Edumacation......

Well gang today was a real upliffter in the bio of my life. Spent the first 4 hours of my morning learning how underfunded the state of Colorado is with regards to public education and early childhood development. I guess the panel we were listening to was under the assumption that none of us had picked up a newspaper, turned on a TV, or listened to a radio in the past eon. Presentation after presentation describing the gross underfunding and resource limitations that are oppressing our nations youth and forcing them to a life of garbage removal and sewer maintenance (no offense to any plumbers, without you all I would have no excuse to bend over and have half my ass hang out the top of my pants on a Sunday). Yes, it was the same old story.....

My day didn't start out on such a somber note. No, I actually awoke inspired, fresh, and ready to tackle the world. Another day of our communities leadership program was in store. What I was hoping to hear during our day was how the school system was making cuts, running leaner, touching more lives with less. Instead I discovered the grim reality that the system is in fact broken......

Not such a long time ago I myself was a pupil in the district. I was a seventh grader not much different from most males in my demographic at the time. Headstrong, mischievous, a bit unruly. Today we have fancy medicines that doctors love to over prescribe to handle these 'behavioral nuances', but in my day all we had were passing periods and lunchtime detention (with all my friends) to keep us 'on task'. My most tumultuous semester came at the hands of a teacher (who for this will remain nameless) who really had no business teaching, let alone teaching junior high students, in particular junior high males. She was an English teacher. Typical by all counts. Loved to hear herself talk, prescribed books that were 'classics' and subjectively passed out grades based on the amount of time you spent with your lips on her ass. Well, I never much cared for ass, so needless to say I wasn't one of her 'favorites'....I've got the grade to prove it. Distant memory right? A bad seed in a field of blossoms?

Fast forward to March 07'. Location: Front Range Community College. In walks today's panel guest and who should be leading the charge?....you guessed it. Ms. English herself. She's no longer a teacher however, she's now on the board for the district which helps to dictate policy and direction for the entire district. Instead of hindering development in groups of 30 at a time she now can leverage her inept ability and out of touch attitude 1000 fold and get paid more to do so. She gave a shotty presentation that didn't talk of anything she was actually doing, or capable of doing. No, it was basically a report of other peoples observations and where they see deficiencies. Uplifting to the point where pro-creation seems like a total waste of energy.

So, you want to fix public education? Here's a start. The next time you hear an administrator chanting about underfunding and the detrimental effects it's having on society ask them what they're role is. If they can't give you a straight answer in 6 minutes or less (Ms. English blew 40 minutes of our panel time in which she was allotted 6 minutes. Maybe numbers are a rough thing for her, it's probably a lack of funding) it may be time to call for their resignation. I happen to know a couple of great teachers who could probably use Ms. English's salary to actually touch a life in a way that doesn't involve the instructors ass as a focal point.