I have blogged about this topic in the past and have gotten little response.  Once again the topic surfaced on "Meet the Press" this morning.  This time it had the illusion of reaching across ideological lines in the form of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Fmr. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), and civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton.  While I can see how having these three individuals working together and visiting schools can raise the profile of the issue, HOWEVER, the problems and solutions have been studied and discussed to DEATH!

The truth is we cannot do everything at once!  It is easy to identify many problems on all sides in education in America.  What are the priorities?  We will get real education reform when we concentrate on the most important issues first.  Here they are in order:

1.  Give great incentives for young and capable people to major in education in college.  Among other things, pay them premium wages.

2.  Create a safe environment in which all students may learn.

3.  Reduce class size.  With incentives we will have additional teachers who are more capable.  We can use this increased work force to reduce class size.

4.  Give teacher adequate preparation times for their classes.  Reduce the number of separate topics educators teach during the day.

5. Develop a plan to identify and remove failing teachers from the classroom.

Holding teachers to a high standard is a GREAT idea, however, we can only hold teachers to a higher standard if they choose teaching as a profession.  One of the biggest problems we have in education is that capable students who have the potential to be outstanding educators are not choosing education as a profession.

Any one of the first 4 issues I list would improve education substantially on its own.  The 5th issue is more difficult and even if you could remove poor teachers easily, we need quality teachers available to fill in the openings created by those removals.

Just a few words on teacher evaluation.  It is tougher than it seems.  We can all identify teachers in our past whom we feel were not very good, right along with the teachers who inspired us and contributed to our education in significant ways.  Teaching is an art.  It is not matter of creating widgets that all look the same and are easy to evaluate.  It isn't impossible, but it is difficult and it will never be perfect.  It is an important step, but the least important of the 5 I have listed.  In fact, if the country would implement the "Norseman86 Plan For Education Reform" identifying inadequate teachers would become easier.  Those teachers would not have as many hiding places in which to hunker down to escape notice. 

My slogan for reform would be "Do SOMETHING, Not EVERYTHING!"

For God's sake, don't worry about standardized testing and national standards at the start.  This adds to the bureaucracy and has the LEAST impact on student acheivement in education. 

There are very few things in life for which I have lost hope.  I lean toward being naive and a little bit of a pollyanna.  In the case of education reform in America, my tank of optimism is on empty.  I hope I am wrong.

Here is how I think it should go...

President Obama:  "I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize for being selected as a Nobel Laureate.  I take full responsibility for this horrendous mistake.  At first...admittedly....I wanted to place some blame on the Republicans for the last 8 years of governing and foreign policy. (using those terms liberally..no pun intended)  BUT I can not make excuses....it is my fault.  Often have I felt ashamed for the hope I inspire in others, the cogent speeches I make, and the common sense I use.  It is deplorable.  Many have rightly criticized me for my lack of accomplishments in my first few minutes in office.  When I think of all of the brush I could have cleared off of ranches throughout this great country and all of the vacations I could have taken...I am racked with guilt."

"My fellow Americans...I vow to redouble my efforts to lower America's esteem throughout the world.  I will not rest until every country on earth is lined up against us with hatred toward this great land.  It won't be easy, but I owe it the American people.  I will reach across the aisle in a bipartisen effort to...not just lose the Olympics for one city...but find a way to prevent the Olympics from ever being hosted by the United States again.  Only then will I feel as if I have been able to atone for the travesty of being selected for the Nobel Peace Award.  On a side note...my sincere thanks for cable news for pointing out the I have done too much and too little since my election as president.  The relentless push polling and incoherent opposing view points have really helped me develop public policy and have clearly told the American people the whole story.....and then some.  God Bless the media and God Bless America...(unless that blessing causes America to be more popular in other countries)"

This should fix everything! On a side note...someone shoot me.

Health care reform is going to pass.  I think we may even get some form of a public option.

The Republican Party is coming apart at the seams.  Their biggest fear is the success of this reform.  They do not know what to do and are trying to use/say anything that gets a reaction...not just from their base....from anyone.  Obviously, their base is going to react more extremely, but what they are doing is not based on actual beliefs...it is based on trying to regain/maintain power.  They are twisting in the wind and do not know what to do.  Desperate times for their party.  Eventually the moderate and extreme wings of the Republican Party are going to break apart.  I do not know what form this break will take, but it is inevitable.

Also, for those afraid a public option will increase the deficit.  You may be right.  In fact, you probably are.  The full story is the deficit will increase significantly more without the public option than with the public option.

This is the truth.  Everything else is just white noise.

Do we expect elected officials to always vote the way their constituents prefer or do we elect people to represent us by using their judgement?

I fall mostly in the latter category.  I vote for people who demonstrate a similarity with me in their opinions and I likely respond to their demonstrated understanding of the issues.  Whenever I have been able to go to town hall meetings or a political speech I have gotten a much better sense of what a politician believes, how informed they are and how well they are able to articulate their positions.

I think it is an interesting question.  Do you have a sense that the people you vote for who are eventually elected should pay you back by supporting your issues and let you down when they do not...or do you vote for people and expect them to develop their positions over time and vote the way they feel is correct, even if it disagrees with what you think?

I am not looking for rec's, just a discussion.  Any takers?

I am trying to figure out some of the thinking behind the anti-health care logic. 

I often listen to the radio in the morning before I get out of bed.  Every once in a while I land on a talk radio program where people call in.  This morning the show was centered on the health care reform and one caller passionately explained that they believed they should not have to pay for anyone else's health care.  The thrust of it was that the caller worked hard to earn their insurance and that everyone has that option....get a job and get your own insurance.  There was no hint of consideration for safety nets and/or emergency assistance for anyone.  The point was, basically, "I earn my health insurance and everyone has that choice.  If you choose not to earn your health coverage, I should not have to pay anything to cover you."

To my only slight surprise, the conservative host readily agreed.

Here is where I need help.  As I listened to the caller it did not seem to me that they were unusually dim.  They spoke well and were adamant in their opinion.  It bothered me.

Am I wrong to believe that we are already paying for other's medical care in a variety of ways.  Doctors and hospitals charge more for the services they provide to help cover the cost of uninsured patients.  This increases our direct out of pocket expenses for medical care and medicine and it also drives up our insurance premiums.  If your insurance is covered by your employer, that cost may be taking up money that could have been used to increasing your salary.  Maybe your employer could have used some of that money to invest into their business, making it stronger and more profitable.  This could strengthen our economy, increase stock values and ultimately provide a higher salary for employees.

Am I wrong to believe that the millions who are currently not insured, regardless of the reason, are not receiving good health care and a percentage end up visiting emergency rooms or developing difficult medical conditions which could have been prevented if caught earlier?  Don't these emergency room visits and difficult medical conditions end up costing vastly larger amounts of money for which we ultimately have to pay?

Isn't the argument "I pay for my health care and should not have to pay for anyone else's!" a false argument?  Aren't we already paying for other's health care, but in a very inefficient and illogical way?

If I am right about these things, what prevents reasonable people from at least acknowledging the possibility that the current system of health care is not working?

The final aspect of all this that puzzles me is that some of the people I hear and read who are the most adamant against helping those when they are struggling with the cost of health care and/or health care insurance are Christian.  I have trouble wrapping my head around this.  Even if they are against paying for others health care costs, it seems like they should be spending a considerable amount of time coming up with a different compassionate solution.  Maybe they should be spending an equal amount of time volunteering at a local health clinic that provides services for those who can not otherwise afford it.  I can not match up the...."I've got mine, you get yours!"....crowd with the...."Whatever you do to the least of My people, that you do unto Me."..... tenant of the Christian faith.

Is it racism toward our current president?  Is it anger toward liberalism from those who lost the last election?  Is it the fear of socialism to the point that any answer to any question that includes any government action can not have any merit?

Are the people who hold these opinions about the health care debate a relative minority who simply are not open to discussion on this topic?  Are they more than a minority?  If what is observed in the media is an honest indication they seem to be the majority.

It is frustrating.  I am trying to understand those who are passionately opposed to reform in any way.  Either I am misunderstanding the facts or they are being willfully ignorant...or is it a little of both of those things.  Help.

 

The "diss heard 'round the country" has been overly covered by the media.  I mean, come on, they have to....it is such hard news and we need the deeper meaning of it all.  With their crack teams of well educated researchers trying to keep the country informed and our politicians honest!  God bless the media.  I wonder what Madonna thinks of all this....I am pretty the information is out there somewhere.  I hope I don't have to wait for Meet the Press to find out!!!

Here is the importance of it.  First, it is disgusting that some Republicans can support this behavior while condemning the President's recent speech to students.  It is another clear indicator of what we already know. The Republican party is in its death throws and we are watching a slow and crushing train wreck.  Fear not, liberals, despite what Fox and Drudge may put forth, the Republican party is scared, dazed and confused.  The mushroom cloud is rising...break out the 'smores.  Secondly, on some level, the professional wrestling style of politics works....to a degree.  Wilson is getting fame and money for his manufactured moment of outrage.  To be honest, I am tempted to donate some money to the man.  He is one more loose spike on the track....he is helping propel the chain reaction providing all the mushroom cloudy goodness of the devolving Republican Party.  Live on!.... inane, self promoting, disingenuous comment!!!  In the world of shitty journalism...you will live on.  The only thing that can remove you from our bloodshot eyes and curdling brains is another equally well thought out comment from the right!  You RAWK Mr. Wilson!!!  ( a little shout out never hurts)

It was good to hear the Secretary of Education on Face the Nation this Morning.  Mr. Duncan is an articulate and intelligent representative of the administrations goals and attitudes toward education in America and education reform.  I do, however, have some thoughts on education in the United States and how its role as a perennial political football hurts its effectiveness.

I am going to tell you how to immediately improve education in our country.

1.  Lower class sizes.  Classes with more than 15 students produce lower results with the classroom.

An important outcome of the Glass/Smith meta-analysis was the finding that the greatest gains in achievement occurred among students who were taught in classes of 15 students or less. Glass, Cahen, and Smith (1978) summarized their findings in these words:

"As class size increases, achievement decreases. A pupil who would score at about the 63rd percentile on a national test when taught individually, would score at about the 37th percentile (when taught) in a class of 40 pupils. The difference in being taught in a class of 20 versus a class of 40 is an advantage of ten percentile ranks."


http://www.heros-inc.org/classsizeresearch.htm

2. Reduce the number of preps for teachers.  Many teachers teach 4 or more separate subject each day.  This requires them to prepare 4 individual lesson plans each day in addition to syllabi for each semester.  This is too much and effects the quality of teaching in the classroom. 

On top of not effectively inducting and mentoring new teachers, schools often overload them with too many preps, give them the more difficult classes and students, and assign to them extra duties that often exacerbate the already existing feelings of inadequacy, fear, uncertainty, and frustration. It's no wonder that many first- and second-year teachers quit. Educational leaders, therefore, find themselves coconspirators in perpetuating an unjust
and inhumane practice: programming new teachers for failure. Chillingly, "some observers have dubbed education 'the profession that eats its young' " (Halford 1998, 33).

http://www.acsi.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=md0SZ%2FgTjdY%3D&tabid=681 

3.  Provide adequate preparation time for teachers during the school day.  Under our current circumstances it is not remotely possible for teachers to grade assignments and prepare for their classes during the school day.  A small percentage of preparation and organization happen in the allotted "prep" time at most schools.

"In Japan, teachers spend less than half of their workdays teaching class; each teacher has her own office with a desk and spends more than half the workday in preparation for classes."

http://www.nettally.com/palmk/TeacherHours.html

4.  Provide updated materials for the classroom.  Many schools must make do with outdated textbooks and aging classroom supplies.  This not only inhibits learning through sub-standard information, but also sends the message to students using these materials that education is not important enough to demand current materials.

"Developing and disseminating effective learning materials including, but not limited to, textbooks. Textbooks and supporting instructional materials are widely regarded as the single most important input to raising student learning,"

http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Education_NatlDev_Asia/Quality/policy.pdf

5.  Provide a safe and clean environment in which student may learn. Many students throughout our country attend school in aging facilities which are over crowded.  This is a major distraction to their education.  In extreme cases, students belong to schools who are not able to adequately protect them from harassment or crime.

"Concerted efforts must be made by school leaders, staffs, parents and community members to provide safe and aesthetically pleasing physical environments. Painted well-maintained and clean school buildings and grounds with a highly visible presence of familiar and caring adults, lets children know that the adults are doing all that they can to make it possible for them to feel safe and free enough to devote all of their attention to learning."

http://www.newhorizons.org/trans/morefield.htm#aesthetically  

6.  Help make education an attractive career choice for graduating high school students.  You CAN NOT hold teachers to a higher standard if they are not in the classroom to be evaluated.  It is a radical thought, but it is hard to recruit high school students into education.  They observe the stress and workload of their teachers combined with low wages compared to other professions.  It isn't about getting more pay for veteran teachers, it is about increasing incentives for talented and intelligent young people to choose education as a career.

Some of the issues addressed here would help make teaching a more desirable choice as a profession, but it is more than that.  The public perception of education and its use as a political football have severely damaged the reputation of teachers.  They are often not respected within their communities or in the national media. 

Providing a positive environment for talented young people to choose education as a career would go a long way toward improving the quality of education in our country.

I am not suggesting all teachers are outstanding educators and only need the ideas put forth here implemented to completely succeed.  As I am sure many people can point to a teacher or professor who had a profound positive influence on their lives, many people are also able to to identify teachers who did a poor job.  What I am trying to suggest is that eliminating poor teachers is not the complete solution.  In fact, I believe inferior teaching would be easier to identify and developing plans to remediate poor teaching would be measurably more possible if we began with the reforms outlined here.

We keep moving the ball an inch this way and an inch that way.  The beginning of real reform in education is about bold common sense, not grand and sweeping rhetoric.  Some people believe teachers don't do much and they get the summers off.  They should just shut up and do there job.  I don't think I can convince those people of the challenges educators face.  All I can say is that the United States is tied for 12th in overall education effectiveness throughout the world while spending the most per student.  This morning. the Secretary of Education made the claim that 30 percent of 9th graders in the United States do not graduate from high school.  Most of that 30% come from minorities and the poor.  Regardless of how someone may feel about teachers or education, it is time to do something different.  "No Child Left Behind" is a wonderful sentiment, but woefully inadequate.  It isn't just educating all students, it is educating them well!  I am wondering when we will finally move the ball down the field toward that goal.  I am not very optimistic.

and has been since the 24 hour news cycle took hold.  My favorite reports are something like...

"THIS JUST IN!"

A new report shows that the media has been reporting too much on new reports about the media. We here at "We do a shitty job news" would like our readers/listener/watchers/customers to weigh in.  Please text us at "555- we can't believe you are actually going to waste your time texting us" and push 1 if you think "the media covers the media covering the media too much" or 2 if you think "the media covers the media covering the media just right" or 3 if you think "the media should cover the media covering the media more".  Press 4 if you would like to shuffle off this mortal coil and float peacefully to heaven, bypassing all media outlets and any associated polls."

On the Desperate/bland/soulless/mainstream media outlets...every opinion and every possible angle is covered.  It seems like out of fear of missing a unique slant, anything could be true!!!

"Health care reform...could it be a socialist plot to destroy our democracy  OR is it an insidious plan from space aliens to eliminate the human race through the installation of "Death Panels".  "SOME think the latter!"

I want it to end.  Someone please make it go away.

I can now only listen to news that has a point of view and then I can tolerate mostly only those with whom I agree.  I would like to see issues debated, but there are very few opportunities.  Rachel Maddow...John Stewart.  Hhhmmmm...I like Bob Scheifer, but it needs to be an hour...lose the half hour.

The title of this blog is misleading.  It implies I think the MSM is about to give out.  It seems to me like it is just going to continue slowly scraping along throwing sparks forever.

When President Bush the 1st spoke to students across the nation during his time as president the democrats decried it as a cheap ploy for propaganda.  They were wrong.  I have not read the content of his speech, but I doubt it solicited money for the Republican Party or outlined a plan to give rich kids more milk money in the hope that those funds would trickle down to the poor kids.  (I think this might be the Republican's plan for doing away with reduced lunch for needy children)

Even if a president tried to use a moment like this to plant the seeds of some hidden agenda, it would not work well.  It takes time, effort and repetition to influence the education of children.  Surely there aren't many parents who given a single speech to their children and hear them go..."Hhhmmm...I have never thought of it that way, Dad.  You are right.....I will never eat ice cream before dinner again!  Thanks for sharing your wisdom with me!"

The furor over the President's speech to students is a lost learning opportunity.  It is a chance for students to learn about the honor of public service and how lucky we are as Americans to have a democratically elected government.  It could have been a moment when we, as a nation and a government, rose to an occasion and showed our patriotism by not emphasizing what divides us, but by celebrating the overwhelming number of things that unite us.

It is easy to be patriotic when the issue is emotional and plays to simple ideas of good and bad.  "I am patriotic because I support the troops!"  or "I am patriotic because I display an American flag in my yard".  Those may be important signs of patriotism, but the often don't require much effort.  Forcing yourself to respect the ideal and history elected offices represent, even if the person holding that office is someone for whom you did not vote or is someone with whom you disagree, takes effort.  It also takes maturity.  If students walked away seeing our nation and politicians displaying their patriotism through celebrating the promise of our government in the form of respecting the office of President of the United States, they might get the feeling there are reasons to be proud to be American beyond the Lee Greenwood song.  Maybe some teachers will use this moment to talk about our government and the meaning behind the "Pledge of Allegiance" many students recite each morning or our "National Anthem".

Everyone who is worried about the President trying to use our nation's youth to obtain a single payer health care system or to promote gay marriage can relax.  I am a teacher and unless his speech includes a proposal for a three day school week, he is not going to have any success pushing an agenda.  Sadly, the opportunity to demonstrate the broader issues of what truly makes our nation strong and the importance of our system of government has been lost or greatly diminished. 

This time out there are uglier issues of racism and hatred boiling underneath the surface of the outrage over the President's speech.  I know it is there, but I do not think the people who believe these things are capable of patriotism.  I am writing this to appeal to those in our country who are capable of real patriotism that requires effort and risk.  I am an optimist...I believe our nation is full of patriots like that on every side of the political spectrum.   We don't get many moments to demonstrate our solidarity, but we occasionally just need a moment to take a step back and acknowledge our existence.  It is ok for the President of the United States to offer a speech to students throughout our country. 

God Bless the U.S.A.!

 This is a tough one to write because so many thoughts crowd themselves into my brain.  I am easily side-tracked by this, so I am going to try mightily to be coherent.

 

I believe much of our conservative psyche has its roots in the religious zealots who helped found this country.  If you haven't read Sarah Vowell's "The Wordy Shipmates" you should.  I won't summarize it, but her descriptions of the Massachusett's Bay Colony and its leading personalities, such as John Winthrop, are astounding.  If only my history classes had been like a Sarah Vowell book.

 

As with all true stories, the why we are the way we are, is complicated.  The "good" we are and hope to be is nestled right next to the "bad" we are and struggle to change.  Religion and faith can be a profound force for good in the world, but is also equally capable of being misused and misrepresented to horrible ends.  That is a topic for another blog....or 10.

 

I dig chicks, man.  I can't help it.  It is what it is.  No one could talk me out of it.  If it were illegal I would have to live the life of an outlaw.  I have gay male friends who can not relate to the feelings I have for women.  They don't try to talk me out of it, but they don't share my passion for women and never will.  To my benefit, they accept me for who I am.  It is a real bonus for me that they do.  They are great friends who have helped me in uncountable ways over the years.  I have tried to be a good friend for them as well.  The difference between us is the constant and relentless prejudice they face in our society.  Like racism, it is so ever-present in our culture that it can be easily ignored.  It becomes background noise or a constant discordant drone we begin to accept as harmony.

 

Two of my male gay friends did not publicly admit they were homosexual until their 40's.  In fact, they pretended to be heterosexual to friends and family for that entire time.  Like I like women...they like men.  I can't relate to those feelings directly, but I don't try to talk them out of it.  I don't share their feelings for men and never will.  Unlike them, I did not feel pressure to hide my heterosexuality from my friends and family.  I did not grow up being afraid of rejection because of feelings I had no control over.  It isn't sad, it is tragic.  I tell myself that I never questioned their sexuality because it was not an issue for me.  I respected and loved them and that was all that mattered.  That is true, but in retrospect I wish I had reached out to them.  It was easy to not say anything and would have been uncomfortable to start the discussion.  I am not sure.  I do know that now that they have come out, I am glad to support them and be there for them if I can help.

 

I am adopted and I have spent a little time trying to find out who my biological parents are.  It is illegal for me to find out the their names in the state in which I was born.  One of the adoption advocates I have contacted said something interesting to me that was liberating.  In a conversation I asked for her thoughts on the idea that if adopted children were allowed to know their biological parents it would reduce the number of people willing to give kids up for adoption.  Her answer was "So what?!"  She didn't believe that were true, but even if it were, all people have a right to know who they are and where they come from...no matter what.  It may not seem like it when you read it, but that was a powerful idea.  For me it is the same with gay rights issues.  There may be arguments against certain gay rights.  "If gays serve openly in the military, it may hurt troop cohesion" or "If we recognize Civil Unions for homosexuals it will degrade the sanctity of marriage" (heterosexuals have screwed this up so bad I would think homosexuals could only improve it).  I don't believe either of those statements nor would likely agree with the hundreds of other fearful scenarios connected to providing equal rights for homosexuals.  I don't think the real answer is to argue each case.  I think the most adequate answer is "So What?!"  All human beings deserve the right to be true to themselves, regardless of what others think or an imagined outcome.  The people I view as patriots do not just support rights for the people who live their lives like their own....that is easy.  They support freedom and justice FOR ALL!

 

In all of the important talk of healthcare reform, economic crisis and our political struggles throughout the world, we can not allow the discrimination of homosexuals to be pushed aside.  It seems they have often been asked to be patient and suffer silently in the hope that as time goes on, it will get better.  Time has gone on...time to get better.

I am really new to this site and to blogging.  I have really enjoyed meeting the people who actively participate here and reading their thoughts on a wild range of topics.  One of the things that has become clear to me is how the people who are active on this site spark each other.  I am nudged and tickled by the emotion and ideas of the blogs I read.  I suppose that seems obvious, but I certainly did not think about it as I began to interact here.  One definition of "inspire" is "to prompt, or cause to be written or said, by influence".  That is spot on for what happens here for me.

Recently several of the people I read have told meaningful stories about their parents.  They have been honest reflections with a mix of love and pain.  These thoughts have led me to think about myself as a father.  I have 2 sons, 14 and 9, who are a riot.  They are normal kids who are happy and healthy.  Being their Dad is thrilling for me.  Make no mistake, I am not implying that they are perfect or that I am an extraordinary parent.  They are good kids and I am doing the best I can...whatever that is.  It can be challenging, but rarely dull.  The challenges have been great learning experiences for me.

I am likely to talk more about them if I continue to write at TPM, but for now this is what I am reflecting upon.  Both of my sons have catch phrases.  Kind of like "Whach you talkin' ' bout, Willis?" or "Eat my shorts, man!".  They each occurred when the boys were young, maybe 4 or 5.  The first one happened when my oldest and I were at a swimming pool.  I was video taping him jumping in and when he came out, he ran up to me and said into the camera..."Dad...I'm a genius am I?"  ....to which I responded..."Yes, son, you am."  That may only be funny to me, but there isn't anything I don't love about that comment.  I have it on film, and it is a moment we both draw on to make each other laugh.  When I drop him off on the first day of school each year I can say "Bud..do you remember what you am?" and he will respond..."Yes, Dad...I'm a genius, am I?"  That's my boy. 

My youngest son has a cool catch phrase, too.  His came about on a camping trip a few years ago and it puts a smile on my face every time I think of it.  We had been at a water park all day.  It was early evening when we arrived back at the camp site and we built a roaring fire.  Peanut(nickname) had just changed into his jeans and as I looked over at him I could see him slowly and carefully backing towards the fire.  It was really funny to watch and I said  "Peanut, watcha doin', man?"  to which he replied  "I'm just cookin' mah pants!".  Gold.  He is going to 50 years old someday still saying that to people in a gravelly voice with a little pause at the end waiting for a reaction.

It is rarely the big choreographed moments that have shaped my life and my relationships.  It has often been the small unexpected crackles and pops which have been significant.  You can't buy those moments in a store or cook 'em in a microwave.  They happen when I am not looking and they echo through my life, quietly sparking and nudging me.  I am finding this site a little like that night from a few years ago.  The things that are shared here are like that roaring fire and we are all kind of backing up toward the fire and letting it warm our backsides.  I think peanut had it right...it feels pretty good to cook my pants a little in the warm glow of a crackling fire.  Thanks to you all for making room for me.

The title is correct, but probably not what you think.  This blog is about the "silver bullet".....education.  It isn't a flashy answer.  It doesn't lend itself to sound bites and it doesn't elicit a quick emotional response.  Most real answers to the problems we face are not quick and flashy.  They do not play well in newspapers, on radio or on t.v. news shows.  Education is a real answer and the key or "silver bullet" to solving many of our most difficult problems.

On to "Mr. Condom".  His name is Mechai Viravaidya and he is responsible for substantially reducing unwanted pregnancies during the 1970's and is credited with preventing more than 7 million people from acquiring the aids virus over the last 30 years.  You might not be surprised to learn that the success of his work was not based on the "Just Say No" campaign that Nancy Regan championed in the 80's.

In very simple terms, Mr. Viravaidya saw the problems associated with the wide spread sex trade in Thailand during the early 70's and decided the most practical solution was educating the population on safe sex techniques.  He was a zealot for condom use, giving away thousands and thousands to promote safe sex.  He talked to anyone and everyone from prostitutes to politicians.  At one point, he convinced the government to give condoms away at toll booths.  The success of his methods are not debatible, it worked.  It really started with one person's desire to solve a serious problem within their country.  It did not take a committee or a study group to formulate the plan.  It didn't solve the problem overnight, it took effort and time.  Today millions of people live healthier lives and the number of unwanted children born only to scratch out a living on the streets of Thailand's cities have been significantly reduced.

In the United States, education is a political whipping post.  In many ways we take it for granted.  It is easy for politicians to sell the idea that teachers need to be held to a higher standard.  That they need to accountable for their work.  That seems logical.  The problem is you can only hold people to a higher standard if they are there to be evaluated.  Education has become such a difficult and criticized profession that many young people who would make outstanding teachers are not interested in pursuing education as their profession.  It is more than sad, it is tragic.  I have been in education for more than 20 years and the self esteem of teachers has sunk immeasurably over that time.  Often I have heard that teaching should not be about salary, teachers should teach out of the passion they have for their students.  There is some truth to that, but it just can not be the whole story.

Education is the solution for improved healthcare, a better economy, ending racism, development of new technoligies, protecting our environment and an endless list of other issues facing our world today.  It isn't fast, but it works and it has long lasting effects.  Why do religious zealots around the world invest so much time and effort into using education to promote their ideas?  Because it is successful.  That is also the lesson of Mr. Condom.

For the United States education system, we would see significant improvement if we lowered class sizes, gave educators adequate time during the day to prepare and provided a safe and clean environment for the students.  No special educational techniques or federal programs.  Just start there and then build.

A respected politician once pointed out during the height of the recent Iraq war that if we spent the amount of money it had cost to fight the war for the last 2 years on education, we could rebuild every public school in America.  Thank you Senator Kennedy.  You will be missed.
 

Not torturing people.  That's right...I said it.  Scoff at me if you want, but I have given this a lot of thought.  There is a certain something about not torturing people that is a contrast to those who do.

I have had this argument with myself for quite a while now.  It is based on this premise..."If you knew that torturing an enemy would provide information which would save the lives of your family...would you do it?!"

I have struggled with this question.  The truth is that it isn't that hard.  I think I probably would.  The problem is that it isn't the right question.  The question really is, "Are there any instances where torture is morally the right thing to do?"  For me, the answer is no.  The trouble with convictions is that they take some sacrifice and effort.  As an individual I am not strong enough to always live up to my ideals.  For example, I believe torture is wrong but would have trouble stopping myself from using it if I truly thought it would save someone I loved.  It wouldn't be easy, I wouldn't want to...but I would do it.

That emotional premise is what throws us off track when we talk about our role as a nation in using torture.  Dick Cheney wants us to believe that the only way to have gotten certain crucial information that has saved American lives in some instances is to have used torture.  We have all read reports on the specifics I suppose.  From what I have read it certainly is not clear that the information gathered could not have been acquired another way.

However, if Dick Cheney is right, were we justified in using torture?  The promise of our nation is bigger than the emotions of the individual.  Sometimes the ideals we aspire to take courage, sacrifice and risk.  Even if Mr. Cheney is correct, we should not have used torture.  We should have the courage of our convictions.  It isn't easy.  It is a risk.  We might get hurt, but we won't become lost.  The ideals we strive for are noble.  We are rare in that we are a nation that is not self-conscious about reflecting on who we are and who we want to be.  We examine our mistakes and realize we are not perfect.  Our nation is trying to right itself.  It is a mighty struggle.  We still don't have it all figured out but we aren't giving up.  The "not giving up" part is important.

Torture is wrong.  When we use it to defeat our enemies it has the opposite effect.   They are not moving closer toward us , we are moving closer toward them.  We can do better.

 

My Dad has macular degeneration in both eyes.   The type he has is called "wet macular degeneration".  Abnormal blood vessels begin to grow and they swell and leak enough that they scar the retina.  Up until about 3 years ago this type of macular degeneration was not very treatable.  The best a person could hope for was to have a treatment that slowed the loss of their vision.  It wouldn't save it, just slow the eventual loss of sight.  My Dad lost most of the sight in his left eye about 5 or 6 year ago. 

About 3 years ago he started to lose the sight in his right eye.  It was a very traumatic time for my Dad and Mom.  We were desperate to try to do anything we could to save his remaining eyesight.  My Dad loves to read and does crossword puzzles every morning.  It was a scary prospect.  At the same time my Dad started to lose sight in his right eye, a new treatment was becoming available for macular degneration that seemed to work well with the difficult to treat "wet" kind.  A company, Genentech,  had been developing a a treatment for tumors in the form of a drug called "Avastin".  Avastin was designed to attack the blood supply of tumors to stunt their growth.  Researchers noticed that the patients being treated by this drug who also had macular degeneration often regained much if not all of their sight.  Turned out that for many people suffering from wet macular degeneration, Avastin effectively cured them.  My Dad got in on some of the first treatments available to the public and what do you know?  It worked like a charm.  It was truly like a miracle.  My Dad's eyesight in his right eye is better than it was before it started to go bad.

Fortunately, this story ends happy but there is more to it.  To save the sight in my Dad's eye, he must have a shot every 3 months.  The shot is administered in the eye.  It isn't as uncomfortable as it sounds, it takes all of 15 minutes, doesn't hurt and he is back to normal the next day.  There are some risks, though.  Each time he gets the shot, there is some risk of retinal detachment and infection.  The shot of Avastin costs about $50.  Through some rule or law I don't understand, Genentech could not charge more for Avastin becuase that is what they were charging when it was being used to treat tumors.  In other words...now that they had stumbled upon a great demand for Avastin, they could not inflate the price to gouge their patients for more profit.

This simply was not an insurmountable problem for Genentech.  All they had to do was develop a "better" drug...similar to Avastin.  Doing that would allow them to charge more.  It took them almost no time to develop "Lucentis".  The advantage of Lucentis was that it infused into the eye faster and therefore was a quicker more effective treatment than that loser drug Avastin.  To recoup the cost of the research and development of Lucentis..Genentech felt the need to charge up to $2,000 per shot for the new and improved drug.  I forgot to mention that Lucentis does not just infuse into the eye faster, it also leaves the eye faster.  This means that my Dad would have to take a shot of Lucentis every month to equal the effectiveness of Avastin.  $2,000 a shot and 3 times the risk of infection and retinal detachment.  Genentech was so proud of this new drug they were threatening to make it impossible for patients to use Avastin.  Even if that drug was working well for someone at $50 a shot every 3 months, they were going to force them to switch to the "new and improved" version.  Needless to say, I was angry and ready for a fight.  The difference in cost was riduculous, but that was not the worst part.  Genentech was willing to risk possibly harming my Dad to increase their profit.  My Dad has insurance that would have paid for Lucentis, but the health risk was an unbelievable consequence.

Ultimately, eye doctors and patients were so outraged over the possibility of losing Avastin as a possible treatment, it is my understanding that Genentech backed down.  Patients who receive effective benefits through the use of Avastin are able to continue with that program.  Many people end up using Lucentis now, though.  Maybe that treatment is the most effective for them.  I really don't know.  I do know that I am skeptical.

This is a very specific and authentic illustration of how things can go bad under our current healthcare system.  Patients taking Lucentis are paying somewhere around $24,000 a year for their treatments while those on Avastin are paying less than $1,000 for what I believe is a safer, more effective program.  Insurance companies are inflicted with most of that increased expense which contributes to the spiraling cost of our health care.

We are so lucky that we have this treatment available.  The saving of my Dad's eyesight is truly miraculous.  The manipulation of the treatment to create profit is immoral and unethical.

We need reform now.

On a side note, many eye care professionals believe that stem cells may eventually be used to repair scarred retinas and bring sight back to people who have been blinded with macular degeneration.  How much farther down that road would we be if our last administration had been.....well.....good.

Time to stand up and fight the fight.

Can I hear the crowd say "Hells yes!!!"  C'mon people of the earth...we all make mistakes.  I invested in "Pet Rocks" in the '70's on advice that they would never go out of style.  I should have thought that one through, maybe.  We cannot eliminate our ability to muck things up.  I will go so far as to say I embrace and respect our fallibility!  It puts us all in the same boat.  The minute I look at someone else's mistake and think to myself .."Wow...I would never make that mistake"...is when I will accidentally snuff a button up my nose and have to go to the doctor to have it removed.  True story...I was young.

Why is it that politicians can not form the words..."I made a mistake"?  Or..."Yep, I got that wrong and I am sorry.  I have to speak publically so often you guys are lucky I don't say a lot more things that are kooky."

I know why.  In the sound bite game that is our media, any blood in the water is going to cause a frenzy.  Public figures are so afraid of getting pummeled that they will twist and spin a possible mistake until you do not remember the original issue.

When John McCain went on Letterman after lying about why he missed a previously scheduled appearence and basically kept repeating.."Dave, I was wrong" he sort of won me over a little.  At that point there was little else he could do..but even with that somewhat choreographed and awkward moment...I appreciated the effort.

Isn't it wildly off-putting to watch a politician defend a policy or a statement with which you are pretty certain they disagree?  It isn't really a Democrat or Republican issue.  It has become the nature of our public discourse and it is loathsome.

I say "wrong" is the new "right"!  I think politicians should clammer to admit their mistakes.  If they did, maybe the media would be more discerning and only point out mistakes of substance and not do it to get attention or humiliate someone.  That is something I would really appreciate.  On a side not...I am not ready to admit defeat with my "Pet Rocks" stock....I think they may make a comeback.  (it could happen)