In This Dimension

What Are we Reading?

What we read does indeed matter. What future leaders read matters quite a bit - it forms their ideas of the world, their grasp (or lack thereof) of history, and their consciousness of how to move the culture and civilization forward.

The mother of a friend of one of our children recently walked into our family room and, upon seeing the filled bookcases lining one wall, asked, “Who reads?”

This is not a future leader, nor a parent raising one.

Here is an excellent article on the subject of kids posting you’ll-be-sorry-later content on FaceBook, and on what Harvard grads are reading. Fascinating.

As the[…]

Fixing the Education Mess

What would happen do you think, if the top graduates of some of America’s best colleges, say, “eleven per cent of Yale’s senior class, 9% of Harvard’s and 10% of Georgetown’s,” for example,  joined Teach For America to become teachers in “the nation’s worst public schools” following a quick, five-week boot camp?

And if they agreed to do so for average salaries, ranging from a rural $25K to a NYC $44K, commensurate with or slightly below what they would be making in the private sector

Don’t allow the unions to get ahold of them. Don’t allow them to be brainwashed into the “Education[…]

Obesity, Gym Class and Home Ec

It’s been more than a year of an entire new set of nonsense from the Boomer Left on our behavior patterns. As usual the entire concept of cause-and-effect somehow eludes these people.

What am I talking about? Childhood obesity. Heck – any obesity.

Let’s see if it’s really that difficult, OK?

Now, I’m only 53, but ‘way back in the day we had Gym Class, starting in what then was called “Jr. High School,” and covered grades 7-9. In 6th Grade a counselor from the Jr. High came to our elementary school and told us about what to expect the next year. One[…]

Nonsensical Voters

Ys, I know it’s silly to discuss nonsensical voters for two reasons. 1: They don’t go looking for information which might shake their worldview; 2: it’s like yelling at customers and expecting them to still like you.

Nonetheless, yet another poll has found that voters hate the Congress and the actions of the incumbents.

This is becoming a tiring and repetitious claim.

The nonsensical part is that these respondents pretend that it’s that important to them, yet I would bet that NONE of them will vote against their incumbent based on this topic. If they did Congress would take the polls seriously. The[…]

American Education is a Disaster

The only people not recognizing this fact (not opinion, fact) are the Teachers unions, those they support with campaign contributions, and the media supporting the recipients of those contributions.

If that leaves you wondering who is the enemy of our children’s future, it is the Democrat Party.

Republicans have their own sets of idiocies, but the future of education in this country is a disaster given the current Democrat Party.

This should surprise no one.

An unreported fact of Democrats is that they don’t have children. Scoff all you want – and then go look at the demographics of the Blue states. Absent illegal[…]

Can America’s Education System be Fixed?

How do we fix a lack of education?  Can we still do so?

When the teachers don’t know how to teach or what to teach – facts indicated by the poor performance of our youth in international testing since unionized teachers took over – it becomes increasingly difficult for their students, in turn, to become intelligent, good teachers when they grow up.

A Baby Boomer teacher with good knowledge and skills is rare. Having been the first generation “taught” by unionized teachers this is not surprising, but it is increasingly disheartening and problematic.

A good GenX teacher is harder to find. A GenY[…]

Democrats Cannot be Trusted with Education

Yet again we see that Democrats are not to be trusted with education.

Find a program that works, that helps kids, that improves schools? Get rid of it.

Unionized “teachers” can’t stand the competition.

Wherever school choice has been allowed, that choice has led to improved education among those taking advantage of it. But at the cost of the monopoly on teaching by our least and dimmest.

So, of course, Democrats want “change” as in changing back to a system that demonstrably is failing our kids and our country. “Change” back to the unions that have so badly failed out country in education.

Know why we need[…]

The Least and the Dimmest

If you have ever wondered what happens when a country turns the education of its youth over to its least and dimmest, look no further than America.

Students who can’t find major countries on a map. Voters lacking any concept of cause-and-effect or history. Teachers whose lesson plans – in High School – consist of using some idiot star vehicle like Far and Away to teach 19th-Century immigration (really – happened in my son’s HS).

An entire generation with zero sense of responsibility.

This is what happens.

Politics of yelling and screaming instead of policies and ideas. Head-in-the-sand responses to unsustainable entitlements. A Congress unwilling[…]

Teacher Unions and the Destruction of American Education

Have you noticed the link between the takeover of the teaching profession by unions and the growth of idiocy as a major market force in America?  You should have.

The Day After Tomorrow is being shown in High Schools (like my son’s) to students studying government and geography.

Far and Away is shown as a primer to immigration.

Entire schools dismissed early monthly so the teachers can “learn” more – and inflict more damage with more fads on kids who thought they were getting an education.

Here’s my fav: My kids’ elementary school recently got back into the “California Distinguished Schools” recognition. (Given that CA ranks[…]