All over but the Sumter

I’ve been depressed the last several days. It seems like the social fabric is falling apart already…and times are still good. I’m the alien on Facebook. 60 Tea Partiers vs. 1000 union members in Canton. Mitch Daniels showing himself as a punk coward. Talk of a general strike, to toy with the lives of the poor and unfortunate. Talk of >$200 oil. Talk of the Pres__ent training mob leaders this summer.

It’s not about wages. That’s Team Blue’s game. Who am I to say that somebody makes “too much money”? Teachers are well-paid everywhere, union or no. It’s been claimed that if they were paid babysitter wages for each of those kids, they’d be making more. But I don’t begrudge them. I understand why the state can’t pay though; I suspect that STRS hasn’t been any better managed than Social Security. And we can’t talk about “fair wages” in an area where they can’t be ascertained because market forces are not at work, because of access restriction through licensure, and because public employees elect their own management. That’s the real issue here. The kids have Dad’s wallet, and not only are they going to set their own allowance, but they’ve got an allowance for all their friends too.

And what about this “right” to collectively bargain? Where’d that come from? If a “collective” imposes itself on a deal between two people in a state of nature, that collective is a MOB. Now, if homie wants to play that, OK, but there are a lot more workers in the private sector…and these days they have a lot less to lose. Sure, in a state of nature, a bunch of guys could see the boss and say, “We’ll all only work for this much”. And the boss could say, “No sale”, and hire others, and they’d go elsewhere, assuming they aren’t a mob.  Or are they discussing a legal “right” (privilege) that didn’t exist until the 1960s? If rights are so crucial, why is it that the same political party that the unions have designated as their bargaining agent is so cavalier about other rights, like the rights to private property, self defense, religion, travel, search and seizure, among others? At the very least, they’ve been around longer, and one can make a better case for them being intrinsic to the nature of man.

And they’re complaining about old books and computers. OK, the textbook industry is a huge scam, especially at the collegiate level. The canon of Western art music doesn’t change every three years, so why should the Norton Anthology? But at the lower level, there are so many approval hoops to jump through. Whey can’t we have open source textbooks? They could have alternative chapters to choose from, and could either be read online, or printed through Lulu, and they would still be cheaper than what the big publishers peddle…and probably more interesting. And if in fact teachers don’t have the supplies to properly do their jobs, why isn’t that a matter for collective bargaining? Or is it one of the things they throw in as a chip, to be discarded the first day?

The  Pres__ent is sending in Organizing for American goods to stir the pot. And everyone has to take a side, it seems. Civil War II is here, and it’s not state against state or even race against race, but neighbor against neighbor. And when the shooting starts, as it will, they’ll drive the conservatives out of Cleveland Heights just as liberals will suddenly feel unwelcome in Windham. Then the invasions begin.

If teachers don’t have to show, why should kids?

Denninger points out the problems with The One establishing antifederalism through community organizing, and offers some solutions:

If you are a parent with children in a Wisconsin school you must demand that any teacher who falsely called in sick to protest be debarred from teaching your child. It is absolutely essential that our children understand and be taught that the representative process of government is sacred and that violating that premise is unacceptable. No parent who honors our form of government can permit their child to be instructed by a teacher who participated. I therefore call upon all parents to perform a “KidOut” and demand these teachers be immediately fired and replaced, or their children will not return to class. There are millions of unemployed people in this nation and many are qualified to teach. There is no shortage in the labor pool. Force the Superintendents to fire every one of these teachers – right now.

Second, Governor Walker needs to sign an executive order declaring a State of Emergency and ordering the Senate to come to order. If the Democrats refuse he should then declare their seats abdicated and hold special elections. The Democrats need only lose one seat in that special election to be irretrievably screwed. It is fine to disagree but the fact remains that a legislator has a job, and that is to legislate. That means showing up, speaking your peace, debating in a civil manner and voting. That’s how we do things in America.

If I were a principal in Wisconsin

…and I had so many teachers out that I had to close school, it would happen at most for one day, while I developed a lesson plan. The next day, anyone whose teacher didn’t show would go into the gym for an assembly. We’d have a teach-in about the bill, the true nature of labor unions and their relationship to both Communism and violence, with lots of films and music. We’d make it fun, and we’d do it again and again, until the teachers came back…who would then have to answer questions from their students. Is that propaganda? Yes, but so is most history/”social studies” taught in school. Is it likely to happen, given that administrators are part of the system? No. But if you’re a principal in Ohio, you’d best get ready, because it’s coming here. For that matter, the Tea Party could prepare such a teach-in, and arrange space in some church, so that when school was cancelled, working parents would have some place to daycare their kids. This would take courage, as other bureaucrats would probably call the place an illegal unlicensed day care. But it’s worth discussing and trying to implement.

Working on a Net gang

My, Denninger’s on a roll today. He writes about a stupid and trivial-ass rule that his daughter’s school has in place, and invites his readers to make trouble over it.

Granted, it’s a stupid and trivial-ass rule. And calling in a gang of strangers for support is pretty much what they did when they called HIM to back up their silly rule with his daughter. But really, this is the sort of thing that cannot end well, for him and more particularly his daughter. And it avoids the main question: Karl, WTF do you still have a kid in public screwal?

Ohio HB 30 and stampeding moms

I got into a little discussion on Facebook, prompted by the following status report:

Oh, look, now they want to charge tuition for kids to attend state school. Yaknow what? Y’all have lost your minds.

It is buried in the proposed Ohio House Bill 30 focused on repealing all-day kindergarten. I haven’t read the full text for implications, but you can BET YOUR SWEET ASS that I will.

So there was a certain amount of “Kasich and the rich” and “This can’t possibly be legal under the state constitution”  (it probably is, under Article VI, sec. 2-3). So I decided to post a link to the bill, and discuss the relevant section:

(E) The scheduling of times for kindergarten classes and length of the school day for kindergarten shall be determined by the board of education of a city, exempted village, or local school district, subject to section 3321.05 of the Revised Code.

(F) Any kindergarten class offered by a day-care provider or school described by division (B)(1) or (B)(2)(a) of this section shall be developmentally appropriate.

(G) Upon written request of a day-care provider described by division (B)(2)(a) of this section, the department of education shall determine whether certification held by a teacher employed by the provider meets the requirement of division (B)(2)(b)(iii) of this section and, if so, shall furnish the provider a statement to that effect.

(H) As used in this division, “all-day kindergarten” has the same meaning as in section 3321.05 of the Revised Code.

(1) Any school district that did not receive for fiscal year 2009 poverty-based assistance for all-day kindergarten under division (D) of section 3317.029 of the Revised Code may charge fees or tuition for students enrolled in all-day kindergarten. If a district charges fees or tuition for all-day kindergarten under this division, the district shall develop a sliding fee scale based on family incomes.

(2) The department of education shall conduct an annual survey of each school district described in division (H)(1) of this sectionto determine the following:

(1)(a) Whether the district charges fees or tuition for students enrolled in all-day kindergarten;

(b) The amount of the fees or tuition charged;

(c) How many of the students for whom tuition is charged are eligible for free lunches under the “National School Lunch Act,” 60 Stat. 230 (1946), 42 U.S.C. 1751, as amended, and the “Child Nutrition Act of 1966,” 80 Stat. 885, 42 U.S.C. 1771, as amended, and how many of the students for whom tuition is charged are eligible for reduced price lunches under those acts;

(2)(d) How many students are enrolled in traditional half-day kindergarten and how many students are enrolled in rather thanall-day kindergarten, as defined in section 3321.05 of the Revised Code.

Each district shall report to the department, in the manner prescribed by the department, the information required by this division described in divisions (H)(2)(a) to (d) of this section.

The department shall issue an annual report on the results of the survey and shall post the report on its web site. The department shall issue the first report not later than April 30, 2008, and shall issue a report not later than the thirtieth day of April each year thereafter.

Sec. 3321.05. (A) As used in this section, “all-day kindergarten” means a kindergarten class that is in session five days per week for not less than the same number of clock hours each day as for students in grades one through six.

(B) Any school district may operate all-day kindergarten or extended kindergarten, but beginning in fiscal year 2011, each city, local, and exempted village school district shall provide all-day kindergarten to each student enrolled in kindergarten, except as specified in divisions (C) and (D) of this section.

(C) The board of education of a school district may apply to the superintendent of public instruction for a waiver of the requirement to provide all-day kindergarten for all kindergarten students. In making the determination to grant or deny the waiver, the state superintendent may consider space concerns or alternative delivery approaches used by the school district.

(D) No no district shall require any student to attend kindergarten for more than one-half of the number of clock hours required each day for grades one through six traditional kindergarten by the minimum standards adopted under division (D) of section 3301.07 of the Revised Code. Each school district that operates all-day or extended kindergarten shall accommodate kindergarten students whose parents or guardians elect to enroll them for one-half of the minimum number of hours required each day for grades one through six.

(E)(C) A school district may use space in child day-care centers licensed under Chapter 5104. of the Revised Code to provide all-day kindergarten under this section.

This removes the mandate for all-day kindergarten that was to start this year. It says that a district may not REQUIRE more than half-day K-garten attendence. And it says that IF it offers full-day K-garten, AND has NOT been getting special aid for poor districts, it MAY charge fees or tuition, but must do so on a sliding scale. Does anyone here really have a problem with that? If a parent wants the kid in full-day because it’s more convenient for them, basically using the school as day-care, they should pay a day-care fee, no?

I figured that maybe this would lead to some substantive debate, that somebody would thank me for posting the link, that somebody would say, “Oops, it doesn’t say that” or angrily maintain that it does in fact say that. But I should have saved my typing time.  The replies were along the lines of “all the data supporting how good all-day-K is for kids.” (without citing the data, which is apparently not all positive or conclusive) or wanting some certainty about what they’d get for their taxes. Let’s say that all-day-K is good for all kids, all the time. Is even earlier schooling good for them?  Should we grab the kids at birth and hand them to the experts?  Even if it’s good, can we afford it?  My generation did just fine on half-day-K…but we also didn’t grow up in a 2-wage-slave household, and had parents teaching us things before we started school. And who are the “we” that can or can’t afford it? Is this enough of a social benefit that, granting the premise that education is a social benefit, we should all pay for it whether we use it or not?

If people won’t call into question novel perks of being an Ohioan, how are they ever going to face down established things like public education, welfare, and food stamps?

Tea Party crasher now unemployed

Remember Jason Levin, the teacher who founded crashtheteaparty.org on company time? Me neither.But he was offered the opportunity to fall on his sword before his boss ran him through with it. Soja (whose headline is untoppable) wonders how bad you have to be before you’re unemployable by an Oregon school, and claims he’s bound for better things. I’m betting on a title like “Educator Outreach Director” for Organizing for America.

How to win at dodgeball

Damn, I wish I had thought of this.

Once in a great while I’d be one of the last two standing. The other one, of course, would be the biggest surviving mutant on the other side. And then I would do the cruelest thing I could think to do. No, I didn’t catch the ball. He expected me to catch the ball, he expected to lose. The gym teacher expected it as well, and he was my real target. I didn’t care about the boy; he was just another jock.

I would wait until he threw the ball at my chest, avoiding it if he went for my legs and waiting for the chance. This could often go on for some time, because he knew by then that to throw it at my chest or head was to lose. He’d throw it at my legs, I’d dodge out of the way and either let the ball bounce back to his side or lob it off to one side so he had to scramble to retrieve it. I couldn’t throw the ball hard enough to have any hope of actually hitting him, so I didn’t try.

Finally he’d get frustrated and throw one high. I would line myself up with the ball as if to catch it. And then I would sidestep it, reach out my hand and let it brush my fingers as it passed, then walk off the boards. Enjoy your victory, asshole.

This used to annoy the hell out of the teacher. And that was the object of the game. ;^)

HitlerObamajugend

“I am an Obama Scholar.”

Boris Johnson defends Latin in schools

….against the Labour ass Ed Balls (only in England, a name like that):

What would [formidable Marxist historian] Ste Croix have made of a government that actively tried to restrict the study of a great and profitable discipline to the bourgeoisie? He would have denounced it as an act of class war, and he would have been right.

Paul Parets

So I was shown my first beginning band, and Mrs. Hansen the principal pointed out this kid in the back with a runny nose and glasses, and said, “I think the boy may be a genius. Either that, or he’s disturbed.”  Now it’s clear to me that, if he’s disturbed, he is also a genius.

 –Paul L. Parets, May 1974, introducing the premiere of my Exordium for band.

Well, if I was/am disturbed, it’s a tendency toward narcissism and taking myself too seriously. And if I’m a genius, it’s only in being too stupid to quit, and in having learned how to do a few things tolerably well. Of all the teachers at Croswell-Lexington High School, it was Mr. Parets who did the most to channel both the disturbed and genius parts into something I and society could live with. He encouraged my autodidact explorations, had me direct the Freshman Band (probably pushing it, there), premiered my first band work, and gave me every opportunity consistent with fairness. He also convinced my parents to send me to the University of Michigan, in spite of their fears that the hippies would corrupt me. I was at that inconvenient age where I was old enough to identify with hippies but too young to actually be one. I got my share of corruption: by hippies, by charismatic and cultic Christians, and finally by libertarians. But I also got an education I would not have gotten anywhere else in the state.

Not that I got anything like proper career counseling, either then or in college. I suspect that at that time “band director” was the only career path Parets knew. Instinctively, I knew that was not my path. I’m not nearly good enough at getting into people’s heads to be an effective teacher. I can teach composition relatively well because I can get charged about a student’s ideas and show them ways to develop them. Even though I try to be careful not to step on the student’s idea or lead, I am much more interventionist than any teacher I have ever had.  I’ve never been particularly good at teaching basic skills; they came too easily to me.  Even as a librarian, I’m much more comfortable with technical services or research than with bibliographic instruction. And of course, nobody grokked “composer”, because they were all dead…well, except for Burt Bacharach, whom my father thought I was going to be. If little Jeffy were going to do high school over again  with my current knowledge base, he’ d study bassoon privately with Ed Pitrago, get a double-reed scholarship, and get good enough to make a living playing, which would give me a chance to take in other composers’  laundry and save me from the punch presses. And he’d practice piano a lot more, especially etudes (sorry, Mrs. Norman).

Anyway, what brings this whole topic up is that I found out today about Parets’ Facebook page. He went off to Delaware in ’76, did grad school (doubtless got more from it than the typical music educator) and served in the Red Clay district, Delaware, for 34 years. This blurb refers to him as “legendary.”  ”Legendary”, in the band world. usually refers to the likes of William Revelli; I don’t think I even heard of “H. Bob” (Reynolds) being referred to as “legendary”. So it’s high praise indeed, and doubtless deserved. Last summer, with Hiram Community Band, I found myself asking “WWPPD?” when confronted with the Totally Inaudible Mellophone Player. Paul would have gotten in her face and said, “BLOW that thing!”  But them he didn’t have to deal with her daddy 10 feet away with drumsticks in his hand, or her siblings being a quarter of the band.

I see he still has political and religious interests. I took World Religions with him, and he was frank about not wanting to spend a lot of time on Islam, as he didn’t think much of it; I can only wonder what he thinks of it now. And he’s (relatively) on the right side politically (probably as much as you can be without being run out of Delaware). I don’t see that he’s retiring, but he must be, soon if not now. I wish him a fruitful and happy retirement; he’s earned it.