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Friday, 20 October 2006
This guy's Crozier than I am
When you get tired of Jim Rex and Karen Floyd airing their staid, trite arguments about how to make schools safer in light of recent horrific shootings, take a look at their counterpart out in Oklahoma.
This guy wants to do something. And he doesn't just talk about doing something. He and his "staff" went out and blasted some textbooks with a 9mm pistol and an AK-47, and put it on video. You have got to see this -- it's like outdoor-sportsman show meets Monty Python: "Boring Book Stalking on the Moors," or some such.
Why can't we have candidates like this?
This was brought to my attention by some alert folks down in our newsroom. One education reporter speculated that, since the only kind of textbook mentioned in the story was a calculus book, that maybe this reflected some sort of deep hostility to higher math on the part of Bill Crozier, the candidate. Was he asked to recite the chain rule one too many times? Who knows? In any case, he has taken his revenge.
I'll be helping moderate the Monday night debate between Mrs. Floyd and Mr. Rex. Now I have two new questions to ask:
- Would you provide our pupils with body armor made from old textbooks?
- If so, what kinds of textbooks -- as in what subjects -- would they be?
Their answers would speak volumes about their suitability.
Once again, we are reminded what a wonderful idea it is to elect our state superintendent. The kind of person who would be appointed would be the dull sort who would actually read textbooks, rather than shredding them with a Kalashnikov.
Posted by Brad Warthen at 03:18 PM in Education, Elections, The Nation
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Comments
Brad,
I'll donate $25 to your favorite charity
if you don't say the words "voucher" or
"PPIC" on Monday in the debate Monday.
Try and make it about the state of this state's education instead of the voucher
red herring. Or at least if you bring the subject up, explain what power the secretary of education has to actually implement vouchers. Wouldn't that have to be enacted by the state legislature (who you always defer to as our chosen representatives???)
And I'll donate another $25 if you can avoid the camera catching you looking at Floyd's legs... :-)
Posted by: Doug | Oct 20, 2006 4:34:42 PM
This brings new meaning to the concept of high-powered learning. And also, an incentive to the kids who take the toughest classes with the biggest books, for protection. While reading, Ulysses, 1400 pages?, on the side.
Posted by: Dave | Oct 20, 2006 4:45:50 PM
Actually, when Karen came in to visit with us the other day (one of about six interviews I have yet to blog on; I hope to catch up soon), she couldn't wait to bring up PPIC. Her motive was to get it out of the way, of course, but she insisted that we talk about it ASAP.
In a debate, I expect Mr. Rex will bring it up if she doesn't. But I assure you, if no one else does, I will. Because that's what divides the candidates in this race. Not to talk about it would be like not talking about an elephant wandering around in the studio.
Yeah, it bores me, too. I want to be talking about actual reforms, not this sideshow. But as long as it is the governor's main "education idea," and as long as his candidate for superintendent advocates it, and as long as millions are spent stacking the Legislature with people who will support it (no matter what the people of South Carolina want), we pretty much have to talk about it.
Because if they succeed, there won't be much of a public school system left to reform. Public money will be scattered to the winds, with no accountability to the taxpayer. That makes all other proposals secondary.
Don't worry; there will be plenty of talk about other proposals. I'm sure that talk will predominate. But everybody knows "choice" is the WMD of this contest; everything else is conventional.
Posted by: Brad Warthen | Oct 20, 2006 6:46:34 PM
Some states have mandatory hunting education in the schools. They also have lower rates of teen violence. That is no surprise. Children who learn how to handle firearms and see how powerful and deadly they really are are living in the real world, instead of the media fantasy world of hip-hop violence.
Posted by: Lee | Oct 20, 2006 7:53:00 PM
Excerpt from Armstrong Williams column "Schools Teach Young Black Men to Fail Academically" - Young black men must be compelled to compete in the classroom if they are ever to achieve success in life. However, the only way public schools will be compelled to lift black men from the depths of academic despair is if they themselves are forced to compete with private schools. This can be achieved with school vouchers, which would allow parents to put their children in schools that will hold them to higher standards in the classroom.
Such policy has not taken off because teachers unions vehemently oppose vouchers. They recognize that vouchers would mean fewer teachers, fewer membership dues, the likely defections by public school personnel to privatized systems that have traditionally resisted centralized unionization, and the birth of competing collective bargaining entities.
For the teachers unions, the idea of competition can only mean giving up leverage. Nevertheless, if faced with such competition, public schools would be forced to push their young black men to succeed in the classroom, just as they push them on the basketball court.
With that said, perhaps what is even more important than the expectations of teachers and society as a whole are the expectations of parents. According to The Center for the Study of Sport and Society at Northeastern University, a poor African-American family is seven times more likely to encourage a male child into sports than is a white family.
Sadly, many black parents believe their children are unable to compete academically, so they push their children to develop athletically, and public schools simply reinforce this devastating mentality on a daily basis.
Posted by: Dave | Oct 21, 2006 5:29:56 AM
Dave,
Now THAT's a topic I hope Brad will bring up in the debates Monday. Ask both candidates what specific actions they will take to improve the education outcomes for black males.
I've suggested before that no student should be allowed to participate in sports in high school after 10th grade unless he/she has passed the exit exam given in the sophomore year. Knowing that going into high school would probably change the behavior of a number of borderline students early on.... and would (sadly) probably focus more attention on those students from the faculty of the school due to the misplaced attention high school athletes receive.
Posted by: Doug | Oct 21, 2006 7:36:27 AM
Wow! Crozier's brilliant experiment inspires me to point out that big fat calculus books are a great way to build yourself a fort. I mean, if you have a bunch of them lying about within convenient reach.
Posted by: Zeno | Oct 21, 2006 1:15:08 PM
I can't think of a better thing to do with them.
I took calculus -- and before that such things as analytical geometry and Algebra 5 (I finished high school in Hawaii, where they counted algebra courses by semester).
And here's a question for all readers: Do any of you, outside of maybe helping kids with homework, EVER use any math higher than Algebra I or plane geometry in the normal course of your lives?
Engineers don't count.
Posted by: Brad Warthen | Oct 21, 2006 1:34:20 PM
Brad, how about asking if anyone EVER uses American Lit, most PE activities, most concepts in physics, most art methods, etc.
Why do football players lift weights if they aren't bench pressing weights on the field? Why should kids take band if they don't plan on playing an instrument later life? Why does the State post articles about stories that will involve us not the least? Is direct and specific use the litmus test for the value of educational content?
Learning, knowledge, and experiences have value beyond direct utilitarian use. I explain to my students that football players lift weights and incorporate other activities for cross training. It builds the body up in ways that will indirectly help. The same is true for the mind.
Also, how will students know what they'll do in life unless they are exposed to a variety of content? I made math a career when I realized I enjoyed the very courses you question.
Posted by: Randy Ewart | Oct 21, 2006 2:32:18 PM
Doug,
who gets your vote for state super? I figure it's Floyd. I am seriously considering her as well. Unlike Brad, I am considering more than just her legs. ;)
Posted by: Randy Ewart | Oct 21, 2006 3:02:35 PM
Randy,
As a card carrying Independent, I will be voting a straight Republican ticket this year for the first time in my 16 years living here.
Sanford - absolutely. Hope he runs for President in 2008
Bauer - acceptable. His personal issues are almost as trivial as the position he is running for.
Ravenel - absolutely. a vote for Grady Patterson is a vote of ignorance or pure partisanship. We need more rich, smart, younger candidates like Sanford and Ravenal. Businessmen who aren't beholden to anyone.
Floyd - absolutely. Rex's missteps in this campaign including the negative blog attack on Floyd that was conveniently released and then pulled were enough for me to know that he's all politics. I think having Floyd and Sanford on the same page may actually lead to some small advances in education. Probably just about the time my 8th grade son graduates from high school.
As for Brad's question about the application of math, I have to agree.
I've worked for 20+ years in the IT industry and never used any of the calculus, geometry, or trig I spent hours on in college and high school. I wish I'd known then what I know now. I would have benefitted more from classes in statistics, finance, and communications. My sophomore daughter has a very strong interest in culinary arts... there is a close-to-zero percent chance that she will ever use the math she is learning in high school... I'd rather see her learning accounting and business concepts than geometry... but then I got in trouble in this blog last year for suggesting that the English curriculum is boring and should drop some of the supposed "classics" for more modern literature that teenagers of the 21st century might be able to connect with.
I'm sure my kid's kids will be reading "A Tale of Two Cities" in 2025. And be just as bored.
Posted by: Doug | Oct 21, 2006 5:36:50 PM
Doug,
Considering your daughter's interest in culinary arts, I hope you tune in to the race for Commissioner of Agriculture. The platform is all about food and how it can improve our economy, our health, and our safety--you probably know my slogan (our opportunity) if you think hard. Show your daughter the two candidates' websites, and see what she thinks. I have gotten 8 hours sleep in two days, put over 1,000 miles on the truck in same time, blogged thoughtfully on this page (and no other) during the past few months, and yet still do not register in your straight ticket decision. I'll keep trying.
Good night,
Emile
Posted by: Emile DeFelice | Oct 21, 2006 6:53:26 PM
Doug, taking the utilitarian approach would reduce schools to mere worker training programs. Your 8th grader will declare a major of interest this year. Should his subsequent classes pertain ONLY to that major?
The two best courses I took in college were art history and music appreciation. They opened my eyes to art reflecting life and instilled an appreciation of the arts.
Much of what's learned may not even be conscious and concrete knowledge. Calculus involves limits and rates. These are concepts that crop up in daily life.
Bauer's personal issues are indication of character. Public servants should be held to a higher standard. I take this seriously as a teacher and believe it's a shame that people increasingly shrug off seemingly trivial character issues. Once we start eroding the standards, where does it stop?
Posted by: Randy Ewart | Oct 21, 2006 11:02:45 PM
Randy says:
> Calculus involves limits and rates. These
>are concepts that crop up in daily life.
That has not been my experience. I took two years of calculus in college in 1982-83 and have never had a moment since then where I found any application of the concepts. I wish I had spent more time in my film studies and Russian classes. I've had more occasions to use Russian than calculus in 25 years.
Another example of the tired English curriculum --- both my 8th grade son and 10th grade daughter are reading the same book this year. Animal Farm. I wonder if there are any new insights since I read it in 1978? It sure is easier for the teachers to teach an old chestnut like that .
Posted by: Doug | Oct 22, 2006 7:30:05 PM
"Applications" in a direct concrete sense is not the sole purpose of education. Dealing with a rate of change, whether it's driving a car, in economics, etc. is fairly common.
Animal Farm, like the arts in general, reflects life often in a specific era -AF reflects the Soviet Union. Apparently, you believe the Soviet Union is also an obsolete and useless "chestnut". I guess the teachers are either lazy as you suggest, or are making use of a classic with tremendous historical implications.
Posted by: Randy Ewart | Oct 22, 2006 8:12:39 PM
Mr. DeFelice.
You have my vote. In fact, you also have a small contribution of my money to your campaign.
Based on what I read on your website, you're the type of candidate South Carolina needs more of. A do-er versus a talk-er.
Best of luck to you.
Posted by: Doug | Oct 22, 2006 8:16:12 PM
Randy,
I didn't say lazy. I said EASIER. In fact, it's a whole lot EASIER for lazy students to not even bother to read books like Animal Farm and just skim any one of a thousand websites to pass the tests and plagiarize papers.
The more education my kids get, the more I realize how "cookie cutter" the approach is. It isn't a whole lot different than what I went through 25 years ago. And I came to realize that much of what I was taught in school had very little importance.
Posted by: Doug | Oct 22, 2006 8:27:50 PM
I haven't read "Animal Farm" since junior high, but I recently re-read 1984, and Orwell was fantastic.
It's interesting. I had always put 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World in the same category in my mind, but Orwell is SO much better. Of course, I still think kids should read Huxley so they can see how OUR model (consumerism) can go wrong, too. The Soviet-style nightmare that was 1984 was so easy to see that as wonderfully as it was written, it didn't take much thought to see that it was BAD. I remember having an intense debate with other kids in 11th-grade English who thought the world of Brave New World would be JUST FINE. That was sort of a wake-up to me.
Even though that was an Honors course (or Advanced, or whatever they called it in Florida in 69-70), I have a feeling that those kids and their spiritual brethren are the reason "reality TV" is so popular today.
And Randy, I wasn't saying we shouldn't take calculus. It provides good exercises for the brain. I just think it's sort of funny I spent all those semesters learning stuff I would never use. I USE the stuff I learned in English (notice how often I cite Huck Finn, for instance), and in PE, too, for that matter. I use Spanish. I use Latin daily (although maybe I could have done without the second year). But mathematically, I never do anything harder than solving a simple equation for a single variable in the course of living my life.
Oh, well. It helped me get a killer score on the math part of the SAT -- much better than verbal, even though verbal was where my destiny lay. (See how I used "lay" correctly -- I think?)
Posted by: Brad Warthen | Oct 22, 2006 8:51:06 PM
Well, going by the crucial standard set in this post, I'm still not sure about Mrs. Floyd. We know she can wield a shotgun loaded with birdshot, but that would never penetrate the calculus book I had.
I don't know what Rex's weapon of choice would be. There's ANOTHER question for the debate.
Posted by: Brad Warthen | Oct 22, 2006 8:56:41 PM
"Good exercises for the brain" and, contrary to the opinion of many on this blog, I bet you use your brain daily.
Brad, when you are driving up and down those hills in Pennsylvania and assessing the changing speed and necessary force on your gas pedal, you are using some precalculus concepts. Of course, you're probably so enthralled listening to Rush, as a loyal Ditto Head, you probably didn't notice (or NPR depending on blogger perspective).
Posted by: Randy Ewart | Oct 22, 2006 10:56:42 PM
Brad,
Calculus can be applied to economic study. Investment bankers, economist, and financial officers use it to make projections for companies, markets, and inflation rates. Therefore, it is used regularly by people who work in this industry.
Do you think Grady Patterson took Calculus, or did he go tho high school before Issac Newton was born?
Posted by: Tim | Oct 23, 2006 12:39:44 AM
Lee, which states "have mandatory hunting educaton"? (post from 10/20/06)
As to the utility of calculus: Read David Berlin's book A TOUR OF THE CALCULUS. It's an eye-opener.
Posted by: Steve Gordy | Oct 23, 2006 7:05:28 AM
Mike C was in the State today proposing armed teachers. Way to go Mike. We are the sane ones.
Posted by: Dave | Oct 23, 2006 5:51:18 PM
Dave, what details can you supply other than "it sounds great"? Have you thought about ANY details?
Posted by: Randy Ewart | Oct 23, 2006 10:16:45 PM
Randy, what sounds great? You mean the Armstrong Williams statements or Mike C.s blog? Both actually do. Since pilots have been allowed to carry weapons how many planes have been hijacked in the US with box cutters? That says it all. Even suicidal terrorists are smart enough to pick soft targets, and airlines arent soft anymore. But schools still are.
Posted by: Dave | Oct 24, 2006 5:48:34 AM
