What Is Going On?

One morning in December I was reading the Des Moines Register as I do every day, and on two consecutive pages I saw the following headlines: Census: 1 in 2 people poor or low income followed by Survey: 1 in 4 U.S. women violence victims. Quite honestly, I was taken aback by both of those headlines, and as I read through the articles, it was difficult to be anything but discouraged. As an educator, when I read things like this the first question that I generally ask is “What could we have done differently?” But in recent years, I have quit assuming blame on behalf of the public school system. These two problems cannot be blamed on the public school systems; rather the finger needs to be pointed at a number of different entities out there. But then again, why blame? What needs to happen is that we recognize the problems and do something about them.

Rising living costs has decimated the middle class. America was built by the efforts of the middle class, which has been the key to the economic greatness this country has achieved. However, earnings have dropped so much that many of them have fallen into the low-income bracket, some now being classified as living in poverty. More discouraging is that experts say that continued cuts by the federal government in some of the “safety net” programs would result in even more people barely able to scrape by. A lot of people are out of work and in some cities, 1 in 4 people need emergency food assistance. And we wonder why kids from these families are struggling in school!

As a father of a teenage girl, the statistic of 1 in 4 women being violently attacked by their boyfriend or husband is one of those things that give you a sick feeling in your stomach. There have been times over the years that I have been a principal when a counselor or teacher will come to me concerned about the welfare of a female student who it being abused by a boyfriend. Yes, it happens, and it happens in our community. Of course battered girlfriends are no different than battered wives; they are in fear and struggle to know what to do. They feel a strong sense of shame, as well as hopelessness. Quite honestly, it sickens me. I have always wondered how a man can strike or in some other way physically assault a female under any circumstance. That does not happen in civil society, yet it happens in our country at every level of society.

Now I go back to my role as an educator. What can schools do to improve these two aspects of American life? First of all, whenever a young person comes to us and provides credible evidence that they are being abuse, whether by a family member, boyfriend, or anyone else, we report it to the proper authorities. Our “bar of proof” is very low. While we have been trained, we are not the experts. But we do assume the responsibility with which we have been entrusted and we turn it over to those people that are the experts. We counsel and support, and at times we will sit in with a student when they wish to have one of those tough conversations with a parent or someone else. So often the target of abuse feels alone and perhaps the most important thing we do is show support. We are also looking for ways to be proactive, to provide educational opportunities to talk to students about respecting one another, treating each other with dignity if for no other reason than they are human beings.

The poverty issue is very real in our school right now. The number of students qualifying for free and/or reduced lunch continues to increase. There are some positive signs as we hear that more jobs are coming to our area soon. However, that will not satisfy all of the problems. For those kids and families that are truly struggling and looking for that hand up, we are very conscious of ways that we can help out a bit. I have been amazed by the generosity of some of our staff members who will dig into their pockets to help out a deserving student. And, there are other supports available that we can direct a child and a family to. The bottom line is that it is not hopeless and if people are persistent, they can find a way.

I guess that these conditions may be part of our new reality. But like so many challenges that we confront, these can certainly be managed and dealt with. At North Fayette we care about our kids and we will work hard to lessen the burdens that they face so that they can focus on the reason that they are hear – to learn.

One of My Favorite Guys!

Those of you that have visited my office are aware of the collection of photographs on my wall of eight individuals. Three of them are coaches, and two of them are political figures from the 1960’s. All of them are there because I have tremendous respect for each one of them, and each of them has qualities or character traits that I believe are important, and I in turn try to emulate. They stand as a reminder to me, and help me clarify my belief systems. The idea to do that was not original. Few of mine are! I got it from a visit I made a number of years ago to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home in Virginia. He has thirteen portraits of some of history’s greatest individuals on the wall in one of his rooms. Many of them were his contemporaries, and it was explained by the tour guide that each of those people were individuals Jefferson held is high esteem and respect. So, I stole the idea!

I won’t bore you with the list, but on my wall I have Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dan McCarney, Pat Summit, and Tom Osborne, to name a few of them. The wall has been fluid as some of the individuals that once occupied a spot have been taken down. I had a tremendous amount of respect for Bobby Knight, despite his warts, but as his antics continued, it seemed like his arrogance had finally become his demise. Lou Holtz was up there too, but after it was shown that some of the “questionable” things that happened at Notre Dame during his tenure happened with his knowledge, I decided to take him down as well.

Now I plan to add a new one: Paul Rhoads. Coach Rhoads, Head Football Coach at Iowa State University, is my kind of guy. He wears his passion on his sleeve and there is no mistaking that he is committed to the young men who toil for him throughout the year on the football field. He does not make or accept excuses. And, he makes it clear whenever he has the chance, that there is no place he would rather be than in Ames, Iowa coaching the Iowa State Cyclones.

It seems for many of us, we are always chasing that grass that is greener on the other side of the fence, and do not acknowledge that perhaps we are in the place we belong. Coach Rhoads is often mentioned for jobs that come open at “better places to coach football than Iowa State” simply because folks in the media and fans who believe that he has to be driven to “move up.” But what if Coach Rhoads believes that he can move Iowa State up and that the challenge for him is to make it a place where individual will aspire to coach? You see, it appears to me that at least in his eyes, it doesn’t get any better than Iowa State, and he is going to work to make people believe that it belongs in the same breath as other schools with successful football programs.

Coach Rhoads, I like your style!

Paraprofessionals: What Would We Do Without Them?

There is an unsung group of individuals that work in our buildings every day, providing critical support for our students. We refer to them with a variety of titles, including associates, paras, and aides. Regardless of their title, they perform tasks that are designed to help students that need a little boost in order to learn. In many instances, they are absolutely crucial to the individual success of certain students. And, with the constant and increasing demands placed on the shoulders of special education teachers, the paraprofessionals are integral to the success of our program.

It troubles me from time to time that these folks are treated in a disrespectful manner because they aren’t “teachers.” As a building principal, I do not tolerate disrespectful behavior by anyone directed toward anyone. However, I confess that I get more agitated when that kind of behavior is directed toward a paraprofessional. I don’t know what possesses students to talk back to, or refuse a directive from one of these folks when all they are doing is their job. When a student comes into my office because of this kind of infraction, one of the first questions I generally ask is whether they would have done the same thing to their teacher, and more often than not, the answer I get is “no.” That is generally followed by the speech about treating people with respect for no other reason than they are a human being and deserve to be treated in that manner. However, I rarely get to the core reason that young people defy the authority of these folks, when they wouldn’t with others. Compounding that frustration is that we have some very good people working in these positions!

We are lucky at North Fayette High School that we have such high quality individuals working in this capacity. Believe me, I have been in situations much different than this and know what life is like on the other side, so to speak! Whether the “para” is working one-on-one with a student on an assignment, provide assistance in a math class, inputting data into progress monitoring charts, or doing one of any number of different things, we cannot function without them. I would hope that given the opportunity that you let these folks know that you appreciate the job that they do, and perhaps even have a conversation with your child to reinforce the idea of respecting all of the folks that work and learn at NFHS. I assure you that I will insist that it is returned!

How About A Longer School Year?

A blog or two ago I wrote about a longer school year. A farmer friend of mine told me that there just wasn’t any way something like that would work! A friend of mine that owns a boat told me that there just wasn’t any way that would work! Now, even though I have been an educator for over thirty years now, I have lived by the philosophy of “don’t let school get in the way of your education.” There is actually a very long explanation for what that means, but suffice to say that I believe that there are a lot of life lessons learned outside of the four walls of a school. Communities raise children, and a child’s first and most important teachers are the parents. But at the same time, conversation about a longer school year persists and now, after a series of town meetings to tout his blueprint for education, Governor Branstad is forming a task force to study the feasibility of a longer school year for students in Iowa.

For a number of years, I have been an advocate of a longer school year. But it has to be more than adding a few days for kids in the classroom. If the powers that be sincerely want to make a difference, then change needs to be substantial. Currently schools in Iowa are required to have 180 days of school, but we all know that we do not have 180 full days of schools. Late starts, early outs, a variety of special programs, releases for athletic teams, and other interruptions take time away from classroom instruction. I’m not saying all of it is bad, but what is the focus of school? We can argue about that later! Anyway, I would suggest that students in Iowa attend school for 200 days, and 190 of those school days must be protected with absolutely no interruptions or shortened days. And, I would suggest that if students miss more than 5% of those days for any reason, they must make up that time in a supportive, instructional environment.

On top of this, I believe that teachers should have 20 days of professional learning and curriculum development time. It is imperative that teachers have this time to prepare properly for instruction, and to further develop their teaching skills. The two or three hours a month that we currently have in place are simply not enough with the expectations we have on our shoulders.

So what about summer and all of the activities that families engage in during the warm weather months? A summer break could still be put in place, but it would be shorter. Families would still have weekends for boating and camping. County fairs could shift their livestock shows from the morning to the evening. We already play baseball games before school is out. Summer work would take on a different look, but it would not be impossible for students to hold part-time jobs. And, what is the priority for young people anyway?

If we are truly interested in making improvements in our education programs in public education, a longer school year can contribute to that. Out kids do not spend as much time in school as in many other countries. It is one important part of the change that needs to occur, and it is possible. Our school calendar no longer needs to be based on spring planting and fall harvest. Agriculture does not demand the manual labor that it once did. It will cost more money, thus the question is when are we going to step up and put the interests of our children at the top of our priority list?

Roads and Schools: Why Are Both Suffering in Iowa?

I was having a conversation a while back with a Libertarian friend of mine and over the course of our chat, he made a comment about the lottery and legalized gambling in the Great State of Iowa, and asked me if I recalled the promises that were made back when all of that was approved by our political leaders. I was quick to respond that we were “guaranteed” that we would be flush with money from gambling/lottery proceeds for education in our state. He quickly responded, “and we were promised that we would have great roads!” Kind of funny how both are short of funding today, yet when I read in the papers, the casinos in Iowa are still doing pretty good business, and it sure seems that I stand a long time in line waiting for people in front of me to purchase lottery tickets. So what gives? Honestly, I don’t know!

Maybe this is one of those things that flew under the radar, or at least mine. Perhaps the agreement that lottery proceeds would go to education was for only a few years, and that time has expired. Or it is possible that when casino licenses have been renewed or laws updated, it was changed. Regardless of the reason, my question is why did it happen? You know, taxes put on cigarettes and other tobacco products goes to subsidize anti-tobacco efforts and yet, some pretty effective programs, such as JEL, are seeing funding cut because the folks currently in power in the Des Moines don’t like them. Maybe that is what happened. Perhaps the powers that be don’t like public education in this state, and don’t see a need to keep our roads in good repair!

I understand people that don’t want taxes raised. Some of them are a bit off the deep end, in my opinion, but one has to appreciate their perspective. However, roads are vital for commerce in our state. In recent weeks I have followed a lot of wagons and haulers full of grain headed to the elevator. We have semi tractors and trailers crisscrossing our state and we all know the shape some of our roads in this part of the state are like. And, as schools are looking ahead at budget projections, and many once again are going to have to reduce teachers because of a shortfall of funds. In my opinion, it would be well worth our time to revisit those promises made a number of years ago with those gambling proceeds. The time has come to reinvest in both our roads and our kids.