An
apology to the school children
of Blue Island
by
Ronald Young
On
September 30th, the Illinois House of Representatives
Committee on Primary
and Secondary Education held a public hearing at Thornwood
High School in
South Holland. In the last 25 years as a volunteer tutor,
I have helped many children
and high school graduates learn how to read, write,
and understand math.
There is something very wrong with public education
methods, and I have been
publicly critical of school boards and administrations
that lie to taxpayers by pretending
they are doing a good job. I was scheduled to speak
on the subject of bad
state learning standards and given up to three minutes
to present my views.
After
three sleepless nights, I managed to compress my experience,
along with six
years of active research, into a three page handout
and a two and a half minute oral
presentation centering on the gross incompetence of
the Illinois State Board of
Education when they instituted stupidity organized learning
standards. I planned
to compare the incompetence of public education that
led to the epidemic of teenage
driver deaths in our state with the incompetence that
has led to an epidemic of
high school graduates who can't read, write, or solve
basic math problems.
When
driver's training programs were an elective, very heavy
emphasis was
placed on defensive driving methods and hazardous driving
situations that can kill.
Teenage drivers who completed Driver's Ed were safer
drivers than their parents,
and insurance companies gave discounts to their families.
When driver's training
became mandatory in Illinois, the flood of new students
overloaded the system and
defensive driving was all but eliminated in favor of
teaching students how to pass
the multiple- choice state license test. The result
has been a tragic epidemic of carnage
and death which school administrators and the state
board of education blissfully
ignore with the plea cop that teenagers are more negligent
today. This is pure
balderdash. The only difference between teenagers of
my era and today is that we
were dramatically taught how fatal and gory our negligence
would be. The only
time school administrators and the board of education
paid any attention to driver's
education was when they denied a blind girl her high
school diploma because
she could not complete the mandatory Driver's Ed requirement.
The only state official
who became alarmed at the carnage on our streets was
the Secretary of State.
The result was to place restrictions on teenage drivers
until they are 18 years old.
The terrible pile of educational junk, that was once
a great driver's education success,
still remains in place.
This
is a dramatic example of negligence and incompetence
at the highest levels
of education in Illinois. I wove it into my presentation
and forged a direct link to
how the same stupidity turned math education and reading
programs into piles of
junk when the state board eliminated the emphasis on
arithmetic and basic reading
skills in order to mandate badly developed learning
standards that were poorly
thought out. There are not enough hours in the school
year to adequately teach
reading and math to children in a meaningful manner
using current learning standards.
Nobody at the state board of education took the time
to figure out how many
class hours would be required. Reading, writing, and
arithmetic training are worse
than minimized.
When
my turn came to speak, I faltered. I sat down and the
microphone on the
table did not work. I had to use a hand microphone which
prevented me from referring
to my notes. I became irritated. As soon as I referred
to driver's education, the
state legislators rolled their eyes. I became very nervous,
botched up my analogy,
and planned to restate it as a dramatic closing. As
the legislators became more hostile
in their body language, I became more anxious. When
I stated that the Illinois
Math standards were junk, acting chairman State Representative
Monique Davis
cut me off. In a little less than a minute, I had miserably
failed in my effort to turn
on a light in the minds of our state legislature.
For
this, I apologize to the school children of Blue Island.
I apologize to the
administrators and teachers of School District 130 who
attempt to cope with defective
learning standards and defective textbooks. I failed
miserably.
It
was not a good night for a dedicated citizen activist.
God
reads the FORUM
by
George Boise
Oh,
stop it! you say. No, it's true. Does God know everything?
The Bible says He
does. So I suppose that everything would include what's
in the FORUM. And the
Sun Times and the Wall Street Journal and every paper
published and unpublished
in the world. And He still has time for a cup of tea
and to listen to the likes of you
and me. Not only to our words (and not only to our words
to Him but our words to
others as well, so mind what you say), but our thoughts
too (so mind what you
think).
As
God is three persons in one. Father, Son, and Spirit.
I know that's a tough one.
Like water, ice, and steam are different but all still
water. I'm just gonna leave that
alone for today.
God
also has three attributes. He is omnipotent. That means
He is all powerful.
He can do anything. He is omnipresent. That means that
by His spirit He is everywhere
at the same time. He is not stuck in time and space.
Those limitations belong
to us. And He is omniscient. That means He knows everything.
Even those things
you do in the dark when you think no one can see you.
I
said all that to say this. Since the Lord reads the
FORUM, I thought I'd write
Him a letter. How do you open a letter to God?
My
dear Lord God,
Omnipotent who reigneth, greetings and salutations from
Blue Island:
I
was just thinking about some things so I thought I'd
drop you a line. I've been
reading your book. It's a good book. (Is that why they
call it the good book?) I notice
you used like forty different ghost writers over a period
of a couple thousand years to
write sixty-six different books to make up this one
book. And none of the things any of
them said is contradictory to one another or has ever
been proven wrong. How is that
possible? I bet you told them what to write, huh?
When
I was a kid I loved the band The Doors. I thought Jim
Morrison was so cool.
In one song, he yells out “You cannot petition
the Lord with prayer!” But I read in
Phillipians 4:6 Paul said, “Do not be anxious
about anything. But in everything by
prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your
requests to God.” Who was right?
I'm gonna to go with old St. Paul. Maybe Jim should
have tried it. He might still be
working today. This isn't in the Bible, but I was wondering
if the Cubs really are
cursed. I'm beginning to believe it. Did you see game
two against the Dodgers? Of
course you did-you are all seeing, all knowing
.I
saw this guy, Bill Maher, on TV the other day saying
anyone who believes in you
or your book has turned off the thinking part of their
brain. He wrote a book, too, so
I guess he is supposed to be smart or something. I just
read in your book in Psalms 14
that the fool says in his heart there is no God. And
in Chapter 111, Verse 10, the fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So, really,
how smart can this fellow really be?
I mean, he doesn't even have the beginning of wisdom.
Anyway, with the economy in
the tank, the job situation, and our old friend inflation,
Matthew 6 is really pretty comforting.
Thanks for that.
But
still, I've been reading and thinking a lot about your
second coming to the
Earth. According to all the signs and conditions we
are to look for, you know, like in
II Timothy 3 and Matthew 24, it could be any day now.
So I want to make sure I have
oil in my lamp like those girls in Matthew 25. Well,
nowadays it's more like fresh Ever
Readys in the flashlight. But you get my point. Should
I pack a bag? Oh, I remember,
you can't take it with you. Job said in Chapter 1, Naked
we came into the world and
naked we'll go out. That could be embarrassing. I've
got to start working out.
Well,
I guess I'll close now. I just want to thank you for
adopting me and taking such
good care of me. Talk to you tomorrow.
Love,
George
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