Paxatawney Phil vs. Pavlov’s Dog

Paxatawney Phil vs. Pavlov’s Dog

Or….10 things I hate about Presidential Politics…

10.  Bush v. Clinton

            A Bush or Clinton has been running for national office since 1980.  35 years.  Every time I have been eligible to vote for president, a Bush or Clinton on the ticket. 

The Bushes are 3 wins  2 losses when running for President where the Clintons are 2 and 1.  This is more interminable than a 7 game series in the NBA playoffs or Major Leagues.  There are a lot of good American families out there.  Why aren’t they participating?

9.   White Water,  Benghazi, email, foundation contributions from foreigners, whatever…

Every time a Clinton arrives on the scene somebody has to make up or decry scandal.  Invariably the taxpayers pay, to the tune of millions of dollars, for a plethora of committee investigations, special investigators and nauseating testimony.  The result is always the same.  No fault is found, the Clinton’s become more popular, and more times than not they win.

8 . The Pavlovian press…

            When political arch enemies mention said scandals, the national press dives in and gossip like Southern Bells at a Bloody Mary breakfast.  They are just about as articulate.

7.  Tell All Best Sellers about the opposition as Anti-Christ…

            Please stop buying these books.  At some point we have to see that numbers 8 and 9 on this list have become cottage industries.  People on the far end of both sides eat this stuff up.  The writers then literally laugh all the way to the bank.  Somebody please tell these folk that the author’s picture on the back sleeve doesn’t help sales.

6.  Woodward and Bernstein lucked into Watergate…

            Watch the movie or read the book, unless a sports writer from the Chattanooga Times-News Free Press happens upon Bill Clinton’s jump drive at a baseball card convention, no other  “…Gate” will bring down the government and make the press look good again.

5. Citizens United…

            I know, the Supreme Court is bought and sold.  However, in history the wealthy almost always win until they die like the rest of us.

4.  Red States v. Blue States…

            Show me an emerald green state and I am there…

3.  Newt Gingrich…Really?

            The absolute poster boy for hypocrisy and political prostitution.  He’s been in this mess as long the Bushes and the Clintons.  If I hear this historical, or is that hysterical, blasphemer blowhard abuse Constitutional history one more time I will truly barf.

2.  Koch Brothers are taking over the world…

            Nixon was kicked out of office for misusing a few million bucks and covering up a robbery.  The Koch Brothers are bragging that they are going to buy off every Republican in the Presidential primary to the tune of 900 million dollars.  Millhouose obviously suffered from bad timing. How do you get so rich with these types of investments? I get it.  They like the Daily Show and act to insure that Jonathan Stewart has plenty of material.

1.     Paxatawney Phil vs. Pavlov’s Dog…

           Every day, from here to November 2016, it’s the same thing.  The TV, computer or portable device comes on and we salivate for more of this stuff.  We complain, deride and beg it to stop, but we can’t help ourselves.   Don’t pretend that your Netflix habit gets you away from the commercials approved by every candidate, because Facebook, Twitter et. al. keep us reading or listening to Robert Reich, Rush Limbaugh or whomever.  Samuel Clemmens and Will Rogers are rolling over in their graves, not because this is so repulsive, but due to the fact that they missed the fun. We should at least be able to stop buying the best sellers.  Please!!!!

Have We Missed the Boat?

The span of time was 28 generations.  If the accepted span of a generation is 25 years, then the time between Isaiah and Jesus was approximately 28 generations; around 700 years.   As we move through another advent, we read the prophesy of Isaiah that points toward the arrival of John and Jesus.  A great deal happened in the meantime.  The Diaspora, numerous redemptions and falls of Israel, and the destruction and rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem along with invasions by the Assyrians, various Persian sects, the Greeks and the Romans.  State behavior didn’t change much and Israel remained a relatively minor country with varying levels of independence from the regional empires of various epochs.   In spite of all of this John and Jesus arrived in Palestine.  Later recognized by Christians as the Messiah,  Jesus was the realization of Isaiah’s prophesy 700 years earlier.  So what did the people reading, or hearing, this prophesy think during the 28 generation wait?  Did they feel abandoned by God?   Did they lose hope?  Is this why so many refused to acknowledge that Jesus was the Messiah?

It can be effectively deduced that at the time of Jesus, Israel was a country under oppression.   Rome was all-powerful with wealth and weaponry that was overwhelming to the people of Palestine.   As the priestly class acquiesced with the Roman authority, the people of Israel were living life day to day with little hope of change.   It could only be assumed that the Messiah prophesied by Isaiah would have to be some all powerful leader who could represent the will of God to smite the Roman oppressors and bring in a reign that had no known equal.   Jesus shows up in sandals and starts talking to the poor about a kingdom no one could understand or imagine.   

What would Isaiah think?   He writes of a Messiah of humble origins, but did he see this in the model of David or the simple carpenter that threatened the existing order without raising a sword.   Jesus’ ministry and death were mere blips in the time continuum that is human kind, yet the influence arguably covers 2700 years.   Roughly 108 generations. This encourages those awaiting a second coming.  God takes his time.  As I wrote earlier, many things happened between the time of Isaiah and Jesus.  Many leaders rose and fell.  Israel experienced various levels of prosperity, destitution and obscurity.    

Jews have not recognized Jesus as the Messiah of Isaiah and have not acknowledged any one yet.   Christians, expecting Jesus’ return have not experienced that return.  Or have we?  The dreaded or anticipated apocalypse, depending on one’s point of view, has not occurred despite numerous predictions.  Or has it? Some thirty years after Paul, Jerusalem was razed.  In the 5^th century, Rome fell.  Throughout the middle ages one conquest after the other lead to millions of dead.  Plagues occurred resulting in the deaths of millions.  Europe was in a constant state of war through World War II.   The twentieth century resulted in 100 million deaths from war.  What constitutes an apocalypse?  Maybe we just don’t understand that we should be better now.  Or did everyone miss the rapture?

 

This Should be a 3 Alarm Fire

            In the 30 years that I served CMS, North Carolina failed to live up to its financial obligations to our educators on at least 3 occasions.  When I went to Charlotte out of college in 1982, the country was enmeshed in a deep recession.  The step raise program promoted so proudly to recruit teachers from other parts of the country had been frozen in 1980 and would remain so until 1985, the recession officially ended in 1982.   In 1986, CMS began a “career ladder pilot” that would provide bonuses, paid monthly, for teachers who were willing to subject themselves to an intense series of observations.   When the recession of 1991 hit, North Carolina froze teacher salaries on the third year of a commitment to get them to the national average and ended the bonus program.   For the next five years, teachers who had earned “Career Status” were “held harmless” to allow the income of peers with equal experience to catch up. The frozen salary often meant that the earning power of many dropped over a span of five years.

In 1995, North Carolina jumped into the standards movement with both feet.  The state implemented testing for reading and math along with a bonus program for schools.  Schools that achieved expected growth would earn bonuses of $750.00 per certified staff member.   Schools that achieved high growth would earn bonuses of $1500.00.  The ABCs of North Carolina, as this program was penned, cruised along for about ten years with many schools earning bonuses for their teachers along with standard pay raises.  However, by 2005 it was discovered that the reading and math tests were not actually representing true grade level performance.   A consequence of this reality was that more and more schools were earning the bonuses that the state then determined it could not afford.   North Carolina then made the tests more rigorous and decided to reduce bonuses.  When the economy collapsed in 2008, the ABC bonuses were withheld.  In my last four years as Principal, after meaningful changes to the tests, Myers Park Traditional Elementary achieved high growth each year, and my staff did not receive a dime.   North Carolina never paid them the $6000.00 they earned for their performance.

 Over the past four decades, half of the teachers entering the profession leave within five years.   In an October 2013 article in The Atlantic by Liz Riggs, it was noted that 15.7% of teachers leave the profession annually, about 4% higher than other professions, and that about 40% pursuing undergraduate degrees never enter classrooms.  There are a myriad of reasons noted in the article, most relating to the demands of the job, lack of respect from supervisors and society, along with inadequate pay.  

The past three decades in North Carolina have demonstrated to teachers and prospective teachers that the commitment to improving salaries and classroom conditions is never realized.   As Eric Davis’ of the CMS Board of Education advocates, 2/22/14 Charlotte Observer, the state could overcome this perception by taking a long view on improving teacher pay.  I would like to add that this long view should never be compromised.  Planning for funding should include provisions for inevitable recessions.  I realize that none of us are immune to cyclical economic downturns, but the only way that we will improve our teaching corps and convince the most qualified to participate would be to end a history of inconsistent support from state governments.   Since all seem to agree that the teacher has the greatest impact on student performance, with Principals not far behind, then we should show prospective and current teachers that we are committed to support them financially over a long period of time.   School reform will ring hollow until this happens and many of the best teaching candidates will continue to leave or enter other professions.

I wrote this about three years ago as I was transitioning to become a principal in Alabama.   In that time, states across the country have dramatically reduced spending in K-12 and at state universities.  This while the economy has fully recovered from the “Great Recession.”  The current defunding of public education during a period of economic growth is unprecedented.  If the reason for this trend is to keep the populace uniformed, then the threat to our nation is profound.  If the reason is simply greed and inattention by the public,  as evidenced through the passivity of our electorate,  then the threat represents a pervasive trend that could result in the end of this democratic experiment.  Diverse thought and energetic debate have been a historic mainstay of our Republic when it is healthy.  If we choose to divest in a meaningful education for our children, our republic faces a threat as great as any external enemy.

Let's Redefine the "Carolina Way"

       I am a direct decedent of William R. Davie, the founder of UNC, my grandfather attended law school there, my dad graduated there in 1940, my oldest sister graduated there and thus my addicted loyalty.  Dad took great pride that his name, along with Mom’s, is on the donor plaque at the Dean Dome.   As a child I wanted to attend, but out of state admission required an academic prowess I never attained.   My eldest daughter was a very good student in Charlotte who desperately wanted to attend, well over a 4.0 with honors and AP classes throughout her high school career, but was denied entry due to the competitive academic standards of UNC.  The latest revelations of academic fraud for athletics at the University of north Carolina, coupled with my daughter’s experience, sickens me.

This is not limited to athletics.  A country, founded on the philosophy of an intellectual enlightenment, is teetering on the edge because we value celebrity, fame and selfish wealth over knowledge and the value of community and service. We fund athletic arenas and departments with obscene amounts of cash while universities hire more and more part time professors.   Yes, this is bigger than UNC and the athletic fraud perpetrated by an overheated win at all costs culture. Most, if not all, universities carry this stain of corruption. It is important to remember that as Rome fell, the colosseum entertainment apparatus was more popular than ever.  Arizona is defunding community college and higher education, Oklahoma is banning AP history, Wisconsin is changing the mission of its flagship university to jobs over knowledge and most states are cutting their K-12 budgets to the bone. If we don't begin to understand that knowledge and meaningful self-reflection are what build community, culture and character, then we are doomed to the fate of all great powers in history.  Invariably, because power is historically recognized by material wealth, which we currently seem to value over all else, rather than cultural maturity; the world may now be headed for a fall.  Yes, our overheated attention toward the fame that becomes athletic accomplishment is a bad sign.

I have always loved sports at all levels.  I love the challenge, the conversation, the individual and collective sense of accomplishment.  The most important part of my personal athletic experience has always been the story.  Yet, our human weakness is causing this to crumble.  William Friday, President of the University of North Carolina in the 1960’s, was a great man who hired Dean Smith, not to win national titles, but to clean up a mess.  We need a William Friday who is willing to unilaterally clean up a mess.  UNC should not wait on the corrupt and weak NCAA.  The UNC administration should dramatically reduce athletic scholarships, ban special admission and fire any coach or professor with any stain of complicity. The Ram's club, or any corrupt athletic booster organization, should be required to provide 60% of it's income to academic departments determined by an organization independent of the university.  Would UNC then disappear from the national spotlight in athletics? Probably.  The most important legacy here is the academic legacy.  Somebody needs to have the guts to show this. We have to reverse the trend of anti-intellectualism in America and what better place to start than college athletics.  What better means to re-introduce the "Carolina Way."

The Double Helix?

So today I have been contemplating the double helix.  Yes, the DNA double helix.  The colorful representation of four proteins that purportedly determine who we are or who we will be.   Now, I am not a biologist.  As a matter of fact it has been 34 years since I cracked a biology text.  So, why think about this now?   I have always been curious if my DNA looked like this.  Not being a biologist it seems to me appropriate that the double helix is represented in a way that I might comprehend in a text before the genetics exam that inevitably comes in the biology class.   Thus my point:  Those who understand biology have a daunting task when it comes to explaining the inner workings of a living organism to lay people such as myself.  Particularly lay people who studied art and later decided to become a school principal.   When engaged in conversation about biology I can always revert back to that graceful double helix and its colorful manifestation.  That way I do not appear completely ignorant, as I am, when it comes to biology.  

Many of our opinions are formed based on limited information.  To change a perspective or opinion requires that we take a risk or are forced to do so.  In the Genesis creation story, the sky is referred to as a dome, periods of time are called days and humans begin to contemplate that there is no way they are alone.   Humans then begin to be fearful, construct city-states, bully weaker neighbors, and eventually move into gated suburbs with pristine swimming pools.  There are only a few true explorers among us.   Most of us stay behind to see if it is ok to follow. If the explorer does not return, we assume he has fallen over the edge.  

Back to the double helix…It is always comforting to know that there is an explanation, even if it doesn’t tell the whole story.   It gives me something to believe while allowing me to construct a worldview that is incomplete.  We all do this.  Each of us understands one small piece of our universe and constructs an explanation based on the incomplete nature of that understanding.   Therefore, there are 7 billion universes on earth.  We use terms such as tea party, progressive, liberal, conservative et. al. as a means to incompletely formulate an understanding of oppositional and collective thought.  The problem is that each description is incomplete and thus creates misunderstanding, distrust and conflict.   When Pearl Harbor or 9/11 occurred we had one threat and, for a brief moment, a singular understanding of what it would take to deal with that threat.  Once the external threat was over, the threat then became internal due to the individual incomplete formulation of what such an event meant.  We understand one thing while our neighbor understands something else.  Thus we are right and they must be wrong.   I know that DNA exists within me, or believe that it does because I was told so 30+ years ago.   If some other discovery says this is not so, I must be open minded enough to accept the new theory or simply believe that my textbook is always right.  I am a school principal after all!