Sacredness of an Oath

Last Thursday in my BYU doctoral law class our professor, Dr. Scott Ferrin, show us a video about the Supreme Court. Even though I had always known that government officials were sworn in to office and that they usually had a hand on the Bible when doing so, the Bible hadn't really caught my attention with any great interest until seeing this video. I started to wonder when and how that tradition came to be so I did some researching and discovered all kinds of interesting tidbits that I had previously just taken for granted.

The oath or affirmation of office of the President of the United States was established in the United States Constitution and it's mandatory for a President upon beginning a term. The wording:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Abiilty, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States
is prescribed by the Constitution (Article II, Section I, Clause 8).

Although it not present in the text of the Constitution, it has become standard practice for modern presidents to add "so help me God" at the end of the oath. Also, by way of convention, most raise their right hand and hold the other on a Bible (or other book of their choosing) while taking the oath although neither of these is required by law.

An oath is either a promise or a statement of fact calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred as a witness to the binding nature of the promise. To swear is take an oath. Many people take an oath by holding in their hand or placing over their head a book of scripture or a sacred object, thus indicating the sacred nature of the oath. The earliest English settleers in America brought over the tradition of this witness oath.

Learning From Dr. William Glasser

Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to attend a presentation by 83 year old Dr. William Glasser and his wife at BYU. When introducing him Dr. Tim Smith mentioned that while education fads come and go, Dr. Glasser's education principles live on.

The reason that Dr. Glasser's theories are still alive and well today is because they are built upon sound principles such as:

• Relationships must be built upon trust and respect.


• Learning must be based upon competency and quality work, not grades--The lowest grade one can receive is a B.


• School must be a joyful and welcoming (and as William Purkey would say, "inviting") place because of a supportive, caring environment and healthy relationships.


• All the school's stakeholders (students, parents, principal, teachers, staff, etc.) must rely on the choice theory principles of survival, love/belonging, freedom/power, and fun rather than the seven deadly external control habits: criticizing, blaming, complaining, nagging, threatening, punishing, and bribing.


• The message students need to receive from teachers must be: "My job is to teach you to learn, my job is not to find out what you don't know and punish you for not knowing it."


• Teach what is useful which is more than acquiring knowledge and memorizing facts


• Don't teach with threats or punishment.


• By changing one's acting and thinking rather than a focus on what one is feeling will help one feel better.


• Make all tests open book and open help from classmates and the teacher.

What is wonderful about these principles is that they work! The lives of delinquent girls at the Ventura School in California and hard core students in a Cincinnati school were turned around when these principles were used with them.

Dr. Glasser recommends that everyone who works in a school should read the research called Protecting Adolescents from Harm (Resnick et. al, 1997). Glasser says that what this important extensive research points out conclusively is that only two groups of people can prevent adolescents from harming themselves and others: parents and teachers.

Also, Dr. Glasser has a book called Every Student Can Succeed that can be ordered from his website http://www.wglasser.com/ At this time it is $14 inclusive of postage and handling.

A Gold Nugget Within Our Midst

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

Nelson Mandela

I attended an early morning breakfast yesterday at the Salt Palace Convention Center to share Guadalupe School's vision and hope for its students through education. As I listened to the keynote speaker, Salt Lake Mayor, Ralph Becker, the stories of former Guadalupe School students, and the story of a young Hispanic couple participating in Guadalupe's ESL (English As A Second Language) Program, I was reminded how foolish we are to try and reinvent the wheel when we have a success story within our midst to teach us what works---Guadalupe School students continually score in the 90th percentile on state mandated tests.


Guadalupe's Mission is: To teach economically disadvantaged children and non-English speaking adults the vision and skills needed to live productive, rewarding lives-- through learning, literacy, and living.


This mission isn't just a written statement tucked away in a drawer, but it plays a vital role in directing what Guadalupe does to make it a reality through the following:

• Providing door-to door bussing for preschoolers through third grade.


• Providing a continuum of services from birth through third grade some of which are bilingual because the value of first language is recognized.


• Maximizing the support of its volunteers who log over 2,000 hours each school year.


• Providing free breakfast, lunch and healthy snacks to students.


• Offering a community learning center model so that an entire family can find educational services.

This "gold nugget" in our midst began when Our Lady of Guadalupe parish, with leadership from Father Jerald Merrill and Suzanne Weiss, founded The Guadalupe Center on Salt Lake City’s west side in 1966. Four over four decades, disadvantaged children and families, about 95% of whom are Hispanic, have been served by this gold nugget.

In spite of Guadalupe's great success, it doesn't rest on its laurels. It continues to be a vibrant and growing organization by continually learning and adopting new approaches that will help them to be even more effective for the families they serve.

Guadalupe must not only be a shining light for Utah, it must also be an example that is replicated so that even more Utah families can benefit. This will require a willingness on the part of policy makers to step out of comfort zones and be committed to a vision like Guadalupe's and a willingness to do whatever it takes to make that vision a reality.

Thank you, Guadalupe, for charting unknown paths to provide an ideal for others to follow.

Joy Is In the Second Mile

Another teacher once asked me why I put forth so much effort in my teaching. After thinking about it for a few minutes I responded, "Because the joy is in the second mile."

As I have worked on my doctorate this past year I've found the work we are required to do to be quite grueling, and more often than not I feel like I'm just trying to keep my head above water so as not to drown. Yet, what is keeping me motivated is when I stay focused on the learning rather than on the grade or degree.

When I stay focused on the learning I do things like:

• Share studies, books, articles, and other info with classmates, professors, and/or others related to the research work they are doing
• Meet people, like researchers and "shakers and movers,"--- learning from and sharing with them, even if it is just through email
• Share ideas and thoughts with classmates, professors, and/or others on how to apply what we are learning
• Use the papers I write and other assignments to launch real life applications to make a difference
• Attend conferences, seminars, speeches related to my topic of interest
• Stay passionate on learning from all kinds of sources
• Accept feedback as an opportunity to improve and grow in order to do excellent/quality work
• Write articles with professors who have similar interests

While doing all these things maybe I'll eventually be able to also earn that PhD. In the meantime, I'll just take one step at a time putting one foot in front of the other....and keep on learning with a joyful heart.

It's NOT All or Nothing Conclusion

When it was recently reported by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver that black superdelegates are being pressured and intimidated through nasty letters, phone calls, threats, and being called an Uncle Tom if they didn't switch their support from Sen. Hillary Clinton to Sen. Barack Obama, I almost wept.

This is definitely what it means to carry racial pride to the extreme and it goes against all that Martin Luther King advocated in his I Have A Dream Speech given the 28 of August 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. when he said:

"I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truth to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.' I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood...I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character...little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."

How Martin Luther King must have wept with joy when he looked down from heaven and saw Rep. John and Sen. Hillary Clinton marching arm in arm and when he saw Ohio Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones and Sen. Hillary Clinton working together on issues--seeing his dream becoming a reality. Common causes, not skin color, motivated them.

How Martin Luther King's joyous tears must now be turning to painful tears as they have for many of us of all skin colors as we have witnessed the blatant racial sentiment and behavior of Blacks intimidating other Blacks to base decisions and support for a presidential candidate on skin color rather than on common goals and ideals.

Will we ever learn?

It's NOT All Or Nothing (cont.)

An article Multiculturalism E Pluribus Plures by Diane Ravitch written in 2001 put into words some of the feelings I have been having. She makes the following points:

Point #1: Thanks to social historians like Stephan Thernstrom, Mary Beth Norton, Gary Nash, Winthrop Jordan, and Leon Litwack today's history textbooks incorporate the experiences of women, blacks, American Indians, and various immigrants which reflects a broadened warts-and-all historical understanding of race, ethnicity, and class in the American past. Not only do these textbooks acknowledge the struggles for equality by minorities but also identifies who achieved success becoming political leaders, doctors, scientists, lawyers, scholars, and teachers.

Point #2: A study of a warts-and-all world and American history should inspire humility in all of us as this study will reveal that all racial groups have been guilty of committing terrible crimes, often against others in the same group--Man's inhumanity to man. It will become apparent how absurd both racial hatred and racial chauvinism are.

Point #3: Cultural pluralism is generally recognized as something that is part of this society and that differences among groups is a national resource rather than a problem to be solved. The unique feature of the United States is that its common culture is multicultural.

Point #4: A close examination of American history shows that rather than ethnic tensions tearing us apart as they have in other countries different groups in America while they have competed, fought, and suffered, they ultimately learned to live together in relative peace and harmony and achieved a sense of common nationhood.

Point #5: "Almost any idea, carried to its extreme, can be made pernicious," including multiculturalism.

Point #6: Celebrating Black History Month, Women's History Month, and other ethnic groups when all learn about the achievements of these different groups are a reminder that neither race nor gender needs to be an insurmountable obstacle to high achievement. It can also be a reminder to children of all racial and ethnic backgrounds that they are part of this country and that they, too, should develop their minds and talents to the fullest. It's also important to remember that all children (and adults!) , whatever their skin color, can be inspired by the lives of people of all skin colors, males and females, who exhibited courage, persistence, and intellect. Yet, it also important to understand that although we can be inspired by others of all skin colors, self-esteem and self-confidence come from reaching a goal through one's own efforts.

Point #7: American education is centered on Americentric rather than Eurocentric--and Americentric includes every culture that makes up America.

Point #8: Public schools exist to teach children the general skills and knowledge that they need to succeed in American society and to be contributing members of society to create a national community that is both expansive and inclusive.

Point #9: "Pluralism is a positive value, but it is also important that we preserve a sense of an American community--a society and culture to which we all belong."

It's NOT All Or Nothing (cont.)

Dr. Claude Goldenberg, a Stanford education professor, has recently commented that there is very little evidence that culturally accommodated instruction has an impact on English Language or Hispanics. He argues that research has shown that familiar content does promote learning and comprehension but adds that there are lots of ways to make things familiar. Therefore, the question needs to be, "Does familiar material have to be part of the learner's home culture or does it simply mean that the learner has had sufficient experience with the content of the material?"

Goldenberg goes onto share something that is extremely important to remember and that is language of the reading material in relationship to students' language proficiency has more impact on reading comprehension than did familiarity with the content.

Obviously and as Goldenberg notes, even though familiar content will help a learner to learn the language and the academic curriculum at a faster rate, what is familiar shouldn't be limited to what is part of his/her home culture.

All this is not to say, as Goldenberg reminds us, this is not to excuse an educator from becoming familiar with and respectful of a learner's home culture. Being able to make connections for the learner based on his/her home culture is not only good teaching but it's beneficial to the student regardless of the impact it has on student learning per se. Plus, it will be worthwhile for other students to learn about cultures other than their own.

Yet, Goldenberg reiterates that there has not been one study conducted that has shown that culture-based curriculum improved achievement in reading and writing and those that do claim this connection have research design problems. He adds, though, that this is a worthwhile topic for investigation.

Dr. Roland Tharp, a research professor from the University of California Berkeley, says that even though it is difficult to provide empirical research concerning the effectiveness of culture-based instruction, he contends that research in this area needs to be given a high priority. He says that there have been studies that have shown "culture-based education systematically produces greater student engagement, greater parent involvement, better attendance rates, lower dropout rates, and general satisfaction of all participants, as opposed to a standard, traditional program based on mainstream models." Even though studies, according to Goldenberg, haven't shown the connection, yet, it would seem that these outcomes Tharp mentions could influence and improve academic achievement. To know this, we obviously need studies that carefully separate out cultural accommodations for examination as Diane August, a senior research scientist at the Washington Center for Applied Linguistics, recommends.

August asks the all important question, "Is it the cultural accommodation or the teaching that matters?" and then Dr. Luis Moll, an education professor at the University of Arizona, reminds us of the importance not to focus only on test scores as a learning outcome indicator. Doing so could cause us to miss other outcomes such as an increase in student engagement and participation which could be just as beneficial to the student, if not more so.

My note: Lessons learned from this discussion:

1. Research studies need to be conducted that carefully separate out cultural accommodations to better understand the impact they have on student learning as well as other outcomes that are beneficial to the student.
2. Whether cultural accommodations improve student learning or not, teachers who are familiar with a learner's culture can use that knowledge to help make connections for a learner.
3. It is beneficial for students of all cultural backgrounds to learn about other cultures.
4. IMPORTANT: Rather than using only that with which a learner is already familiar, it is important for a teacher to expand and increase a learner's familiar world.

Information for the content in this blog post came from a personal email with Dr. Claude Goldenberg and an article from Education Week entitled Evidence on Effect of Culture-Based Teaching Called Thin by Mary Ann Zehr which was posted and retrieved online on January 8, 2008.


January 8, 2008 on line at Education Week

It's NOT All Or Nothing

A couple of days ago I read an article written in 2003 by Dr. Sonia Nieto who at the time was a professor of Language, Literacy, and Culture in the Department of Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. The article entitled Profoundly Multicultural Questions came from the Educational Leadership Journal.

This article resonated with me because Dr. Nieto reminds us about what it means to provide an education that is both multicultural and equitable. Nieto that when the two are not linked, "we may end up with young people who feel good about themselves and their heritage but who have few skills to prepare them for life, or alternatively, who know how to do math and science and read, but who know little about their cultural backgrounds and are even ashamed and embarrassed by them."

Nieto also reminds us how critical culturally responsive pedagogy is for educators so that they view what diverse students bring to the classroom as assets rather than deficits. Yet, we must go further and address the inequities that exist in our schools that are reflected by low test scores, dropout rates, and other indicators, existing in every socioeconomic group.

One of the questions Nieto asks is, "Who's Teaching the Children?" She notes that those teachers working in poor urban schools tend to be those who are less experienced and less prepared. She notes that even though all educators can learn the attitudes and skills to be effective with our increasingly diverse student population. we need more diverse faculties. She mentions studies that have shown that having teachers of color in a school can promote the academic achievement of diverse learners...and at times, even white students.

What Nieto is teaching us through her article is that although there are benefits to teachers being more culturally responsive, we must never lose sight of the bottom line which is: student learning. Yet, student learning must never come about at the expense of a learner having to give up who she or he is. Both are critical if our diverse learners are to reach their potential and become productive and contributing members of society.

"Playing" to the Level of Those Around Us

As I watched the Utah Jazz basketball team the other night lose horribly to one of the worst teams in the NBA I was reminded that all of us more often than not "play" to the level of those around us. Pondering on this brought to remembrance the following:

• If we want to become a better tennis player choose to play with those who are better than we are even though we always lose.
• Take the harder classes from the hardest teachers who push us to be and do more in order to learn more even though we may sacrifice an A and our grade point average.
• Choose peers who have high standards and strive for excellence as we usually attain the same academic level and character level as those around us.
• Seek out those things which are lovely, of good report, and praiseworthy--such as the best books that inspire us.
• Remember that less is more such as being willing to pay a higher price for quality even though it means we can afford less items.
• Seek out the best mentors who drive us to reach our potential.

Third Example of the "Americanization" Danger

In 2001 Dr. Carol L. Schmid wrote an article entitled Educational achievement language-minority students, and the new second generation. In this article she notes some disturbing research findings.

For example she mentions that Rumberger (1995) found that second-generation Mexican-Americans were less likely to drop out of school than were their third-generation counterparts, even though their SES (Socioeconomic status), on average, was lower. Driscoll's (1999) study of immigrant and native Latino youth found that U.S.-born students of U.S.-born parents were more than twice as likely to drop out of high school as were U.S.-born students with foreign-born parents. Furthermore, the third-generation sophomores in her sample were almost three times as likely to drop out as were the immigrant sophomores.

Although the exact cause (s) for this is unknown, Suarez-Orozco and Suarez-Orozco (1995) can provide some insight from what they found in the analysis of their comparison between recent Mexican immigrants and U.S-born Mexican Americans. They found from their primarily qualitative data that recent immigrants often have a "dual frame of reference." Such a frame of reference enabled the immigrants to believe their lives in the United States were markedly better than the lives they left behind. U.S.-born Mexican Americans who didn't have this dual frame of reference saw themselves as marginalized from the dominant culture so they strived to identify with the "dominant American paradigm of adolescent ambivalence." This resulted in recent Mexican immigrants being more achievement oriented than U.S.-born Mexican Americans.

In other words, striving to become "Americanized" resulted in lower academic achievement.

Another Sad Commentary On Becoming Americanized

Dr. June Gordon found that as a general rule, the longer Hispanics are in the U.S. the less respect they have for education.

It seems that even though Hispanics, especially new immigrants, hold teachers and education in high esteem, but the longer they are in the U. S. and start to be infiltrated with American values, the less respect both Hispanic parents and students have.

It's important to understand that the lack of respect for education and teaching as a profession is an American phenomenon. Therefore, in an immigrant's desire to adapt to the American life they adopt the attitudes and values of the mainstream which translates into the fact that the more they become like the dominant culture the less respect they have for education and teachers. In other words, they are reflecting back the American mainstream's attitude.

Again as Pogo would say, "We have met the enemy...and he is us."

The Danger of Becoming Americanized

It is a sad commentary that the more "Americanized" Hispanic immigrants become, the more problems they experience. For example, a new study by Robert Sampson from Harvard that was recently released reveals that first-generation immigrants are more likely to be law-abiding than third-generation Americans of similar socioeconomic status.


Sampson mentions the phenomenon sociologists call the "Latino paradox" which is that even though Hispanic immigrants come into this country with low resources and high poverty which are related to a high propensity for violence do better on a range of social indicators than either Blacks or Whites.


In fact, Sampson was surprised to discover that a person's immigrant status emerged as a stronger indicator of a dispropensity to violence than any other factor, including poverty, ethnic background, and IQ. First-generation immigrants are 45 percent less likely to commit violence than third-generation immigrants, and second-generation immigrants are about 22 percent less likely to do so than the third-generation. Mexican-Americans were the least violent among those studied.


Another important finding of the study was that neighborhoods matter. Sampson said, "Kids living in neighborhoods with a high concentration of first-generation immigrants have lower rates of violence" going on to say, "even if they aren't immigrants themselves."


This data from Sampson that indicate that as immigration increases, "the culture of violence is diluted," should remind all of us that immigration is not our country's #1 enemy. Once again we're reminded of Walter Kelly's Pogo who tells us, "We have met the enemy...and he is us."

Dispelling Hispanic Myth

The Miami Herald quotes Roy Romer, former Colorado governor, "A poll presented at a National Council of La Raza meeting [2007] showed education ranks as the most important issue for Hispanic voters."



The article notes that a poll of 1000 interviewed Hispanic voters in the United States sponsored by Strong American Schools and the National Council of La Raza found that Hispanic voters consider education a more important issue than the other top four issues--war in Iraq, healthcare, jobs, and immigration. Their top education concerns were high drop out rates for Hispanic students and students not receiving enough support at school.

This information obviously dispels the myth that Hispanics don't care about education.

An African American's Africa Experience

A colleague of mine in my BYU doctoral program, Sylvia Finlayson, brought to my attention during a conversation we were having a book called Out of America by Keith B. Richburg written in 1997. Even though I have not read the whole book, yet, I did read a review of the book by Wolf Roder. The contents of this "blog post" are based on that review.

Richburg has been a foreign correspondent for the Washington Post and has won several awards for his international reporting. From 1991-4 he was assigned to Africa and based in Nairobi. Being an African-American who had grown up in Detroit and knowing what it means to be Black in America Richburg was filled with excitement to be able to return to the land of his forefathers.

Although Richburg was hopeful that he would find much good in Africa, but as he "covers the coups, the wars, the massacres, from Liberia to Somalia, he comes to cherish his America heritage more and more." Even though remembrances of the atrocities of the slave trade are painful to recall, Richburg contemplates on what his life might have been like in Africa if the slave trade had not occurred. He comes to realize that he could be one of those anonymous bodies dumped into a mass grave.

Because of Richburg's Africa experience he comes to the conclusion that "he can only bless those unsung ancestors of his who survived capture, the middle passage, and the auction block to become Americans."

My personal comment: In spite of America's dark history as well as the racism and prejudice that continues today, the greatest hope for all people to eventually enjoy true freedom and rights lies within the borders of the United States of America.

Reference
Roder, Wolf (1997). Retrieved February 22, 2008 from the World Wide Web, www.unc.edu/~ottotwoRoderreview.html

Is Good Educational Research an Oxymoron?

As I struggled in a statistics class to learn the language of statistics I came to appreciate the value of statistics and learned that if used properly it can provide us with very useful information when making decisions.

Also, the rigor professors required when writing papers for my doctorate classes has given me an inkling of the time, energy, and money researchers invest in order to help us make wise educational decisions.

Therefore, I am saddened when people discount what statistics and research reveal and make accusations that they are twisted to support one's own point of view. Unfortunately, that does happen, but that would be shoddy research that should be rejected. Yet, if in this process all research is rejected, much excellent scholarly research will be rejected that could benefit learners.

Not only does discounting scholarly research cause us to miss out on some valuable information, it also causes us (and our learners!) to lose too much precious time while we are busy reinventing the wheel.

A problem that we face concerning excellent scholarly research is that we have considerable evidence that those who need to read the results of these studies rarely see them or if they do, they don't heed them. In other words, the bulk of the research results never makes it to the classroom. When practitioners don't attend research conferences and researchers don't attend conferences for practitioners, a disconnect is perpetuated that must not be allowed to exist. The disconnect is exacerbated by the fact that researchers most often only publish their findings in educational journals that a high percentage of practitioners seldom read.

As long as educators, policy makers, and the general community regard good educational research as an oxymoron and use that as an excuse to not give credence or heed to the findings of excellent scholarly research, “quick fixes” and “silver bullets” with no long term benefits for student achievement will continue to be implemented.

Until this disconnect challenge is addressed and resolved we will continually be spinning our wheels and our learners will not be receiving the best education they need and deserve.

The Truth About the Chinese Fortune Cookie

When teaching a multicultural class to some BYU students I gave students a Chinese fortune cookie and told them the story of the cookie to emphasize how important it is not to make assumptions about a culture.

I use the Chinese fortune cookie because we assume they are Chinese in origin. After all, every Chinese restaurant gives us the treat along with the restaurant bill. Yet, the fortune cookie, like chop suey, is a U.S. invention. After much controversy as to exactly when and where they originated in the U.S., it was finally ruled in a 1983 courtroom that San Francisco is the homeland of fortune cookies.

Until recently, fortune cookies were virtually unknown in China. In 1993, Wonton Food Company began producing the treats in China. Yet, sales have not been as high as expected perhaps because baked goods in China are generally lower in sugar.

Despite the controversy over where and when fortune cookies originated, the small paper messages inside them continue to intrigue and fascinate many of us. I've even saved some and taped them in my journal or carried them around with me.

For this reason it is not surprising that an educator, whose name I can no longer remember, encouraged us in a conference speech to write what message we would like to read inside of a fortune cookie in five years describing our professional status. Then we should go about doing what we can to make that message a reality.

Since hearing this speech I've gone through at least 2 five year cycles writing my own fortune cookie message. I highly recommend this powerful way to write our own future.

What Are They Thinking?!?

Even though a recent audit shows that over the last seven years schools were given $460 million by the Utah legislature to reduce class size, class sizes in Utah have not been lowered. Now a new bill has passed committee this year to give schools another $26 million to reduce class size in K-3.

Why would legislation be supported that gives more money towards something in a way that has so far been an unsuccessful effort? Has the situation miraculously changed?

The seriousness of this decision becomes more acute when we are told that even though the audit found that districts were likely using the previous $46 million correctly, most didn't specifically track where the dollars went. This is appalling.

This bill is extremely flawed for the following reasons:

Reason #1: Before giving money to schools, each school should have a comprehensive strategic plan on how it is going to improve academic achievement, especially for those students in greatest need. The plan needs to be based on research. It also needs to include the funds that will be needed to implement each part of the plan giving a rationale as to why this particular implementation would be the most cost effective.

Reason #2: An evaluation component needs to be required to show that resources are achieving the desired outcome which must be student achievement. For example, if class size reduction was part of the plan, the effectiveness of the plan wouldn't be determined by the class size reduction in the school but by the academic achievement of the students. In other words, the end goal, not the means to the end is what is most important.

Not only is this bill putting the cart before the horse--giving money before there is a plan--but it has made class size reduction, not student achievement, the ultimate goal.

Words Matter

Although 2008 presidential candidate Barack Obama admits that maybe he should have given his longtime friend and ally, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, credit for the lines he used at his Milwaukee's Founder's Day Dinner on February 16th shouldn't take away from the point Obama was making: Words matter!

What Obama said: "Don't tell me words don't matter! 'I have a dream.' Just words. 'We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.' Just words. "We have nothing to fear but fear itself.' Just words. Just speeches. It's true that speeches don't solve all problems, but what is also true is if we cannot inspire the country to believe again than it doesn't matter how many policies and plans we have... Don't tell me that words don't matter."

Words have power. They can inspire, motivate, encourage, and even challenge us to be better and to take action. Great leadership historically has been about people who could put language to use to do just that.

All of us who want to inspire change must learn to use words in a powerful way--in our speaking and writing.

Making the "rule of law" a god

In my state of Utah we have legislators who justify sponsoring and voting in favor of anti-immigration laws because of their respect and commitment to the "rule of law." Although I, too, understand and value the "rule of law" principle, I become very nervous when it is made a "god." Putting so much stock in man-made laws can be harmful and even dangerous. Looking at all the silly, dumb, and stupid, not to mention the unjust and even unconstitutional, laws that have not only been on the books, but still are, should make all of us more than a little leery of putting all our eggs in the rule of law basket when making decisions.

Rising Above the Clouds

Yesterday I received an email from a friend, Janet Christensen, who is serving with me in a group that is focused on improving the academic achievement of Hispanic learners. Her words, "It is wonderful to be part of a group that seeks to rise above the clouds and help others get out of the clouds as well" made me realize that this is what we need to do. It is only by rising above the clouds that we can see the bigger picture and gain a broader perspective.

Rising above the clouds will also help us not get caught up in all the chaos taking place around us. On an After Words broadcast where Akbar Ahmed interviewed Mark Siegel, longtime friend and former speechwriter who helped Benazir Bhutto write Reconciliation, spoke of the glow Bhutto seemed to have about her in spite of the chaos as well as threats to her life. In other words, because of her focus on a higher purpose she was able to transcend what was happening around her.

Herndon L. Davis who is an author, lecturer, and TV Host gives us some insights into Bhutto's life that can be an example for us as we advocate for Hispanic learners. Davis said of her, "Bhutto could have easily remained safely in self-imposed exile. She could have kept a low profile and remained an observer....But instead Benazir Bhutto chose to become the change that she wanted to see for her country....She allowed her life to be used as a tool for a greater purpose, a greater cause and for a greater calling...Further Bhutto knew that her life was symbolic as a living example of patience, idealism, faith, and determination. (italics mine).

We, too, must not give up the fight for our Hispanic learners even though we are attacked on every side and in spite of the fact that we may not see the fruits of our labor. It never was about us anyway as Mother Theresa's words remind us.