Dear Friends,
I attended a high school graduation this weekend. Many of my former students were graduating and I thought it would be nice to see how they were doing and learn which colleges they were entering. It was a nice ceremony and I was proud to see how many of them were heading to colleges that met with my approval. The salutatorian (a fine classicist and delightful person) was heading to my alma mater.
I sometimes wonder if I was right to leave the comfort and security of the classroom. One of my greatest inspirations, however, a partner at a prominent firm here, is chairman of their board of trustees, and his presence was all the affirmation I needed. As an attorney, I can continue to have a significant impact on education in my community.
Below are two stories on education that I recently read and felt inclined to share:
The Black and White of Ho Culture details a story with which I can relate. I spent a year at a school that was 98% black. This school also had the largest SPED population in the school district and all of the children received free lunches. They often bragged about how their parents lied on their applications so that they would receive these free lunches, but I wonder, in hind-sight, how much of that was done for the sake of saving face. Needless to say, I was called almost every name in the book--"cracker" being the least offensive. That said, I was never called a "ho" and can only imagine how much more difficult it would have been to have been a woman in that environment. Unlike the woman in the story, I had a decent administration that would have backed me up had I ever felt abused by my students. Here is the full address in case the link doesn't work:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/05/the_black_and_white_of_ho_cult.html
This next article is about education in general and it's impact on economics. Our public education system needs to be drastically over-hauled. The biggest problem that I saw was a complete lack of accountability. My students did not fear failure or poverty. They had been poor their entire lives and seen very little else, nor have they had any reason to try to escape poverty. Let me stop now. I believe I am getting away from the article a little too much. Enjoy.
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2007/05/tyler_cowen_why.html
Finally, here is a trivial wikipedia site for you to explore:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesoamerica
-LCC
1 comment:
I've been called "White bastard," which I understand, "White devil," which sort of makes sense, and "Country white," which really shouldn't click, if you know me (which you do). But my favorite of them all has to be "Chickenhead." I'm not quite sure what it means. Some of the girls have clued me in that it is misogynistic and not something I should make a big deal of in polite company (I'm always bringing it up again, just for the instant laugh that comes after I say "Chickenhead.") Chickenhead has a nice ring to it. Go ahead and put it on my tombstone.
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