Cake

Campaign Spending: A little perspective

Yesterday California held it's primary election.  Among the most notable of stories was the win by Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay, for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.  While much has been written about how she bought the election, which in many ways is true, I am pondering the $81 million she spent on this election.  At the current rate of spending per voter, she would need to spend over $327 million leading up to the November vote, over $100 millionaire than John McCain spent running for President.  For more on the spending, checkout Chris Kelly's article in the Huffington Post.
When I think about the ridiculous sums spent on campaigns, I get angry.  And I look for a perspective on the situation.

If we took  the $81 million already spent, just by Whitman and add $150 million which seems to be the consensus estimate of what she will spend up to November, we get $231 million.

$231 million spent just in the education system represents:

4010 additional teachers in our schools OR
$755 more spent per student OR
6,000+ additional library staff OR
506,000+ more computers and technology available in classrooms OR
5,000+ specialists in schools for everything from reading and physical education to after school programs and support for the gifted.

And while Ms Whitman is an obvious target, the amount spent on campaigns across the country is atrocious.  Especially when you think of other places the money could go: education, health care, jobs, small business loans, etc.  I wonder if our politicians think about how their exorbitant spending reflects on them.  Paying for a private jet and airport fees to fly what is a 33 mile drive could hire 2 of the estimated 100,000 teachers across the nation who are being laid off for the upcoming year.  Why should we elect them to do anything when they don't really know how to budget well?  Where do you wish the campaign funds went?  How much should they be allowed to spend?

The Gifted Dilemma

"I want to go to Japan," announced recently turned five year old Sofia.  "we can take a paper crane and place it at Sadako's statue".  Sofia had recently finished reading Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Ellen Coerr.  Fascinated and saddened by the story, she had already read it three times in the past week as well as researching the statue on Wikipedia with her dad and using the Atlas to calculate the distance from her home to Hiroshima, Japan. At 3 1/2 Sofia had already been assessed with an IQ at genius level and was evaluated at five as highly gifted.  Not that her parents needed a test to show them her level of intelligence.  Mastering telling tell time had been a mere hour lesson while on vacation just because she wanted to learn.

Sofia's parents, like others of highly gifted children, are disenchanted and disturbed by the lack of resources in the school system for their child.  Lack of funding often eliminate programs for gifted and talented and even so those programs often only consist of a twice a week pull out.  So two hours a week the child isn't bored.  Parents turn to private school, home school or hoping to support the kids' talents at home. It is a dilemma.

 The regular classroom

Regular classrooms are challenged by gifted students.  While heterogeneous class makeup is in vogue, the downside comes in teachers having little resources to allow gifted children to work at one, two or more levels above the majority of students.   Often gifted students are utilized as teacher's helper in teaching the other students.  Boredom and as a result acting out are common on highly gifted students in regular classrooms.  It is the talented teacher who can challenge the kindergarten child that can divide and utilize decimals in the same classroom with those just starting to recognize letters.  Some districts such as in New York City are devoting schools to gifted and talented but that is the exception.  Unfortunately, the existing cookie cutter school system leaves little resources for such innovation.

Private school

I've written on cake before about private schools.  Private schools often afford more attention with smaller classes and choice in the philosophy of education. From traditional to Waldorf to Montessori there exist a myriad of options depending on your location.  In silicon valley we score an A for private school options and a C in public schools (learn more on Forbes.com).  Private schools can be an excellent option.  They can also be an expensive education that is no better for the gifted student than the local public school


Homeschool and the gifted

A growing number of parents of gifted children in desperation are opting to home school their children.  It does not work for every child nor every household.  It takes time patience and dedication.  Kathi Kearney shares a story of a parents' decision to home school their three sons as the decision to become their kids "education facilitator".  I love this.  Recognizing they couldn't always be their children's best teacher, they expanded their resources utilizing tutors and University experts to teach as well.  A common criticism of homeschooling is that parents might not have the knowledge to teach their children.  If we are discussing the bare minimum expected in our school system, I would be surprised to discover that parents weren't well equipped for the job.   And while home school kids often move ahead of their traditional peers regardless of IQ, the unique opportunity for them to develop expertise and in depth study exists.   Creative parents use tutors, university students, online resources and museums to supplement in areas where they may lack expertise.  I, myself who am not homeschooling at the moment, have learned more about muscles, bones and the human body than I ever did in biology simply due to my daughters' passion and curiosity about it.  But homeschooling is another option that is neither right for everyone nor a possibliity for everyone.

So, while we create more cookie cutter schools what do we do for the gifted, the struggling and everyone in between?

The price of the Well-Rounded Child

$100 - 4 weeks of art class
$40 - 4 week yoga class
$80 - 4 week piano lessons
$42 - 4 weeks of soccer class
$2250 - private school tuition.

The cost of the educated, well rounded child isn't cheap.  And while it shouldn't be the current price tag seems exorbitant.  And if you are me, take that and times it by 2 for my 2 children plus add in 8 weeks of half day summer camp at $400/week!   Eeeek!

On My Soapbox - AGAIN

Those of you who come here often know that I get on my soap box about education frequently.  That are education system is deplorable is hardly newsworthy.  We know it's terrible and it is only going the wrong direction.  Today I am especially angry about the lack of quality choices because it is almost June and I still have not found the right education environment for my highly gifted five year old.  And when I say she is highly gifted this is not proud parent   This is IQ testing and assessment by professionals to the point tgat i am now being advised on all the opportunities for gifted children

This not to say I haven't looked.  I've exhausted the public and private option.  One school was right, and of course, even my daughter said of all her school visits that was the one but they had a 100 qualified applicants for 10 spots and even less space as a girl.  So she was tossed info the wait list pool to tread water.  And so we wait.  And what rankles me the most is that not only are there not enough spaces in these schools that cost upwards of $20k a year but also that I should have to turn to one of these programs because the school districts fail to provide quality programs themselves.  After much discussion with her current teachers and an educational assessment team, I'm being told that most children with her gifts are hone schooled. Most recently a home schooled child was admitted not only to Harvard but numerous top tier schools.  While this ultimately may be the direction we choose, I am angry that in order for my gifted and highly social child to soar I have to devise an educational plan at home and ultimately sacrifice social aspects.

Evaluating assessment in schools

An article in the Huffington post last year highlighted success stories in our public school system with a focus on increased achievement in test scores.  Certainly it would appear that an increase in test scores correlates to success.  Thinkers in the progressive school of thought denounce such "achievements".  They argue and I agree that success is measured by learning and student engagement not by standardized tests. In fact testing is counterproductive to progressive education assessment. 

In favor of Drill & Kill

The drill and kill method of teaching is called that just for a reason - drill concepts over and over again into students until you have killed any passion for learning that may have once existed.  It is endless worksheets and tests with a marked absence of creative thinking, problem solving and development of analytical skills.  And more importantly it is what we are setting up our schools to do. With large budget cuts in education sweeping the United States we are rapidly taking away the opportunity to learn in favor of an underachieving population that does not know how to think for themselves.  I notice we aren't making sweeping cuts to the defense or prison system budgets.  Sure we will have oil but we will never be able to get off it because our next generation will not be able to problem solve.  It's estimated that 100,000 teachers nationwide will be laid off for the 2010-2011 school year.  This equates to larger class sizes, lack of specialists on science, math, the arts and more, closed libraries and a general lack of resources for our students.
And while I know we can't turn things around overnight, clearly this must be a step in the wrong direction.

From potential dropout to neuroscience major

Got your attention didn't I?  It got my attention to as I delve deeper An article in business week of all places takes a good look at the need to radically re-examine the way we educate our children.  Described in the story is the MET school, a growing progressive approach that focuses on one child at a time.  You can read the full article here or more about the MET here.  What I loved most was the one child at a time approach with a very personal connection to each student to not only follow and encourage their progress but also to discover where student interests lie and develop them.  It is true outside tgr box thinking and what IMHO our school system desperately needs.  What we have learned from No Child Left Behind Act is that the back to basics methods with an emphasis on repeated testing has done nothing to improve the quality of education in the united states.  In fact many including myself would argue that it has moved us dramatically backward.

This story, though, runs deeper than just the success of this methodology.  Three important lessons to learn from this:

A lesson from Early Education

The education crisis is not lost on me.  In fact I think about it, research and problem solve daily.  And I am smart enough to know that while I cannot by myself change the system, I can contribute to, educate on, and be part of am education revolution.  Although o studied schools of thought back when I was doing masters degree, everything from progressive to Waldorf to charter and back again.   And that brought me to thinking about the school my daughters attend, a small Montessori preschool with three mixed age classrooms.  The Montessori method is controversial in itself and this not to advocate it in particular. 

Stifling creativity in our education

Inspired by creative lesson planning and progressive education goals, I was thrilled to enter my first classroom as a student teacher only to be dummied down into drill and kill by the mentor teacher I worked with.  Oneclassroom one experience.  It would be different when it was my own class, I was confident.  But it was with great dismay that I encountered resistance from colleagues, parents and administrators at my student focused style.  In fact I remember a bitter colleague once remarking to me that I was very popular with my students but they weren't learning anything.  Ironically, a year later she called me and asked for my curriculum to use in her own class.

From the trenches of our Education System

I recently read an article by second year teacher speaking of her first day teaching.  While I felt sorry that the school who hired her was so ill prepared for her arrival and clearly she had not been well-trained for by her certification program, I felt more sorry for her students and angry at the system she came through. Essentially, she complained that her curriculum was not handed to her in a box. 

Measuring success in our schools

A number one topic for legislators in virtually every campaign is education.  There is no doubt that the majority of schools out there are failing and what I wonder is why.  There are numerous studies by educational research on tools for success.  The recent longitudinal study highlighted in Organizing Schools for Improvement focuses on successes and failures.  And for the most part I would argue we are failing.  I wonder if it's budget, population, teacher training, community or more.  Is it that in an effort to please everyone we meet no ones needs?   Do we have one round hole that we expect every child to fit into while we have square, diamond, and more shaped pegs?   Our schools not only fail the disadvantaged but those who desire careers in apprentice type fields, the gifted, and the middle.  As one who has been in the trenches I know we can do more.

Failing Schools: Not news, really

The fact that our education system is failing us does not come as a shock to anyone, or it shouldn't.  Funding is tied to test scores, so curriculum becomes focused on test preparation. We are setting up to graduate a generation of people who can pass a series of standardized tests but they won't be able to think, problem solve, write a paragraph or innovate, so what are we producing? 

Education: We are Failing Ourselves

I'm angry.  Furious, stand on my soapbox and shout angry.   I look at my tax dollars and never before have I been angrier than now.  We are failing our future.  The United States defense budget is currently $651.2 billion   The united states to date has spent $977,448,134,511 on fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  At the same time we spent $157 Bilion on education.  Less than the money spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Not Our Parents' World

Maybe all generations come to this realization at some point, they probably do, but in recent months I am especially struck by the differences between challenges at raising my kids versus the challenges my parents faced.  At the core the goals are the same: raising a happy, healthy and well educated child. 

When I was little almost everyone I knew lived in a house they owned.  Typically one parent did not work and that was affordable.  Some could even afford to send their kids to private school.  And if they could, there was a place for their child.  This is not the case today, at least where I live.