Sunday

     I’ve been hearing good things about the Chancellor search process. Naturally, those on the committee are pretty tight-lipped. But they are nonetheless leaving the impression that the committee has (or will) put forward some good, honest candidates.
     But have you read the relevant board policy? If they do not like the candidates, the board has the option of scoping out the pool and choosing their own finalists. Not that there is any indication that that will happen. And don’t forget Board Prez Don Wagner’s assurances, months ago, that the process would be strictly on the up and up.
     Just sayin’.
     Despite a shitload of noise, the new dean position at IVC is going forward. The noise is coming from everywhere: board members, Saddlebackians, IVCers, everybody.
     The prevailing Dark Force of the SOCCCD is a motley trio (or quartet). The king of this elite crew will be moving on soon, and so there’s a mad rush to “get things done” before the royal departure. There’s that other Dark Force, you know. Another trio, as a matter of fact.
     Does it matter that, arguably, one dark force is worse than the other? Should I feel good about hoping (I guess) that the prevailing Trio will likely continue to hold the other one at bay?
     Have you seen the job description for the dean position? Check it out.
     There’s more than one way to fix a hire.
     I’m not sure I want to keep working at this district. Even the heroes become villains in the end. Sprinkle some SLOs on top, and you’ve got hell in a handbasket.
     But, right now, I don’t care. I do believe I’ve convinced my mother to visit her hometown this summer. Barwice, Poland—formerly, Bärwalde, Pommern. I’ll be coming along, keeping Burns and Allen from attempting to converse.
     Bärwalde means “bear woods,” you know.

Don Wagner's Libertarian opponent: Debbie Tharp

I saw this at the OJ Blog this morning. Debbie Tharp's website can be found here.

Don's Democratic opponent is Melissa Fox. Her website can be found here.

When do we start getting real?

     Yesterday, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman commented on our nation’s decline and the reasons for it (We’re No. 1(1)!).
     Decline? Yep. Even Newsweek puts us at No. 11.
     I was impressed that we did that well.
     Friedman asks: how come we’ve spent so much money on improving education and it has improved so little? He then refers to a piece by Washington Post columnist Robert Samuelson:

     “The larger cause of failure is almost unmentionable: shrunken student motivation,” wrote Samuelson. “Students, after all, have to do the work. If they aren’t motivated, even capable teachers may fail. Motivation comes from many sources: curiosity and ambition; parental expectations; the desire to get into a ‘good’ college; inspiring or intimidating teachers; peer pressure. The unstated assumption of much school ‘reform’ is that if students aren’t motivated, it’s mainly the fault of schools and teachers.” Wrong, he said. “Motivation is weak because more students (of all races and economic classes, let it be added) don’t like school, don’t work hard and don’t do well. In a 2008 survey of public high school teachers, 21 percent judged student absenteeism a serious problem; 29 percent cited ‘student apathy.’ ”
     There is a lot to Samuelson’s point — and it is a microcosm of a larger problem we have not faced honestly as we have dug out of this recession: We had a values breakdown — a national epidemic of get-rich-quickism and something-for-nothingism. Wall Street may have been dealing the dope, but our lawmakers encouraged it. And far too many of us were happy to buy the dot-com and subprime crack for quick prosperity highs.. . .
     … Our big problems are unfolding incrementally — the decline in U.S. education, competitiveness and infrastructure, as well as oil addiction and climate change. Our generation’s leaders never dare utter the word “sacrifice.” All solutions must be painless. Which drug would you like? A stimulus from Democrats or a tax cut from Republicans?..... . .
     [David] Rothkopf and I agreed that we would get excited about U.S. politics when our national debate is between Democrats and Republicans who start by acknowledging that we can’t cut deficits without both tax increases and spending cuts — and then debate which ones and when — who acknowledge that we can’t compete unless we demand more of our students — and then debate longer school days versus school years — who acknowledge that bad parents who don’t read to their kids and do indulge them with video games are as responsible for poor test scores as bad teachers — and debate what to do about that….

     I'm contemplating giving my students a "pop quiz" tomorrow. Each of my classes is rapidly approaching their first exam, so you'd think these kids would be on top of the material, wouldn't you?
     No. I already know that most students will do terribly (I've been at this teaching thing for a while). Most of them will not have done the reading at all.
     I'll pressure them to do the work. That'll work for a while, but then it won't. In the end, lots of these students will get Ds and Fs in the course.
     Some will come to me and say, "How come I got this grade? I attended almost every class!"
     Meanwhile, everything in these kids' lives will be telling them, "Yes, you can take four or five courses while employed and maintaining an active social life! You can have it all!"
     But it ain't true. It just ain't.
     When do we start getting real?