Enough with the kids, now lets test the teachers!

In the world of education, the answer to everything seems to come down to the one most common denominator-More Testing.

But now, instead of drilling the kids, the American Federation of Teachers, a powerful teachers union, is advocating a so-called “bar exam” intended to raise the standard for incoming teachers.  Their proposal calls for a nationwide, standardized test administered by state-level unions similar to the way states host bar exams for lawyers. It is, in essence, a competency test meant to ensure that the person who takes and passes the exam has at least that minimum standard good enough to negotiate this test.

Haven’t we learned already how useless such testing is?

Sure, we ought to have some kind of standard by which we can assure ourselves that teachers have at least the minimum requirements to teach whatever class levels they are teaching. Here in Virginia we do so via the Praxis 1 and Praxis 2 exams. Praxis 1 covers a broad spectrum of general subjects and Praxis 2 is for a more specific subject area, such as:  Math, Science, or English.

There used to be the National Teachers Exam, or NTE. But there will always be perfectly good teachers who for one reason or another have difficulty passing such tests. When I took the Praxis, we had several nights of training to prepare for the test. During the training, the instructors recounted war stories of people who failed the test repeatedly, one who had taken the exam 50 times.

While I believe that if you can’t pass the Praxis test in one or two tries you might be in the wrong career field, I understand that people sometimes have difficulty with testing. I know people who are very good at what they do, but face test anxiety and have a hard time dealing with subject matter they know well simply because it’s a test. It happens all the time. We provide special consideration for students who are documented with test taking issues, and allow them extra time or special assistance in order to overcome their anxiety.

We do not provide any such consideration for teachers who may well have similar issues. Does that make them bad teachers? No. While having a baseline set by some objective testing is a nice thing, it needs to incorporate other variables, such as classroom observation or results of classwork while in school.

The AFT says their proposed test is largely in response to young public school teachers who have expressed concern about being unprepared to enter a classroom. “It’s not fair to students, and it’s not fair to teachers if they are not prepared on Day One,” Union President Randi Weingarten said.

So, if that’s the case, what will this testing do? It won’t make young teachers, or old teachers for that matter, any more prepared to step into a classroom. It’s daunting for anyone to step inside a classroom full of 20 or more students and expect to have control and move the class forward. Often, it takes some time for new teachers to figure things out, and develop whatever style of leadership it takes for them to gain control and make things work.

You can’t instill that by testing. All a test will do is indicate whether or not the test taker has the requisite knowledge for teaching, it has absolutely no relation to ability. The only way to test ability is to jump in the water and swim.

Now, I am not saying we just throw prospective teachers into the water without some kind of “swimming” lessons. That’s why we send teachers to school. That’s why we have all those stultifying education classes. And in the end, we send them out for “student teaching” practicums and other events so that they can stick their toe in and see how the water feels.

For some, that taste is enough to send them into a tizzy and off to work in a retail store. For others, it is just what they have been looking for and now they are ready to take on the classroom on their own.

The point being, it’s different for everyone. Testing alone cannot improve the classroom situation. To some extent, training can help. But there also needs to be some responsibility picked up by the school administration. Most schools assign a mentor to new teachers, but the schools can do more. They can provide training and suggest training by assessing the teachers in the classroom.

That is one of the things that the ATF proposes to do with tenured teachers, teachers who are difficult to weed out of the system due to time in service. Weingarten said Monday that unions help tenured teachers improve through professional development and evaluations. But that is already being done at the school level all the time through in-service.

“What we’re focusing on is preparing new teachers,” she said in response to a question from FoxNews.com in a conference call.

A union task force developed the test, which its board of directors still must approve before asking states to adopt the concept. The task force also calls for teachers and educators to set and enforce the standards and said the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards has agreed to get all parties together to design the standards.

To pass the written exam, teachers would also need a minimum grade point average and at least one year of successful student teaching. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is commending the proposal. He says the U.S. shouldn't tolerate having unprepared teachers in the classroom.

"It's time to do away with a common rite of passage into the teaching profession -- whereby newly minted teachers are tossed the keys to their classrooms, expected to figure things out, and left to see if they and their students sink or swim,” Weingarten said.

My point is that testing rarely provides the right answer. There needs to be a more holistic view of a teacher, and not whether he or she can dot the correct answer to someone’s idea of what essential knowledge is needed for a prospective teacher to get into a classroom. As much as there will be those who are competent in the classroom but fail at the test, there will be those who smoke the test but should never be allowed alone in a classroom full of children.

Leave the kids alone, please!

Where will it all end? It seems that just as we get past one horrible case of child sexual abuse, another one crops up. Certainly, there were many cases of child sex abuse before the Catholic Church got hit with scandal upon scandal regarding many of its priests who took it upon themselves to take advantage of the young boys in their charge. It has taken years to unravel that mess, and many of the priests have escaped justice because the church itself had been hindering the investigations.

The next turn of events brought us into the college sports arena, where the Jerry Sandusky incident at Penn State University played out over several months. It seemed like eternity as the stories came out slowly and painstakingly. And the horror that Penn State officials were complicit in some extent to enabling Sandusky to continue his vile acts on those poor kids.

Sandusky’s case seems to have precipitated two others, Bernie Fine, the assistant basketball coach at Syracuse University, and Louis "Skip" ReVille, 32, who was working as a school principal in South Carolina when he was arrested last fall for sex abuse accusations involving 15 victims while he was a camp counselor at The Citadel. All of these places are highly reputable, and in some sense seem to be above suspicion for those kinds of allegations. And yet, here we are.

But these kinds of cases aren’t just US issues. In sunny old England, Sir Jimmy Savile, an eccentric and jocular host of children’s shows and charity fund raisers, has recently fallen under accusations of child sex abuse by a number of women who claim he abused them when they were children. Ironically enough, his associates said that there had long been rumors of Savile having his way with these youths. But for whatever reason, no one took them seriously and no one bothered to investigate. That sounds a lot like the Sandusky case, doesn’t it?

It seems that Mr. Savile, who died last year at 84, followed a pattern that even the British media says resembles the Sandusky pattern. The following comment comes from bigstory.AP.org, an Associated Press website:

Child protection advocates say the case fits a pattern seen in the response to the child-molesting Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky and in the English town of Rochdale, where a gang of men groomed vulnerable young girls for sex. Authorities in both places have been criticised for failing to act on claims of abuse.

Savile, like Sandusky, may have become too big a name to touch, so the local officials there also opted to take the “do nothing” path that Penn State followed so well. It is appalling that people in authority fail to make the proper step in such situations and call in the authorities.

And if all that isn’t enough, now we have the Sesame Street version, with the voice actor behind the character Elmo being dogged by the same kinds of sexual abuse allegations. When the issue first appeared it seemed to get “resolved” via a monetary payoff.

But, as it happens with many of these sex abuse cases, more victims start to appear. Now, Kevin Clash has two additional lawsuits against him for sexual abuse of teenage boys. It seems that Mr. Clash was “trolling gay telephone chat lines seeking underage boys for sex” according to one CBVS News account.

With such things cropping up every day, it sort of makes you wonder a bit. I think, for most people, it makes you take an extra look at things that on the face of it seem a little odd.  But sex abuse never really crossed the minds of the school personnel, who thought that Jerry Sandusky had a heart of gold while he was really raping students at their school.

Most of these cases, or at least a good portion of them, could have been avoided if people who were in the position to do something about it, just did something. It’s a shame that these people failed to take action when they were in a prime position to do so. It supports the 18^th Century British Philosopher Edmund Burke’s statement: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing!”

Election's over: Now get your butts to work!

It’s time to set aside our differences, remove whatever hatchet or axe we think is stuck in our skulls or backs, and get back to the business of running the country. Regardless of whom you cast a vote for it’s the job of our representatives to move the country along in a positive direction. We have a great many issues facing us, not the least of which revolves around the so-called fiscal cliff, and we need our Federal representatives to work together for the good of the country.

For one person, I am really tired of Federal stagnation. Whatever happened to doing what is best for the country, and not doing what will frustrate the other parties? I thought the job of our elected officials was progress. It seems we get caught up in cronyism, partisan politics, and a lot of other secondary and tertiary matters that does nothing except make things worse for us taxpayers.

So Barrack Obama won, and won convincingly, I might add. The country has spoken. Despite the GOP’s constant assault, they were not able to generate enough enthusiasm to win the election.

It’s time to think about that.

Over the last four years, the GOP has had this underpinning idea that if they could stall long enough, they would be able to oust Obama in the 2012 election. Wrong! Guess what? That means the majority of the populace approves of what the Democrats have been putting in place. It means, despite the egos, that the populace wants to continue to follow that path.

It’s time to stop being an obstacle, and try to move on. There is room for compromise. But someone has to make the first steps. Congress needs to find some reconciliation to put the needs of the country first.  There’s time enough to rebuild the parties and restructure the planks to address what might happen in 2016, but if we don’t start making positive steps we may not need to worry about the election four years hence.

It’s time we found common ground. Can we find common ground? Yes, it may not be what you want, but it can be enough of what you want to be a workable solution. We need to have a budget, we need to stick to the budget, and we need to fund the budget. I don’t know about you, but running a house without some semblance of a budget is hard enough, I can’t imagine what it might be for the government. Oh, no, wait a minute, that’s not totally true. Running the government without a budget brings us to the state we are in now.

Let’s start there. Let’s vote for a budget, and work out whatever needs to be done to get us there. Most people are not against Obamacare apparently, and certainly we live in a time when some kind of basic medical care ought to be provided. The issue is who gets it, and what’s it going to cost. The law is already more costly than its supporters first indicated. No question any form of socialized medicine is going to be a burden on the tax payers, but so be it. It’s not like we can do anything about that now. The thing to do now is find the pieces that are broken or that don’t work as prescribed, and fix them. No one expects a policy of this size to go through without there being a few bugs.

Instead of whining and crying about a bitter defeat, it’s time that Boehner and his cronies settle down to the business of governing. Quit putting up roadblocks, and start working on cleaning up the grid-lock that defines Washington DC. If you are unwilling to work things out, maybe you are the problem.

Enablers beware; Penn State Officials Face Legal Action

It’s about time.

The Penn State saga has been playing out for years now, and finally the monster Jerry Sandusky has been put away essentially for life, getting a 30-60 year sentence for molesting at least 10 boys. No question in my mind that this ogre needs to be locked away in a cell where he can’t get at anyone and no one can get at him. But there were other people involved in this horrific tale, enablers that so far have escaped justice.

It may be in the end that the buck stops with Sandusky. But for me, there are certainly many high-ranking Penn State officials who either tacitly or actively allowed Sandusky to continue his vile practices even after the specter of his deeds had been brought to their attention. Right away, two members of the Penn State elite were held on charges of perjury, conspiracy, and endangering the welfare of children. Former Penn State President Graham Spanier, who was arraigned on those charges last week and allowed to remain free on $125,000 bail, is the latest to come under scrutiny. The courts already had their eyes on former Athletic Director Tim Curley and ex-Vice President Gary Schultz, who were both charged during Sandusky’s year-long investigation and subsequent conviction. It’s also reasonable to assume that had Joe Paterno not passed away earlier this year that he too may have been brought up on the charges.

One thing is for certain, that group of men was aware of Sandusky’s actions with these children and did nothing. Whether they were concerned with how Penn State would look, or how it might affect their vaunted football team, if the evidence holds up they appear to be pretty guilty.

The Louis Freeh report, which details the actions of these men concerning how they handled the Sandusky incident, seems to indicate that not only were they aware of what was going on they actively chose to ignore it. Instead, they offered Sandusky the opportunity to clean up his act, instead of immediately notifying the police.

In one e-mail, Spanier agrees with the plan to not notify the police or child protective services. It’s mind boggling to think that three highly educated men would simply ignore the moral imperative and continue with a plan of action that allowed the crimes to continue for 13 more years.

I remember to this day when I first heard about Jerry Sandusky being passed over as Joe Paterno’s replacement as head coach. It was interesting at the time, because Sandusky appeared to be exactly the person who should take over the program. After all, he was the brains behind their terrific defenses, and likely the main reason Penn State had been called Linebacker U for so long. And yet there it sits. That was a huge clue to something being amiss at Happy Valley. Looking back, it’s pretty easy to connect the dots and realize that Paterno’s move to oust Sandusky was likely related to the sexual abuse case.

What else could it have been?

Truly, this is damnation to all men. Here we have, arguably, some of the finest minds of our times. Are there any more vaunted people than those who serve as college presidents, vice presidents, athletic directors, and football coaches? The one thing you expect out of them is a rigid fairness and adherence to principles above all else. And yet we get this mess at Penn State?

It could have, for the most part, been avoided. The right thing to do, really the only thing to do, was to notify the authorities immediately when they caught wind of such allegations.

It would have been difficult for the university, but in the end they would have come down on the right side of things. Instead, they find themselves in a much bigger mess. By allowing Sandusky to continue to molest these children, they made themselves part of the crime. In addition, by not turning Sandusky in, they also put the college on the spot, destroyed its reputation, and set it up for unending lawsuits.

It will be a tremendous shock to me if these men are not guilty of enabling Sandusky. Isn’t that really what they are being tried for?

In the end, we can only hope that the process of justice through the courts is fair, fast, and final. All the yelling and screaming and ballyhoo can’t for a second diminish what these men are partly responsible for. The cases need to be heard. Let’s see how they fare under a jury of their peers.

The "Acapulco Gold" gold rush, or Go West Young Stoner!

Move over California Gold Rush, Colorado and Washington are bringing you the “Acapulco Gold” gold rush. By passing marijuana legalization laws in both states, things are going to get just a bit squirrely in those states over the next year or so.

Since the Federal government considers marijuana illegal and prohibits its use, it will be very interesting to see how those two states work out their differences with the Feds. Passage of the measure in Colorado prompted Gov. John Hickenlooper to comment, “This will be a complicated process, but we intend to follow through. That said, federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don’t break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly.”

Colorado’s law states that adults over 21 can possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana, or six marijuana plants, for personal use. The state anticipates benefiting from potential taxes.

Opponents say it will make the state a marijuana mecca for drug tourists. But then, I guess they haven’t been on the slopes at Steamboat Springs lately, either.

In Washington, initiative 502 legalizes and regulates the production, possession, and distribution of marijuana for residents 21 and older. The new law imposes a 25 percent tax rate on pot when the grower sells it to the processor, when the processor sells it to the retailer, and when the retailer sells it to the customer. Supporters believe the measure could bring in $500 million annually, a figure some analysts dispute. Both laws include a pot DUI limit.

But unlike the famous Bob Dylan line, “everyone must get stoned,” marijuana initiatives failed in some states. In Oregon, for instance, voters defeated Measure 80, which would have legalized the sale of pot through state-licensed stores, allowed unlicensed growth and use of marijuana by adults, and prohibit restrictions on pot.

Analysts say the measure failed in Oregon mainly because the supporters were too high to make their case—not! In reality, they believe the supporters lacked organization and funding. In Washington, the change was supported by a large number of prominent Washington State officials:  John McKay, former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington; Peter Holmes, Seattle city attorney; and Kim Marie Thorburn MD and MPH, former director of the Spokane Regional Health District just to name a few.

Colorado, which has a thriving medical marijuana industry, also had support for and cash to help sway its electorate. But not all states with marijuana initiatives were as successful:  Arkansas rejected a measure to legalize medical marijuana, but in Massachusetts a similar measure passed.

What didn’t pass in Massachusetts was assisted suicide; the measure failed 51 percent to 49 percent, which leaves room for a future attempt.

In addition to pot, Washington also approved a same sex marriage initiative, as did Maine and Maryland; meanwhile, Minnesota’s attempt to ban same-sex marriages failed by 52 to 47 percent.

It ought to be right interesting to see how many people migrate to Colorado and Washington over the next few years. I am certain the gold rush in those two states will far outpace the California gold rush of 1849; and the Klondike gold rush of 1899.  The California gold rush brought in an estimated 300,000 prospectors, and about 100,000 responded to the Klondike gold rush.

No question in my mind that Colorado and Washington will both experience population boosts far surpassing those paltry numbers put up by the other gold rushes. Their respective populations will increase significantly, and they will soon be worth more Electoral College votes.