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HomeDetroit Schools: “A National Disgrace”
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 21st, 2009 5:32 AM |
Our country is kidding itself if it thinks it can maintain a position of longstanding economic strength with an abhorrent urban education system.
I initially addressed this topic last October in writing, “Give a Man a Fish…”
I followed that writing in mid-May by specifically comparing and contrasting the dire state of the Detroit public schools with a fabulous academic/work/life program known as Domus in Stamford, CT.
I wrote Secretary of Education “Arne Duncan Visits Detroit; He Should Visit Domus.” Well, the Detroit school system is in the news again and it is not for good reason as the Wall Street Journal writes Detroit Schools on the Brink:
Detroit’s public-school system, beset by massive deficits and widespread corruption, is on the brink of following local icons GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy court.
A decision on whether to file for protection under federal bankruptcy laws will be made by the end of summer, according to Robert Bobb, Detroit Public Schools’ emergency financial manager. Such a filing would be unprecedented in the U.S. Although a few major urban school districts have come close, none has gone through with a bankruptcy, according to legal and education experts.
But in Detroit — where U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan dubbed the school system a “national disgrace” this spring — lawmakers and bankruptcy experts see few alternatives, given the deep financial challenges confronting the district and the state.
Those inside and outside of the Detroit system can easily find convenient excuses for the sorry state of the Detroit schools in particular and urban education in general. While macroeconmic developments are outside of our individual control, in my opinion, though, the fact that our urban education system has a graduation rate of 50% (Detroit’s graduation rate is 25%!!!) is an indictment of our entire society, including:
1. Men who father children without taking responsibility for their offspring.
2. Mothers who get pregnant without intention of starting a family.
3. The mass media which glorifies sexual promiscuity and degrades any semblance of moral values.
4. The media which does not highlight the pathetic statistics of urban education.
5. The teacher unions which put a stranglehold on politicians.
6. The politicians who cowardly will not more aggressively support school choice, via both charters and vouchers.
7. Those fortunate enough to help who turn a blind eye.
Is Detroit a unique situation? Anything but. The WSJ highlights:
Some experts say the Detroit case could be the first in a string of Chapter 9 bankruptcies among school districts and other public entities battered by the economic crisis, and it could help shape that area of the law. “Given the state of public finance,” says Samuel Gerdano, executive director of the American Bankruptcy Institute, “I think the wave is coming.”
Make no mistake, though, there is also significant fraud and criminal activity involved in this nationwide education debacle. The fraud must be rooted out and individuals held accountable. It would be excessively naive to think that the fraud does not cross into political offices. These individuals must be prosecuted.
Over and above these individuals, though, our nation as whole is collectively guilty for allowing the moral decay at the core of this situation to propagate.
Guilty as charged and we are all paying whether we know it or not!!
LD
Barack Obama: Federal ‘Helicopter Parent’
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 21st, 2009 9:47 AM |
Happy Father’s Day!!
Is Barack Obama anything more than a federal version of the dreaded “helicopter parent?” I’m serious.
We have all witnessed overbearing and overprotective parents hovering over their offspring from youth soccer through middle school teasing and all the way into the workplace. In my opinion, our nation now suffers from generations nurtured without true hardship or failure.
We are now paying the price.
What truly drives and motivates many to succeed? (Please understand that I do not define success as purely monetary.) However one defines success, there is little doubt the greatest motivation is always the fear of failure. That fear does not abate as one attains ever higher levels of achievement. Why? The intangible quality, the fear of failure, is embedded in the character of an individual from a very early age.
How does one “develop” that intangible quality? Take risks and fail. Obviously, I am not encouraging taking imprudent risks that would place one in a position of excessive physical, mental, emotional, or monetary harm. However, I strongly encourage individuals from an early age to move outside their comfort zone in order to experience the discomfort associated with the fear of failing. In so doing, the foundation for success will be poured and then cemented.
Against this backdrop, I have mixed feelings about the launching of the new Consumer Protection Finance Agency. Why? I appreciate helping people gain a greater understanding of financial principles and products. At the same time, however, I fear many consumers may view this agency as a “safety net” that will preclude or prevent ill-conceived or inappropriate products from coming to market in the first place. Why may they think that?
A consumer who witnesses violations of moral hazards at almost every level will come to expect the same for them at the personal level. Many consumers are already experiencing these situations to a degree via the non-economic refinancing of their mortgages through the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae ‘piggy bank.’
Please do not confuse my writing with a lack of willingness to help and assist people. In fact, I sincerely hope Sense on ¢ents plays an ever increasing role in promoting financial literacy. However, the greatest help and assistance starts at home and in the classroom.
Obama should be pounding and overemphasizing principles of strong family units along with the necessity for educational advancement. I give Obama credit for his timely message, “We Need Fathers to Step Up,” but we need this message not only on Father’s Day but 365 days a year. I know that education is a major initiative within the Obama administration, but I do not hear or see an airing of the cold, brutal facts primarily within our urban education systems (i.e. a 50% high school dropout rate in major urban settings).
In summary, I believe our nation suffers financially and morally from a system promoting an overprotective sense of entitlement when what we truly need is a reemergence of the fear of failure that stemmed from The Great Depression.
I hope that readers do not view my writing as cold, but rather more in the spirit of a parent who wants to see every individual and community achieve true and lasting success.
Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads in the world who are “allowing” their children to fail.
LD
