5 posts tagged “california”

Imagine you have little money and you are renting a room in a house.  You pay most of your income to rent, but the people who own the house are not good with money.  The people that own the house get 3 months behind on the mortgage and the house is in foreclosure.  They suddenly get an offer for a credit card that will cover a part of the mortgage and save the house you are living in at least for a while longer.  They decide to ask you if they should get the card to save the house and inform you that if they use this to save the house, they will have to raise the rent and if they do not they will lose the house and you will be evicted.  WHAT CHOICE CAN YOU MAKE?  You cannot afford more rent, you cannot be homeless, and you cannot imagine them suddenly getting any better with money even if they save the house and you will probably be in the same boat soon anyway.

This is how I see today’s vote in California.  It is a lose, lose proposition with doom and gloom being preached by both sides of the argument.  We are doomed if we vote yes, we are doomed if we vote no, and we are doomed if we don’t vote.

The only thing that is clear is that the government in California as it is has absolutely no ability to fix the problems here and the people are so divided that at either extreme that it will be this way for a long time.

I am about to vote, but what a crock all of this is.  Vote yes and they get the credit card that will cover some of the debt, but also makes more and inevitably robs from something else to pay for it.  This also means raised taxes in several areas. 

Vote no and it’s the end of the world for our economy in California and we will be without fire fighters, and police etc. (according to the commercials). 

We all must vote and have our voice, but what a choice.

Welcome to sunny California, world renowned for its tall palm trees, beautiful beaches, wineries, movie studios and one the worst Elementary, middle, and high school systems on the face of planet earth.  The reason:  playing politics and weird experimentation with the children has overridden any care for the education of them.

Every one of us who lives here (particularly those of us with children) have heard stories of large numbers of people graduating who cannot read or pass simple exit exams on what they were supposed to have learned and on and on.  I remember on story I heard years ago where the children in one area were failing a pretty standard high school exit exam miserably so the proposed solution………..make the test easier?

A quick story to help you understand my disgust: 

After I graduated high school I left for military service and went to travel the world.  I came back on leave to visit my old high school and the coaches and teachers who I had built a bond with.  I arrived at the school to find that all of the teachers I had considered (and still consider) to have been the good teachers had left the school.  There were no coaches as the school which had n illustrious sports history had eliminated all sports.

The weirdest part about walking the campus was that while I was wandering the campus confused many if not most of the students seemed to be wandering the campus looking just as confused as I was.  This was midday in the middle of the school year.  I heard different bells ring and saw some of the kids going to classrooms.  In the classrooms there were small pockets of teenagers who seemed to be doing there own thing while some person in front 9I assume to be a teacher) lectured.

I finally asked one of the students what was going on.  The answer was ridiculous.  The school was an experiment to see if children learn better in an environment where they have no books, no mandatory class attendance, no homework, no sports, and very few tests.  I asked if this was working and in the words of one kid, “It was cool at first, but this really sucks.  I want to transfer.” 

As a side note, I have a relative who graduated from the same high school, who has a diploma that looks just like mine, who could not read or write any better than the average kindergartener until as an adult his wife taught him.

This brings me to my point.  In Alameda California there is a controversial proposal creating a huge disruption among the parents.  The proposal is to add curriculum about sexual orientation and gender identification to the curriculum.

So let me get this straight:  the school systems in California can’t get reading, writing, English, math and science right, but now they are qualified to teach my child sexuality.  That ought to turn out well.  I told you that little story a above to set the stage for one key point I think is being missed.  I PAY TAXES AND SEND MY CHILDREN TO SCHOOL TO LEARN TO READ, WRITE, GET EDUCATED, AND PREPARED FOR COLLEGE IF YOU CANNOT DO THAT RIGHT YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS TRYING TO ADD A WHOLE BUNCH OF OTHER STUFF OF ANY KIND.

All over California strange experiments have been done for years with our children and all kinds of weird ideas have been voiced al because our school systems and our teacher’s unions want to use our children as political ping pong balls instead of just doing what we (I) pay them to do.   STOP EXPERIMENTING WITH OUR CHILDREN AND JUST TEACH THEM ENGLISH, MATH, SCIENCE, AND SO ON.

There is this ongoing list of things that they always want to add that clearly are politically motivated and that would be a discussion if we already had reasonable results.  The California school system is the laughing stock of the whole planet.  HOW DARE YOU TELL ME YOU ARE BETTER QUALIFIED TO DO MY JOB AS A PARENT WHEN YOU ARE FAILING AT YOUR JOBS AS TEACHERS?

The entire reasoning for this addition to the curriculum has been defined as an attempt to stop bullying through a gained understanding of sexual orientation and gender identification.

Another short story, my son was new to one of California’s illustrious public schools and was stabbed in the forehead with metal scissors by an angry 9 year old.  As far as I or anyone know my son is not homosexual or transgender and was only guilty of being the new kid having an encounter with what turned out to be the class bully.  The school investigated and discovered several such incidents with this bully and other children that had gone unnoticed until now.

I was obviously concerned and spoke to the principal whose response was that they had spoken to the parents of the child.  SPOKEN TO THE PARENTS, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?  I suggested possibly separating the child from the other children for a while to undergo some kind of counseling until such a time it was safe for the rest of the children and then reintroducing the child to the school as I thought that was the least that should be done in light of all of the children that have been wandering into schools and killing everyone.

I tell this story to illustrate that the school system has no clue about what to do about bullies.  Those of us who experienced bullies in elementary, middle and high school (or possibly were the bullies) have a pretty good idea that lack of information and understanding was not the problem.  Usually the problems are far deeper than education about one group or other would solve.  I am also quite sure that information about sexual orientation and gender identification would not have saved any of the children from this bully because as far as anyone can tell at this age, none of the children were bullied for this reason.  The problem with bullying lies in the inability of the schools to properly deal with the bullies until after the bullets (or scissors) are flying and the bloody bodies of our children are being carried away.

All this to say to our governments, including school boards and our teachers:  I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT ANYTHING BUT HOW WE ARE IMPROVING MATH, SCIENCE, ENGLISH ETC. UNTIL YOU GET THOSE SUBJECTS RIGHT.  I UNDERSTAND THERE ARE BAD PARENTS OUT THERE THAT ARE NOT DOING THEIR JOB, BUT DON’T NEGLECT YOURS TO DO OURS.  SPEND ALL THAT POLITICAL ENERGY TRYING TO REFORM THE AGENCIES THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO BE HOLDING THE PARENTS ACCOUNTABLE TO DOING THEIR JOB AND STICK TO YOURS!

California Assembly Bill 1819, is a plan to get sixteen and seventeen year old voters to preregister to vote.  This means that these teens would automatically be registered and sent the sample ballots when they are eighteen.  This bill has passed the assembly and is currently in the senate.

Here is the interesting part:  The vote in Assembly split right down party lines with Democrats voting for it and Republicans voting against.

I listened to and read some of the debate for and against this bill and I see merit in both sides of the argument.  I am still undecided on what I think of this idea. 

The thing that struck me in all of this is that the Republican Party in California is in such fear of the late teen voters.  I know that whoever it is that controls the youth controls the future.  Judging by the results of this vote, I am left to wonder if the future holds a one party system for California.

It would seem that the Republican Party needs to do some kind if image make over if the general feel of the party (at least in California) is that an entire generation will be their undoing as soon as they decide to vote.  I am also stunned at the fact that the only plan to combat this is to keep this whole group from voting as long as possible.  That’s it, the whole plan?

The Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, seems to be doing okay and managed to get elected in the first place.  I understand that he started as a public figure, but the state seems to be within the realm of a balance of power between the parties.  It seems like with a little work the Republican Party could restore the balance.  This work may be with those same youth that would be registering under what is outlined in this bill.

As a person who does not like the current party system and all of the partisanship, I have to admit that a one party system made up of one or the other of the major parties really scares me.

I am worried that one whole party is scared of the youth thinking about voting. I am still deciding what I think of this bill.

I have been looking at and listening to commentary on statistics and trends in the United States and heard something I have heard before, but hit me differently this time.  There was a call for and evidence that there is a push for more sex education in schools.

I live in California and anyone who knows the state the school system in California knows that when measured by results and abilities after graduation from high school we have one of the worst performing school systems in the world.  Apparently we are lucky if the average graduate from high school in our state can read or write. 

There is this huge push in the politics of California to pour more and more money into this system and not to have any testing as a measure of success or failure.  Whenever there is suggestion of disciplining or requiring improvement from teachers that under-perform there is a huge push against it.

All that to help you understand my next question.  If we cannot get our kids to read or write properly while enrolled in our school system, what business do we have discussing the addition of anything else? An even deeper question is:  If, for whatever reason, (too many students per class, lack of appropriate training, less parental contribution, teachers that do not know what the heck they are doing, whatever) the teachers in this system cannot seem to be able to teach the children to read and write properly, what business do they have trying to teach my kid about sex or any other touchy issues?

I have a child in this system and I don’t want to hear about the adding of anything that will not improve reading, writing, math, science, etc.  That is the reason I pay the taxes and send my kid to the school.  I am not paying for anyone to fail at or do a poor job at those tasks (no matter if it is the teacher’s fault or not) and to start experimenting with teaching my child sexuality, politics, and all kinds of other topics.

I don’t want to sound anti-teacher.  There are wonderful teachers who go above and beyond and are just a blessing to the entire planet.  I can think of two or three as I sit here.  I also understand that there are huge challenges in the current system we are using, etc.  The fact is that there are third world countries and states without the resources California has that produce far better outcomes that California does.  No matter what the reason is, those are the facts.  Blame does not fix that when a grown man, married with a diploma, has to learn to read and write from his wife (this happened in my own family).  Who cares who or what is to blame, it may well not be the teachers etc. 

The problem I want to address is not blame; the problem is focus on fixing the real problems!

To be blunt (and possibly a little rude) those other things, such as sexual education and politics are my responsibility to teach to my children.  Please do your job right before telling me how to do mine!

I mean if whatever system we are using fails to teach math, English, and science properly how can one be so convinced that the same people trained in the same systems, in the same circumstances will teach subjects as delicate as sexuality and politics any better. 

I am absolute amazed at the amount of time that is spent trying to program our children politically and socially when we fail completely at achieving what the kids are there for in the first place. 

I find the idea that these things are even on the table in front of the actual learning not only grossly negligent, but a misuse of our tax money to overstep the boundaries of my home and ignore the failures of a broken system.

In sports, I have always learned that when a person drifts into the occasional slump, the key to breaking out of that slump is to “go back to the basics.”  Stop doing anything fancy or special and just focus on the basics.  In sports this has always worked for me.  I wonder if the same would be true of a school system overrun with all kinds of complicated experimental ideas and terrible results.

I could go on and on about the experience I have had with the school system here as a person who graduated from the school system in California, with the family and friends who graduated from this school system, and with my children now, but I will just say that the system is terribly broken and getting worse.  The government needs to focus on the basics and we as a people need to stop letting ourselves get so easily diverted into less relevant stuff and force the governing bodies to focus on the basics.

When I think of the words to the Pink Floyd song “The Wall” the words “Hey teacher, leave those kids alone!” finds new meaning.  I think if written today the lyrics would be:  “Hey teacher, leave those kids alone and stick to your job!”

There is bill (AB 2716) in California, that is due to go before the governor to mandate paid sick leave for all employees within the state.  The argument over this bill seems to step from the costs that will be forced on small businesses.  A similar requirement has been in place in San Francisco for a while (since February 5, 2007) and the small business have felt the squeeze and have had to make adjustments.

Some businesses, such as some restaurants have stated that they will have to cut holidays to have the resources to cover the added expense of all of this sick time.  This struck me, not from the perspective of an economist or a Human Resources perspective, but from a simple logic and disgust perspective.

Did groups of restaurants just state that they would rather have their sick employees at work cooking for and serving food to my family and I?  I have a problem with that idea.  Actually, I would prefer that if I go to any business, the person I encounter there is not passing on some illness to me.  Any incentive to keep your sick, half working, half alert, self home is a good thing.

There has been talk about the employees of these small businesses preferring to have raises rather than to have this benefit.  That would be okay if sickness was something you could keep to your self.  A sick person contaminates the entire workplace, the other employees, the clients of the business, the families of the other employees, the families of the clients of the benefits.  These people, who will work instead of resting their bodies to allow themselves to heal, will end up with a need for more intensive medical treatment.  The fact that some employee cares more about making a few dollars more rather than be concerned with the health and welfare of the people around them is exactly the reason a law like this is needed.  It would seem that this would be common sense, but once it becomes clear that people who work in industries such as food services are resistant to allowing their employees to have sick time, it then becomes an absolute necessity for the government to step in.

The argument that it makes it harder to start or maintain a small business does not mean that it is not the right thing to do for everyone is involved.  The businesses have had ample chance to use common sense and have clearly shown that they are not able to manage this themselves. 

The idea that businesses small or large will, as a whole, govern themselves and do what is best for the welfare of their employees, the public, and the good of the country, is a foolish idea.  I do believe in many of these cases the business need to have a chance to do what is best for their business and the welfare of others without government interference.  But, at the point that the business world shows an inability to do what is right in some area, then it is the obligation of the government to serve the greater good of the people and the nation as a whole.

I am a strong advocate for small business tax breaks etc. and feel that if the economy is going to be stabilized, these businesses are a necessity. The problem is that I do not believe that we sacrifice the health of others to do this (even if shortsighted, self-centered individuals would rather get one to five more dollars a paycheck more than care properly for themselves, or respect the right to a healthy environment for their coworkers, families, friends, customers, and all of those these individuals encounter.