VOLuntarilyConservative

Take a gander over at Liberty Postings - Sarah Moore's blog - to see what she thought of the State of the Union as it relates to education.

I agree with Sarah on all points but the importance of engineering and science education. While a liberal arts education is good for some things, when it comes to solving actual problems - like energy sources after fossil fuels are depleted - it is engineers and scientists that will lead the way, not lawyers, authors, historians, etc. But, as Sarah notes, Presidents have been saying this for decades. No progress has been realized, and, given this President's track record, I can't foresee any over his reign.

Locally, I am interested to see what happens to Fort Craig Elementary, the flagship year round school in Maryville. Due to a focus on the high school and the need to open a modern intermediate school and the costs that go with such changes, the Maryville School Board is seriously considering closing Fort Craig. It appears to be a bizarre move on the School Board's part to me, as somehow closing your best school will improve the educational benefit to the city as a whole, particularly when one takes into account that the savings of closing Fort Craig will only meet about half of the need to open the new intermediate school. Given the pride that Maryville natives have in their school system, saving a buck doesn't exactly seem to fit with the community values here.

From my standpoint, I moved away from an average school system so that my boys would be educated in one that was excellent. I obviously hope that move was not a mistake on this front, and these proposed changes are not positive in that regard.

Labels: Education, Maryville School Board, State of the Union

John Brown has a good read on the Tea Party's efforts here in Tennessee to alter public school history curricula. As John points out, some of their "efforts" aren't, well, historical.

Perhaps the Tea Party should consult with someone who knows their history - someone like John Brown, for instance - before they move forward on this initiative, lest they be as inaccurate as the errors they are trying to correct.

Labels: Education, Tea Parties

I haven't posted on here in a few months, but that is not to say that those months have been relaxing or unproductive.

In early summer of 2010, Angela and I decided that the time had come for us to explore leaving Knox County. We certainly were comfortable in Knox - we owned a nice house that was relatively inexpensive, had a great office arrangement in Fountain City that was not far from the house, a wonderful church home at Central Baptist Church of Fountain City, and great and inexpensive daycare for the boys at CBCFC - but we both knew that the time was rapidly approaching where change would be necessary.

First and foremost, I did not want my boys to attend Knox County Schools. It simply wasn't an option. If we had remained in Knox County, I would have placed the boys in private schools, and tuition for those is equal to or exceeds what I paid to attend college. Perhaps Knox County Schools are all well and good for some folks, but I wanted Leo and Wil to have as good of an education as could be provided, because that is essential for their lives to be fulfilling. (Did you know that I have yet to have someone convicted of a crime in court where they had a 4-year college degree? In fact, I have only had one person convicted where the person had a 2-year Associate's degree, and that was just recently.) I wasn't convinced that could happen in Knox County, where more of the emphasis seems to be on administration and fiefdoms rather than on quality teaching and moulding the students into future leaders of America.

Second, Angela and I felt that there was a location where we were already part of a community, even if we weren't living there. Even with living in Knox County, we worked almost exclusively in the courts of other counties and were traveling nearly 400 miles a week for work purposes. With my work weeks topping 100 hours routinely in 2010, that doesn't leave much time for community activities close to home.

Third, I didn't feel that I was having any impact whatsoever on Knox County. Besides my tax dollars, I didn't feel as if I was making a difference there. Now, that's not to say that changes couldn't have occurred that would have rectified my impact, but it wasn't what it should have been or what I expect of myself.

Thus, in September, Angela and I started working towards finding a new residence in Maryville. Maryville's schools are incredible; it's like having private schooling in a public school system. In fact, I've known some children that have been educated in Knox County's private schools who have transferred to Blount County, and their parents have told me to a man that they feel their children have received a better education in Maryville. Plus, with the majority of my practice and the majority of Angela's practice being in Blount County, it just made sense to look "south of the river" for a new house.

After a long search (and some divine intervention), we found that house in Royal Oaks, a golf course community in Maryville. (No, I have no idea where Shaq lives.) It's much more house than I ever could have dreamed I would own, and from the desk in my office, I can see the hole on the 13th green. It may take a couple more months to get settled (moving, Christmas, both boys having birthdays, illness, and snow have made December and January tough months for settling in), but I feel that it will be worth it in the long run.

So, in any case, we are officially in Blount County now. (I hope that my decision not to run for State Executive Committe in the 6th District makes sense now to those who wondered why I decided not to run for the vacant position.) My political involvement is certainly not dead - not by a long shot. The right opportunity will come along - you'll just have to trust me on that front for now.

And this blog is not dead. Yes, I have been working almost entirely off of FaceBook for the past year or so, but I am committed to making this blog more active in 2011. Besides, 2010 wasn't much to write about, to be honest. 2011 - I have a feeling this year will be a bit more interesting...

Finally, I still have a home for sale in Knox County. It is just out of the Knoxville city limits (you can avoid paying city taxes by a couple of hundred yards), has nothing wrong with it (it was as maintenance free as any owner could ask of a home), is on a quiet cul-de-sac, is part of a great subdivision which goes all-out for just about every holiday (especially Halloween and Independence Day), and is a steal given that I have priced it about $13,000 below what I paid for it in 2007. Plus, you receive awesome representation in the General Assembly through Senator Jamie Woodson and Representative Bill Dunn. So, if you're feeling so inclined...

Labels: Education, Knox County Politics, Maryville, Relocating

A fascinating - and ultimately disturbing - case out of New Hampshire has a father using his child as a weapon against the mother post-divorce. Certainly nothing extraordinary there; I see the described situation nearly every day that I happen into a civil court where divorce matters are being litigated (whether they be juvenile matters, orders of protection, or other legal maneuvers that are ancillary to divorce proceedings).

Labels: Divorce, Education, Judiciary

As students in the 1960s, the Baby Boomers fought for the right to be treated as adults. After they became college administrators in the 1990s, they began to fight for students' right to be treated like children.

- Mike Adams, Professor at University of North Carolina-Wilmington, lamenting the victim mentality of the average student at American universities

Labels: Education, Quotes

(My apologies for not posting this sooner, but waking at 5:00 A.M. to write these lengthy posts on only a couple hours of sleep has started to catch up with me.)

Tuesday was slated to be the busiest day of the Republican National Convention for Angela and I due to our participation in several non-convention forums throughout the Twin-Cities. The Tennessee Republican Party started our day on the right foot by bringing California Congressman David Dreier, Colonel Tom Moe (former POW with John McCain), and Joe McCain, the feisty brother of Senator John McCain. I personally found Moe's testimony enlightening, as it supplemented what I knew about the Vietnamese prisons (particularly "the Hanoi Hilton") from my former co-worker, Jim Warner, who was also with McCain and Moe as a POW, enduring torture at the hands of their captors. It was great to speak with Moe and with Joe McCain, who both graciously provided time after their speeches to talk with me. Mr. McCain eagerly shared John McCain's flight jacket, pictured above, which was hanging in his locker when he was shot down in the skies of Vietnam.

From the breakfast, Angela and I traveled by light rail from the Mall of America to downtown Minneapolis for an event focusing on education. One of Angela's pet issues is education, her mother being a school teacher in the Kentucky school system. This event, called "Time to Choose: Children or the Bureaucracy?," was hosted by several education groups, chief amongst them American Solutions, Ed in '08, Education Reform Now, and the Education Equality Project. Several speakers were on the agenda, but most noteworthy were Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (whose state has the best schools in the nation by most indexes) and the Reverend Al Sharpton. Pawlenty spoke of the need to eliminate seniority in the school systems, saying that teachers were the only profession with such a protected slotting of salaries and tenure, and that compensation should be connected to results in the classroom. He believes that this, as well as his desire to have pay connected to demand (where physics teachers get paid more than physical education teachers due to there being fewer high school physics teachers) can be accomplished by working with the labor unions. Pawlenty warned that not acting on this soon and in a cooperative fashion would see the deaths of us all before reform occurs.

Then there was Al Sharpton. I didn't expect actual content or sense to come from Reverend Sharpton. I was amazed at what I heard. I heard what could have been conservative talking points coming from Sharpton - the need for parents to be challenged and engaged with their children, the realization that government cannot be charged with the children if parents are not taking time or making the sincere effort at home to have their children educated, individual accountability on all people but especially teachers and their labor unions. Sharpton called for comprehensive reform, saying that there are no sacred cows in the room and that reform could only be achieved if all parties are willingly at the table. He closed with the following: "Who will care what party we were a member of when we are all dead and gone if we do not stop the downward spiral of educational achievement?"

Folks, Al Sharpton got no less than 3 standing ovations from a packed room of nearly 600 Republicans. His ended up being the second best speech I heard all day. It really caused me to remark that if we all agreed on the problems and that solutions were apparent, what exactly are we - as Republicans and Democrats - arguing about?

Angela and I next zipped over to St. Paul for a panel discussion entitled, "Politics & the Media: Bridging the Political Divide in the 2008 Election." Hosted by POLITICO and the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication, the panelists included Roger Simon (chief political columnist for POLITICO), Nina Easton (Washington editor of FORTUNE and Fox News on-air contributor), Catalina Camia (political editor of USA TODAY), Mark McKinnon (former chief media advisor for the Bush and McCain campaigns), and Jim VandeHei (executive editor of POLITICO). Admittedly, this event was for my interests, and it delivered. Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit would have loved it. There was much talk about the change in media due to technological advances, but McKinnon also hit heavily on how technology has changed campaigns and how information is distributed. Blogs were not demonized (as has been the latest trend by many outlets), although the need for some standard of proof in reporting was emphasized. Genuine disbelief was exhibited by Roger Simon in regards to the reported vetting of Alaska Governor Sarah Palen, and that sentiment was backed up by sources of Nina Easton. According to Easton, the McCain campaign had gone by an old rule - to let the media successfully vet the candidate on political terms - that has passed us by. I could go on about other topics discussed, but I think I should probably save them for another day.

Angela and I then made our way over to a Salute to Veterans event just down the street. The event was sponsored by the Circle of Friends for American Veterans, a bipartisan group that tries to pass various measures in support of our military veterans. We didn't stay long, but we did manage to speak with Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight, who has been everywhere during this convention. I never knew he was so outspoken about his belief in his country and interest in politics. One thing is certain - Voight is not shy in expressing his belief that Barrack Obama would lay waste to America's economic strength with his flawed economic plan that includes tax hikes and pie-in-the-sky industrial expansion. I gained a new respect for Voight, that is to be sure.

By the evening, we had finally arrived at the convention site for business. Several recognized conservatives were on the floor, including Kansas Senator Sam Brownback (pictured above), former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele, and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

This day's events will be concluded in a second post.

Labels: 2008 Republican National Convention, Education, Media

Obviously, the news of the morning is a school shooting at Knox Central High School. Since this is near our house and only a few hundred yards from where Leo attends daycare, Angela and I have been concerned with the story.

Especially troubling is that one of our neighbors is a teacher at Central and works before school in the cafeteria, which is where the shooting occurred.

From what I can tell (from a source with no actual confirmation), the student who was shot has died after taking a shot directly to the chest. The shooter was Hispanic and apparently acted like some sort of gangster after pulling the trigger, walking calmly out of the school. He did not resist arrest when encountered by police about three blocks from the school.

The scene is complete chaos, and our church, Central Baptist Church of Fountain City, is acting as a staging area for parents. Adding to the confusion are radio reports that police have been seen responding at high-speed to Halls High School.

Reactions from the community have been passionate, if a bit misguided. In one call to WNOX's radio show, a woman in one breath praised students for updating panicked parents on their cellphones but advocated metal detectors be placed at the entrances to all Knox County schools. Uh, I'm just guessing here, but I bet those cellphones are made of 100% plastic...

Knox County schools have problems educating the children. I have yet to hear of anyone moving into the county for the school system. (Not saying that it hasn't happened, but I haven't heard of it.) The bigger issues are with Knox County schools keeping the kids safe. If they're not being sexually molested or raped by the teachers, then they are being shot at. Angela and I have never planned to send Leo to Knox County schools, and I bet that this event didn't help anything.

I guess this sort of thing should be somewhat expected in Knox County. Our leadership revels in unethical behavior and has a penchant for being completely unable to resolve conflict. Why should we expect anything less from the children of Knox County's citizens?

Just another tragic day here in Knox County...

Labels: Education

I suppose that it makes sense that a General Assembly comprised of mostly mediocre legislators would seek to reward Tennessee's mediocre college students.

I also suppose that there is some degree of liberal thought at work here, as over 2,000 State employees with degrees in hand are laid off while students who partied too hard to keep a pathetic "B-" GPA are rewarded. Liberals have always had that urge to push as many people to the middle of the "bell curve" as possible and then provide economic incentives to keep them there, all the while stifling the achievements of the top end of that curve - especially when it comes to public education issues.

I certainly hope the Senate Republicans, led by Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, will take a stand on this bill and keep the GPA requirements for the lottery scholarship as they currently stand.

Labels: 2008 Tennessee General Assembly Campaigns, Budget, Education

The one area of politics that I have sworn to never deal with is local school board matters. However, one has to take notice of public schools when one's family expands, so we have recently been confronted with the idea of whether or not to place our as-yet-unborn son's education in the hands of the public school system here in Tennessee.

I have to say that Sunday's article on yet another Knox County teacher/pervert did not make me feel any better about Knox County Schools, which eat up nearly half of the tax dollars here in Knox County. Today's article in the KNS didn't help things, either.

Of course, the parochial schools have their problems in this area, too. Saturday's story on a Knox Catholic teacher/coach/statutory rapist was an example of that.

Is homeschooling the only answer?

Labels: Crime, Education

David Oatney broaches an interesting topic over at his blog regarding Congressman Duncan's legislation that would limit the amount of credit that can be extended to college students.

My first gut reaction was in favor of Congressman Duncan's approach, as the thought of the average college student being able to handle a credit card with a sizable spending limit is truly frightening. However, I started to sour on the bill after reading some of the comments on David's post.

Is this a matter of personal responsibility? Are the students "prey?" Interesting questions, for sure.

Eventually, I have to come down against the bill, and I blame the education system (the same education system that has achieved fewer results with record budgets under President Bush) in America. College students should be able to handle credit cards. The problem is that we are sending thousands upon thousands of high school graduates to "schools of higher learning" who simply should not be there. College admission standards - as well as college curricula - are poor attempts at humor, only revered by those who probably should have attended a technical school or ventured straight into the work force.

I guess after some thought I have to side against this "nanny-statish" idea. People should be able to protect themselves from credit offers.

Labels: Education, Jimmy Duncan

Jonah Goldberg makes a strong case in Tuesday's L.A. Times for whacking the public school system.

It's an excellent argument, if only that it makes people question why we have public education in the first place. As things stand now, people are born into a system of public education and soon take it for granted without questioning why the system exists or if it should exist at all.

As for the financial argument, one need look no further than our own borders and the failing money pit that is the Memphis school system for proof that money isn't the answer for fixing educational institutions.

Goldberg's point, I dare say, is not to advocate for the defunding of the public school system than to embolden the masses against the beast not yet at our doorstep - universal healthcare.

Labels: Education, Healthcare

I guess no one should be surprised that mediocre Governor Phil Bredesen wants to award below-average students by paying for their college education. More from the Tennessee Politics Blog and the KNS.

But that's the deal with Tennessee politicians - mostly the Democrats but also some Republicans who appear to care deeply about education in this state. They want to increase graduation rates at high schools and colleges just so they can have diplomas at the end, not even bothering to see if the students learned anything or not.

No one wants to hear it, but Tennessee schools are failing at a massive level. One only has to look around to see the problems. More parochial schools are springing up. Homeschooling is increasing by leaps and bounds as concerned parents refuse to trust the State with the education of their children. Ask recent college graduates. You're going to hear a great deal of them state that they stuck around to get their diplomas, but most of them didn't gain actual college-level knowledge on a daily basis.

Now people like my good friend Senator Jamie Woodson will point to some success with magnet schools, and those are unarguably success stories. However, I'm talking about the big picture here, and on that level Tennessee schools are behind the curve.

Bredesen's proposal to send everyone with a 19 cumulative ACT - over 2 full points below the national average - to a community college on the State's dime is asinine. Students who earn a 19 on the ACT shouldn't be paid to go to college; they surely shouldn't even be going to a four-year college. Community colleges or tech schools like Northeast State Tech and Pelissippi State are more along their academic levels, because sending them to a supposed "institution of higher learning" is either going to result in their personal failure or the dumbing down of the system. These community colleges are extremely affordable already, and when compared to what a person can earn as a ratio of what they have to pay in tuition and fees, community colleges are a much better deal that their four-year counterparts. But Governor Bredesen thinks its just what Tennessee needs - a new educational Welfare program. That shouldn't be surprising, since he has continued the medicinal Welfare program we already had (TennCare), started another one (CoverTN) to drain more taxpayer dollars, and then set forth what will be the biggest Welfare program of all in decades to come in the Pre-K program.

Everyone's favorite new Congressman, Steve Cohen, had an equally destructive proposal to lower the GPA requirements.

This all leads back to the philosophical purpose of government (which I have been reading about a great deal lately due to my acceptance as a reviewer for the University of Chicago Press). Why does government exist? People like Bredesen and Cohen believes that it is there to provide assistance. Other people like Michael Polanyi (the subject of a book I hope to have reviewed by the weekend) believed that government's roll was to inspire greatness but to practically stay out of the way.

Which type of government do we have in Tennessee - a "nanny state" or one that is inspirational?

Labels: Bredesen, Education