Prop 8: How Mormons See It (Wrong!)

Religion sucks. Mormons suck more than most. And look how they write the date? So European!

SALT LAKE CITY

7 November 2008

The Church issued the following statement today:

It is disturbing that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is being singled out for speaking up as part of its democratic right in a free election.

Members of the Church in California and millions of others from every faith, ethnicity and political affiliation who voted for Proposition 8 exercised the most sacrosanct and individual rights in the United States — that of free expression and voting.

While those who disagree with our position on Proposition 8 have the right to make their feelings known, it is wrong to target the Church and its sacred places of worship for being part of the democratic process.

Once again, we call on those involved in the debate over same-sex marriage to act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility towards each other. No one on either side of the question should be vilified, harassed or subject to erroneous information.

Um, fuck you. Here is a little more...

Allegations of bigotry or persecution made against the Church were and are simply wrong. The Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage neither constitutes nor condones any kind of hostility toward gays and lesbians. Even more, the Church does not object to rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights, so long as these do not infringe on the integrity of the traditional family or the constitutional rights of churches.

And fuck them a little more. They don't condone hostility? Riiiight. Why do we allow religious institutions to fund anything public? They should not be allowed. Religion Poisons Everything. I can't wait for Prop 8 to get shot down. And for anyone who thinks marriage should be between a man and a woman, what do you suggest I tell my students with 2 moms or 2 dads? Wait, I know, Fuck You.

Update: I was going back and reflecting on students I have had in my class who come from families with same-sex parents. Just the last 2 years (yes, I have had many students from same-sex families), these kids have been far above--far, far, far above--average in terms of academic ability, social consciousness, and societal awareness. They show empathy, a desire to learn, decorum, consideration, and kindness. They are humble, helpful, and a friend to those who need one. They are also clearly the result, at least in part (in large part, IMHO), of their same-sex parents. They are, in short, our future. The future looks bright, don't it?

Update II: It'll be a good day when I can just type the word parents.

Update III: About the last sentence in the second LDS blockquote--"blah blah constitutional rights of churches"--how long do they think those rights will last? Maybe they better play ball and stay the fuck out of peoples personal lives and the country's elections!

Public School And Special Needs Students

Do you have a child with special needs? If you do, you may want to think about how your child will be served in a public school setting. Here are the caveats:

First, public schools (in California at least) were mandated by law to serve these kids. Not that passing the law was a bad idea, but abiding it is not easy. Remember Prohibition?

Second, depending on the severity of your child's needs, they are likely to be considered an item in a schedule rather than a child. See, when figuring out how to share resources, schools look at severity. If your child has a physical limitation, they are likely to get an aid, because a physical limitation is easy to see, easy to deal with, and easy to show compliance. But, if your child has a different issue, like, say, mild autism (they can communicate, serve themselves food, be sweet) they will likely be ignored, or passed from one aid to another (not the aid's fault). Resource teachers who coordinate aid schedules are under the gun, short-staffed, and often spread a bit thin. That's no excuse, however, for the shortfalls.

Third, money is scant, and that makes many of the problems intractable.

Fourth, when schools are charged with serving a student with certain issues, paperwork and meetings are mandatory. They are required for compliance. Rarely are the meetings to help the child--they are CYA sessions for the administrators and specialists (often to the specialist's chagrin). Teachers are given short shrift at these meetings, even though WE are the ones who will have 99% of the responsibility for your child, and we will get 99% of the credit, or blame, for any outcome regardless the percentage of responsibility the resource folks SHOULD have.

Now, I am not saying that you should not consider public school for your child with special needs. If you are available to be there to be your child's aid, things should be okay. But, if you are like most parents, and have a job, you won't be able to do that. And considering the shuiffling around of your child from one specialist to another, or from one aid to another, or from one situation with a grownup who doesn't know your child to another, your child will not get what s/he deserves. Okay, maybe I am saying you shouldn't consider public school for your child.

This issue looms very large in society, and again, schools have been given the mandate to deal with it. We can't. It's that simple.

Advocate for your child. Make your demands to the PRINCIPAL, and require the principal follow-up with you. The teacher has little to say about how your child will be served. Most teachers are heartbroken by their special-needs kids because we see them flounder and there is so little we can do for them. We do all we can while not ignoring the other 20 kids in our class.

The next time you have an IEP (or whatever letters your district uses to call these mettings) bring a picture of your child. Lay that picture on the table and remind everyone why you all are there. When they decide to read you their report(s), you know, the one(s) they just gave you a copy of, remind them you can read, and you would rather have gotten the report prior to the meeting so when you were at the meeting you could discuss the report, not have it reported!

Come prepared with questions; who is with my child at lunch; who is with my child on the yard; do these people change willy-nilly, or is there a schedule; who is in charge of documenting progress or lack of it; what are my rights; what is the reality; why isn't the classroom teacher in this meeting; why is the principal talking--she doesn't know my kid; how will this meeting help; who will this meeting help; does my kid eat his lunch; where is he right now; why do you sound like a robot; why is the resource room always empty and the resource teacher on lunch duty; you get the picture.

I hope this was helpful, enlightening, and pisses you off!

Update: An enlightening anecdote here.

All Day Long I'd Bitty-Bitty Bum....

h/t BT

Very Cool Election Maps

Strange Maps has a link to some cool election maps, skewed to show actual prominence by state, county, electoral college, and more. I love this stuff! Here is Obamaland by county:

Education Change?

KDeRosa is dubious about education change under Obama. This is not an uncommon view. It's strange that such hope can be so easily halted just by knowing that the education industry is a complete mess, and not even our dream President-elect can do much about it. I am afraid I agree with the post from D-Ed Reckoning:

Change

I've come back from my unannounced hiatus to discover that we have a brand new president.

A president that is for change. And, apparently, hope as well.

I "hope" that none of you wasted any time reading either candidate's platform. What politicians say they are going to do is very different from what they actually do once you've given them power. But you can rest assured that once elected their actions they will be consistent with them accruing power and ensuring that they retain power by getting re-elected. Keep that in mind because what you've just been promised (by both candidates) is inconsistent with their desire for power. Suffice it to say that you will be disappointed, and you would have been disappointed regardless of who was elected. That is the nature of politics.

Here is my prediction for education:

There will be change. That change will be superficial with respect to improving academic performance. It is extremely difficult to improve academic performance. The odds of academic performance improving in the next eight years in an educationally significant way are virtually nil.

It is easier to reduce academic performance by unwittingly changing things for the worse. This is because educating children is a difficult orchestration of detail that is difficult to get right and easy to screw-up. This remains true even though our current system remains horridly inefficient with much of the orchestration being badly out of tune.

Nonetheless the most likely scenario is that the change will produce no significant effect on outcomes. That is the history of education reform.

I wish my new president well but I don't have much hope that he is capable of improving education. He doesn't know how. And, as a result, he has no basis for selecting an education secretary that knows any better. Even an ideologically blind random selection is unlikely to produce better results because the field is replete with charlatans. Even if he were lucky enough to pick a winner, it is unlikely that that person could overcome the obstacles and vested interests in place that are anathema to improving academic performance.

We're going to get change. We always do. NCLB was change. But change doesn't guarantee improvement. Did you jump to that conclusion? I hope not. What you will get is something different, but that difference will likely not be an improvement.

There will be no shortage of wishful thinking and opinions of advisors. But since those opinions are almost certainly based on faulty science and informed by political correctness you should not necessarily expect beneficial results. Unless you're counting on luck. That's always a possibility. Even broken clocks are correct twice a day. Though, unfortunately, a clock that is five minutes slow is never correct.

That's what you're going to get -- an education secretary that is slow, broken, or both. Kind of like the current one.

So here's my prediction: the change you get in education will be different but not an improvement.

Let's hope that I am wrong. But don't count on it.

Rahmbo Is Chief Of Staff

Rahm Emanuel was a soldier in the Israeli army; that's how he lost that fingertip. He is considered one of the toughest and smartest. I think it's the smart that Obama wants. And apparently he has a dirty mouth. Fuckin' A!

Teachers And Time

Eduwonk has an interesting piece up. What happens if you are late to work, or miss work all together? Do 20 children get left alone with no supervision? Well, for a teacher, that's what often happens. This is a problem.

Time Off!

Well, a lot of teachers got Tuesday off as schools are increasingly closing on election day to make it easier to operate as polling places. But, as Ed Week reports here and here, teacher absenteeism is a larger issue than that. I get the idea that different policies can influence consumption of sick leave and so forth and those are issues worth considering. Still, aren’t there larger issue here?

Teachers get very frustrated that they end up spending their Saturdays doing the things that other workers get to do during the week. They can’t take lunches with friends for 9 or 10 months of the year. It’s hard to take a morning, or an afternoon, for personal issue. And even trips to the doctor become a logistical hassle.

Of course, when you’re thinking about schools there is a basic custodial function that matters. At a lot of jobs if you show up late it’s not that big of a deal. If you’re a first-grade teacher, it’s a big deal…

Yet shouldn’t we be having a bigger conversation about how to organize schools so that teachers have more discretionary time both for personal issues but also to collaborate together and so forth around the work? We could address some lifestyle issues that matter while also addressing the larger absenteeism issue through creative use of schedules and other ideas in that vein. Someone has to be with the kids at all times, but we can be a lot more creative about who that person is in a way that makes schools a more attractive place to work for the key members of our labor force — teachers. One school I’m aware of uses a concierge to help teachers with basic life maintenance issues to free up their time. Sounds gratuitous but is actually a really smart way to look after your people and one that is not uncommon in some other fields. Other places are experimenting with schedules.

Coupled with sensible policies on leave seems we need a lot more ideas in that spirit.

My district does not take off election day. But I think it is a great idea. In fact, why not make election day a federal holiday (except for the poll workers, the press, and the other essentials)?

Day One

For rory; the ultimate construction paper project.

Robert Gibbs: Press Secretary-Elect

Remember this guy? He's the one that ripped Sean Hannity a new one in front of everybody. Well, he will be the press secretary for Obama. Yummy!

Finally!

h/t Sully

Good News For Prop 8 Opponents?

Kate Kendall, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said 3 million to 4 million ballots remain uncounted statewide.

Yes We Did

From slideshow

Bittersweet

Proposition 8 passed here in California. It is just horrible.

Obama ascends. When will we?

Predictions?

Here are the only predictions I'm willing to make:

Secretary of Defense: Colin Powell

Secretary of Energy: The Terminator

Secretary of Education: Caroline Kennedy

Chief of Staff: Rahm Emanuel (this one's in the bag; and he's Israeli!)

What are your predictions for these or the rest of the cabinet? I'll check in the morning.

And to all, a very good night.

George Can Now Rest Easy(er)