All Schools are Systemically Racist!

The current racist system of education crosses all boundaries from public to private to charter, to choice, to chance and it is unlikely to change.  With the help from the words of George Carlin, "The owners don't want it to change. the real owners. the ones who own the corporations, who own the politicians, who own the educators, who own the schools".  They are quite satisfied with the system the way it is.  They have no problem having students in a race to see who is first rather than serving all children.  That way they can keep school's elite by pushing out those students they believe have no value while keeping those who don't quit as constant failures.  And they have money invested from everything from testing companies to efforts to maintain the subclass to the advantage of their elite. 

This concept, however, is not new.  Back in the late 1700's Thomas Jefferson referred to the purpose of education as raking a few geniuses from the rubbish. The "geniuses" went to the universities while the rest did the jobs of their parents.  And some didn't rise to the level of rubbish in their eyes.  What is significant is THAT SYSTEM IS STILL IN PLACE TODAY

Racism is entrenched in the current system of education.  Most parents of successful students are satisfied with the fake success of their children.  They love the accolades.  They get to brag about their children and universities are eager to accept them.  They are unaware that straight A students have not been challenged.  To be challenged you must fail and learn from it.  This means if a student receives an A, to be challenged they will move on to the next level where they would begin at a D or F level and be immediately challenged to advance.  

Some poor folks whose children have obstacles in the way of learning have accepted their reality that their children will drop out and work menial jobs.  Others want to prove their children can win while they accept the D and F grades that prove, in some minds, their child is stupid.  Although that is not true, that gets pounded into their heads in an endless drumbeat like:  "Students in this zip code are failures".  Perceiving that every student in a particular zip code is the same is not only false but leads to low expectations for those students. Remember poverty is not destiny? Poverty is not destiny for some children, however under the current system, designed in the 1700's, when poverty leads to childhood stress, malnutrition, sleep deprivation, and lead in the drinking water, learning is affected. And failure becomes destiny.  Under the system described in my books, www.wholechildreform.com, failure is an opportunity to learn, your next best teacher. It is nothing to be ashamed of!

As everyone believes their children must be first and their schools must be first, they will not stop until that fake reality is accomplished. The bottom line is that everyone wants their child to be first, not realizing that when someone finishes first, it is mathematically impossible not to have someone finishing last.  And the first win and the last lose.  That's what the owners want. They want those with obstacles in their way to lose so they can blame the teachers.  The goal is to maintain the subclass. And the owners win!

The result is that everyone is satisfied or accepting of the current system.  And no one cares about those who finish last.  We give up on failing students and are satisfied when they drop out.  It saves money.  As one teacher told me as I looked for a particular student to support "don't worry, he will be 16 soon and will disappear."

By the way:  Realize that the students left behind might well be smarter than the fake straight A students.

Either you act against racism, or you enable it.  Which side are you on?

INDOCTRINATION! YES WE DO!

There is a big discussion, led by the right, trying to say teachers are indoctrinating Chidren in school as they themselves are developing programs of indoctrination.  Here's the scoop.  students have been indoctrinated for centuries but not in the way you might think.

Think about textbooks the standardized test, the true leaders of education known as corporations and even the politicians stick there nose where it doesn't belong.

Did students do their research to determine who discovered America?  Or were they forced to believe it was that wonderful, kind man Columbus?  Further research, if the text book companies cared to do it painted quite a different picture of Columbus and it isn't pretty.

What about the standardized test.  Are students even allowed to research, analyze their research, collaborate with others and debate their conclusion?  Of course not.  Pick up your #2 pencils, don't say a word and give the answers the testing companies want.

And then their is the chapter tests especially  in history.  What an unbelievable white wash of history.  Do you think they might have missed a few things that were uncomfortable with.  Isn't it time to turn the students loose to do their own research?  To come up with their own answers.  Then we might realize, like Stuart Stotts says in song, there are "so many ways to be smart."

DIVERSITY IN UNIVERSITIES, A SOLUTION

Diversity continues to be a problem in universities.  Considering the recent actions of the Supreme Court, this issue must be approached in a systematic manner.  The problem is NOT that young black people are less capable than there white counterparts.  The problem is that more roadblocks are thrown in the way of some black children while they are in K-12 schools.  Childhood stress affects the learning process according to Dr. Kara Fitzgerald.  "That a stressful environment coordinates three kinds of responses in the body: an immune response, a metabolic response, and a behavior response."  With all that going on, the test answers might not pop out at the student at all.  Consider Monday night football.  A player was near death on the field.  The players did not continue the game.  Why?  Stress!  Some students deal with death and shooting on a regular basis.

Assumptions can destroy children.  No longer may we assume everyone in a particular zip code has limited skills?  Some are protected from roadblocks while others are not.  When a student enters the classroom, however, the teacher has no idea how skillful that child is.  Therefore every student must be held to the highest expectations.  It's when a student does not achieve a goal, the education community steps in with support, not with failure.

What is the solution?  I completely support affirmative action, however, that is simply akin to shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic.  The solution is systemic.  The current system of education is a race to see who scores best on a variety of standardized tests for the purpose of, according to Thomas Jefferson, raking a few geniuses from the rubbish.  We did that in the 1700's and are still doing it today.

A glimps of the plan I have in my book, "A failed System", has students developing wide ranging portfolios throughout their final years of high school to present to Universities for acceptance.  If the plans meet the needs of universities the student is accepted.  If they don't, the University will explain the shortcomings and welcome the student back when they are ready. 

Those students who are lagging behind, may need additional support and/or simply more time to improve their desired skills.  Once they reach age 18 or so, they would receive the required classes at a community college.  If the student is low in English and had high skills in math, they would take college math courses and high school English classes at the community college .  They move ahead when they are ready, in the direction they choose. 

If students are exceling at a faster rate, they would attend a University of their choice at an earlier age.  No longer would 15 year old geniuses be held back for the sake of their age.  It is important to recognize that straight "A" students are not being challenged to the point of failure.  And those students who have been considered failures will realize, failure is simply are part of the learning process.  No longer woud they be considered stupid, because the aren't.

We have destroyed students for over 200 years by forcing them into the school to prison pipeline when they may simply need a little more time and to be taught in the way they learn best.

In addition, as the discrimination continues, you would have a solid argument to sue.

 

Eldon "Cap" Lee

www.wholechildreform.com

A CRISIS IN EDUCATION IS COMING!

In September of 2023 a crisis will come to those schools that begin their school year at that time.  Those students who are still lagging behind in reading, due to the pendemic, will be in the cross hairs of history.  It is possible and even probable that thousands will be retained in line with their current reading scores. Tennessee has already made moves in that direction. 

Others will become victims of the usual sneaking and conniving of the current system of schools.  Is it possible that students will be sent to tutoring for the sole purpose of exchanging learning for sitting time?  Will naive school system administrators and school boards pretend that by going to tutoring, they may now be promoted?  Are grade levels really an indicator of achievement?  Have they ever been?

It's easy.  When students of lower level reading skills are discovered in classes aligned with their age, THEY CAN SIMPLY BLAME THE TEACHERS!

wholechildreform.com

Tennessee needs systemic change

The Tennesee law on retention has been updated to allow for as many as 2/3 of third graders to be retained!  What is happening in Tennessee will happen all over the country as well as all over the world.  All over this country thousands if not millions of students will be held behind putting them on the pathway to the school to prison pipeline.  Once held behind, their age of graduation will increase.  And so will drop outs.  Not to mention the feeling of failure will be massive.

So many students will be retained, or to cover up the sysremic failure, they will move them ahead without learning.  They will graduate on time but be ill prepared for their life ahead.  

Straight "A" students are not challenged and are held back due to the school average.  An "A" is no longer an "A" in this system.  The time for action is now!

The solution is documented in my books, especially " A FAILED SYSTEM"  "Pandemic - Related Solutions to a 200 - year-old Education Crisis"

The damage we do to hundreds of thousand plus students will be felt all over the country.  

The crisis is here and the solution is in systemic change.

www.wholechildreform.com

Restraint? Yes or no.

The decision whether or not to restrain a potentially violent person must be carefully and quickly thought out.  When involved in a posible restraint situation there are several steps to be considered. The safety of the "target" person, others in the area as well as the the respondent must be considered.  In my experience, several steps allowed the process to be effective.   

The first step I took was supportive.  In other words, try to verbally de escalate the crisis.  As long as the "target" person is responding, that effort must continue.  However, the supportive time frame might be very short as violence may increase. When this happens step #2 will be implemented.  That is when I would take charge of the situation and call for assistance. Anything to avoid handling the situation alone is good.  First you have an additional set of eyes, and the second responder can step in to mediate if necessary.  If a conflict occurred between me and the "target", I would steps back and my partner would take over.  Often this will deescalate the situation.  If not, there is more than one person to become forceful.  

My partner was of utmost importance when it came to stage 3, the restraint. Restraint should only be used when absolutely necessary like breaking up a fight, a physically aggresive person, and only when every other option has been tried. If possible, we would avoid restraining someone alone.  It is not safe.  We knew there were ways to control someone physically with out hurting them or us.  And never, ever would we put hands on or even near the throat, the head, the back or the chest.  Not only is it dangerous, it is not necessary.   

We only restraint a person to the ground in extreme cases.  BE AWARE THAT A COMMON MISTAKE IS TO ASSUME THAT A LOUD, ARGUMENTITIVE PERSON IS VIOLENT.  THEY ARE NOT!  When I did this I used the following steps:  1. My partner and I stood on each side of the "target".  2. We both placed one hand on the shoulder of the 'target" while placing the other hand on the wrist stretching out the arm. 3. Then we used our inside legs to trip the target while gently controlling their descent to the ground.  Because of the position we were in, the fall was fully controlled.  

Once someone was on the ground they would be held with 2, 3 or 4 people, one hand on the shoulder another on their outstretched arm for those near the front.  Near the feet, each person would hold one foot.  Never ever would we put any weight on their chest, neck, head or back.  First there would be dead silence, and then one person would quietly ask if the target person is ready to cooperate.  Patience is the issue here.  We would wait until there was full compliance or when police arrived. 

For more information contact: www.crisisprevention.com 

For a link to my blog or information about my books go to www.wholechidreform.com

Assault weapons thoughts

 ASSAULT WEAPONS THOUGHTS

• “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” ...Justice Ginsburg.  With that in mind, here are some suggestions that will take the steps necessary to make the children safer

 

1.  No one under the age of 25 would be allowed to purchase an assault rifle.

2.  ALL persons purchasing assault weapons must have a background check and register their guns.

3.  ALL dealers, gun shows, online etc.selling assault weapons must be registered.  That includes personal sales.

4.  Assault weapons may not be carried in public, for any reason.

5.  Due to the increasing number of car thefts for guns, assault weapons being transported to and from home to a private location must be locked, secured  in an impenetrable case.

6.  Red flag laws must be followed in all states.

7.  Those who like to show assault weapons in public will be allowed to march in parades with toy wooden guns.

This will get assault weapons off the streets.  Anyone carrying one will be arrested immediately.

IMPORTANT!  Rememer when all stores are sold out of white hats, how can police tell a good guy with a gun, from a bad guy with a gun.  HINT:  THEY CAN'T  If you have a gun in your hand in public, prepare to die!