A Little Math - A Little Engineering

And away we go.

I promise not to bitch about my taxes if I can count on you to teach my kids how to do that kinda thing.

This Combustible Mixture

...of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces."

Carl Sagan:

Lessons

There can be no debate without a reliable partner.

Remember this as we try to navigate the political bullshit being foist on us by Daddy State Plutocrats.

Via YouTube Jill Bearup with a nice roundup of Logical Fallacies:

0:33 Fallacy of Composition 0:42 Fallacy of Division 0:52 The Gambler's Fallacy 1:00 Tu Quoque (Who Are You To Talk?) 1:19 Strawman 1:32 Ad hominem 1:49 Genetic Fallacy 1:56 Fallacious Appeal To Authority 2:15 Red Herring 2:34 Appeal to Emotion 2:48 Appeal to Popularity (Bandwagon) 2:52 Appeal to Tradition 2:56 Appeal to Nature 3:04 Appeal to Ignorance 3:16 Begging the Question 3:32 Equivocation 3:50 False Dichotomy (Black or White) 4:00 Middle Ground Fallacy 4:09 Decision Point Fallacy (Sorites Paradox) 4:29 Slippery Slope Fallacy 4:46 Hasty Generalisations (Anecdotes) 5:05 Faulty Analogy 5:14 Burden of Proof 5:43 Affirming the Consequent 6:10 Denying the Antecedent 6:22 Moving the Goalposts 6:35 False Cause (and Texas Sharpshooter) 6:54 Loaded Question 7:01 No True Scotsman 7:10 Personal Incredulity 7:18 The Fallacy Fallacy

Your Logical Fallacy Is

Rhetological Errors

Be Amazed

Maybe 52,000 years ago.

Sarah Kaplan, WaPo:

Radio isotope dating of a calcite crust that covers part of the image revealed that it is more than 40,000 years old, and possibly as old as 52,000 years. Even the more recent date would make the image older than any painted representation of an animal that has been found.
- and -

“Maybe it’s universal,” said Aubert, an archaeologist and geochemist at Griffith University in Australia. “Art ... is something that we as humans just do."

A Press Release

Badass Teachers Association:

The Badass Teachers Association, a grassroots national education activist organization with over 200,000 teachers and education activists in their network, strongly condemn Sec. DeVos for rescinding special education guidance documents. Guidance documents are the federal interpretation of regulations that make it easier for states and districts to understand, and to help them draft policy. BATs has stated before and will reiterate, that federal guidance is needed to ensure that all children receive a free and appropriate education. Federal guidance is needed so that education is rooted in equity, equality, and fairness for all children regardless of zip code or capability.

“Knowledge is power- DeVos has chosen to keep parents in the dark about the educational and legal rights of their children with disabilities. In rescinding USDOE guidelines, she is allowing states and local districts to interpret the law in their interest without consistency, thus abandoning a commitment to equity of protection for all children. This decision sets us back to the days when parents were on their own in securing a free, appropriate public education for their disabled children.” ~ Terry Kalb, Co-Director BATs Special Education Committee, and Special Education Advocate

“As a lifelong special educator and parent of a child with a disability, rescinding these guidance documents create roadblocks that will deny our children services, while we engage in the impartial hearing process to reinstate them, at great taxpayer expense. Lawyers will be the only people to benefit from this shameless action. Our children will continue to grow - time doesn’t stop for them. They will lose services, and they will suffer, and lose precious time in their education. My child is college-bound thanks to great special education and support services. Without them, he would have no skills and would never be able to realize his dreams.” ~Lorri Gumanow, Co-Director BATs Special Education Committee, and Special Education Teacher

"As the mother of a child with special needs and as an educator of children in this country, I am beyond disgusted. Children with disabilities rely on federal guidance to protect them and what DeVos has now done is say to millions of children with disabilities that we are not going to take care of you. Rest assured that parents and school leaders will be challenging this in court.” ~Marla Kilfoyle, Executive Director, The Badass Teachers Association (BATs).

“Whatever gains we fought so hard to win in the hopes of improving the education for all students, are disappearing before our very eyes. She is not a Secretary of Education; she is the harbinger of the destruction of Public Education.” ~Gus Morales, Board Member, The Badass Teachers Association (BATs)

"The so-called Education Department is once again victimizing our most vulnerable students. This time they are rescinding documents that help parents advocate for the rights of children with disabilities and guide schools on how to spend federal funding. How can we allow these billionaires in Washington to abuse our special needs children? This is an outrage that will not stand. " ~Dr. Michael Flanagan, Co-Director BATs Action Team, and Public School Educator

“I teach students with special needs. I am disgusted with Secretary DeVos' lack of a conscience. How can someone placed in a position to protect children be allowed to do so much harm to our most vulnerable population? What shall I tell my students? Perhaps Betsy would like to face my special needs students and their parents to tell them their nation doesn't give a damn about them anymore. I cannot support a government that treats children like this. Betsy DeVos must be removed from her position. Our children are counting on us to rise up together.”~Jamy Brice-Hyde, Director of BATs Quality of Work Life Team and Public School Educator

“Regulations are a necessity to create an equitable interpretation of the law for all students. The dismissal of these regulations by Betsy DeVos shows her total lack of understanding of the Individuals with Disabilities Act. Haphazard interpretation from states and districts will open up the floor for numerous lawsuits that will further divert money from the classroom. We hope that NEA and AFT will engage in a legal battle to protect our students.”~Melissa Tomlinson, Asst. Executive Director BATs and Public School Educator.

Parents, educators, children, and the disability community call on Sec. DeVos to end her attack on our children. School districts rely on guidance documents to frame their policies, and without that guidance, our children with disabilities could fall victim to education policies that do not provide them with a free and appropriate education.

Tim Wise Redux

A rerun from Tim Wise:

At about 13:30 - "Expectationalism"

Also, listen for things like White Fragility and the weird irony of being called "snowflake" by someone who melts down over casting black people in a movie remake, and the rebuttal for "Reverse Discrimination".

"You don't get on the boat if you're winning."

Lotsa good shit.

Outwardly Cranky

Gary, who graduated high school with a smokin' 2.0 GPA, is complaining loudly about how Majeed (a Neurologist) wants to steal his job.

Ever notice how a lotta these job-stealing immigrants are coming from countries where they help kids with the cost of college and shit?

I wonder if that might work here.

hat tip = Vicki W-E

David Souter

Appointed by Poppy Bush, and confirmed by a Senate with a Democratic majority.

Teacher's Day Today

Today's Tweet

“With guns you can kill terrorists—with education you can kill terrorism.” @Malala Yousafzai@MalalaFund pic.twitter.com/rmzIEviIGJ

— Bryan Dawson (@BryanDawsonUSA) September 21, 2016

John Oliver

Today's Quote

"Be ashamed to die before you have won some victory for humanity." -- Horace Mann

And BTW, Horace Mann was a Republican (Whig actually - but a Repub nonetheless); back when Republicans stood for some pretty cool things - like Secular Public Schools, and Fairness, and making sure Government Power was a force to protect the little guy from the excesses of an unaccountable Oligarchy, and a lot of other Progressive Values.  

I wonder what happened.

A Day Late

I spent so much time yesterday casting about for something to post, that I plumb forgot it was National Teacher Appreciation Day.

Here's a bit from Tim Wise (fast becoming my favorite social critic) from earlier this year. He's trying to throw some light on the facts of "education" here in USAmerica Inc these days.

My main takeaway is that we have to stop thinking the people in charge are stoopid and that they're making stoopid decisions.  The decisions are made and policies are put in place for specific reasons - and those policies are working almost exactly as intended.

And BTW - here's the Jefferson quote:

This bill proposes to lay off every county into small districts of five or six miles square, called hundreds, and in each of them to establish a school for teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic. The tutor to be supported by the hundred, and every person in it entitled to send their children three years gratis, and as much longer as they please, paying for it. These schools to be under a visitor [i.e., superintendent], who is annually to choose the boy of best genius in the school, of those whose parents are too poor to give them further education, and to send him forward to one of the grammar schools [high schools, in effect] of which twenty are proposed to be erected in different parts of [Virginia], for teaching Greek, Latin, geography, and the higher branches of numerical arithmetic. Of the boys thus sent in any one year, trial is to be made at the grammar schools one or two years, and the best genius of the whole selected, and continued six years, and the residue dismissed. By this means twenty of the best geniuses will be raked from the rubbish annually, and be instructed, at the public expence, so far as the grammar schools go.

Tommy Jeff was cool enough, but I have no doubt he was a man of his times; an elitist with a bit of a conscience, but an elitist nonetheless.

Today's Gubmint Stoopid

From AP via TPM:

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Alabama's reigning Teacher of the Year says she has resigned after state officials told her she's unqualified to teach in her fifth-grade classroom because of certification issues.

Veteran teacher Ann Marie Corgill said Alabama Department of Education officials recently informed her that she was not qualified despite her well-documented accomplishments. She said she grew tired of trying to prove herself, prompting her to submit a letter of resignation, dated Tuesday and obtained by Al.com. In the letter, Corgill cites her confusion.

"After 21 years of teaching in grades 1-6, I have no answers as to why this is a problem now, so instead of paying more fees, taking more tests and proving once again that I am qualified to teach, I am resigning," Corgill wrote.

Corgill has Class A and B certifications to teach primary school through third grade, according to certification records provided by The Alabama Department of Education. Corgill said she started this school year at Birmingham's Oliver Elementary School teaching second grade, but shortly after the semester began, she was moved to a fifth-grade classroom.

In a news release Thursday, the state Department of Education said it "did not determine Ms. Corgill was not qualified. However, when an inquiry was made, the department reported that her current teaching certificate covers primary grades through Grade 3. This does not carry with it a requirement for resignation."

But Corgill — a 2015 National Teacher of the Year finalist — holds National Board Certification to teach children ages 7 to 12, a group that would include most fifth-graders. That certification is valid until November 2020, according to the National Board Certification directory.

Birmingham City Schools spokeswoman Chandra Temple said Thursday that the district is working on the matter and had no further comment.

Somebody like Ms Corgill should be pulling down 6 figures, and she should be working at a school that looks like a 5-star resort.  

If we're gonna demand layers of certification and years of continuing education - pretty much the same as we demand of various other professionals - then we can sure as fuck pay them like we pay those other professionals.  Cuz, btw, where do we think all those big-deal professionals get their start?  Anybody believe they just pop up outa the ground?  No - they all started out in some version of an elementary school where a Ms Corgill takes a room filled with potential future cell block slugs and turns them into solid citizens who might give us a shot at making this joint a slightly better world to live in if we can just get our national head out of our national ass long enough to think in terms of investment instead of always falling for the bullshit of "Gubmint's too big and costs too much".

Quiz Time

Take the Science quiz at Pew Research Center

How much Americans appear to know about science depends on the kinds of questions asked, of course. Science encompasses a vast array of fields and information, and the questions in the new Pew Research survey represent a small slice of science knowledge. On Pew Research Center’s set of 12 multiple-choice questions – some of which include images as part of the questions or answer options – Americans gave more correct than incorrect answers; the median was eight correct answers out of 12 (mean 7.9). Some 27% answered eight or nine questions correctly, while another 26% answered 10 or 11 items correctly. Just 6% of respondents got a perfect score.

These findings come from Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel, a nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults. The survey of 3,278 adults (including 2,923 adults online and 355 respondents by mail) was conducted Aug 11 - Sept 3, 2014.

The test is easy - almost ridiculously so - and not because I'm just that fucking awesome.

And I don't think it's important to know these few things just because they're important things to know in and of themselves.  They are, but - I think we have to widen that out and understand that it's important for us to know these (or other) things as a way of keeping ourselves better-informed in a more general sense.

What did Mr Jefferson say about the health of a democracy being dependent on a well-informed electorate?  

And what's become apparent as far as people being well-informed in the age of Alex Jones and Benny Hinn and DumFux News?

Today's Chart

I have to think long and hard about how the hell I'm gonna get a coupla 17-year-olds thru the next 4 years of college.

I don't like thinking about that right now, but what I really don't wanna have to fuck with is the belief on the part of so many rubes that "them durn thugs are getting all the scholarship money, and all the good placements in all the good schools just because they're black and it ain't fair that they're takin' the spot of a deserving white child blah blah blah."

(btw - the rubes really do use the word "thug" in polite company so they don't have to use the word "nigger".  Yes. Really.)

Anyway, here's another of my handy dandy charts to illustrate just how stupid some of these clowns can get.

That tiny blue line at about 12 o'clock on the doughnut is the one-quarter of one percent of the total scholarship money available which is actually "earmarked" for use by kids with brown skin.  Which means that the white people, who make up about 80% of the total population are collecting most of the remaining 99.75% of the bucks.  Sound familiar?

Could you please stop bitching about it now?

And Away We Go

Farther down that long and slippery slope.  From Rolling Stone:

"In terms of a clear national picture of what kind of military equipment is going to K-12 schools through the 1033 program, we don't have a 100 percent transparent picture," says Janel George, education policy counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. That lack of transparency is one reason the Legal Defense Fund and Texas Appleseed are asking the DLA to end the 1033 program's relationship with school districts and school police departments. George also emphasizes that excessive force against students by school police is already far too common, with many school officers armed with weapons like tasers and pepper-spray. "The concern is not only the potential harm when you add in military-grade weaponry – we're talking about M16s, AR 15s and grenade launchers. It's also, how does this exacerbate existing school climates that are already tense? And how does that contribute to the criminalization of youth of color in particular?"

The disproportionate punishment of Black and Latino students for the same behavior as their white peers is so well-documented that, earlier this year, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education expressed concern that such disparities may constitute a widespread civil rights violation. The fact that students of color, as well as students with disabilities, are so much more likely to be referred to law enforcement leads advocates to wonder: On whom are such military weapons likely to be used?

"In LA, if you depend on public schools – and given that the vast majority of students are students of color – at the moment you walk into school, your interaction with police automatically grows," says Manuel Criollo, director of organizing at the Strategy Center. "You depend on a public service, and that public service is attached to the criminal legal system. Are the police there for [the students'] safety, or are they there because they perceive them as a threat?"

Like the man said - "this country is finished".



All we're doing now is arguing about who gets to do what with the corpse.

This Business Of Teaching

Most 'conservatives' will say (ie: just repeat whatever they heard somebody say that they think sounded kinda smart) - anyway, they'll say they want a school (eg) to be run more like a business.  And then they usually go on to say a lot of things that leave most of us wondering if they have the first fucking clue about running any kind of anything that bears even the remotest resemblance to a business.  From what we've seen of American Management in the last 20 years or so, I'm not holding out lotsa hope for anything to improve any time soon.

Here's Curmudgucation on the subject of evaluating teachers:

Before you can judge teachers, you have to decide what you want them to do. That turns out to be really complicated and difficult and wildly varied from parent to taxpayer to administrators to bureaucrats. It even varies within families-- what I want you to accomplish with my oldest child may be way different from what I want you to accomplish with my youngest.

Because this is so hugely difficult, we mostly just don't do it. We collective wave our hands in the general directions of students and say, "I don't know. Go do teachy things." If you want to evaluate people on job performance, you have to decide what job you want them to perform.

And there ya go.  First things first.  What is it you want those teachers to do?  What are the benchmarks?  We have to stop stoopidly insisting that a job description can be "do the job I want you to do" and that's all it needs to say.

Accountability only works when it flows in both directions; it requires the boss to be accountable as well - for setting reasonable goals and expectations; for sticking with the plan until or unless changes are truly warranted by checking real results against those reasonable expectations; for not changing the plan in the middle of everything just because it's politically expedient for you to fuck over somebody's union, or because you need to get up over the next bonus hurdle to cover the down payment on your new boat, or because your 2nd cousin suddenly discovered his burning passion for student assessment and testing technologies that require a "quick and substantial investment of tax dollars in our children's future blah blah blah".

And gosh - it suddenly occurs to me that what we need the teachers to do is what teachers try to do every fucking day of their careers - assess needs, set goals, make plans, implement their plans, check each student's progress, measure their own effectiveness and tweak their plans as they go, etc etc etc.  And what we need the Admin to do is what the teachers try to do every fucking day of their careers.

I can read.  I can read a whole buncha stuff on education and teaching and all that, and I can make it sound like I know more than I actually know about almost anything - cuz I'm a good salesman.  But I'm not a school teacher, so I actually know exactly jack shit about what it takes to be a good school teacher.

Ya wanna know who does know something about being a good teacher?  Teachers.

Maybe we could find some of those teacher people - AND FUCKING LISTEN TO THEM.

Econ 101

Hidden Costs - that's always one of the big bugaboos when somebody's trying to teach you about how to run a business.

What about the hidden costs to taxpayers, and the corrosive effects of so many tax dollars finding their way into the offshore accounts of people who run very big, very profitable companies?  We don't hear that one mentioned very often - mostly what we get is that crap about Welfare Cadillacs and Food Stamp Lobsters.

hat tip = HuffPo

Spending puts money into circulation, which creates demand, which causes prices to go up, which makes it profitable to hire more workers, which creates supply, which requires spending, which puts money into circulation...

Ya gotta be careful with sustainability - nothing can expand forever - but without some kind of growth, there is no life.  So ya still gotta make that big ol' wheel go 'round.

Also too - ya gotta be a little careful and at least not completely fucking stoopid when it comes to how you spend all those bucks.

Wal-Mart is a fair example of a company just pretending to be all about the free market, while actually being a multi-billion-dollar leech.

And speaking of leeches:  Kinda related, here's a quick look at the empty promises (and outright fallacy) of another type of outfit turning nice fat profits (mostly) by trying to shoehorn something into Free Market Principles that won't fit and doesn't belong there in the first place:

However, operating non-profit charter schools can be very profitable for charter school executives like Eva Moskowitz. Moskowitz earns close to a half a million dollars a year ($485,000) for overseeing school programs that serve 6,700 children, which is over $72 per student.

--and--

The head of the Bronx Preparatory School earns $338,000 to manage schools with 651 students or over $500 per student.

--and--

The head of the Our World Charterearns $200,000 to manage schools with a total of 738 students or $271 per student.

--and--

The local head of the KIPP Charter Network earns $235,000 to manage schools with 2,796 or $84 per student.

--and--

By comparison, the chief educational officer of Texas is paid $214,999 to manage a system with almost 5 million public school students(*).

 (* = less than 5¢ per student.  A little arithmetic reveals that if the guy in Texas was being paid half of what Eva Moskowitz averages per student, he'd be pulling down $180 Million a year)

So, the only way you're gonna get the top talent is to throw fuckloads of money at people; but that only works in the "private sector" (and it seems to apply only to upper management, and not to the people who're doing the actual work at places like Wal-Mart); and throwing fuckloads of money works in the "private sector" when it comes to "educating" kids in Charter Schools, but you can't possibly expect the same results in Public Schools, cuz hey - we already tried throwing fuckloads of money at public schools and it didn't work, so the only thing that makes any sense at all is to throw fuckloads of money at private schools, where I'm sure doing exactly the same thing will in fact achieve a different result.

This isn't about Free Enterprise or Entrepreneurial Spirit or any of that Harvard Business School bullshit - the whole point of the exercise is to figure out how to funnel tax dollars into your own pockets.  Oorah - git some.

We are so fucked.

A Tune For Teacher

hat tip = JR