Bullshit Detection 101

Sometimes I'm deeply saddened about the death of newspapers. . .

but then I read the editorials in the local paper and my sadness turns to relief. 

Hyuck. Hyuck.

See, I can laugh at the misfortunes of others just as easily as their writers!

Well, it's clear to me that schools ARE failing. 

And it's not the test scores I'm talking about.  And it's not "human capital." 

Apparently the failure lies in reasoning and ability to analyze historical trends.

Allow me to introduce the subject of my case study:

My Sarah Palin loving anti-government republican uncle,

who, by the way, was a government employee for three decades.

Of course he voted for Snyder but now that he wants to tax his pension he is appalled!  He offers a compromise though, which is tax all the new pensions, but not his!!

I assume that he's fairly literate considering how many birther emails he likes to forward on.  Yet he's shocked over something that liberals knew was coming? 

And he is far from alone!

Oh the roaring outcry on the Interwebz!

So how is it that there are republicans JUST NOW realizing this is a party for the rich? 

Could it be that they were simply so scared running away from all the Black Gay Muslims that they didn't ask what they were running towards? 

I know, I know, it's scary!  Sometimes you just have to run towards the whitest and straightest man you can, especially with this new Radical Islamic Atheist threat that I've been hearing about.  (Although, as an atheist, I think it's a little rude that I haven't received my invitation for Islamic world domination.)

So,

here's the problem for someone like me: In PUBLIC conversations I must support, support, support teachers and education because the climate is so hostile to teachers and education, but in the PRIVATE sphere, or in a narrower sphere at least, is where I reserve my desires about "reforming" education.  The fact that "reform" is linked with Rhee and Klein makes it a difficult word to use without going into lengthy explanations in order to differentiate from the Rhee model.  (I'm not really sure how it is "reform" considering that standardized testing was important when I was a kid.)  I'm concerned with the same things everyone else is, teaching students the basics.  I'm concerned with the achievement gap.  I'm concerned with political policies that keep students down because of poverty or institutional racism.  I'm seriously concerned when students can get suspended for cursing in class and yet racism, homophobia, and general bullying gets protected by the notion of free speech.  I'm also concerned with teaching students how to research, think critically, and analyze trends.  People should leave school with some tools to defend themselves against BULLSHIT because they're going to be wading through it their entire lives.    

One thing that really bothers me about some of the teachers I had in the past was how resistant they were to the internet.  They wanted you to only research using books because the internet "wasn't reliable."  What teachers should be doing is showing students how to use the internet responsibly.  I think a lot of the resistance will change naturally but teachers who embrace the internet still need to show students how to use it properly and filter out the bullshit from the credible search results.  Bullshit always existed but free email just proliferated the spread.   

Such is life.. 

Topics for next time:

Analysis of the distance learning courses offered at JCC

&

Room for improvement in Literature and Language Arts