Well, after a couple hours of thought and twenty-seven years being a high school music teacher, I thought I would write about HOW HILARY WILL IMPROVE SCHOOLS. Yes, that’s right. This man who will NOT vote for Hilary is going to write about HOW HILARY WILL IMPROVE SCHOOLS. ANY PRESIDENT WHO BELIEVES HE OR SHE WILL IMPROVE SCHOOLS should not be president because that is one area he / she will not improve. False promise. Why? Because public education is too big. Since 1978, the year the federal department of public education was established, how has public education improved? Please, do the five minute Google / Wikipedia / SNOPES / Politifact searches and show us how much the United States of America’s public schools have improved since 1978. You may find one, two, or ten citations, but I fear you will find more negatives about our school system (especially in the area of “discipline” or the response to children’s choices) than positives. And what disturbs me about the current situation of our public schools is how we dismiss public schools as an issue. IT IS A BIG FRICKIN’ ISSUE!
On July 5th, FBI Director James Comey presented the findings of their investigation of Hilary’s handling of classified documents and sensitive information. Because of my sincere respect and much love for my liberal friends, I DID NOT SELECT “The Hill” or “Townhall” or some uber-conservative “rag.” I would have been GRILLED for selecting such conservative reporting. No. No, I selected CNN. You will see their reporting in this blog entry.
I enjoyed this CNN reporting style because it has “seven quotes from Comey on an issue that is sure to reverberate into the fall campaign.” What I am about to do (against better judgement) is to share with you HOW HILARY WILL IMPROVE SCHOOLS by using her as the model of how not to behave. CNN STORY
There is something in public schools (the Federal Government since 1978) called Zero Tolerance. What is Zero Tolerance you ask? As with all good papers, I will give you the Merriam-Webster definition: a policy of giving the most severe punishment possible to every person who commits a crime or breaks a rule. < The police announced that there will be zero tolerance for looters> <The camp has a zero tolerance drug and alcohol policy. >
Now, that you have THE definition for Zero Tolerance, take a look at the CNN article and the seven quotes from Comey and see how those seven quotes would be handled in our public school system. Those seven quotes would have stopped on NUMBER ONE: “Extremely careless.”
“So, Billy…”
“Yes, Mr. Johnson (administrator).”
“You were extremely careless when you chewed your pop tart in the shape of a gun and for that extreme carelessness, you are suspended for three days.”
How about NUMBER TWO: “Should have known.”
“So, Elizabeth…”
“yes, Mr. Johnson (administrator).”
“You should have known that that dress was inappropriate and for you not knowing that that dress was inappropriate, you are suspended for three days.”
I will do one more … just for the heck of it
“So, Pedro…” “Yes, Mr. Johnson (administrator).”
“While not the focus of our investigation of what happened in Mr. Edwards’ classroom, we also developed evidence that the behavior of his classroom in general, and with respect to use of the school’s email systems in particular, was generally lacking in the kind of care for classified information that is found elsewhere in our school. You are now suspended for three days.”
When proving a point, the writer may make an exaggeration. I am not too far off with my examples. WHAT THE HECK ARE WE DOING WITH ZERO TOLERANCE IN SCHOOLS? Seriously. What a lazy way of teaching children respect, responsibility and discipline. Kids make mistakes. Adults make mistakes. However, look at how our FBI and our Attorney General responded to Hilary Clinton’s mistake made, versus how a public school administration would respond to Billy, Elizabeth, or Pedro’s mistakes. What are we teaching our children? They look at our leaders and ask the question, “Why can they commit a crime or (in this case) break a rule and not be “suspended?” There are SEVEN THINGS found in the CNN article. None. Not one is going to lead to Hilary being given the equivalent to what our children get in the federal government public schools!
So, HOW HILARY WILL IMPROVE THE SCHOOLS (President Obama said she would. He said that on July 5, 2016). I know she will not abolish the federal department of education. Why would Hilary relinquish control over our children’s education? Do what Governor Kasich suggested during his campaign: Abolish the federal department of education and divide up all the funds currently in that department and give it to the states. But, if we are not going to abolish that department, abolish parts of public education that simply do not make our children better adults: ABOLISH ZERO TOLERANCE. Give the students a sense that mistakes are steps to learning.
The response to what Hilary has done is a travesty. We are seeing more leaders being able to work their way through the maze of life without ZERO TOLERANCE. There is an irony, in a sense, we have ZERO TOLERANCE for our children’s mistakes, but we have tolerance for those gosh darn ADULTS. What the heck? THAT IS B-ass-ACKWARDS THINKING!! WE should have tolerance for our children’s mistakes and ZERO TOLERANCE for the adults, especially those who are our leaders!
Now, don’t get me wrong and don’t twist what I am writing. Many of my students would tell you that “Mr. Everts is tough. Too tough. In fact, give the SUSPENSION so I don’t have to have one of his lectures!” When a child does something wrong, he/she needs consequences (but not leading to SUSPENSION / DETENTION) and then an opportunity to explain their thinking. My crazy father gave me one piece of great advice: ask the child to explain him/herself and most of the time when he/she is hearing what he/she is saying, he/she will go, “duh, that was stupid.” Yes, it is easier / more simple to write the referral and give the student Saturday school. However, it is more effective to inform the student how their actions disappointed so many people, important people (parents / family / friends). Log what the student did and please give them a chance to learn prior to putting it in their file.
Please Hilary, do what our students would be expected to do: admit what you did was wrong / a mistake and promise to never do it again. Unless something (some would say “miracle”) were to mysteriously happen, Hilary is going to be president. We need to see contrition. We need to see a leader who is human and part of being human is making mistakes!! After all, your world doesn’t have ZERO TOLERANCE. Make those mistakes. Obviously, you are not going to be “suspended.” We expect more from you. If President Obama said, “Hilary is going to improve our schools,” always start with yourself (Hilary).
Donating Hair Leads To Suspension
Pop Tart Gun Leads To Suspension
Student Opening Door for Adult Leads to Suspension