The Arrogance of Man

Today is the 6oth anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education , the Supreme Court ruling that desegregated public schools.  We all know that separate but equal was a farce that had to end.  We would be remiss to go too far applauding "how far we've come" in the last 60 years.

As a parent, nothing saddens me more than to see the continued inequality in our education system.  I always contend that classism is a much bigger problem in America than racism.  If you are African-American and have money, than you can overcome many barriers.  Policies like separate but equal crushed the poor more so than anybody else.  In the same way, attending a school in a low-income neighborhood today will keep most kids five steps behind their peers.  The Brown decision didn't get to the root of this issue. 

I believe school choice is a answer, but not the answer.  I personally would love for my son to go to our neighborhood school.  He could learn and socialize with his neighborhood friends.  It would also strengthen our connection to our community.  Unfortunately, the school just doesn't perform well enough and I can't take chances on his education.

I'm further discouraged by the tools that are being used to fight school choice.  One would think schools would start implementing serious reforms like reducing class size, improving infrastructure and investing in professional development for teachers and administrators so parents would be compelled to stay.  Instead, political leaders are going back to the courts and using the very same orders that were designed to free students from a second class education decades ago to keep them in failing schools today.

Perhaps the answer doesn't exclusively lie with laws and regulations or barriers like racism or classism.  Maybe its arrogant to think that we can control another's destiny by lifting someone up or holding them down.  The more I live, the more I believe that with grit, determination and a lot of faith anyone can move mountains. 

Who is the extremist here?

News flash to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)...no one likes common core.  The "advocacy group" recently released a report criticizing conservative opposition to common core curriculum standards.  SPLC's Maureen Costello stated in an Education Week article that "'you see attacks on the common core first to eventually destroy public education...'"  The article went on to say that the SPLC says "'players in conservative media and policy...are determined to undermine the standards in over-the-top attacks so that the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) can be dismantled, public schools are starved of revenue through the growth of vouchers and tax-credit scholarships, and teacher tenure is ended.'"

 

This position completely ignores the fact that conservatives are just one of the many voices expressing concern about common core state standards.  As a matter of fact, here in Marylandunions and lawmakers are working together to slow down common core.  These are hardly "right-wing" institutions, or even moderate in a state like Maryland.  Nobody likes common core because no one knows how it's supposed to be implemented.  It's just another bureaucratic idea that sounded like a good idea at the time, with no real plan to make it work on the ground.  Kids suffer while the adults figure it out.

 

SPLC's argument that critics of common core are aiming to dismantle public education and the DOE is a ridiculous fallacy and extremist in its own right.  Keep up the pressure folks!  We are winning this debate!

The War on Personal Responsibilty

Democrats in Maryland recently hailed the passage of a bill that would decriminalize marijuana.  "Social justice!" one person exclaimed. There was much discussion about racial disparities and the negative impact a criminal conviction can have on a person's future.  Supporters state that civil penalties for marijuana possession rather than a prison sentence is a victory for many disenfranchised groups.

 

My friends, I know very little about criminal law, but I can tell you with certainty that this is a terrible idea.  Anyone who is raising children in this day and age knows that personal responsibility is the hardest lesson to teach.  Children love to blame other people for their misgivings.  Now adults seem to be leaning towards being complicit in this dangerous behavior. 

 

Where does it stop?  What else should we decriminalize instead of demand obedience?  To me this isn't about marijuana...  This is about the fact that the political ruling class in Maryland seem to be pushing an agenda that contributes to delinquency.  Where are the fundamental changes to the education system that would really give our children a future?  That would be a victory we could all celebrate. 

Low-hanging Fruit

This week, the Maryland state education department awarded the St. Mary's Early Childhood Advisory Council a Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge Grant.  These funds are designed to expand and improve educational services to children birth to 5 years old.  The grant funds will be used to provide buses to early learning fairs, train stakeholders on the impact of growing up in poverty, a social media campaign, social media training, an annual retreat, and...well you get the point.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Education recently released a report highlighting more issues the state had implementing the third year of the Race to the Top grant.  Maryland is "significantly" delayed in developing an assessment of the controversial common core curriculum.  There are also significant delays procuring vendors to support the roll-out of common core.  The report further highlighted the states inability to come up with a way to measure how it evaluates teachers and principals.

The Race to the Top grant is designed to make meaningful educational reforms.  With all due respect, social media training won't cut it.  While Maryland does score well on the National Assessment of Educational Progress and there were some year three achievements, boots on the ground know that schools in low-income neighborhoods are struggling for the very reasons the state can't seem to figure out how to tackle.  Hopefully we'll see some more inroads into the challenging aspects of implementing these reforms in year four. 

Maryland GOP State Convention 2013

I had the opportunity to attend my first Maryland GOP State Convention this past weekend in Annapolis.  There was definitely a sense of excitement in the air as conservatives are still celebrating Mike Pantelides win in the Annapolis mayoral race.  Below are a few takeaways from the day's event.

First, I can't count the number of times party officials stressed the fact that there are not enough Republicans running for office.  Who would have thought in this day and age of rampant narcissism that there are not enough folks running for office? I find this interesting and will try to write more about it at a later date...

Second, the Maryland GOP needs diversity.  Not just racial and ethnic diversity, either.  The party definitely needs more minority involvement, but they also need younger people to join.  I was one of the younger convention attendees and I'm almost 40!  There was a pretty fair representation of women, which should be applauded.

Last, I like the new Executive Director, Joe Cluster.  He gave a pretty rousing speech that included a political target for every county in the state.  This may be standard information for a state convention, but I was pretty impressed with the substance and the delivery.  He may be a one man shop for now, but it seems like he has the ability to build up momentum going into the 2014 elections. 

I left the convention feeling even more committed to my goal of promoting conservative principles and ideals to minority communities.  Now I just need to figure out how to get it done!   

The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectation

I recently came across this article by Jason Whitlock on Dez Bryant, a troubled professional athlete.  I don't know much about Bryant, but I vividly remember an incident in Dallas where he allegedly assaulted his mother.  The article seems to chalk up Bryant's issues to the fact that he was born to a single mother.  "Hurricane Illegitimacy," as Whitlock called it, is created by lack of proper restraints on welfare programs, the war on drugs, for profit incarceration, poor investment in education and a "lack of courage and resolve to combat popular-cultural forces that celebrate, normalize and profit from baby-mama and criminal culture."  Whitlock then encouraged readers to not put too much stock in children of single mothers that are "lucky outliers" like President Obama, President Clinton, and Lebron James.  They are just "notable aberrations."  Whitlock went on to state that "as long as 68 percent of black women who have children are unwed, there are no cures for the social maladies preventing black progress" (i.e. poverty, drugs, incarceration, etc.).

Goodness gracious that was depressing!  Don't we still live in the land of the free and the home of the brave?  Isn't the beautiful thing about this country the fact that everyone has the right to social mobility?  Can't hard work, perseverance and grit still get you somewhere in life?  I don't know Jason Whitlock's politics, but the article reflects everything that burns me up about liberal policies.  Someone (preferably the government) has to help you, because based on your race, socio-economic status, or parents' marital status, there are no cures for the social maladies preventing your progress.  I reject this and so do most of the women I know.  Whether married, single, working, or stay-at-home, most of us refuse to accept the notion that there our children are pre-destined to a certain life.  As a matter of fact, most of us are breaking our backs to make sure they do have the opportunity to do better.  To suggest that these efforts are futile for any group goes against the American spirit. 

Does anyone else see a correlation between the Democratic agenda and Mr. Whitlock's opinion?  Am I reading too much into this?  Also, will someone please write an article about all of the children of single mothers that are living healthy, productive lives that contribute to the backbone of this country?!

ObamaCare in Maryland

The Maryland Public Policy Institute recently released an analysis of the many ObamaCare implementation problems in Maryland.  The article sites a number of issues with the Maryland exchange, but the main concern I'm hearing about on the ground is that you just can't get through to sign up.  A friend who is a mother of three and has her entire family on her health insurance policy wondered if you can't even sign up without problems, what will the actual health care be like?  Most folks are in their open enrollment season under their existing plan, and don't want to take their chances with ObamaCare.  Particularly when it could have such a huge impact on their families if they make the wrong choice.  Unfortunately, according to the Heritage Foundation, approximately 76,000 Marylanders have already lost their health insurance as a result of ObamaCare.  They won't have much choice in the matter.

This will be a big issue in the 2014 election.  Maryland conservatives need to capitalize on it!