Yep, if you saw a greybeard loose his footing while rocking out to one of my pandora stations, it may have indeed been me. While I do love KLEF, it is difficult to ski to......
So why am I talking about rockming out in a blog addressing the local school board election? Because way too many people hie to a foolish consistency so as to avoid being caught "out" . One of my heroes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, took a different tack. We move ahead as a society when people speak up, and to borrow the words of someone who I think is an astute member of our community, "it is about bloody time" we had people who spoke out. Let's face it, if you think you are going to make it from cradle to grave without looking foolish, you probably didn't get an effective education, because an effective education is marked by learning to fail, graciously thanking those who helped you back up, and stepping back up..... Least ways that is how I see it.... So if you find me with my skis akimbo on the trail, don't feel shy; I could use a hand. And, if you think I am wrong about something, let me know; you may just change my mind.
As those following this blog know, I commented on the Daily News editorial on ASD's junk food policy. What I did not mention there is that I have been unable to get a letter published in the ADN for some time. When I tried to write about mean,mode and median the letter could not be published because it was over the heads of ADN readers! When I submitted a letter about junk food it was passed over as well. But not so Steve Pratt's emotional non sequitur. How cleverly crafted so that it it tugs at your heart strings but really does not tell you what he is saying other than "Oh my!".
We got here, Steve, because there are people who don't communicate with their children. We are here because we have parents who don't want their children to be educated about their sexuality. We are here because parents, having neglected, abused or otherwise abandoned their children, then want to impose their views on their children after the train left the station. We address this by increasing involvement of parents with their children and helping them to engage in effective dialog accompanied by developmentally appropriate medically accurate education. No one wants children to face major life trauma without adequate emoitonal and psychological support (its against the law) but The Gov's press fiasco is not about helping children.....
"OK" you say, "I know he is going to work scissors in here somehow." I will come clean, I believe we need some $40 to $60 million dollars to restructure (pedagogically) our schools to provide our students with an effective education by reducing class sizes and implementing clinical interventions. While I know this is a tough season to look at such sums, we can make progress in this direction by doing some prioritizing and cutting. I can tell you how difficult that can be as I was the one (yes, guilty again) who pushed for cutting community schools out of the ASD budget. ASD cannot be everything to everybody and we have to cleave to our mission at times when the ground shakes. Budget Reviews teams have made hundreds and hundreds of recommendations over the years, but most were either discarded or implemented and then discarded. No, increased efficiencies and cuts won't be enough to meet our educational burden. But as unpopular as it is to suggest this in Alaska, the net per capita support for our schools is the lowest in the country for a district of our side (and yes, I am counting the money Alaska is paying you to live here) and it is high time we stopped whining about paying for our way of life.
