D.C. and strike up a conversation with three young women, engineering interns from Puerto Rico. They all had attended what they described as their top-notch engineering university for their bachelor’s degrees and they talked freely about the costs there versus here. I was thinking it was about a tenth of what it costs our U.S. students.

And then there is the election of Idaho U.S. house representative, Raul Labrador – the winner in my district, twice now. He introduced The American Innovation and Education Act. It is immigration “reform” allowing citizenship to those STEM master’s and doctoral graduates who have a job offer here in the U.S.- to keep their talent here. They say it will be to fill jobs that can’t be filled by Americans. Really? Or is it just one more way to hire for lower wages since these foreign students paid less for their undergraduate work? They can probably afford to take jobs for less pay.

Beware these words:

“Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country.” President Obama

The first part of the sentence is true to the principle upon which this country was founded, welcoming immigration. The second part??? I don’t know; they are two different things in my mind. Is this picking winners and losers?

Are these students the more privileged of other countries and already have a head start – in the competition with our own students? Will there then be any reason to genuinely help the public education system, as I believe LASER was trying to? Eyes and ears should be on this one as it passes through Congress.

The Realities of Our Time

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“Today we continue a never-ending journey, to bridge the meaning of those words [self-evident truths] with the realities of our time.”  President Obama

Today’s reality is that we cannot see what is coming when we don’t understand where we have been. And it may be self-evident that we are created equal but what is most evident is how unequally we dish out quality education. It isn’t because we cannot; it is because we will not. Face the reality; as a people, we are in chains.

If the president “knows that the path to the middle class goes right through America’s classrooms,” then why does he push to import STEM talent? Does he really not believe in the character of Americans? “Initiative and enterprise,” “hard work and personal responsibility” — give us a break. That’s all we ask, that you give us a break. As one Occupy spokesperson said, “I don’t want a handout, I want a fighting chance.”

The very chain that binds us is inequality — unequal voice in our republican government; unequal educational opportunity; an unequal start in the race of life. The pursuit of happiness is made harder when the man hoping to help bridge our realities and that quest does not understand our educational history.

And education does not top the list of issues that catches the eyes and ears of the public. The man behind the bully pulpit can change that; will he?

Citizens, We Shape the Debates

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“You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time – not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals.”    President Obama

If ever there was an enduring ideal, universal education is it! And quality matters! How about we shape a debate around that? By what means do we deliver on that promise, Mr. President? You know what quality education looks like; how can we regular citizens get that full-meal deal for our kids?

Let me answer that question for you: Since many of us live in states where rulers of education policy and practices have their heads in the clouds and their fingers in our pocketbooks, we need sensible federal education law to protect and serve us well. We need effective schools as the standard.

Characteristics of effective schools are:
“1) The principal’s leadership and attention to the quality of instruction;
2) A pervasive and broadly understood instructional focus;
3) An orderly, safe climate conducive to teaching and learning;
4) Teacher behaviors that convey the expectation that all students are expected to obtain at least minimal mastery; and
5) The use of measures of pupil achievement as the basis for program evaluation.”
(Ronald R. Edmonds, Programs of School Improvement: An Overview, Educational Leadership, Dec. 1982)

Two things will ensure these characteristics exist in all schools; improving teacher and counselor education and increasing the knowledge, skills, motivation, and desire (the capacity) of our leaders and communities.

The debate should be over the failure of leaders in addressing No Child Left Behind.485709

What is necessary is that people now push policy that is fair and balanced, represents our expectations, and focuses on providing high-quality personalized learning opportunities. For America, this is what opportunity looks like.

Understanding Change

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When I first heard that President Obama was taking on “health care reform” by passing major legislation, I winced. Not because it isn’t necessary that the nation address that issue, not because of any particular aspect of the law; I winced because this action revealed the failure of Mr. Obama and his advisers to understand the change process in people. In doing so, they set themselves up for major resistance.

Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson probably wasn’t required reading in the Ivy League schools but it should be for anyone serious about changing our public education system for the better. The book opens with “The Story Behind the Story” by Kenneth Blanchard which contains this applicable statement, “…living in constant white water with the changes occurring all the time at work or in life can be stressful, unless people have a way of looking at change that helps them understand it.”

So as we once again approach the changes that will come with “education reform,” and they will come, we can hem and haw or sniff and scurry around, or, we can reflect on mistakes and plan for the future. We can share a vision of what change should look like. And we will only make progress when we come to understand that the people “who felt they had less power [were] more afraid of what the change imposed from above might do to them. So they resisted change.”

It’s human nature to react to change by first questioning — how will this affect me?

The cheese will move; the question is who will take control of the direction?