I personally enjoyed a weekend of being indoors and relaxing, but for many Winter Storm Jonas was no laughing matter. Another reminder of the power of Mother Nature, and another reason not to test her by continuing to screw up the planet we call home. I hope everyone stayed warm and safe over the weekend, and I hope that warmer and sunnier days arrive sooner rather than later.
As always, happy Wednesday and happy reading.
This Day in History
1785 - Georgia incorporates the first public, state-funded university in the United States. Who'da thunk it? Certainly not I. But yes indeed, the University of Georgia is the oldest public institution of higher learning in America. So it's not just their football tradition that's noteworthy.
Old universities have me thinking about education, the theme of today's digest, and also the key to our future. If you happen to know a teacher, please make sure to thank that person. He or she has one of the most thankless, and yet the single most important job in the world.
When We All Learn
That American public education is in peril is no secret. From my home state of Mississippi to my current home of New York, as well as everything in between and west, schools are struggling and too often failing to educate students.
There are myriad large problems that need fixing, but we could address some of the material inequity in our schools and improve academic outcomes with a very simple step: integrating schools.
Across the country schools are segregated socio-economically and racially. Not only does this segregation affect the resources available to many students, it stifles learning for everyone. Diversity leads to quantifiably higher learning outcomes (from NYTimes).
While school integration is no panacea for all of our educational woes, it would provide immediate short-term benefits, and lay the foundation for more sustained educational success, as well as helping to ease many of the other racial and socio-economic tensions in our society.
Looking Forward, Looking Back
Of the many suggestions and attempts to fix education, Teach For America, or TFA, is perhaps the most recognizable. TFA has no shortage of supporters and no shortage of critics, and while I have a bias as someone who taught for two years through that program, it seems undeniable that they have been an overall value add for the schools and communities where they operate.
But it is not a perfect program - what is? One reason TFA has continued to grow and thrive is its receptiveness to feedback, and an ongoing attempt to improve. Reader Justin in DC shares a reflection by founding TFA member and former TN State Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman on where the organization is as it turns 25 this year (from NYCan).
Teach For America will remain controversial, but it will also continue to be a key player in the essential goal of fixing public education.
The Politics of Children
Like Teach For America, charter schools are a controversial approach to reforming public education. Like TFA they face valid criticisms and unfounded political nay-saying. Finally, like TFA, charters can be a part of the solution to our educational woes.
Unfortunately, charters and the children who attend them often find themselves being used both by critics and supporters to achieve political ends. Therefore it is disappointing, but only somewhat surprising, that Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton recently reversed her previous position to take a stand against charter schools (from Politico). In fact, Secretary Clinton's husband, President Clinton was in office when the first charter schools appeared, and was an early advocate for them.
This particular article comes from reader Linda in NYC who has worked for charter schools before. Many of us - I too once worked for charters - hate being caught up in the political turmoil when all we are trying to do is educate students. This is also true for educators in non-charter school environments.
The sad reality is that all educators should be able to find at least some common ground: aren't we all in this for the kids? I believe we are, and yet the political vitriol that surrounds education, and the fact that students are not voters has stunted our ability at the local and national levels to address this issue in the comprehensive manner that is needed to give our students the education they deserve.
Southern Living
Straight from the heart of Dixie comes Dixie! Dixie recently moved to Atlanta with her human Anne. Dixie is a sweet pup who's getting a bit long in the tooth. Her gray hairs are nothing but indication of many years of happiness and great living, and as you can tell from the look in her eyes, with age comes wisdom. As smart as dogs are, never has there been a more sagacious dog, at least not in my experience. In fact, Dixie is something of a spiritual guide for her human, as dogs tend to be. Big thank you to Anne for sharing Dixie!
Will's Weekly Trivia!
There is a new opt-in form online, so please send to friends, and don't forget to fill out the feedback form if you have any recommendations or want to share an article link or dog. Thank you to those who have!
IF you choose to answer the question, respond to staton.will@gmail.com with your answer. Please note that by competing you are giving me permission to publish your first name in the trivia leader board each week.
TRIVIA!
Last Week: There are two primary branches of Islam. Which is practiced predominantly in Iran?
Answer: Shi'a Islam is the dominant branch in Iran.
This Week: What is the oldest college/university in America? (Hint: there are three schools that make this claim, so any one of those institutions is an acceptable answer). One point will be awarded for each correct answer (up to three points max if you get them all).
LEADER BOARD
Looking for the leader board? It's getting long. Too long for me to keep posting it here weekly. But I have good news. The interwebs can do many things, and one of them is host the leader board. It will be updated weekly and posted HERE. Check it out!
