Climate of Hate

Dear Editor,

I find the direction the McCain campaign has taken profoundly disturbing.

Unsupported innuendo regarding Sen. Obama and William Ayers is more than dirty politics. If serving on the same panel together means Sen. Obama and Mr. Ayers “pal around”, doesn’t that mean that every other member of the panel “pals around” with a terrorist as well? Is the McCain campaign saying every member of the panel is a terrorist? Is soft on or sympathetic towards terrorism? Has poor judgment?

Sarah Palin is fond of saying that “These people don’t love America like we do.”

Is she questioning the patriotism of Sen. Obama? Is she saying that Democrats, liberal leaning independents and Republicans who have decided to vote for Sen. Obama are anti-American?

Steering McCain/Palin supporters down this road is a dangerous game, given the peculiar history of Race in America. Rep. John Lewis was correct to point out that an atmosphere of hate, like fumes near a gasoline pump, needs only the smallest of sparks to ignite.

If Sen. Obama is elected our next President, the seeds of hatred and distrust that are being sown by the McCain campaign have the terrifying potential to flower into an assassin. An assassin, certain he is doing what’s “right” for his country.

This country faces huge challenges in the very near future.

We need leaders with the wisdom to bring us together, not those who would tear us apart to satisfy their own ambitions.

One wonders how the McCain campaign can justify dividing our people in such a cynical way, while standing in front of banners which proclaim “Country First”.

I Know

C. Freeman

9-21-2008

I know happiness,

I know what love is.

I know sorrow,

I know what love is.

I know contentment,

I know what love is.

I know frustration,

I know what love is.

I know omnipotence,

I know what love is.

I know helplessness,

I know what love is.

I know joyfulness,

I know what love is.

I know mourning,

I know what love is.

I knew Celeste,

I know what love is.

Strength Within

C. Freeman
8-17-2008

Cast adrift.

Clinging to the flotsam

Of my former life.

I search for the current of honey,

In the bitter sea that surrounds me.

An isle of hope

Upon which I may land.

A life preserver I have no

Reason to expect

Fate will toss my way.

I persevere.

I survive.

I will ultimately thrive.

Though life can be harsh,

There is nothing that can be meted out,

That cannot be endured.

I hold firm.

I hold true.

I cannot be defeated,

For within me lies greatness.

My children were home-schooled because of the state of our public schools when they were kids. They are both in college now and doing very well.
The NCLBA has made things worse.
Sure schools should be held accountable, but so should parents and most of all students. It is the students who benefit most from this in the long run.
Stripping schools of funding is not the answer to creating better performing schools. The education system does not work like the market economy, hence, supply and demand do not apply.
Not every child will succeed in school. Why? Because some people just are not as smart as others. Harsh, but true nonetheless.
"Teaching to the test", as it has become known, has closed our children's minds to what true education is...the ability to apply stored information outside of the framework in which it was learned. Abstract thinking skills are being lost.
The standardized tests we took were easy because we were given information in the classroom, not practice for "the test".
Once presented with a test we were able to use the knowledge from the classroom.
Teach a child mathematics and she can pass a standardized math test and then some. Teach her the test and she may pass the test but be unable to understand how to apply math skills in daily life.
Hiding privatization of the educational system behind "new-speak" (1984, George Orwell) like "parental choice" is yet another example of the wool being pulled over our collective eyes.
There are only so many seats available in the choicest of schools. Hand out 1000 vouchers if you like, but if there are only 400 seats available 60% of vouchers are worthless.
The more frightening scenario is that schools eager for all of that lovely government money will increase class size to squeeze in more students and as a result their performance as teaching institutions will suffer even as their bottom lines get healthier. Another scenario is the creation of "schools" whose sole purpose is to make a profit. Underperforming students are systematically removed from such schools because they lower the schools' all important stats.
Let's get back to the basics of teaching the basics. Let's stop unrealistically expecting equal outcomes for unequal students. Let's stop enforcing a median score on our children and allow the prosperous to prosper. Let's get back to offering vocational paths to those students who are not, academically, college material. Not everyone is cut out to be a high academic achiever. Let's focus more on high expectations from the students in our schools because schools cannot teach students who feel entitled to good grades.
Let's get back to failing students who fail rather than marking "needs improvement" on their report cards. Let's get away from this self-esteem driven education model, it has proven to be a failure, turning out poorly educated students with undeservedly high self-esteem.