Month: March 2019

I know that I really shouldn’t even be acknowledging that Betsy DeVos has anything useful to say about education, but the vacant smile she wears when she doesn’t know what she’s talking about, which is pretty much most minutes of most days, is on brilliant display in this video where she gratuitously supports the idea that larger class size leads to more learning, at least for “some students.”

Of course, my solution, then would be to put some students in a large class, but since the number of students who learn best in a large class is small, well, can you see my dilemma? Norman, please relate.

The truth that most every educator knows is that smaller classes are, shall we hedge and say, ALWAYS better than larger classes, because the truth is that the more time a teacher can spend with individual students during a day or class period is always better than spending less time with those students. Yes, it is important for students to collaborate and confer, but in the end, it’s the teacher’s job to deliver the curriculum to students and then to evaluate the extent to which those students have learned the information. And the most effective way of doing that is to interact with more students for as much time as possible every day.

Are there some students who learn more efficiently in larger classes? Yes, but those students are generally better at absorbing and synthesizing information on their own since they don’t need, or get, as much direct teacher support. And, of there are those students who like larger classes because then they can hide or sit in the back or count on the fact that the teacher will not call on them as much. Those students, in fact, need smaller classes.

If this was only a Betsy DeVos issue, then we wouldn’t have as much of a problem because she doesn’t really support federal involvement in state public schools. But this is not just a DeVos problem. The large class know-nothings are alive and well in the leafy suburbs, employing suspect research that says that classes above 30 students are where education tends to break down. This is convenient for school boards because then they don’t have to hire as many teachers and pay them salaries and benefits. This saves money on property taxes and facilities.

Now let’s go back to the video. Notice that the first words Secretary DeVos uses to answer the question (around 1:38) are “Given education freedom initiatives, there are different kinds of environments in which students learn well.” 

First of all, education freedom initiatives code for privatizing education and using government money for non-public schools. Second, what does the first part of the sentence have to do with the second? It simply means that schools should feel free to make classes larger because that’s what freedom means. I think. 

This administration is doing precious little in education and promoting large classes will do even more damage to children.
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Have you seen the Mueller Report?

Me neither.

But I’ve certainly seen scores of  breathless posts, tweets and articles conjecturing on what it might say and what it might mean and what parts of it will be released or not released or released through a summary, which is merely Nixon’s “edited transcripts” using different words.

Perhaps we ought to wait a bit before moving to a High Dudgeon Alert (HDA) or twisting our skivvies, which will only produce a high pitched wail when a sober-minded conversational tone will suffice.

In short, we will need time to mull over the Mueller report and process what it says beyond the headlines and the breathless, usually fatuous real-time interpretations available to us through the wonders of technology. Because, in the end, this is important and we need to read carefully, provide context and make sure we don’t jump to snap conclusions.

It will be up to us as citizens to put unyielding pressure on this administration to release the report in full as soon as possible, and it will be up to us to push for further action if it’s warranted by its findings. Congress will then need to investigate further and square what Mueller found with other areas of investigation.

The president wants the report to be the final word on whether he or anyone in his campaign or administration did anything illegal. In fact, that process is just beginning.

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Democrats are fighting amongst themselves? There’s a brawl for the soul of the party? The far left and the moderates don’t see eye-to-eye? And the conservative Democrats are nowhere to be found?

Do tell. And welcome to another presidential election season.

Democratic dysfunction has been the norm for every election cycle save for the ones where there is  a Democratic incumbent. Let’s see; that would mean 1996 and 2012 in the most modern era. Other than that? What we have now.

I’ll get this out of the way early: If the Democrats run on a decidedly left-wing agenda, they will lose the election. Donald Trump won a minority of the popular vote, but he won in enough places where relatively conservative voters switched to him from Obama because they didn’t like Hillary Clinton to win in 2016. That’s exactly where the 2020 election will be won. 
Or lost.

Forget about Texas. Forget about Arizona. Forget about Georgia. Forget, even, about Ohio and maybe Florida. The key for the Democrats is going to be the Midwestern states that had hitherto been reliably in their column. And the key to winning those states back lies in a more moderate message about health care, security, and a return to a government that functions in the interests of the people. They can even talk about bringing respect and dignity back to the presidency, an immigration system that meets our economic and human rights needs, and a tax plan that doesn’t ask middle class Americans to pay more than they did before the last tax act was passed.

And what about Medicare for all? Free college tuition? Higher taxes on the wealthy? The Green New Deal? Great ideas. Their time will come. Remember that it took the conservatives 40 years for their terrible ideas to become mainstream. It will take around 20 years for these good ideas to replace them.  Trying to force them earlier will result in delays because Democrats will not win enough elections by moving to the far left. 
Move to the moderate left. The pragmatic left. Win majorities in statehouses and Congress. Move the state courts leftward. That’s how it’s done.
Joe Biden can win enough of the people who voted for Trump but are now tired of the president’s incompetence and embarrassing behavior. Maybe some of the other announced, Kamala Harris, or unannounced, Kirsten Gillibrand can too. I don’t think Bernie or Elizabeth Warren or Beto O’Rourke can. 

The other key is to make sure that Americans register to vote. There’s enough time to continue the drive, file complaints, and educate the public on how important it is to participate. Especially those people who will support our issues.
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