Author Archives: Netmom

Choose your words carefully…

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OpinionJournal, the WSJ’s online op-ed page, has an interesting piece from John Fund entitled “You’ve Got Mail (it’s from Yale)” that primarily covers the ivy-league university’s silence regarding their admission of a former Taliban official (with a fourth-grade education) to the ranks of their elite freshman class.

Putting aside for a moment the primary topic, an item that caught my eye (and ire) was the following:

[Alexis Surovov, assistant director of giving at Yale Law School] anonymously sent scathing emails to two critics calling them “retarded” and “disgusting.”

It is the use of the word “retarded” that angers me. It means, according to Mirriam-Webster, “slow or limited in intellectual or emotional development or academic progress.” My children know that there’s no quicker route to swift and memorable punishment than to use that word as a synonym for stupid or thoughtless, usually in an epithet hurled at a sibling.

My sensitivity is this: my next younger sister is mentally retarded due to brain damage she suffered at birth. There is no nice, neat, medically-appropriate term for her condition (such as Down’s Syndrome or autism)… just brain damage that left her unable to learn to speak, read, write, or reason as most of us do.

We’re not sure, even at age 40, exactly what she knows and what she doesn’t. Basically, she comprehends about what a two-year old does, except that she does seem to understand the concepts of death and work ethic (although the latter is limited to work that she is actually interested in doing).

That a Yale alumnus and high-level administrator at Yale Law School couldn’t think of a better descriptor for his feelings (disgraceful, short-sighted, maybe even ungrateful or selfish) than to use a word that applies to a person who has no control whatsoever over their condition is at least as bad as whatever feelings he had toward the alumni he was lambasting.

If he’d said “crippled” or “niggardly” (which actually means miserly or spendthrift, having nothing whatsoever to do with race), someone would have filed a civil rights complaint already.

Aside from the university’s disgraceful and short-sighted decision to harbor and educate a known terrorist, unqualified by anyone’s most liberal affirmative-action admissions standard, this demonstration of inadequate communications ability is reason enough for firing Mr. Surovov immediately. Given the institution’s current track record of decision-making, any disciplinary action will probably hinge on whether contributions really do suffer.

And I hope that they do. March is Mental Retardation Month — send whatever you could have sent to Yale to the ARC instead.

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Afterthought:
Maybe the terrorists aren’t as scary as our own state’s political bloggers. To wit, VOLuntarily Conservative reported on the straw poll for the 2008 Presidential race:

1427 votes were cast. Out of his vote total, 81.7% of Frist’s votes came from Tennessee voters. Out of all voters from Tennessee, 42% chose a candidate besides Senator Frist.

The Tennessee Politics blog had a decidedly different tone, stating that Frist was “tepidly received.” Of course, that post was made before the results of the straw poll were in, so perhaps they should have been kinder… the whole hindsight thing, you know.

I’m not much better at predicting political races, but I’ve learned to stay away from making forecasts unless it’s qualified as a WAG.

Terror at twilight

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Some days we surf for sunshine and find sharks.

The Middle East Media Research Institute (hat tip, Jihad Watch) has posted a threat purportedly found on Islamic websites:

Purported “Al-Qaeda Undercover Soldier, U.S.A”: Last Warning to American People – Two Operations Will Occur; Your Homeland Security Agency Must Surrender; States Far Away From Washington, D.C. Such as Arizona Will Be Hit; We Await Orders From Our Commander Osama Bin Laden; America Will Be Brought to its Knees

MEMRI has the full scope.

I really try not to dwell on the latest terror news; to do so functionally grants them victory. However, there are bits and pieces that tug at my mind — among them, people studying at our universities who may not be carefully screened, as well as converts to terror from among our own people.

The former is a relic from my college days, having encountered way back then someone who came to this country with the intent of taking home (to Palestine) knowledge of nuclear engineering “to fight the infidel.” The latter, I suppose, is the realization that some of those among us are as crazy as the Sept. 11th hijackers, and some of those convert to Islam (often in prison) and actually join the dark side.

I’ll still live each day as I otherwise would, but some days it’s worth the time for an extra hug from the kids, and extra kiss for the hubby, and a myriad of other things I ought to do anyway.

Uncivil War

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It is most unfortunate that Tennessee’s inadequate method of funding education leads to warring between neighbors — one community fighting for a change that would grant it more money, while taking it from the community next door; or Anderson County’s drive to supersede the sales tax rate adopted earlier by all but one of the cities within its borders.

Yesterday, the Oak Ridger reported that a May 2 sales tax referendum is unlikely, as the petition-filers are 300 signatures short and the deadline looms early next week. The County Commissioner-turned-superintendent of Anderson County Schools who is spearheading the petition drive insists that the signature-gathering continues… but if they don’t have the required number of signatures by the May 2 deadline, there are two consequences:

  1. the odds of a vote to supersede decrease in a higher-turnout election (as would be the August County General and State/Federal Primary);
  2. if the measure is not passed before July 1, then the County could not begin collecting the additional revenue until July 1, 2007.

This move is seen as hostile by the cities, all of whom depend upon that revenue for municipal operations. Although Oak Ridge would require a lower property tax increase (12 cents) to make up the difference than Clinton (20 cents) or Lake City (38-41 cents), it is particularly sensitive to the move because Oak Ridge voted to raise the sales tax just a couple of years ago to fund a complete makeover of Oak Ridge High School, with a “gentlemen’s agreement” from County officials that the County would not supersede for five years.

Neighboring communities depend upon one another, and success or failure in one inevitably impacts the other. Working together, we could help one another succeed… but it isn’t happening.
As a wise State Senator once told me, the unfortunate truth is that people come to Nashville asking, “don’t tax you, and don’t tax me; tax that man behind the tree!”

Or, in the present case with either fiscal capacity or superseding the sales tax “my neighbor is taxing himself so much, he must be wealthy beyond belief. Give some of that money to me instead!”

Letter from the School

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While Leadership classes in Knoxville and Chattanooga were in Nashville yesterday, they heard from the Governor that an overhaul in the way Tennessee funds education could come in a year or two. The News-Sentinel notes that there is not universal agreement on changes proposed to date:

The issue has become controversial in the Legislature. Proposed changes backed by Knox, Hamilton and other more urban counties are opposed by officials in areas that stand to lose state money if the changes occur. Oak Ridge is among the latter.

Controversy also stirred over a recent letter sent to 36,000 student households, urging parents to contact the Governor in support of the proposed BEP funding change. The letter compares Knox County’s BEP funding to that of Williamson County (Williamson County gets $328 more per student), deriving from that that Knox County is shortchanged by more than $17 million.

Bill Nolan, lobbyist for the City of Oak Ridge (and father of a talented ORHS student) accurately pointed out that if Knox County compared its funding with Hancock County, it would appear that they’re overfunded by $10 million.

The neighbor-against-neighbor fighting is unfortunate, because it’s almost certain we could agree on the basic, underlying issues:

  1. State funding for education is not adequate. (adequacy defined)
  2. If state funding were adequate, we wouldn’t have all these discussions (and lawsuits) about equity.
  3. We would ALL benefit, economically and in quality of life, from raising the standard of education statewide. But that takes money, and we have to be willing to pay for it.

The big, bad, hairy monster in the closet is that the few communities in Tennessee that ARE ALREADY putting a priority on education are those with high local property tax rates. That’s where the money comes from. Municipal systems in particular benefit from city governments that agree on that priority and fund it, despite the fact that neighboring areas tout their lower tax rates to lure businesses and residents.

You can’t have it both ways.

PostScript:
James W. Guthrie, director of the Peabody Center for Education Policy, has an excellent editorial in Tuesday’s Commercial Appeal.

Etc.

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HB3180 was deferred in the House K-12 Education Committee until March 13 — next Tuesday.

Fiscal Note: Such increase in state expenditures is estimated to be approximately $43,818,000

Local Elections –
Oak Ridge attorney Judith Whitfield makes a good point in her letter to the editor today (it’s the third one down). The present District Attorney is campaigning for Chancellor on his promise to handle criminal matters in addition to “matters of equity” such as divorce, custody, and adoption.

Ms. Whitfield brings up a valid concern, in addition to my own reservations about a DA who doesn’t prosecute cases — or allow his staff to do so — as it is.

City Council Meeting?
Knoxpatch has a peculiar report on Monday’s City Council meeting… I have to admit I’ve been in too much of a hurry this week to find out if there was any basis for this post. It certainly didn’t make the daily; maybe the Observer will have something tomorrow.

Counties Waking Up…

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In a meeting today with school board members from across East Tennessee, I was heartened to hear from some County board representatives that, although the proposed system-level fiscal capacity model for BEP funding would benefit them intially, they realize that it would be harmful to them in the long run.

How? Because it would cause the City school system in their county to fold, consolidating with the County by default. At that point, the County would be responsible for matching the City system’s higher salary and benefit levels, in addition to assuming responsibility for the buildings, students, transportation, etc.

It’s encouraging that at least a few people are thinking beyond what looks like the immediate windfall. Unfortunately, there are others that believe this scheme only takes from “rich” school systems — those that are taxing themselves to fund an adequate education — to give to those who do not, and have not yet realized that there are many smaller, less affluent county systems that lose funding under the ill-contrived formula.

HB3180 is scheduled for the House K-12 Subcommittee tomorrow.

Fiscal Capacity Monster Lives

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I knew it would happen, and it has: legislation has been filed (HB3180) to require the BEP to be funded according to the prototype system-level fiscal capacity model developed by TACIR. The bill is scheduled to be heard in the K-12 subcommittee on Tuesday, according to TLN Notes, a legislative update service by the Tennessee School Boards Association.

The sponsor is Gerald McCormick of Chattanooga — one of the four big cities that would benefit tremendously, at the expense of much smaller school systems across the state. Fortunately, there is no Senate companion at this time, which means it can’t pass the General Assembly. Last year a similar measure was sponsored by another Chattanooga Republican, Sen. David Fowler.

I think the bill filing deadline has passed, but am not certain whether a “caption bill” already filed in the Senate might be amended to make it a suitable companion to this one. Nonetheless, I will be watching the webcast of the committee meeting to see what happens.

Immigration, Education, and NCLB

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The NASBE (National Association of State Boards of Education) blog yesterday reported on an Illinois school district’s loss of $3.5M in state funding due to the district’s lawsuit over having to enroll students of questionable immigration status.

In short, the Supreme Court has ruled that public schools must serve students without regard to whether they are documented or undocumented aliens. However, the district’s dilemma fell into a gray area: although the students in question were in this country legally, it was not clear whether or not they were residents of that school district. One student was on a tourist visa, and the district argued that they were not bound to enroll tourists (see the Chicago Tribune for details) who would presumably be there only for a short time.

While one could argue that visitors and undocumented immigrants contribute to the tax base that funds public schools, one has to wonder if the rationale behind the district’s fight might have been based in something else: since No Child Left Behind requires the inclusion of specific sub-groups — minorities, low-income, special education and students who speak English as a second language (if at all) — in mandated testing that carries significant penalties for failure, any district would have reason to not enroll more students in those sub-groups than they have to.

One of the challenges faced by schools in the NCLB mandates is the problem of students who move between districts, and the length of time that the school has to impact the student’s learning before the tests. It’s not just an immigrant issue; it also applies to a child who moves between school systems where the curriculum standards are different. For example, if a child moves in the middle of 5th grade from a district that emphasizes life science in 5th grade, to a district that covers physical science in 5th grade and life science in 6th, the student would be tested on physical science while his or her emphasis had been on life science for most of the year. Thus, a lower score would be expected. If the student does not read or speak the language in which the test is given, the results are even worse.

The principles of NCLB are noble and good, but do understand the objections frequently heard from the education community. The very reason for breaking out sub-group results is that we know those students are more difficult to educate, but that their lower scores are generally masked when reported as part of the total school population.

We often see correlation between students who fall into the NCLB sub-groups and those who move frequently between school districts, doubling the challenge: more difficult to educate, and less time to show results.

In the long run, there’s no question that we as a nation will benefit from our immigrant children — legal or illegal — being educated and able to contribute positively to society. Schools however, have to also conern themselves with the short term reality of NCLB requirements, expenses, and penalties. It’s a dilemma that is coming soon to a school near you.