WHAT WILL OUR FUTURE BE???

The supposed experts in the school district, and the planners they hire, like to talk a lot about 21st century skills, as if they knew what the future was going to be. That makes you feel kind of ham strung, until you realize that no one knows what the future will be, not even the school district "experts" and hired "experts".

The only thing we really know about the future is that if our country is to remain great, our citizens will need a whole lot of character. My daughter teaches in college and she had some students that didn't turn in their assignments. She told me "These are good students mom, but they got a zero. They know what the rules are in my class and I wouldn't be preparing them for their future in the work world if I didn't teach them the discipline of following rules and meeting deadlines." She's a first year teacher but she gets it. School is not just about the subject you are learning, it's about the character that gets you there.

When I started teaching in 1975, and throughout my career as a student, schools taught the character that is required to succeed. When I was a girl, if you had hot lunch(most kids brought a sack), you got meat, potatoes, fruit, a vegetable, a cookie and a milk. You didn't get to throw food away, the teachers made you eat what you had. What did I learn from this? I learned that I didn't always get what I wanted (like cheese pizza everyday and salad bar like kids get today), I learned to be frugal, you don't waste things. What are kids learning today at school? Just ask any cafeteria worker or teacher, food is thrown away by the bucketfuls, as if it had no value at all.

Everyday we saluted the flag and sang "My Country Tis Of Thee". We had Washington's birthday and Lincoln's birthday off of school. We made American flags for Washington's birthday and our teachers read us stories about this great man. On Lincoln's birthday we made stove pipe hats and read about this great president. What did I learn from this? I learned to love my country and I learned to respect the character of these great men. I learned what it took to be a great American. What do our kids learn in school today? If they have a good teacher they may learn that Washington refused to be a king when the people asked. They may learn that Lincoln was a poor child that worked hard and taught himself to read. But, too often, these stories are lost. President Washington, our first president, isn't even honored anymore with a holiday, no wonder some kids leave school not even knowing who our first president was!!  The "realists" insist that George Washington didn't cut down a cherry tree and refuse to tell a lie.

Abraham Lincoln, the great president that saved the union, isn't honored by having his birthday remembered either. The mental health advocates are sure Lincoln was mentally ill!! So instead of learning character through these great statesmen, our students are learning the values of special interest advocates. Maybe some of these advocates have a good message, but does it replace the love and respect of national heroes that teach us to be honest, strong and persevering?

At the last planning meeting here in Helena the experts arranged focus group discussions on "the big idea". They invited every special interest group they could think of from Food Share to preschool advocates. Our school plan is not about a "big idea", it's about special interest advocates and meeting their goals in our schools!! The first question, believe it or not, was "What is your mission? What brings you to the table?"This kind of question always seems so ridiculous to me. What would your mission be at school? Wouldn't it be to educate the children? Apparently not. One of the tables blathered on about how school is there to provide food, clothing and shelter!! You might ask " Is this for everyone or just the students?" I believe the answer would be everyone as they advocated for a community breakfast! So, what character are they advocating to teach the children? They want to teach the children that people can not make it on their own. Don't expect to make it on your own or for your parents to take care of you. Turn to the government for every need. They mentioned " children should never feel ashamed to ask for a clothing voucher". Our children come to school well clothed and with coats. They are fortunate to live in a country with a free enterprise system that makes our citizenry the wealthiest in the world. Our poor have more than poor people the world over. So why do we want to teach values that will destroy the entrepreneurial spirit of this nation when our children aren't even in that kind of need? This is a socialist world view that is destroying the character of our people and bankrupting our nation.

Have you noticed that we are starting to see trash just thrown on the ground now? We never had that before. People had responsibility, integrity and pride. Not the kind of pride that you get from a clothing voucher, the pride that comes from self discipline. The self discipline that you learn in school from the stories about the honor and self sacrifice of our national heroes. This is national pride, Americans don't throw garbage. They don't take drugs. They are not sexually promiscuous. They stand for honor, hard work and American know how. They don't borrow irresponsibly either. They are not victims.

If we want a future that is bright with honor, respect and self sacrifice we need to start teaching it to our children again. We need to teach them that they and their families CAN TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES! If they can't afford something maybe they don't need it. Maybe they'll be rich someday if they work hard enough and are careful with what they earn. Poor people in America become rich everyday. Most of us have more than our parents had. Our government needs to set the example by paying off its debts so these kids won't be overburdened with taxes and they'll have a chance to make it. The "big idea" should be to save America from this sorry pit of Socialist despair and debt. The truth is we can determine what our own future will be if we decide to teach character again instead of victimization. I was poor once. No one helped me. I worked, I planned and I dreamed. I had the values and ethics to set goals and endure self sacrifice. I was only 17 years old, but school and  my parents had taught me that I could take care of myself, and I did. I'm not poor anymore. That's what we want for all of our children, that's the big idea. Teach children to be self sufficient. A good education and the values that built a nation will bring them and all of us to a brighter tomorrow. This is a future we know about. We've seen state run economies and socialist countries, THEY DON'T WORK!!! THEY LEAD TO CORRUPTION AND ECONOMIC COLLAPSE!! We don't need to guess about  21st century skills if we continue down this socialist road. History clearly tells us where we're heading. The national debt and deficit tell us where we are heading. We don't know what our future will be, but we know how to work toward a good future for all, by teaching our children the values that built the greatest nation on this earth.

BELLY OF THE BEAST

We saw another non-budget budget last night at the board meeting. Oh, they showed a salary amount and a few reductions called programmatic changes, even the projected deficit ( after the levy!) of about $251,000 - but where is the money spent? How many federal grants are being served by our district? How much cost does the district assume for these grants? We see a utility savings of $75,000.00 (warm winter) but how much are we paying in additional utilities for Lincoln and Ray Bjork that house only programs on Federal Grants (PAL, Head Start, PEAK, Special Education preschool)? I've seen budgets down to paper clips with no mention of where the $250,000.00 fee for MOSAIC (the planning firm) came from. Just a vague reference to "Contingency funds" when I asked. Does the board even know where they are spending our money? Do they care? I mentioned that DARE has not reduced drug usage for 30 years and a board member told me- astonishingly- that there's other things to look at than effectiveness.
SERIOUSLY? WHAT WOULD THAT BE ??

I have never seen a budget that shows where all the district dollars are being spent. I have never seen a breakdown in school costs versus program costs. I know all these programs think they're basic academics- BUT THEY ARE NOT!! Sadly I have never seen a grant, the cost of or the effectiveness of it, ever discussed by the board. In fact, I don't think the board is consulted before a grant is applied for. The budget is just up in the air it seems. The board voted for the most expensive option in voting for busses with seat belts, with no discussion of the districts looming deficits. I believe what we are seeing here in Helena is a microcosm of exactly what is going on in our nations capital-THE BELLY OF THE BEAST!! They did have a presentation from PEAK, and asked some questions, but PEAK isn't going anywhere apparently. I don't know about you folks but when we make a big purchase at our house we look at all our costs before deciding to go ahead with it. If we don't have the money we don't make the purchase. The way budgets are presented the board doesn't really know what they can afford. I guess that's why they go for the most expensive options and never question new programs- only praise them.

The schools in Helena are a soft hit for every radical group out there, especially since they passed the "Comprehensive Health" plan and got away with it. Things are so corrupt that the wife of the president of the union is running for the school board- legally!! I have no doubt that she will win and then not recuse herself from the union contract negotiations!! Wow. The democrats are running three candidates for two seats- interesting. Are they trying to get rid of a particular board member who voted against the Comprehensive Health? They are very brazen now- you better be with them on everything or your out!!

THE BELLY OF THE BEAST becomes more corrupt and irresponsible all the time. The name of the game is to go along with and praise every federal program, especially "Comprehensive Health".  Surprise surprise- did you know a Comprehensive Health teacher is getting an award as an outstanding educator?? Yes, if you want to be an outstanding educator just learn how to teach "barriers to oral and anal sex" to 5th graders!!How long have the liberals been playing this awards game? Has anyone besides me woken up to it? The liberals sure hope not- if you wake up to it there goes one big crack in their public relations game.

The board is so bowled over and insecure that they have been talked into believing they can't even run the school district without firms (like we did in the old days when we had more students, more elementary schools, and better scores). They needed a firm to find five people to interview for the superintendents job and to choose one. Now they think they may need that same firm to help them decide how to evaluate the superintendent and to set goals (even though they hired this superintendent because strategic planning was his area of expertise!)Three more expensive workshops- and remember the budget is in a $250,000.00 deficit. The workshops also include costs for travel, lodging and meals for the consultants!Wow- they just spend money as if it just keeps coming from SOMEWHERE.  I guess they don't run out of money as we do in our own household budgets.

Our board members are educated individuals but they don't think they can decide to have their professionals write a good curriculum, choose good curriculum materials, and teach in a challenging, competitive and comprehensive way. Essentially, they think they need a firm to get them on board with NATIONAL objectives. Common Core gives them a ready made curriculum, so I guess the STRATEGIC PLAN is just to get in line with all the FEDERAL PROGRAMS.

THE BELLY OF THE BEAST is an ugly place. It's a place where schools aren't run locally anymore and school board members don't even have control of their budget,much less,know what programs are coming and going in their schools. A place where board members don't dare to evaluate programs and choose the ones they want and the ones they don't want. A place where nepotism, like the board chair advocating for programs that are under his umbrella as state chair of AWARE, or the union president's wife running for the school board, is accepted with a nod and a yawn. I yearn for the day when the public will wake up and limited government,common sense and school vouchers will run a dagger  through the BELLY OF THE BEAST!!