Bye Bye, Bubby

My daughter's best friend is her cousin. I used to take them to the park when they were toddlers and people would ask me if they were twins. Very early on, I called him "Buddy," and the kids started calling one another "Bubby," which now, at 12, they still do. I've taken him on many or most of our family vacations.

But things have gotten a little tough for his little family. Now they're going to join my wife's brother in Canada. It breaks my heart to see these kids separated, but I understand why they're leaving. Bubby's family won't have to worry about doctor bills anymore. He'll go to summer camp for free, just like my niece. Mom won't have to decide between child care or a job because child care costs next to nothing. And if she gets a house, she won't need a second mortgage to send Bubby to college.

There are issues, of course. A friend of ours had trouble getting in to see a specialist for a non-urgent matter. To remedy the situation, he had to pay seventy-five bucks out of pocket, bringing his family medical expenses to a grand total of seventy-five bucks in fiscal year 2008. With relatively excellent insurance, I've beat that handily every one of the last 24 years.

I hope Obama isn't just blowing smoke when he talks about improving medical coverage for Americans. Reasonable people seem to doubt him. Still, he's the only chance we now have. Certainly his plan sounds better than that of John McCain, who appears seriously intent on making things worse.

I don't really want to bring my family over to join Bubby's in Canada. But if America keeps moving the way it is, I see a trip north in my future. I only hope the arrogant incompetent amoral opportunists who run our country don't manage to lower the dollar's value any more than they already have.

And I really hope that we get a leader whose vision includes making life better for working people. I'm too old to be so naive, I guess, but I just can't help myself.

Magical Thinking In The Magical Kingdom

Another day, more bad news on the financial front - unless you're an economic adviser to the John McCain campaign, that is.

But more on that in a minute.

The government reported today that wholesale prices jumped the most on a year-over-year basis in 27 years.

The Producer Price Index rose 1.2% after gaining 1.8% in June. But the core index - prices stripped of food and energy - rose 0.7% after 0.2% in June.

Even with oil prices falling to about $112 a barrel these days, energy prices still rose 3.1% in July, about half the 6% increase energy prices saw in June.

Both the PPI Index and core price increases were much higher than expected by analysts.

In more bad financial news, major retailers like Home Depot, Target, Staples, and Saks reported lower sales, late credit payments and continued expectations for poor sales.

In real estate, housing starts dropped to a 17 year low, sending stock futures down just a day after the American financial markets fell sharply on fears that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will have to be nationalized.

In the scariest news of the day, former chief economist at the IMF Kenneth Rogoff said yesterday that the worst is yet to come for the U.S. economy and a major U.S. bank or two is probably going to go under before the financial mess is all over:

"Credit market turmoil has driven the U.S. into a recession and may topple some of the nation's biggest banks, said Kenneth Rogoff, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund.

"The worst is yet to come in the U.S.,'' Rogoff said in an interview in Singapore today. "The financial sector needs to shrink; I don't think simply having a couple of medium-sized banks and a couple of small banks going under is going to do the job.''

The U.S. housing slump has triggered more than $500 billion of credit market losses for banks globally and led to the collapse and sale of Bear Stearns Cos., the fifth-largest U.S. securities firm. Rogoff said the government should nationalize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the nation's biggest mortgage-finance companies, which have lost more than 80 percent of market value this year.

So here we have inflation running red hot despite falling commodity prices, housing starts plummeting again even as home values continue to fall, retailers like Home Dept and Target reporting poor sales and late credit payments, and the former economist of the IMF saying a major financial institution or two is going to go under here in the U.S. - it sure sounds like things are bad, right?

Uh, uh - not if you're Don Luskin, financial adviser to the John McCain campaign.

You see, Mr. Luskin, a frequent guest on Kudlow and Company, just visited Disneyland and had to wait on a long line to ride Space Mountain.

Long lines at Disneyland, Mr. Luskin writes, prove that the country is not in recession and everything is just fine economically:

There's simply no way this country is in a recession with people spending money like mad amusing themselves at Disneyland. I've been coming here frequently for years, during good times and bad, having grown up in Southern California. I've never seen crowds like this. Not here, not anywhere — not even on the Tokyo subways.

There were times when the streets of the Magic Kingdom were so thickly thronged with human bodies that one simply couldn't move. Rides were breaking down. Restaurants and snack vendors were running out of food. There wasn't enough staff to get people properly loaded onto the rides that were working. It was bedlam.

It actually would have been a miserable experience, if we hadn't lucked out and been given a rare and highly coveted "Dream Fastpass," a plastic badge you wear around your neck that lets you bypass the hours-long lines at the most popular rides.

Mr. Luskin goes on to write that:

The risks that threatened the economy with potential recession are receding. The credit crisis is now a year old, and at this point is very well understood and contained thanks to smart moves by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury. There are still problems in the banking system, and there may be problems for years. But the risk of outright meltdown is now off the table, so these problems will get solved.

The housing crisis is probably near an end. As I wrote then, it hasn't been reported, but by some important measures the national housing market bottomed in February and has been on the upswing ever since.

Gee, Luskin's comments on the economy sound strangely akin to what Phil Gramm, another McCain economic adviser, said about the economy just about 6 weeks ago:

Phil Gramm, a former senator and top economic policy adviser to presumptive GOP nominee John McCain, has suggested in an interview with the Washington Times that the U.S. is in a "mental recession" as opposed to a real one.

"You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession," he told the newspaper. "We may have a recession; we haven't had one yet."

"We have sort of become a nation of whiners," he added. "You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline" despite a boom in exports.

"Misery sells newspapers," said Gramm, who argues the U.S. has never been more dominant. "Thank God the economy is not as bad as you read in the newspaper every day."

While McCain let Gramm go after the above comments became an embarrassment to the campaign, you can be sure the sentiment within the McCain campaign remains that all is well with the American economy and these people who are "whining" about rising prices and falling wages need to just to stop crying and listen to economic experts like Don Luskin tell them just how good things are.

In other words don't believe your eyes or your wallets, believe the magical thinking of Don Luskin (see here for Luskin's dismal track record) and Phil Gramm.

Truly magical thinking in the magical kingdom known as the McCain Campaign.

If you've liked the magical thinking of the last 8 years on the economy, the Iraq war, disaster relief, etc., you'll love the next four or eight years in a McCain administration where guys like Phil Gramm and Don Luskin will be making the economic decisions that impact our lives.

TV or Not TV?

For years, that has not been the question in my house. I've consistently denied my daughter a TV in her room for 12 years, and refused to even discuss it for the most part. Then she hooked me--"Dad, if I make honor roll for the whole year, can I get a TV?"

Kids are smart. They learn quickly how to push your buttons, and even when you deliberately move them around on a pretty regular basis, they still find them. And when your mother-in-law occasionally shares the room, and complains mightily that she can't watch her novelas, it's even worse. So there I was, up against the wall. They had me.

And now, not only does the kid have a TV, but hers is way better than mine, which is a relic of the stone age. Hers is an HDTV, which is pretty much the only kind you'll find nowadays, and my wife and I find ourselves sneaking in there to watch stuff. Wow, it's Bobby Flay, and he's melting that cheese on a wide screen! You can see every speck of that smoked paprika!

All my daughter's friends have their own TVs in their bedrooms. That never swayed me, as I found the notion fundamentally evil. Have I finally given into the pressures of society and weakened the moral fabric of my own daughter? Or am I just an old fuddy-duddy who's failed to get with the program?

Students Giving You Problems?

Why not start teaching in Harrold, Texas, where you can bring your gun with you to the classroom?

The school district says this is to prevent school shooting. However, your humble correspondent must report that this is technically not a new concept:

Could You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street?

Well, just click here. Especially if you've got a computer-savvy preschooler. I used to have one of those around my house, but now she's almost a teenager.

If you prefer adult fiction there's always this.

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

I got an email yesterday asking me why I always complained about the city schools. So you're in a trailer, so you're in a closet. Can't you ever say anything nice about our schools?

I suppose there are certain advantages of not having your own classroom. For one, you don't need to worry too much about bulletin boards, as you aren't in any one place long enough to be held responsible. In the case of oddly shaped or preposterously small rooms, there is often insufficient space to even place bulletin boards. Sure, you sometimes have to engage in extended battles to procure a portable blackboard, but if you fail in that endeavor, no one can complain you didn't write an aim on the board.

My nephew attends a suburban high school, and his teachers all have their own classrooms. He's a very motivated, pragmatic kid--a real problem solver. One of his teachers was frequently absent, and left SAT prep work when she wasn't there. He (and his classmates) considered it busy work. So they decided to take action.

The teacher always left a sub lesson in her top drawer, and the kids had seen it removed by various substitute teachers. The subs, though, often arrived late for first period. So whenever the teacher wasn't in the classroom, my nephew removed the sub lesson plan and replaced it with his own, instructing, "Show a video." There was always a TV with a small library of videos in back of the classroom, and one kid would choose one and insert it into the video player before the sub arrived.

So, if you're teaching in the city, and you're in a trailer or closet, consider how lucky you are not to have your own room, or a TV, or a computer, or a bulletin board, or a blackboard. While these sort of shenanigans occurred in my nephew's school, they will never, ever happen in yours.

Accountability

Let's see--your company is in the toilet. In fact, it's now being bailed out at the taxpayer's expense. So, what conclusion, as an objective observer, can you possibly come to?

Well, if you're Joel Klein, Chancellor of New York City schools, you decide that this is the kind of expertise you sorely lack, so you tap the managing director to be your new chief financial officer. After all, how many people are there who've been so instrumental at running a company into the ground?

It's tough to say whether Mr. George Raab, the person in question, will be able to rise to the standard set by Alvarez and Marsal, who managed to leave city kids on street corners freezing to death on the coldest days of the year, but the utter collapse of Mr. Raab's company certainly suggests he's in the ballpark.

And he won't need to share those ballpark seats with those nasty public school students, either, since city-subsidized ballpark seats can now run 495 bucks a pop. But when it comes to trailers and closets, it's still Children First in Mayor Bloomberg's New York.

Thanks to Annie

Modern Times

When I read stories like this one, I wonder how people in South Korea put up with the educational pressure-cooker that is their system. I value education, and I teach my daughter that how she does in school is very important. But honestly, I wouldn't want her to endure what the kids in South Korea are going through, and I think she needs time to have fun.

In fact, I think we all do. The model of working one's self to death may appeal to some, but not to me. Kids who go through such systems, which the KIPP schools seem to adore, have every reason to think their work careers may replicate their school careers. And increasingly, in the United States of America, they're right. I fail to see how working more hours and taking fewer vacations than anyone else in the industrialized world is something to boast about, but nonetheless, we're number one.

Our much maligned educational system lags behind that of South Korea in many respects, but, in all the wrong ways, we're catching up.

This summer I taught a group of smart, motivated young people from all over the world, and about half of my class happened to come from South Korea. My class focused on oral communications, and I used a lot of quirky topics to get them talking. They participated eagerly and gave me a really nice card yesterday, the last day of class. It appears they loved this class just as much as I did.

On the other hand, in my high school classes, I drilled my poor kids to death teaching them how to pass the NY State English Regents exam, which is not designed for them, is utterly inappropriate, and no fun at all. While most of them passed, I honestly don't believe they learned anything except how to pass one test, a skill that will be utterly useless to them in every other endeavor they undertake for the rest of their lives.

And this class, I suppose, is the sort of thing a lot of my Asian students are accustomed to. Still, my college students not only had a better class and experience, but learned more, and are better prepared to take regular college classes in the US. They're learning how to be confident and articulate, while my poor high school kids only learned how to pass a single test (albeit one they need in order to graduate).

I didn't receive any thank you cards from my high school kids, although I have to suppose many of them credited not me, but rather a divine miracle that caused them to pass (I don't mean to imply they're mistaken). I don't blame them for not loving the class. They weren't supposed to, and I guess I didn't love it either. We were all just there doing what we had to do.

It's a shame we're taking the worst features of foreign education systems and giving them to our students and children. I could give the same classes I gave my college students to high school kids, and in the long term, we'd all be better off.

The Carnival of Education...

...is up and running, and open to all over at Joanne Jacobs' joint.

I'll Have Another Cucumber Martini, Please...

Governor David Patterson announced drastic cuts to health and education programs in New York State yesterday while vacationing in the Hamptons.

Patterson announced a $51 million cut for the CUNY system, a $506 million dollar cut in health care spending, a $250 million cut in local government assistance, and a $132 million cut in spending on new programs.

The governor wants the cuts to address the state's $6.4 million projected deficit for next year.

After announcing the cuts, the governor then finished playing golf and ordered another round of cucumber martinis for he and his Hamptons golfing buddies/hedge fund managers courtesy of New York taxpayers.

Actually I made that last part up, but seriously, couldn't Patterson have made the announcements from Albany?

I understand times are tough and everybody's got to tighten their belts and make some sacrifices.

But why can't "working vacations" in the Hamptons for politicians also be put on the chopping block?

You Too Can Make Money Without Working!

That's right! Be the first on your block to get a no-bid contract from City Hall! Be sure you offer a vital service, like "demystifying" teachers. Mayor Mike and Jolly Joel have had enough of those goshdarn unionized employees being mystified, and they're willing to put up millions of city dollars to put an end to it.

What kind of group did they pick?

The organization, All Kinds of Minds, was co-founded by famed Harvard pediatrician Dr. Melvin Levine, who is facing new allegations that he sexually abused young, male patients.

The group scored a no-bid contract worth up to $12.5 million in 2004 - one of hundreds of no-bid contracts issued by the DOE since mayoral control of the school system began in fiscal year 2003.

According to city-comptroller statistics, the surge of no-bid contracts since then totals $342 million.

But All Kinds of Minds, whether or not it minds a few behinds, has left a few minds behind. To wit, it's trained fewer than one fifth of the still-mystified teachers it had promised to cure. I'm a bit disappointed, as I find myself mystified on a regular basis.

For one thing, what ever happened to checks and balances? How can anyone contemplate the continuation of mayoral control with the abysmal record we've seen thus far?

Thanks to Annie

Watch Your Step

Emblem Health, which you may know better as GHI or HIP, has resubmitted its proposal for privatization. This is very bad news for the overwhelming majority of NYC employees. Don't count on support from the UFT because Randi Weingarten's prime concern is how much cash the IPO will bring her well-oiled patronage mill.

If you're looking for someone who supports working people, check over here for the coalition to save our health care. They're more than happy to tell you what you can do to help. Evidence suggests that privatization benefits only the shareholders, and does so by passing higher costs onto policy holders, i.e. you and me.

This is the biggest issue facing working city employees right now. In 05 Ms. Weingarten demonstrated her willingness to give away virtually every gain the union had made over thirty years for a compensation increase that failed to meet cost of living. Sacrificing our health care, however, goes beyond the pale.

When her minions come to visit your school, remind them their job is to fence off the cliff, rather than push us over it.

Thought for the Day

Spin Doctors

As a high school teacher, I always watch the kids. You never know what the hell they're gonna do next, and they really keep you on your toes. Now lots of us have kids of our own, and fortunately, few things kids do tend to be as sinister or evil as we sometimes fear.

One thing I've noticed over the last few years is that my Asian students tend to spin pens in ways we gringos would never imagine. They're not always as elaborate as those below, but they're consistently well beyond my laughable abilities. I met a woman from Korea a few months ago and asked her about that. She took a pen from her bag, asked, "Do you mean like this?" and proceeded to spin her pen in ways that blew my mind.

"My advice," she said, "is just to forget all about it."

Which I did, for a while at least. It began to bother me that I'd never seen even one non-Asian do this. I've been teaching people from all over the world for over twenty years and I swear, I've seen every single stereotype refuted, and usually on a much-repeated basis. Could it be that you had to be from the Far East to twirl that pen? It bothered me a little.

Until a few weeks ago, actually, when a young woman from France (in my college class, no less) began twirling her pen in a style to rival anyone, thus restoring my faith in humanity, and shattering my last stereotype. If you don't teach ESL, you're likely not to have seen this, so check out the video below.

Have you seen this? Can you do this?

If You Like Joel Klein...

...you'll love Maverick Johny McCain. In September 2002, he predicted victory in Iraq would be easy. Then he said we could stay for a hundred years. He then made the rosy prediction that we could get out by 2013. With typical foresight (and hindsight), Maverick John is getting into bed with Joel Klein and Al Sharpton.

Now no one can deny that Joel Klein's educational "reforms" have proven just as effective as the Iraq War, and when you consider we're spending 3 billion a week out in the desert, Mr. Klein's 80-million dollar non-functioning computer seems a drop in the bucket. And while Mr. Klein left hundreds of kids to freeze in the streets on the coldest days of the year, at least opposing combatants weren't shooting at them. Not this year, anyway.

Mr. McCain, of course, supports school vouchers, while that nasty Barack Obama opposes them. This, apparently, is a big selling point for Mr. McCain. It's very clear that if we could only dispose of those nasty teacher unions and hire temporary employees for a pittance we could seriously lower Steve Forbes' tax bill. And honestly, if the United States of America doesn't stand for lowering Steve Forbes' tax bill, then what on earth does it stand for?

So forget that Maverick Johny has embraced Bush tax cuts, Bush's war, and the religious zealots he once stood up to. Forget that he was wrong from the beginning about Iraq, and continues to be wrong now. Forget his endless contradictions. Never mind that, despite frequent rhetoric to the contrary, he consistently votes against the interests of the men and women who actually fight the wars he supports. The important thing is he'll get more cash into the pockets of those who have more cash, and he'll oppose unions in education. It's all about giving the poor kids instruction in how to work long days and long hours for little reward.

After all, someone has to serve drinks at Steve Forbes' house. You tend to get thirsty a lot at poolside, even at the indoor pool.

Another Brilliant Victory

I've just received an email from the UFT stating that Teachers' Choice funds have been reduced from $260 to $150.

It's a victory, apparently, because it's better than nothing. This represents a great step forward for the Unity/New Action patronage employees who negotiated the 05 contract (which regular readers of this blog may recall, was not better than nothing).

Perhaps that can be the new UFT slogan---"We're better than nothing."

Certainly Chancellor Klein must agree. When the system pulls money out of the pockets of working people, how many union leaders stand up and say, "Thank you sir, may I have another?"

Only the one on the immediate left.

Thank you Ms. Weingarten. If President Bush had you and the Unity/ New Action patronage mill to explain why failure and incompetence represents victory, perhaps his numbers wouldn't be so far in the toilet and he could be out campaigning for Maverick Johny.

Tier One Memories

Tier One, proudly wearing a t-shirt that says "Tier One," marches to summer school every morning, as he's done for scores of years. He doesn't need the money, and the older teachers all speculate as to how much money he's losing every day he shows up during the school year. He won't retire and he won't take the summer off. This is what he does, and what would he do if he didn't do what he did?

But he doesn't like the new "pass everyone no matter what" philosophy that pervades a lot of NYC summer programs.

"When I started teaching summer school," he says, "things were different. If kids were out three days, that was it. They were out of the program."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I used to start with 50 kids, say we're doing six book reports, and that the first one was due in one week. 25 of them wouldn't show for three days. Then I'd say let's forget about the book reports, and teach the 25 kids who were crazy enough to go along with me."

With Apologies to Martin Niemoller

Over at Edwize, they’re getting up on their high horse again, pretending to be the protectors of working people, rather than a bunch of gutless double-pensioned self-serving patronage hacks. I was somewhat offended by their presumption to portray themselves as defenders of working people, particularly since they supported mayoral control and enabled every unproductive "reform" that Tweed has been able to foist on NYC teachers and students.

In case it's not obvious to everyone reading this, their main instrument to accomplish this was the 2005 contract. In any case, I've reworked the verse to something more appropriate:

When the UFT gave up the transfer plan,
I said nothing; after all, I was already in a good school.
When they made my colleagues ATRs,
I said nothing; after all, I was not yet in a closing school.
When they partnered up with Green Dot,
I said nothing; after all, I had tenure and seniority.
When my school was closed, there was no longer anyone who could protest.

What Happens When You Don't Have Tenure?

Parent Coordinator Charles Woods managed to draw 800 parents to a family night. He's been praised by Mayor Bloomberg, and more importantly, by real public school parents:

"He's been here for my child. Without Mr. Woods, it will be nothing," said parent Shevinah Henderson...

On the last day of the term at PS 11, Principal Elizabeth Hachar fired him.

Tough Times

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