Education reform requires more than blaming teachers unions.

Many of my fellow conservatives begin and end comments on education reform by blaming all the problems in education on teachers unions. This is not a program. At the national level, the union role is the worst. Even there they are part of a larger coalition that seeks to black all attempts  at serious effort to change our educational  system, for the better. By the way, the late Al Shanker was an advocate for reform and was hated by liberal elements in the AFT (the American Federation of Teachers) because of this. 

At the local level the unions are the least of the problems. This is especially true in the urban districts where the schools are the worst.Many conservative innovations would be welcomed by most teachers, even liberal ones. They and the students they teach are the most victimized be the bureaucratic blight, that begins at the top. Boards of education from the state board on down are a major hindrance to the improvement of our schools. They are political. not educational entities.

 the local school district bureaucracy is usually overstaffed and under competent. In many Cleveland schools the internet was still nonfunctional two weeks after the beginning of the school year.

In one school, I know middle school students, many of them gang related, have been shoved into an elementary school where they are terrorizing children in lower grades and destroying the school's new computers. The computers were obtained through a grant, applied for, by two elementary teachers  working on their own time.The system was designed for elementary students but unsupervised middle school students are trashing the computers, scrawling obscene graffiti on them and trying to download pornography. His response was to berate the grant writing teachers for calling upon him to take action.
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As is usually the case, the principal is a failed teacher who makes pronouncements and does little else. Principals like this are the norm not the exception. In over two decades in one school, my wife has encountered one competent principal. He lasted one year. One with whom I am familiar does nothing to correct school secretaries who fail to do their jobs. He takes no action to correct grossly incompetent teachers.  In fact he made the teacher with the worst test scores in the school, " Teacher of the year". Contrary to popular opinion, it is not the union which prevents the dismissal of bad teachers. It is the failure of the principal to document their failures and discipline them appropriately.

 He is paid to spend the month before teachers arrive to make preparations for the new school year. He blamed his failure to do anything on "Negotiating a new union contract". Of course, he had nothing to do with that process and the negotiations ended amicably, with no disruptions. Those of my fellow conservative who advocate giving more autonomy to principals are asking that the fox have autonomy in the hen house.

The Unions deserve to get their share of criticism, for their role in blocking education reform.  However, when we blame unions alone for the sorry state of education. We are just providing  excuses, for the malfeasance and misfeasance of school district administrators at all levels. At the local level, they are the prime culprits. I welcome your comments on this topic. If you disagree, let me have. Your criticism is my brain food,

John McCain; In Perspective

Sen. John McCain fended off Republican challenger J.D. Hayworth in the Arizona Senate primary Tuesday. Many Conservatives were dismayed and anxious. Some  are bitterly disappointed that J.D. Hayworth will not be the GOP candidate this November.

One of my "Facebook friends" summed up the concerns of many. He said; "He never stays conservative after an election".  Another said, "He is a confirmed political opportunist and seems to compromise his core beliefs at times". One person spoke for many frustrated Conservatives. when he said, " Please retire John".

I think these comments leave out something important.  To be completely fair to John McCain, more needs to be said.  There are some issues he has always been solid on. Spending, military strength, national security and fiscal responsibility. However, John McCain is not consistent on several Conservative issues which are dear to me. We conservatives often spend too much times denigrating inconsistently conservative politicians when the hard left is storming our gates.

Some wonder why Republicans in as conservative a State as Arizona keep voting for McCain. Arizona has always cherished its heroic warriors. John McCain has certainly earned that. He has never backed down on being pro-life, He has always stood up for the patriotism and the defense of his country.

John McCain was unswerving in his support of the war in Iraq. His only criticism was when he did not believe it was being fought vigorously enough. He was the father of "the Surge". He has always fought for smaller government and less spending. 

He does some things that drives conservatives , including myself crazy. In my 63 years I have learned to be wary of everyone but G-D. None the less, I will never confused friends, whose cooking I do not always want to eat with the enemies who are trying to poison me.

 I am glad John McCain was challenged in the primary. I will be just as glad when he beats the Democrat in November.

The Real Obstacles to education.

Too many of my fellow Conservatives deal with the issue of education reform by simply blasting teachers and their unions. I have many issues with the teachers unions, especially on the national level. However, they are not the major culprits undermining our educational system, especially at the local level. The Education departments of universities indoctrinate teachers with doctrines, methods and priorities which are counter productive.  Legislators appease interest groups and enact mandates that detract from the teaching of core subjects. They also try to turn schools into social work agencies instead of educational institutions. School administrators divert money from the classroom, to fund bloated bureaucracies and wasteful programs. Lazy and Incompetent principals mismanage schools and fail to take appropriate action to deal with teacher misconduct and lack of teaching skills. They fail to app;y progressive discipline and then blame the unions for the presence of bad teachers.

In two decades, teachings at the same inner city school, my wife has seen it all and done her best and more. In all of that time, she has seen one capable principal and he lasted one year. Together with a colleague, she wrote the grant  that provided replace the school's patchwork of computers with a state of the art educational computer  system. Of course, she got no compensation and no recognition. On the other hand she did get abundant criticism and interferences with the grant's implementation, from the principal on down. I will address the education issue further. For now I truly want your input suggestions and criticism. I hope to hear from you soon
Charles Perkel

Put Government on a Leash.

At all levels governments should do less so that people can do more. The highest levels of government are farthest from the people. Their behavior is worse because they have less supervision.  What government behaviors would you most like to stop, if you controlled the leash?

If you want to know who the the Democrats will harm the most , notice who the claim to help.
I've spent over two decades as a social worker, a decade as a labor official and another decade as a blue collar worker. I came to hate "class warfare"rhetoric and to appreciate that it was businesses and investors who created jobs and prosperity. Not the less, my  heartfelt concern has always been for the people I worked with and served. The destruction wrought by big government sickened me. I saw employers taxed or regulated out of business. The owners relocated or sold their assets and reinvested their money. Many had kept their businesses open because they had a commitment to their employees. They people all did quite well. It was the, now unemployed,  workers who truly suffered hardship. In fact, when I was a warehouseman, I often relied on the hiring hall, because so many businesses shut down or cut back.

As a social worker I confronted child abuse,neglect and drug addiction. Each person was, of course responsible for their own decisions and behavior. However, it was not mere coincidence that most of the time welfare dependency was a factor. We have the richest poor people in the world. The economic value of the welfare benefits they receive would as lower middle class, in many European nations. Their poverty is real but it is a poverty of spiritual denigration. More welfare won't help. Employment will.  the proposed expansion of welfare and  government handout is the equivalent of treating an addict by giving him more heroin or crack cocaine. 


It is often said that when government is bigger, people are smaller. Truer word were never spoken. I do not hate the welfare state because I am hostile or callous toward the poor. I hate that welfare state because it is a prison and I desperately desire to set its victims free.
 

 WELFARE ISN'T KIND

When I was a young civil rights worker, I was fortunate enough to meet Dr. Martin Luther King and James Farmer, founder of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). I learned that one can not be both dependent and free. The contemporary welfare state makes people  dependent slaves of government. This is why Star Parker, a former welfare mom, wrote a book titled "Uncle Sam's Plantation" . I spent many evenings visiting homes where child abuse or neglect were reported. The vast majority of the time the the families depended on welfare. 
 I came to believe that only a thriving economy and the empowerment that comes with earning your own living could end the spiritual degradation I witnessed and the abuse and neglect which it produces. The Talmud states, "If you are kind to the cruel you end up being cruel to the kind". I often paraphrase it as,  if you are kind when you should be cruel you end up being cruel when you should be kind. It may seem kind to extend and and expand welfare. In fact it only perpetuates cruelty. I care deeply about the people I serves as a social worker. I want to expand OPPORTUNITY and replace welfare with JOBS!! That is why I am a free market conservative and a proud Republican.