education

Theory of Everything
The Theory of Everything was originally an ironic description of the links that connected all known physical phenomena. It also claimed to be able to predict the outcome for any future experiments that involved the physical world. Science no longer regards it as an ironic over-generalization. It is now regarded as a legitimate path to the truth of the way things work. It is in that spirit and new awareness that I introduce my theory of everything.

Education, Food, Personal Development
This post is just an introduction to a few of the things I will be talking about in some future posts. The main topics are education, food, and personal development. I will talk about these in the context of personal justice. I will be sharing my thoughts and those of others who are more cogent and insightful in the respective areas. A couple of these people are Kenneth Libby with his Schools Matter blog and Robb Wolf who talks about the Paleo lifestyle in his podcast and blog.

Oh! By the way, these thoughts were prompted by some recent musings on the world of diversity. It is becoming increasingly clear to me that issues of economic justice are purposely ignored. In this country, it is poor people who suffer. Topics like affirmative action and diversity have become convenient diversions to ignore those who are not even in the game.

Food
Big agriculture receives its subsidies and it’s poor people who reap the harvest of diabetes, high blood pressure, and other lifestyle diseases ( read anything by Michael Pollan for some of the politics)

Education
The wealthy advocates of the charter movement pretend that high standardized test scores are a sign that the achievement gap is being closed and that poor children are receiving the same quality of education that their children are receiving (rant avoided for now).

Personal Development
This Howard Thurman quote sums up my thoughts in this area: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

These three areas are not just “feel good” subjects. I believe they are the key to our strength as a country. Cultural autism (for more on this, read “Last Child In The Woods,” by Richard Louv) has removed us from our natural environment, contact with our true natures, and the things we have in common as a human community.

More to come.

It’s also worth checking out his 2006 TED talk.

Albert Einstein said: “We can’t solve problems at the same level of consciousness at which we created them.” Yet this is exactly what we do in our efforts at educational reform. There continue to be dueling reports about whether charter schools work any better for underprivileged kids than the regular school system. From what I can tell, this is only a discussion about the best form of palliative care.

I go back and forth on why we do what we do with our children and their education. Is it a desire for social and economic control by our oligarchs? Is it greed? Is it a lack of imagination? A combination, or something else entirely?

This affects us all and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Tomorrow will be my last day as the Executive Director of Boys & Girls Harbor and as the Head of School for the Emily N. Carey High School(which I founded). I will be joined by the Director of Development, the Assistant Director of Development, and the Deputy Director/CFO, who have also submitted their resignations in protest. With responsibility for children in college and private school, and a school that I started and support for poor girls in India, I will definitely miss my six-figure salary. I will not miss the false bonhomie, the air kisses, or the careful commitment to mediocrity from so many members of the Harbor’s board of directors.

I will be able to breathe easier now that I will no longer be surrounded by the collective wisdom of Masters of the Universe who packaged mortgages for Bear Stearns, counseled Lehman Brothers and the Boys Choir of Harlem into failure, invested with Bernie Madoff and Marc Dreier,and who had the leadership insight to promote people like E. Stanley O’Neil to positions where they could work their “magic.” These were people who were confident in providing me with their opinions on human capital and business efficiency.

These are the people who expected me to remain silent while they planned their “investments” in the youth of my community-the community where I have spent over half a century. We were supposed to be happy with the crumbs that fell from their table and to compliment them on their generosity. They talked up the value of Midnight Basketball and dance programs and rejected a school that was positively effecting dozens of teens who had dropped out of their public high schools. The lives of all those young people from the high school who are now in college or serving their country, give lie to the value that others placed on their lives.

Well, I have turned my back on the “bread and circus” initiatives. It will be a tough financial go but I know whatever happens, my children will not be embarrassed by my path. I have learned a lot about friendship and people of action and the quicksand of “process.” I will continue to speak out about entitlement from wealth and the conveyor belt of education that poor children are relegated to by people in positions of power and wealth. My anger comes from a familial place of faith and history.

I thank all those individuals and foundations who really “got it.” I hope to work with you in the future.

“Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’ But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’ And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but because conscience tells one it is right.” – Dr. Martin Luther King

In the end, I am left with pity for those who will never feel the pull of that conscience.

The forum will be different but the discussion will continue.

I remain concerned about the sad state of public education in this country.  My high school students do not have enough background knowledge.  This is something they will have to work on for the rest of their lives.  We try to build on their non-cognitive strengths – which are often considerable compared to their better off peers.  Well, now I have a new concern.

As a 50+ year-old guy, I have taken on the challenge of moving into “the Cloud,” participating in the world of Web 2.0.  My education has been frustrating but addictive.  My parents gave me the incredible gift of curiosity and the belief that I could learn anything.  I don’t know too many people my age who can engage in a cutting edge, or any other kind of discussion on this stuff.  I thought my high school students would be the perfect conversational partners.  After all, aren’t they incredibly connected?  Unfortunately, the new technology, tools, and territory of social media are lost on them.  They are consumers and not producers.  They are unconcerned with creating community or grabbing hold of this unprecedented opportunity to create content.  I guess this will be just one more thing I will have to evangelize about.  But I really wish I was ten years younger.