Isn't It Good, Norwegian Would

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 For decades, everyone knew the Palestinians’ school books indoctrinated hate, incitement to violence, Anti-Semitism; the daily objective for the lesson was always the same:  destruction of Israel as the world’s only Jewish state. In 2003 a US Congressional Appropriations subcommittee held a special hearing, “Palestine Education: Teaching Peace or War?” In 2017, Jerusalem-based Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural tolerance in School Education found the same issues as the Congressional Committee, only worse. In 2019, in a report commissioned by the European Union, the George Eckert Institute for International Text Book Research. Their conclusions were consistent with previous findings: children are fed from an early age the necessity for hatred, violence and terrorism throughout the curriculum on all age levels. Despite this knowledge, European countries and the EU poured tens of millions of dollars into the Palestinian Authority Education cupboard, with less attention to accounting and accountability than Eva Peron’s foundation did in her glory days. Thus, European governments prolong the enmity and war they claim so passionately to see resolved.

So, when Norway announced a few days ago it would cut in half its commitment through 2022 of 24 million euro to the Palestinian Authority if they did not remove the offending material from their curricula, the sudden clarity was an eye opener, especially from Norway. The Scandinavian country has had a hate-hate more relationship with the Jewish-majority democratic state for some time.

 Several possibilities exist for the tough love. The Norwegians’ recognized education’s profound effect on the path a society walks. Children taught bigotry, violence, and mass murder, including suicide attacks, grow up glorifying and acting out those values. Perhaps the Norsepeople cast an eye on the history page titled 1930s Fascist Europe. The Third Reich’s education was on a war footing, training its young in Aryan supremacy, Nazi ideology, and the sadistic racial humiliation foisted on Jewish students.  With Norway’s memory shaken, the idea of kids being taught the greatest glory is death for the Fatherland just hit too close to home. Perhaps its country’s parliament, the Storting, heard South Pacific’s “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught” and heeded the lesson:

You've got to be taught To hate and fear,

You've got to be taught From year to year

It's got to be drummed In your dear little ear

You've got to be taught before it's too late, Before you are six or seven or eight,

To hate all the people your relatives hate, You've got to be carefully taught!

Let us digress for a moment. Closer to home, in this time of George Floyd, racial unrest, cries for justice and equality, mass demonstrations, we all need to sing the song as the unofficial anthem for tolerance and respect. Because of its multi-racial interactions, Jewish creators Rodgers and Hammerstein II, and the brazenly integrationist “Carefully Taught”, the show itself was subjected to threats, government intimidation, and menacing by the very same social forces driving our citizens into the streets. The writers never yielded; the show must go on. The stage and screen became their streets. Sixty years ago, a show tune wore the mantle of a protest song, resounding through history as a hymn for our time.

Norway’s Foreign Minister Ine Soreide showed courage to stand behind parliament and demand a progressive, racially tolerant curricula for their investment. Such a European calling out of the PA appears with less frequency than Kahoutek’s Comet. The Palestinian leadership never had to answer for their spending money like a rich old man’s trophy wife. Norway’s icebreaking threat may lead other Europeans to an across-the-board re-examination of how PA and Hamas spend the donated money. If others do follow suit, the new-found pressure on the Palestinians may be the catalyst needed to bring the two sides closer to fulfilling UN Resolution 242’s demand for a negotiated solution. 

Norway’s position revives the late 60s call for peace and harmony: If you are not part of the solution, you are part pf the problem. In Westeros as in Europe, the Kingdom of the North leads the way.

The Delicate Balance

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On Christmas day in 1991, the hammer and sickle flew for the last time, and its permanent removal represented a political tsunami. The tidal wave broke over the 70- year-old Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and inundated Eastern Europe and western Asia, and the rushing tide brought not death but a baptismal hope of a new life of freedom.  In 2011, the Arab Spring blossomed into a flowering new day of political pluralism, participation and expansion of individual rights – democracy reaffirmed as the universal wish of the world.

Winter is coming. The Old Iron Curtain countries have had, with an occasional exception, an ambivalent if not regressive relationship to true democracy. The Arab Spring was a very short season of hope. Civil war in Syria and erratic behavior in Egypt. Dictators on the left and right rule with a façade of democracy and an iron grip to replace the Iron Curtain. Democracies and their liberties weakened by their own leaders.

Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing.                                                                                     Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago.  (Pete Seeger)

 Winston Churchill said democracy is a bad form of government, but the others are so much worse. It now appears deflated, and its survival uncertain. It demands constant participation and attention.  Democracy has always been a delicate balance, held together by a gentlemen’s agreement and a handshake. A principle of Shotokan karate says the art is like boiling water, without the fire, it turns cold. Winter is coming.

In 2004 during a talk at the American University in Rome, Franco Frattini, an Italian diplomat and past EU official, said that although Europe’s nations are Old World with far longer histories than the USA’s, America is the oldest active and most vibrant democracy. That is why Europe looks to American leadership. The brightest star in the constellation. The light has dimmed and the glow from Lady Liberty’s torch has darkened.

No, the cause is not the Constitutional right to protest, a glorious expression of freedom that has stirred others for decades. We see this playing out in our streets across the country. There are people of all colors and religions, united to make things better through our First Amendment. Much has been accomplished by peaceful protests drawing out the evil that they bring to light. From tragedy comes hope for good and needed change. Pres. Trump, himself ignorant of history, has cut the ropes and raised the anchor setting adrift the ship of state. He is not the only one to blame.   

We don’t teach our students to honor all of America’s servicemen and women, so people may freely voice their opposition, in the streets and at the polling places. No, it is not perfect, and never will be. But we endeavor to make it so, as if there is a perfect form of America in Plato’s sky of perfect objects that we can only attempt to achieve. Perfection from fallible humanity defines oxymoronic.

We all have political grievances, disagreements of low and high degree. Racial, economic, religious, environmental, social. But in America’s flaws we can tell our kids nowhere else do people rise above and fight for justice, fairness and equality in so many ways and be so proud of that. Love and respect transcend family arguments. If our young people don’t respect nor understand the massive sacrifice of so many to protect those rights to march openly and speak freely, that is our fault.

 We have a large immigrant and minority population; many serve, guarding our democratic heritage; many have not. Most natural born Americans, since the draft ended, never served. Without conscription, a family with a veteran or a tradition of military service, education is Uncle Sam’s outreach to illuminate the human cost of preserving democracy.  Schools must examine our nation’s failures, just as Germany mandates Holocaust studies, we too cannot look askance at our Japanese internment camps nor give slavery short shrift. Our mistakes cannot define us, but our lurching forward to atone and make amends for a better country can. This includes a new-found appreciation for our military.

 How do we preserve the freedoms to demand a more perfect union without acknowledging the history behind the holidays, and honor the soldier’s legacy. It’s time to honor the military in our schools and begin teaching about our nation’s high holy days: Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day, Flag Day, July 4th, reflecting and paying respects to our soldiers and responders who have lost health or lives, so free expression in America still stands as the global model for legitimate dissent.

Nothing happens in May and June, ‘the vast wasteland’ of the school calendar. The last five weeks can be a glorious time to celebrate America—what it means, what it must become, and why we must hold sacred its current and past warriors. What a perfect time to implement teaching about true heroes from small towns and big cities, what they fought for and the debt owed. For all the unnecessary and dubious requirements thrown at schools, what we need most has been injuriously absent. If we don’t keep the water boiling, it will turn cold.

June 6th, 2020 marked the 76th anniversary of the largest invasion in world history. Thousands died, many more hurt on that day alone, so that those commemorating the life and protesting the death of George Floyd could do so. Not a single sign or salute during the demonstrations paying tribute to them could be seen in Saturday’s crowds. Did they even know it was D-Day, or what it signifies?  Mass protests have taken place in Floyd’s name also in UK, Canada—democracies that lost so many young men on Normandy’s beaches. It was D-Day, and everyone took for granted the rights they exercised by ignoring the sacrifices made that day and subsequent days of battle and death.   

“Johnny Tremain”, a novel about Boston on the cusp of revolution, was once required reading in New York City. A valuable learning tool on so many levels, was amputated by the curriculum butchers. Near the story’s end, in a secret meeting, the Sons of Liberty contemplated a question from James Otis, ”Why fight?”  He answered his own question for all: “So a man can stand up.”

If we don’t keep the water boiling, it will turn cold.

 

 

 

Covid and Kids: Once More Into the Breach

Everywhere outside we see nature exemplifying why this seasonal cycle is called spring. The temperature warms, the flowers burst forth, the leaves revive, the fields of play and the open waters call us like Greek sirens, whose victims were so eager to answer they never saw the rocks that destroyed their ships and drowned the passengers.

No one wants to be under Covid’s house arrest anymore. All have tired of sheltering-in and lockdowns and lonely basement workouts and hair too long ; casual dinners at corner restaurants, happy hours of raised glasses and office talk all absent from our lives for what seems forever too long. Death numbers and morbid TV seers offer hard truths but little relief, with only an occasional eye of the storm shedding a brief swath of a hopeful light.  We are all in this together.

In this world health emergency, the youngest of us slipped beneath the radar, dismissed by adults with legitimate and terrible worries over jobs, food, money, rent. Tension hangs over dinner tables like cloudbursts ready to implode, relationships become strained for all the wrong reasons, kids fear for family and personal survival. Young people need structure, a world where certainty of home and school, love and support, anchor them in security so they can be the free, independent devils of childhood and adolescence, mocking with rebellion what they love and need most.

The routine of centuries has been suspended, and kids hang like flags on a windless, breezeless day, droopy, listless, waiting to fly. During this time, parents and adults took solace in a presumed childhood immunity to Coronavirus, only worrying about their children’s missed class time, staying focused on online learning and the dinner menu. Their emotional and physical well-being secondary to the real world of adult concerns. In the last ten days, the cloud ruptured.

With states across the country planning for schools to open in the summer or September, Covid launched a new offensive, targeting young people, causing terrible suffering. While Covid 19 itself is not the issue, the virus has triggered a horrifying illness called pediatric multi system inflammatory syndrome. When infected, an overreaction of the immune system occurs, which leads to swollen blood vessels, damaged organs, and a host of symptoms. Damage may be permanent or even lethal, as three deaths have occurred in NYC. CNN reports many victims show damaged hearts. Quick treatment for otherwise healthy kids holds the key to surviving without permanent damage.

Our society doesn’t have much respect nor affection for our senior population. As cabin fever coupled with economic paralysis grates more on all of us, many voices, mainly those on the pro-life Republican side, clamored for virtually a full opening of the states, despite lack of direction. Pres Trump has said we are “warriors,” and will not close the country if a second wave hits later in the year. As Texas Lt Gov Patrick epitomized the let-them-eat-death sentiment regarding seniors by saying grandparents should be willing to die to open the economy.  

But are we now willing to sacrifice our children? Higher rates of death to silver America inevitably will result from greater weakening or dissembling of Covid defenses. But pride goeth before the fall, and our arrogance in thinking we know and can control the most deadly of nature’s forces has led us to this point of millions of cases and 100,000 deaths in the US alone. Our young people from one to under twenty are now exposed to MIS-C subjugation.  

   By sacrificing our elders for greater normalcy, are we risking our kids as collateral damage in a pandemic? In January, many played down the threat of Covid -19 until, like most serial killers, it angered at the lack of respect. According to Dr. Steve Kernie writing in “Health Matters”, this disease is still very rare. That is some good news in this bleak crisis, though not much consolation to the parents of the three kids who have died from it, nor for those facing serious cardiac and other organ issues. We place our faith in doctors like Kernie and Fauci and scientists and health experts to monitor closely this new front, and care for the children so afflicted; the true warriors, once more into the breach.

MIS-C may evolve into a growing threat as the nation’s schools open. Teenagers, still a large segment of college students, remain vulnerable to MIS-C. Many campuses will have openings, even if limited. School districts will open their buildings for the new school year. Officials assure parents strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols will be followed. Good luck with that.

The US may be ready to push our elders off the Covid Cliff for the economic reboot, but the currency may be the lives and health of a generation of young people.  Betting on everyone to be smart and responsible does not work well in our society. Old people may not mean much, but now there is a secondary target population. First the old. Now the young. And no one knows how much will satisfy the Covid Piper before he takes them all.  

  

GatesGate

During the 1980s, when Japan’s economy was humming like a finely tuned Kawasaki, American business executives looked across the sea in envy. During the next decade, they came out of the Rising Sun‘s shadow. The men and women of corporate America found their mojo by becoming meaner and leaner as their bank accounts grew greener. They closed factories, shipped jobs overseas at $5 per week, and pared down to skeletal payrolls.  Business’ answer to non-working America: retrain (for jobs that they would again lose and once more admonished to retrain). However, don’t blame these good souls for the US fiscal fiasco of the 80s.

Corporate America discovered why America was lagging behind Japan: public schools! No, really. Pandora’s education box was opened—let slip the scapegoaters of war. Kids cannot read. Teachers cannot teach. Our economy was becoming the hand basket in which hell resides because education was failing business and America. Japan’s education was battering ours. An academic version of Little League Baseball’s World Series, in which their kids always beats our kids, teed off like a WWII Japanese mulligan. America fought the Emperor in Surprise Attack 2.0, as the country was caught off its economic guard because of enemy soldiers trained in educational bootcamp. We must whip our teachers into battle shape and get our yearn-to-learn children up to speed. The game’s afoot, to the victor go the global spoils. It was American enterprise’s version of a rival’s sacred custom: saving face.

ast forward to the present time. In the intervening three decades, more people and entities have landed on the educational landscape like so many Neil Armstrongs on the moon. One small thud for kids, one giant step for profiteers. Standards for sale, voucher and tax-credit proponents, teacher training consultants, commercial reading models, charter and for-profit schools, companies like standardized test giant Pearson to Bush family’s Ignite!--sellers clapping their jaws at the education feeder throwing them tax dollars and grant money and foundation underwrites to fill their rapidly swelling bellies. Only public schools were left to ask, like Oliver Twist, “Please, may I have some more?”

 None landed harder on terra educationa than Bill Gates. His divinely wrought Common Core begat high stakes standardized testing and Old Testament rewards and punishments for schools and teachers. He and his acolytes made learning more difficult, less fun, reducing classrooms to teaching-to-the-test bubbles. Once the Spring standardized exams ended, teachers lost all leverage because kids know that nothing matters more. The curriculum loses substance; only filler remains. The meaningful school year has been unofficially shortened because outside of the high achievers and a scattered few, students tell you “Frankly our dear teachers, we just don’t give a damn.”  

Under the sterile culture of Common Core and technology as the ultimate pedagogue, classroom management is more difficult as many students act out as a defense mechanism to deal with their failures of an unnecessarily elitist, complex curricula. Creativity is stifled by conformity and standardization, the effect of a technological society, as French philosopher Jacques Ellul predicted.  Childhood is stolen not by drugs nor family instability nor precocious sex but humorless and humaneless  classrooms devoid of youthful ebullience and professional enthusiasm. Teachers must pair lessons and student assignments with citations more reminiscent of a DA’s charges referencing the federal penal code. This commentary conforms to Standard XIV, Article 7, Section 8.B.4, paragraph 3, line D.5. Hey, buddy, can you spare a rubric?

The political rationale for open season on public education is simple. US schools trail other countries, as international test scores demonstrate; therefore, these failures put America at risk of being unable to compete (there’s an American buzzword if there ever was one) in the global marketplace,as been the case for forty years. Well, let’s look at this…rationally.

Japan’s economy in the golden 80s spurred a panic about our education the way Sputnik did to the nation in the late 50s. Japan’s economy crashed in the 90’s. The following two decades of stagnation and reversal of fortune was called “The Lost Twenty Years”, the bloom was off the Chrysanthemum. The residual effects still permeate their economy.  

n the 1990s, while Japan’s economic light dimmed, the US economy roared back as government policies plus business and labor working together helped spur growth and prosperity. Business congratulated itself on a job well done, and Clinton basked in the credit of wiping out the deficit. Each strata of the economy enriched, as minority businesses made gains and middle-class salaries rose; Wall Street boomed.

Nowhere, however, was praise and a thank you given for the educators, students, and public schools for its contribution to the recovery. The same could be said for the economic recovery begun after business nearly destroyed the world’s wealth in 2008 (let’s not forget the 1986 and 2001 collapses). Until the Covid-19 outbreak, we led the world for ten years in the financial recovery from the 2008 debacle.

So, how could it be that education led to the 1980s Japanese beatdown, but not the recovery of the 90s? How could it be that education was so failing we needed, in addition to other remedies, Common Core to save America’s place in the global marketplace when we, in fact, were the global marketplace?

The Education—Industrial—Political Complex became this century’s multiplier effect —huge amounts of money, personal goals, career ambitions and political agendas became way too important to let reality crash the party with truth and fact. Fake news preceded Trump’s ascendancy. To give education its due in the recoveries would obviate the personal ambitions of people like Gates and threaten everyone else who feared the Goose may have dropped its last golden egg.

Financial-centric, power-driven New York never could resist the seductions of a Bill Gates, bedazzled by his Microsoft history, software genius, and $100 billion. Amazon billionaire Bezos got a sweetheart deal for a headquarters in New York City, but ultimately failed to close. Bloomberg, a communications billionaire, turned the City’s vaunted, ferocious NYC media into mayoral Pavlovian dogs for 12 years --- including a pass on a Putin-like illegal third term suddenly made “legal.”

Schools need a myriad of resources from infra-structure upgrading to a vast reduction in school population to limiting class size to fifteen students. The creation of multiple schools in one building has created logistical nightmares and dangerous situations. Overcrowding is a pedagogical deal breaker for effective learning and teaching. Assessments are, to use an old computer term, garbage in, garbage out. Counselors, psychologists, support staff are needed to fulfill the requirements, policies, and unfunded mandates that make caring for kids or administering discipline next to impossible. We need a common core of community outreach, private and government programs to rebuild inner city neighborhoods, offer kids safe and enjoyable alternatives to the streets. Ipads and condescending white suburban college prep will continue to fail minorities.

Rebuilding schools from the perspective of students and educational professionals is not the direction this partnership of political and financial power will travel. If anything, the fight is defiantly, patronizingly the opposite. Gates bankrolls his MBG Foundation with pockets deeper than the Grand Canyon to satisfy his egolust to remake education in his own image, not those on the front lines.   

Seriously Governor Cuomo, dancing the tech tango at the gates of Bill and Melinda is not tripping the light fantastic; it is falling over your two left feet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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