My Beauty Best Teacher

Saharan Vibe profiles the work of Yinka Shonibare:

Whilst in art school, he began with life drawing and later his art work became politicized focusing on global issues. One of his teachers once asked him why he made art work that addressed Western society and events and not authentic African art.
As a joke, Shonibare began to ask himself what is authentic African art. What does it constitute? What does it mean? He grew up in Lagos and felt that he had no special key into ethnic or authentic art as he sees himself as a cosmopolitan citizen...[continue reading]

via Global Voices

From Edward Rackley at 3QuarksDaily:

Conté belonged to a dwindling species of wizened and paranoid leaders-for-life, whose ranks include Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe and Omar Bongo of Gabon. Once hailed as liberators and visionaries, they became pathetic parables of 'absolute power corrupting absolutely'. The psychological path from flamboyant liberator to murderous despot is dramatic stuff, and was ably fictionalized in The Last King of Scotland. An excellent non-fiction account of Mobutu Sese Seko’s rise and fall is Mobutu, Roi du Zaire, by Thierry Michel...[continue reading]

As the recent conflict between Hamas and Israel unfolds, what is most interesting to me is how it is viewed by the larger world. Not to be overly dramatic, but a peaceful and prosperous nation conducting air attacks by uniformed personal vs a violent and poor non-nation launching rocket attacks by men wearing black ski masks should be viewed as a conflict between good guys and bad guys, and treated as such. I know there are underlying issues, and I am sympathetic to them, but clearly this conflict has a clear good guy and bad guy.

Unless you live in bizarro world, that opposite reality that the American left, the main-stream media, and Democrats live in. In Bizarro world, society is ruled by the Bizarro Code which states that you mus do the opposite of all normal things- you must hate beauty and love ugliness and it is a crime to make things right. Inhabitants of Bizarro world believe that our economy must crash for things to be better, and that you must appease all bad guys in the name of peace. Kind and considerate people who are curious about the world around them are the bad guys, and closed minded shouting politically correct individuals who want to control your life are the good guys- that is bizarro world.

So let's look at what bizarro world looks like in relation to the conflict between Hamas and Israel. Much of the controversy in this conflict centers around what is a 'proportionate' response by Israel for unprovoked random rocket attacks by terrorist groups operating in Hamas controlled Gaza Strip. After reading David Aaronovitch's article in the Times Online, I think I have a better idea of what bizarro world would look like here.

In bizarro world, the world of the liberals, it be best if Israel were to manufacture a thousand or so wildly inaccurate missiles and then fire them off in the general direction of Gaza City. Or one of Hama's rockets could manage to hit an Israeli nursery school at the wrong time (or the right time, depending upon how you look at it) and then the proportionality issue would be solved in one explosion. In bizarro world, Hamas is the good guy, and Israel is the bad guy- you know if you're talking to a resident of Htrae (Earth spelled backwards to those unfamiliar with Superman lore) because they'll believe this and cry about genocide or some such nonsense.

Yes, people are dying, and that is bad thing. Innocent civilians are being killed. But I wonder- how innocent are you when you support with your labor and taxes and comforting words the terrorist who is shooting random missiles at a peaceful country? Are you really 'innocent'? This debate is deep and complex, and gets to the very heart of the beast on conflict, war, and terrorism. Solving it will make the world a better place.

Field of Dishonor, by David Weber, was a good book and continued the Honor Harrington series, but didn't wow me like the first two in the series did. There were no space battles, few gun fights, and a lot of secondary characters were introduced. It is a good read though, with interesting political conflicts and a couple of good and memorable scenes.

Early in the book there is a good part- the Kingdom of Manticore (a constitutional monarchy) has just defeated the Peoples Republic of Haven (a communist empire), and they have a good chance to build on their gains. But a group of politicians decides to be against the war for political purposes, and the end result is for the worse. The Opposition group opposes the use of force, believing that this is noble, and not just a gutless inability to fight evil. The Opposition believes that as long as someone else does the fighting, they can be against the war politically to prove their moral superiority over those who they think are beneath them. In the book, the Opposition is a bunch of communists and nobleman. The parallels to our world are striking.

It is a good book to pick up to continue the series, and if you haven't read any of Weber's books, pick up the first one, On Basilisk Station, and give it a read- you won't be disappointed.

Over the holidays I received the attached email from a teacher in Houston . I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I have some followers from as far away as Texas. I decided to post this email here on my blog since there has been a great deal of discussion and debate about our ongoing contract negotiations. It's always interesting to hear other teachers perspectives from jurisdictions outside of our own. I have taken the liberty to delete the sender's names for obvious reasons.



Dear Candi,

"I have been reading your blog regarding the situation involving contract negotiations. Unfortunately, I believe that the unbridled actions of Rhee under the guise of "reform" is the foundation of unfortunate disagreement within the ranks. It is so important that we stand united in D.C. and across the country on this issue. My thoughts and prayers are with you all. I fail to understand how anyone would not want 110% transparency and full membership involvement with the types of decisions that must be made under these dire conditions.

I find your blog to be very comprehensive. I have begun to dabble with one here in Houston, but I am still in the learning process. I am currently working on research involving TFA, performance pay and the like that might be useful. I will let you know once I complete my report.

Best of luck with the contract negotiations. I believe that we must stand up and take some very unpopular positions within our membership for the overall good of public education and our profession as a whole, but there are limits. Teacher bashing and the total loss of tenure rights certainly crosses the line." (Posted by The Washington Teacher).

In solidarity,

Signed ... A Houston Teacher

Andrew Mclaughlin of Google at BarcampAfrica discusses amongst other things "How 'free' destroys economic ecosystems":
via Mootbox

Essay competition winner Chinwe Mirian Onwubiko writes

Entrepreneurship could become a major avenue for Nigeria to accelerate economic growth, create job opportunities, reduce the importation of manufactured goods, and decrease the trade deficit,” says Onwubiko. “Many young Nigerians aspire to be successful entrepreneurs, but their ability to make use of their skills remains highly constrained…The failure of the government to provide a conducive entrepreneurial environment and to satisfy basic social needs exacerbates these problems. It is imperative, that policies are implemented to address these issues, with Nigerian youth at their core...[continue reading(pdf)]-CIPE

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• Governance In Nigeria

Binyavanga Wainaina discusses amongst other things "the unusual (and unaccountable) power that international organizations wield"-Chris Blattman

See here for Part 2 and 3

New Times reports:

The RDGN hopes to raise a total of Frw 800m annually. The commitment by the Diasporan Community to invest in the country comes at a crucial time in Rwanda's history.The Diasporans are offering a viable alternative, that will not only contribute to the country's prosperity, but will ensure that she stands on her two feet, able to take on any political challenges with dignity.
This effort also shores up what the country is getting in remittances from Rwandans abroad. The latest reported figure is of a total of USD 110m of remittances in the form of investment flows into various development sectors of the economy...[continue reading]

Global Integrity launches the Liberia Local Governance Toolkit:

The Sub-National Integrity Indicators scorecards for Liberia assess the existence, effectiveness, and citizen access to key governance and anti-corruption mechanisms in each of Liberia's 15 counties. Each county scorecard comprises more than 200 individual Integrity Indicators questions that are guided by consistent scoring criteria across all counties and supported by original document research and interviews with experts. The indicators explore issues such as the transparency of the local budget process, media freedom, asset disclosure requirements for political leaders, and conflicts of interest regulations at the county level...[continue reading]

Communcating for Change founded by Sandra Mbanefo Obiago produced Cash Madam a documentary about:

The formidable women traders who run million dollar business in the bustling street markets of Nigeria’s capital Lagos – and drive Mercedes Benz limousines – are affectionately known as Cash Madam or Mama Benz. But now they want official government recognition for the substantial contribution they make to Nigeria’s national wealth.

See related video about the "Economic Roles of African Women" here

photo courtesy of made in Africa

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• Businesses See Opportunity in Empowering Women
• MegaCity or MegaSlum? - Lagos

Gertjan van Stam on endless "Report Writing":

We have shown that after priority to connect the rural communities and train local talent, we can deliver tailor-made community driven solutions, adding value to, and engendering, partnerships with expert organizations. Although heavily challenged by in vogue bureaucratic approaches, we must support learning, innovations, and entrepreneurship instead of overly focusing on reporting. It is quite frustrating to live in rural Africa and to spend much time on writing reports instead of being 'out there' doing the job. One just wonders where all those reports go, and if spending so much time on such work is 'all worth it'...[continue reading]

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• Do hopes for development in Africa really only lie with women?

Clara Onofre at Global Voices reports on Angola's tourism potential:

Angola, as everyone knows, is a beautiful country. With around 1,246,700 km2, Angola retains the most diverse landscapes, from Benguela's naturally warm water beaches to the dense and rich Maiombe forest in Cabinda or the legendary Namibe desert, the only place in the world where the special welwitschia mirabilis grows...Despite having these postcard landscapes, Angola is yet to flourish as a tourist destination. There is little infrastructure to properly accommodate those who want to come just to visit the country...[continue reading]

photo courtesy of Spindola

What a joke of a nation we live in- I mean, when an election is stolen so easily, and people don't even care. I'm talking about the Senate election between the joker Al Franken (joker not because he is funny, but because it is a joke that he is considered a legitimate candidate for public office) and Senator Norm Coleman.

Every year, I do the dutiful thing and spend a whole class day trying to convince my students that their vote does matter, that our elections are the most fair and uncorrupted in the world, and I battle their innate cynicism to try to install pride in our country. But then a situation like this one comes along, and makes a mockery of our election system. I mean, how in the world can Franken's attempt to be Senator be taken seriously when he argues for ballots found in people's cars to be counted, even when counting those ballots means that more people will vote for him than even live in the precinct? Even an foolish hypocrite crack-smoker like Franken knows that is bogus (and those aren't insults, they reference his policy proposals, his history of not paying employees minimum wage and dodging taxes, and his own autobiography description of doing crack).

If it is this easily to steal an election, what hope is there? I heard a rumor that ACORN is now getting federal funding- so now taxpayer money is used to steal elections at the same time phony election fraud goes uncommented on for a Senate seat. I wonder- do you even need a political resume any more? Maybe all you need is good lawyers and then you can steal an election without even making the pretense of winning votes? Good thing there are honest Democrats around blocking the Republicans shady attempts to steal elections, or else who knows how bad it would be? Oh wait, these are all Democrat attempts... but that doesn't fit the narrative...

UPDATE: From Bloomberg.com:

One sample ballot shows a filled-in circle for John McCain and Sarah Palin, indicating the voter’s intent to select the Republican candidates. In the Senate race, the circle next to Norm Coleman’s names is filled in, but there is a faint X through it. This might suggest that the voter intended to cross out, or negate, the vote cast for Coleman. Or it might indicate that the voter made an extra scribble when filling in the circle. That is why the ballot was disputed. In this case, the panel ruled that the vote wasn’t for Coleman because the X indicates intent to cancel the darkened circle.

Consider the next ballot, though, which is almost identical except for two changes. First, the filled-in circle that is crossed out is a potential vote for Franken. Second, the X is much larger and more obvious. And what did the canvassing board decide? It is a vote for Franken. Calling that ballot a vote for Franken is possible in isolation. But taken together, the two decisions are at odds.

Update on More Unprincipled Principals

To protect their jobs, DC principals are under increasing pressure - to fudge teachers evaluations some sources say in order to satisfy Chancellor Rhee's plan B. Shortly after teacher contract talks stalled, Rhee threatened to aggressively implement her plan B to teachers or with teachers in the form of a 'newly revised' evaluation plan which seeks to rid DCPS of ineffective teachers. While no one supports ineffective teaching, little did we know that DC principals would be encouraged to seek a quota of teachers, bribe students and if all else fails lie.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity , sources have recently revealed that several more DC administrators were required by the Rhee administration to 'alter' structured observations of teachers who had performed well in order to make it appear that they were less than effective. These teachers deserve better. An alternate remedy might be for teachers to video tape their next structured observation which must be scheduled in advance by the administrator. Of course take the necessary steps to ensure that you have the required parental permission releases to video tape your students. In addition, request another teacher or your building representative to sit in on your evaluation and observe and take notes.

If you believe that your structured observation may have been rigged or know of a teacher in this situation, please send your story c/o The Washington Teacher. Just click on the link and email the details. (Posted by The Washington teacher).

Image by YoungRobV via FlickrHerman j. Cohen writes about the potential for a Central Africa Economic free trade area:

Acts of war and military occupation aside, there is a natural economic synergy between eastern Congo and the nations of East Africa, including Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda. The normal flow of trade from eastern Congo is to Indian Ocean ports rather than the Atlantic Ocean, which is more than a thousand miles away.
After his inauguration, Barack Obama should appoint a special negotiator who would propose a framework for an economic common market encompassing Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. This agreement would allow the free movement of people and trade. It would give Rwandan businesses continued access to Congolese minerals and forests. The products made from those raw materials would continue to be exported through Rwanda. The big change would be the payment of royalties and taxes to the Congolese government. For most Rwandan businesses, those payments would be offset by increased revenues...[continue reading]

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Merry Christmas everyone! It is the time to spend with family and friends, and so there won't be any more posts until later this week. Take the time to step away from the bizzaro world that the United States has become, and enjoy the time by doing real things with real people that really matter. Don't let your mind be troubled with the accelerating fall of America- don't let yourself be depressed with the magic money and politically connected Scrooges who get it- and don't let yourself worry about the future for a country that values celebrities and nepotism more than hard work and common decency. It is instead time to marvel at the birth of Christ, time to sing songs and play games, time to give presents that bring joy to your loved ones, and time to believe in the true Christmas miracle, that god should love us so much as to let his child be born to live among us. Merry Christmas everyone!

Shyaka Kanuma at the East African reports on an interview with Paul Kagame,regarding Trading Blocs he asserts:

...If we have big regional blocs, then you will have a situation where more businesses from rich countries come looking for opportunities — and more direct investment means less reason to go looking for foreign aid.

Continuing on Western Agendas:

“These rich countries still exercise control over us; all these human rights and media rights organisations and so on, their sole objective is to impose Western ideals and values on everyone; anyone who refuses to go along is blacklisted.
“If you reject even some of their suggestions or recommendations, you pay for it. It doesn’t matter either whether the suggestions aren’t practical for us or don’t fit our situation...[continue reading]

How Mauritius continues to get it right-Economist
Worldchanging provides an overview of Financial Innovators
Is Private Health Care the Answer to the Health Problems of the World's Poor?-Plos
Competing views on Informal Economies-Next Billion
A Cheery African future?
Alaskan Village Corporations, A model for rural Africa?
Poverty Reduction demands a 'bottom-up approach'.
Training Women Entrepreneurs-WSJ
While Rio Tinto and Israeli diamond trader Beny Steinmetz fight over Guinean Iron Ore...the question is where are the Africans?
Wealth creation in the developing world: Is Africa a lost cause? Listen here

My WTU executive board colleague, Erich Martel (teacher @ Wilson SHS) sent me a copy of AFT President Randi Weingarten's editorial in the WaPo yesterday. Randi makes some key points on improving DC Schools. Key amongst her recommendations are the need for collaboration- (sound familiar), teacher mentoring, solid professional development, support and respect in the workplace, strong discipline and a rich curriculum, etc. Those of us involved in our local unions are often accused of not proposing solutions for reform which just isn't true. Certainly public schools and teachers unions can work collaboratively in the best interests of students and teachers. Montgomery County public schools works collaboratively with their teachers' union which by the way initiated teacher peer assistance and review. Here's what Randi had to say in the December 22nd Post, page A20 "Improving DC's Public And Charter Schools":

"The District's public school system must refocus if it hopes to make real and sustainable educational changes ("A Union of Interests," editorial, and "Charter Schools Make Gains on Tests," front page, Dec. 15).

To improve teaching and learning, school leaders and teachers must work together in a supportive, respectful environment. It's worked in Montgomery County, where superintendent-union collaboration has led to sustained student achievement. In the District, several charter schools are seeing progress because of basic but essential programs that the American Federation of Teachers has promoted for years, including a strong discipline policy, a rich curriculum, after-school and Saturday classes, and modernized buildings.

Real education reform in Washington should be measured by what is being done to improve teaching and learning. Is there a substantive plan for a rigorous and rich education? Do teachers receive mentoring and solid professional development? Are the adult stakeholders working collaboratively to achieve sustainable reforms? Unfortunately, the discussion has devolved into one issue: teacher tenure. Let's have that discussion, but it's not the only topic worth discussing." (posted by The Washington Teacher).

RANDI WEINGARTEN
President
American Federation of Teachers
Washington

Is it me, or does customer service suck more every year? Hopefully that didn't sound like an old man complain- I mean that I personally feel that the service that goes with my purchases is getting steadily worse. And it's not just rude servers at a restaurant. It's going to Taco Bell and ordering a meal, and then asking to substitute for an item of lesser value, and being told no substitutions- I didn't buy the meal then, and have boycotted Taco Bell ever since. It's going to True Value and buying a 2-pack of lights, and then since they were out of the 2-packs grabbing two individual lights, and being told that I couldn't have the 2-pack price for 2 individual lights- never going to True Value again.

Customer service is the reason why I went go to Jared to buy jewelery, and was the reason why I went to the Ford dealership for all the work on my cars- but I've had a bad run there, so now have to experiment again with finding a good local shop. Where is reputation, loyalty, service in this new business world? Perhaps as our society becomes atomized by secularism and liberalism, and as capitalism is continually attacked, we lose sight of the beauty and joy of a buyer making a transaction with a seller- it is not something to attack, it is not something where someone is winning and the other losing- me buying a product should make me feel good and you feel good- and instead, we both feel angry lately because of 'the system', and that's not right.

Oh well, happy holidays!

The Economist writes:

Today, getting a container to the heart of Africa—from Douala in Cameroon to Bangassou in the Central African Republic, say—still means a wait of up to three weeks at the port on arrival; roadblocks, bribes, pot-holes and mud-drifts on the road along the way; malarial fevers, prostitutes and monkey-meat stews in the lorry cabin; hyenas and soldiers on the road at night. The costs of fuel and repairs make even the few arterial routes (beyond southern Africa) uneconomic. A study by America’s trade department found that it cost more to ship a ton of wheat from Mombasa in Kenya to Kampala in Uganda than it did to ship it from Chicago to Mombasa.But several companies are trying to make the best of Africa’s creaking infrastructure to construct transcontinental logistics networks. Among them are DHL, Maersk, Dubai World and Chinese companies supplying oil and mining projects in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The clear leader so far is Bolloré Africa Logistics, a division of Bolloré, a French industrial conglomerate...[continue reading]

I'm always fasinated by conspiracies- not because they I buy them, but because I like to take them out and look at them and see if they hold up in the light of day. As I wrote earlier regarding the controversy of whether or not Obama fufills the qualitification of being a natural born citizen (see my post Can you Smell what Barack is Cooking?) , if there was no fire then there shouldn't be all this smoke. Obama seems to be at the center of other controveries too- for example, I wrote here about Obama's Draft Registration Card Raises Serious Questions.

Then, as I was bumming around on the internet, I came across this little fun fact- apparently, according to the assessment records for Cook County, Obama doesn't own the house that he used to live in- the house is owned by a man named William Miceli. This man is a lawyer employed by Rezko, and Obama formerly worked with him. Odd that Obama wouldn't own this house, but it really is that odd, because you might remember that the way that Obama bought this house in the first place was by using fraud, deception, and illegal government kickbacks to Rezko, which is why he is in prision.

Through the wonder of the internet and copy machines and scan machines, the truth could be now known- that Obama is renting his house from the lawyer of a felon. That felon got government kickbacks- and Obama, a former government official, is living in his house? Smells like corruption to me.

If this is true, and if you doubt it email me your evidence, then it looks like Obama is further in trouble, because he was deducting his mortgage payments on his tax returns, and you can't do that for a house that you don't own.

Is there any fire behind this smoke? Is it reasonable to ask questions about this, considering the fact that many people associated with Chicago politics are shady and corrupt, and that Obama has had dealings now with several people who are going to prision for corruption? I think so. Committing mortgage fraud and tax fraud are crimes still in this country, whether they are committed by Obama or Nixon.

UPDATE: Days later, the World Net Daily picks up the scent and is on this one- I wonder how long before the MSM gets involved? Here is what the WND wrote:

WND confirmed the tax bill for the Obama home is mailed to Miceli, not to Obama or the Northern Trust account through which Obama has claimed the home was purchased. Records from the Cook County Treasurer's Office give the PIN number for the Obama property as 20-11-115-037-0000 and list Miceli as the person who receives Obama's property tax invoice by mail.

And here is the commentary over at Vox Propoli, very similar to mine:

So, who really did buy the house? Who owns it now? It's certainly possible that there's an innocent explanation for why Rezko's lawyer should be paying the property taxes on Obama's house, but something smells very, very fishy indeed in Cook County.

With the news that U.S. Senate hopeful Caroline Kennedy supports restoring the ban on assault weapons and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley saying that he wants to put into place a comprehensive gun ban for the city of Chicago, here is a little bit of gun history:

• In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
• In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
• Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.
• China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
• Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million educated' people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated
• Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
• Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

What is the lesson here, boys and girls? Good luck Washington DC and Seattle and Los Angeles- I hope your new gun control laws make the world a better place, in spite of the evidence to the contrary.

Whether our eyes are wide open or shut, there can be no escape from Rhee's 90-day termination plan for DC teachers. I feel compelled to write about this after some blog posts that I read which speculate whether DC teachers should be placed on 90-day termination plans or not. First of all I must admonish anyone who would do such a thing- that is not our role nor our place to make these determinations. Certainly we are not in an administrative capacity, we lack all of the facts and are not in a position to judge anyone else's performance. There before the grace of God go I, go you and all of us. I guess the reason that I am concerned about what is happening is because I know that DCPS has always been a retaliatory system lacking in checks and balances. Early on in my public school career, I was riffed unfairly by a vindictive administrator despite having above average ratings. That experience gave me pause and made me suspect of a public school system that allowed many administrators and principals to go unchecked and regularly wreck havoc on programs and people all the while refusing to follow rules just because they were in charge. Don't get me wrong - I am not saying that some teachers aren't ineffective. However, as former superintendent John Deasey of PG county public schools stated in a recent meeting - it is the role of an administrator and superintendent to give their employees all of the tools they need to be successful before considering termination. I ask you honestly do you have all the tools you need to be successful in what you do?

Let me tell you about my story of a former vindictive DCPS administrator named Dr. Margaret Labat. Old (not wise) and cantankerous she was for lack of more appropriate adjectives to describe her demeanor. A real spirit killer. Please believe me when I say I have always had a fond respect for my elders - I guess due to growing up in an environment with 'very old' grandparents whom I dearly loved and adored (to this day). I do not call Margaret Labat old because I have disdain for my elders or older people- I call her old to paint a picture of what she reminded me of - like the wicked witch in The Wizard of Oz type of old. I hope you get my drift. My colleagues and I had good reasons to detest her disrespectful attitude, and unethical and vindictive practices which ultimately impacted our students.

In the mid nineties, Council woman Kathy Patterson introduced legislation in which DC employees could be riffed (reduction in force) with seniority only being considered one of many factors in a reduction in force. Of course I did not have a lot of experience at that time. However, what I did have going for me was never taken into consideration by Dr. Labat as was required by law. One's performance appraisals, involvement on committee's, awards, veteran status, years of school experience, degrees and other factors were ranked on a competitive level ranking form. Employees could earn up to a maximum of 25 points and competed in a class of employees. Obviously employees who had the lowest rankings were riffed.

As you may suspect, I have always been an advocate for fairness, justice and due process. It is part of the fabric of who I am. After having worked 3 years for Dr. Labat she refused to convert all of our teachers and counseling staff from probationary status to permanent status despite our positive performance appraisals. Her rationale was that nobody told her what to do. Prior to being riffed I had appealed to the Washington Teachers' Union to represent me in getting my permanent status. I was the only employee on Dr. Labat's staff to win my permanent status after a long protracted battle. Of course I was the only employee in my program that she riffed.

Long story short- when the RIF was announced- Dr. Labat called me into her office stating that nobody goes to the union on me.... for this you will pay. And that I did. Labat gave me a big fat zero on my competitive ranking form. The DC Office of Human Resources stated that this was impossible to earn zero points after all you get points for years of experience which I had, points for having a Bachelors degree which I had and even more points for a Master's degree which I had, points for performance appraisals which I had and even more points for above average ratings which I had, and points for being on school wide committees which I had. Needless to say Dr. Labat refused to change my zero rating despite the multiple requests of DCPS. I was riffed the beginning of the summer.

My experience is not unique but more importantly it is germaine to what is happening today to teachers being placed on a 90-day termination plans. My former administrator intentionally failed to follow the law and DC municipal regulations. DC teachers are not at-will employees and can only be fired for 'just cause' by law. The newly PPEP evaluation process created by Rhee's administration has aborted many of our due process rights. Based on 1 structured observation by an administrator without regard to other factors such as performance, awards, test scores, professional development, parental involvement and local school targets, and involvement on committees, etc. a teacher can be placed on a 90-day termination plan. With only the recommendation of a principal and an instructional superintendent- DCPS can decide to terminate you in 90 days or wait till the end of the year. Let's not lose sight of the fact that rightly or wrongly- should any of us ever have to face a termination or RIF - we all should be yelling to the top of our lungs that DCPS adhere to following due process as outlined in our contract, DCMR and the Merit Comprehensive Pay Act.

I have posted on The Washington Teacher a story in which a veteran teacher who had an exceeds rating for the last 5 years was targeted by a new principal who wasn't even aware of her stellar performance. There is another story of a veteran teacher of 18 years who has the highest test scores in his building. He was only targeted for a 90-day termination plan after speaking to Chancellor Rhee about the lack of internet accessibility in his NE school. It has been reported that the Ron Brown principal threatened to place all of his teachers on a 90-day termination plan. The Malcolm X principal placed 6 veteran teachers on a 90-day termination plan after the December deadline.

It isn't just coincidence that many of the teachers who are being targeted for 90 day termination plans are veteran teachers of a minority group and over 40. Let's not lose sight of Rhee's Plan B which she promised to impose with us or to us after teacher contract talks stalled. Of course there are younger teachers being targeted as well. Let's not keep our eyes wide shut. If you know of a story involving a DC teacher who has been targeted unfairly or due process has been violated please send it to me c/o my email @ saveourcounselors@gmail.com (Posted by The Washington Teacher).

In my last post, I complained about the use of jargon in education, and speculated that one of the reasons why education in the United States is becoming increasingly poor is the increasing reliance on jargon. As I said, what makes my teaching strong is my rejection of the state-promoted jargon. Read the whole post here. At the time of posting though, I didn't attribute any motive to this.

One of my brothers responded to my post be emailing me and bringing to my attention that the use of jargon and the dumbing down of our students might be not just the work of mindless idiots or misguided government bureaucrats, but rather a plot by elites to dumb us down to control us better. This is not the wild speculations of a raving lunatic- these were the ideas of CS Lewis, as written about in the Abolition of Man, or found online here.

In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.

Maybe the point is to make us stupid, so that we are able to be controlled more easily? After all, if evil can convince us that it is right to not read, that it is right to mock those who learn, that is is okay to engage in sex with whomever you want, that it is moral to take from those who work for their property and give to those who do not, then right has become wrong, evil has become good, and our natural inclination for freedom and liberty becomes an unnatural desire to go against the wishes of the state. If we become less smart, if we become less educated, if we master the shapes of empty jargon instead of the real of knowledge, then maybe we can become controlled more easily?

Another reader of mine, Howard Towt, also suggest that this might be a plot by liberal Democrats to dumb us down to control us more easily, pointing to evidence in Colorado of teachers inspiring their students to write letters to conservatives about how they are killing the environment, rather than teaching them how to read and write and think critically. He has a whole book on this theme online- check it out here.

Maybe, but it won't work. You can't stop the signal- it is mans natural desire to throw off his chains, not to put them on, whether they be the real chains of slavery or the mental chains of teacher jargon.

Run by a sit-tight dictatorship, Cameroon exemplifies much of what is wrong with Francophone Africa. A couple of posts via Global Voices provide us with a rare view.Firstly a post from Eduardo Tamba:

Cameroon’s human rights record remains poor and government continue to commit numerous human rights abuses year-in-year-out. Government backed security forces commit numerous unlawful killings; engaged in regular torture, beatings, and other abuses, particularly of detainees and prisoners with impunity. On the other hand, Prison conditions remain harsh and life-threatening while authorities arbitrarily arrested and detained anglophone citizens (SCNC) advocating secession, local human rights monitors and activists, other citizens and above all journalists. Furthermore, there are disturbing reports of prolonged and sometimes incommunicado pretrial detention and infringement on citizens' privacy rights...[continue reading]

And a further reference to the countries first “Liberation Theologian”:

Jean-Marc Ela’s theology was largely shaped by his 14-year stay among the non-Muslim Kirdi population of Northern Cameroon whose life was characterized by misery, marginalization and exploitation by the state. As a result, according to Sundkler, “no one else expressed the 'cry of the African' with as much prophetic pathos as Fr. Jean-Marc Ela”...[continue reading]

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"The moving finger writes, and having writ, not a single sole can erase a single word of it." Shakespeare

Here is another moving account from a DC teacher at Anacostia senior high school. It tells what special education teachers face day to day in our public school system that is long on promises and short on providing the needed resources and supports. Many would argue that these are 'adult' issues. To which I would counter: "that just doesn't make any sense." Working in a school system that fails to provide adequate and appropriate resources for teachers ultimately impacts student achievement and service delivery. In this case it impacts our most vulnerable population; students with disabilities. Here's what one special education teacher says is happening at Anacostia senior high. (Posted by The Washington Teacher).

"Dear Candi: A meeting was held in response to a special education coordinator's reprimand memo to sped. teachers titled "Overdue Triennials and Annual IEP's." Teachers formed a team to try to address these concerns with recommendations to no avail. Juggling case management responsibility, implementing inclusion without a model while trying to teach are major concerns for sped. teachers at Anacostia SHS. We have far too many students on our case loads to handle our responsibilities effectively. At the beginning of the year Anacostia teachers were given overwhelming caseloads of which 80-85% of student IEP's and triennial evaluations were overdue and out of compliance. Anacostia has more than 300 special education students with approximately 15 teachers. Special education teachers are simply spread too thin. What's wrong with this picture ?

Chancellor Rhee's special education 'central office crew' are mandating that these already overdue annual IEP's and triennials be completed immediately or else. We know what this means "90-day termination plans and the firing squad." The "firing squad" reports periodically on sight to take notes and to observe us . Teachers are expected to simultaneously perform magic, teach, update overdue IEP's, assess students, update DC STARS attendance, meet with service providers and parents all within an assigned instructional period. Special education teachers are also required to attend impromptu meetings and school wide meetings. Student lunch schedules are changed daily as a result of our most recent history of student violence which impacts our schedules as well.

Teachers are raising many questions because these large number of meetings, paper work and case management responsibilities are robbing teachers of required instructional time for disabled students, planning time as well as our lunch periods. The concerns of playing catch up will impact teachers performance appraisals and student test scores. Approximately 99% of the paper work and 100% of scheduling IEP meetings are delegated to sped. teachers instead of being handled by the sped. coordinator. All of our teachers have been told to seek the special education coordinator's advice on IEP issues and concerns. Unfortunately our coordinator offers very little help to us because she is a novice TFA teacher with no experience to qualify for this position. As an alternate solution to this problem, teachers' requested that administrators allow teachers to work outside their regular work day. This request was denied due to a shortage of administrative premium.

Since this is the year of full INCLUSION in our schools, sped. teachers at Anacostia believe that "co-teaching" may be an unrealistic option. One model WILL NOT fit every student or classroom. Anacostia sped. teachers are scrambling for answers and problem solving strategies as we try to address the mandates of NCLB, IDEIA and Chancellor Rhee.The good news though Candi, is that the research shows that special education students placed in a rigorous class room environment with the appropriate resources (educational aides, highly qualified teachers, behavior specialists, regular and assistive technology and accommodations do better academically and socially and are able to transition from high school to work/career and post secondary training. DC public schools has a long way to go to provide this level of academic rigor due to the lack of a citywide inclusion model, necessary teacher positions, appropriate staff development and needed resources. Please help. " Anonymous Teacher.

I read with interest reports on education from other countries, especially if those countries have advanced farther into this giant experiment we now called public education. I look with interest on how progressive they have become, at how modern they have become, at how poor the education has become, and at how stupid the students have become.

For example, I just read this post and took the title and main ideas from it.

One aspect of education that has always pissed me off is the extreme reliance on jargon in the education world. Because teachers study only education (high school to education degree with few credits in other subjects in college to student teaching to education), they become very specialized in it, and forget how to teach math, English, spelling, reading, social studies, gym, music, or anything else. Instead, many teachers cloak their extreme ignorance of real knowledge behind made-up words that supposedly mean stuff- they turn insular and defensive and use alien languages to hide the fact that they are morons.

Not all teachers do this- there are good teachers out there. The truth is that the good teachers are the ones that don't use the jargon, the ones that didn't get indoctrinated in their education colleges, and who still know what the real world is like. They transcend the education world, and don't get sucked into it.

For example, in England, spelling isn't spelling any more- it has become “decoding” and “encoding”. A teacher now will spend time learning about these concepts and mastering what decoding and encoding is, instead of learning how to teach spelling. They will teach children how to decode and encode print, but forget that they are supposed to be teaching students how to read.

Bad teachers will rigorously apply the rules handed down by ministers and officials to groups of baffled children, and stick rigidly to any script they are given, carefully ticking all the little boxes of jargon that they are supposed to do, and it is the kids who suffer the whole time.

My administrator asked me in my last review if I was designing my lessons to appeal to a broad selection of learners of different intelligences and whose learning styles are differentiated. I think I am- I have the highest scores compared to other teachers of the same subjects on our common tests, I have the highest AP scores in the district, and I have students transferring into my class. Do I really care what different intelligences are? Not really. What exactly is a differentiated learner? Not quite sure.

In a way, I feel I am a better teacher because I reject the jargon the state preaches at me.

"The greatest threat to America is not communist aggression, nuclear warfare nor oil embargo. The greatest threat is a public education system that has abandoned the principles on which America was founded." ~ Paul Harvey

A 'hit list' is a list of people or programs to be acted against or disposed of as defined by dictionary.com. This was the subject of the WTU Delegate Assembly's Tuesday meeting. Some union members pointed out that the 90-day termination plan is an 'important topic' that needs to be discussed at another time so that union business could be conducted. Of course this did not happen and teachers' union President Parker facilitated the discussion about the 90-day termination plan which took center stage for hours until the meeting ended. Unfortunately, the Delegate Assembly did not get to any other items on the agenda.

What is interesting to note is that WTU President George Parker revealed that Chancellor Rhee's office has refused to provide the names and work sites of any DC Teachers on the 90- day termination plan to the Washington Teachers' Union as required. As a result, the WTU is only aware of 50 teachers who have been placed on 90-day termination plans but suspects that many more have been targeted.

On Tuesday evening, union members told horror stories of principals regularly interviewing DC students about their respective teachers in exchange for bribes of candy. While others told a story of a DC principal rating all teachers as either 'traditional teachers' or 'non-traditional teachers' on structured observations with traditional teachers being given lower performance ratings then their non-traditional teacher colleagues without explanation. Yet another discussed a situation in which a DC principal lied about who actually performed his structured observation. Another teacher reported that a principal lied on a teacher who presented their lesson plans stating they were non-existent. Stories abound of DC teachers not receiving promised interventions and supports.

How many city-wide teachers have been placed on the 90-day termination plans ? You tell me. If you know of an 'unprincipled DC principal' who is falsifying PPEP documents, discriminating against veteran teachers or younger teachers, minority teachers or committing fraudulent acts- send your unprincipled principal story to me: c/o saveourcounselors@gmail.com and I will post it here on The Washington Teacher. Anonymity of sender guaranteed. Feel free to include the name of the school and the name of the principal.

Whether you believe DC teachers should be terminated or not, all teachers are entitled to 'due process' and representation under the law. If you know of a DC Teacher on a 90-day plan, and/or a needs improvement plan - you should encourage him/her to contact the WTU as soon as possible @ 202-293-8600. When contacting the WTU, request to speak with your assigned field representative. (Posted by The Washington Teacher).

Mahmood Mamdani writes in LRB:

Many have compared Mugabe to Idi Amin and the land expropriation in Zimbabwe to the Asian expulsion in Uganda. The comparison isn’t entirely off the mark. I was one of the 70,000 people of South Asian descent booted out by Idi Amin in 1972; I returned to Uganda in 1979. My abiding recollection of my first few months back is that no one I met opposed Amin’s expulsion of ‘Asians’. Most merely said: ‘It was bad the way he did it.’ The same is likely to be said of the land transfers in Zimbabwe.

What distinguishes Mugabe and Amin from other authoritarian rulers is not their demagoguery but the fact that they projected themselves as champions of mass justice and successfully rallied those to whom justice had been denied by the colonial system. Not surprisingly, the justice dispensed by these demagogues mirrored the racialised injustice of the colonial system. In 1979 I began to realise that whatever they made of Amin’s brutality, the Ugandan people experienced the Asian expulsion of 1972 – and not the formal handover in 1962 – as the dawn of true independence. The people of Zimbabwe are likely to remember 2000-3 as the end of the settler colonial era. Any assessment of contemporary Zimbabwe needs to begin with this sobering fact...[continue reading]

via 3QuarksDaily

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After I just got done ripping movies (see post The Day that Movies All Sucked), I see this trailer, and get goosebumps about how good its going to be. Enjoy.

Calestous Juma writes in Nature's "Where is Science in the Developing World" publication:

The key to economic prosperity is turning innovation into profits. A growing number of countries in the developing world are showing how this can be done. Their societies are benefiting as a result...

He calls for entrepreneurial graduates:

The aim of this new species of university should be to produce entrepreneurial graduates who are likely to generate jobs in their communities while adding to the growth of the economy. This would be a departure from the present system, which focuses on providing technical skills to people who fill jobs rather than create them. All this will require those who regulate higher education to be proactive and flexible...[continue reading]

via SciDev
photo courtesy of Paolo Whitaker/Reuters

Jen Brea points us to a post covering a lawsuit aimed at francophone kleptocrats
From NextBillion Aneel Karnani writes about "romanticising poverty".
Marguerite Barankitse wins a prize for her work with child victims of ethnic strife via African Loft
Friends of Ethiopia highlights a video on Amharic and Tigrigna. Are they the first written languages of commerce?

As an elected official, it is my job to rebuild the Republican Party- but you would be surprised at how many Republicans don't want to to rebuild it. When I stood up for a higher party position, the old timers, who oversaw a party that lost the White House and Congress, won positions, and the next generation conservatives, like me, lost (read more about this event here). That's not the way to rebuild the party- that might be a way to win an occasional seat now and then, but let's go back to the Reagan mold of totally remaking our country along conservative principles. Let's fall into line behind the conservative Net Generation.

The DC Examiner posted this excellent article called "The Coming Conservative Ascendancy" a month ago, and I want to bring your attention to it:

NetGeners are the future of the conservative movement because they are the heart and muscle of an historic opportunity to restore and reinvigorate our ideals of individual freedom and limited government. The Net Generation are the approximately 81 million people born between 1977 and 1997.

These eight norms are the dominant values Tapscott found among Net Geners: freedom, customization, scrutiny, integrity, collaboration, entertainment, speed and innovation.

Conservatism is all about individual freedom, decentralizing government and empowering local communities to solve their own problems. Net Geners, Tapscott says, "are natural collaborators, this is the relationship generation." A generation that expects to be free, to be able to customize and to be able to scrutinize authority is also a generation that is discovering a multitude of ways in which the Internet empowers what used to be called the "thousand points of light."

Those principles are important, and I myself hope that my blog reflects them.

African Loft points us to the award-winning work of photographer James Iroha Uchechukwu

A review of the upcoming book by Dambisa Moyo-Dead Aid:

Dead Aid analyses the history of economic development over the last fifty years and shows how Aid crowds out financial and social capital and directly causes corruption; the countries that have caught up did so despite rather than because of Aid. There is, however, an alternative. Extreme poverty is not inevitable. Dambisa Moyo also shows how, with improved access to capital and markets and with the right policies, even the poorest nations could be allowed to prosper...[continue reading]-Global Investor Bookshop

In a Guardian review of Richard Dowden's Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles John Ryle calls for a halt to generalizations:

People shouldn't write books about Africa. Not the whole of Africa. When was the last time you read a book about Eurasia? Never. The vastness of the European-Asian landmass precludes useful generalisation. And Africa is just as various, if not quite as huge. There are almost as many countries, rather more languages and a comparable degree of environmental diversity...In an important sense, "Africa" is a western invention. Despite attempts by visionaries to promote unity among the states that inherited dominion from Europe's retreating empires, African politicians have never paid anything more than lip-service to the pan-African ideal. African writers have an uphill task reclaiming the term "Africa" from the mythic associations it has in western literature. Most of these writers don't write about continental aspirations but about the worlds within a single country, leaving generalisations to World Bank experts, grandstanding politicians and Hollywood stars...[continue reading]

via Africa Works

This piece written by yours trully appeared in 'Filing Complaints in The Mail' on December 14, 2008‏.

" With support from Mayor Fenty, Chancellor Michelle Rhee is moving onto Plan B, seeking federal emergency legislation to empower the city to bypass collective bargaining and expand nonunion charter schools. The alternative plan consists of a newly-devised teacher evaluation, abolition of teachers’ jobs, and the resurrection of a poorly enforced provision in the current contract allowing administrators to give teachers ninety school days to improve or face dismissal — all objectives of her stalled contract proposal. Parts of the proposed Plan B have already gone into effect. Teachers and administrators report that the city is requiring DC principals to place a quota of teachers on ninety-day plans. Teachers are monitored by their school administrator; if funds are available, a helping teacher is assigned during the evaluation period after which an administrator can recommend termination. This is the first time in years that principals are being told to observe teachers en masse and make decisions on teacher termination by December 5. Principals report being instructed to lie in their “teacher observations” about what is taking place during a structured lesson. One principal at Patterson elementary school resigned in opposition to these unethical practices.

What has been most disappointing for the quota of teachers placed on ninety-day plans is that the school system is still failing miserably to provide many of the promised outside interventions to assist in executing teacher improvement. There is still a lack of helping teachers from the central office and appropriate professional development; local school resources are wholly inadequate and come too little, too late, or never at all. “The Chancellor’s one-dimensional approach to school improvement, simply firing employees, is not working and has created an environment of advantage taking,” said Nathan A. Saunders, WTU General Vice President.

The Chancellor’s top-down management style is creating a situation where many teachers — young and old — will be fired. Many of us do not believe that this approach will lead to better teaching. It seems encouraging to many DC teachers that American Federation of Teachers’ President Randi Weingarten, who recently spoke before a group of union leaders and education policy makers, stated that no educational reform issues should be off the table as long as they are both good for students and fair to teachers. Among the recommendations made by Weingarten include the use of experienced teachers sharing their skills and mentoring teachers experiencing problems and peer review, utilizing some aspects of merit pay in which teachers could earn extra pay when their schools excel, and systemic support for teacher’s professional development and enhanced working conditions.

DC teachers will be working closely with the American Federation of Teachers to design workable solutions to support student instruction and successful teaching, and to provide economic security for its members. We are looking to engage interested parents and community members in a collaborative effort to improve our public schools. If interested, please E-mail your contact information to saveourcounselors@gmail.com. " (Posted by The Washington Teacher)

Guess what a little birdie told me today... the principal at Ron Brown middle school located at 420 34th Street N.E. is threatening to place his teachers on a 90 day plan. The Washington Teacher gives this principal... Two Thumbs Down. Do you think this is an effective style of educational leadership ? (Posted by The Washington Teacher ).

This quote was inspired by an activist friend in the labor movement....

"Who is the judge? The judge is God. Why is he God? Because he decides who wins or loses. Not my opponent. Who is your opponent? He does not exist. Why does he not exist? Because he is a mere dissenting voice of the truth I speak! " Courtesy of The Great Debaters. (Posted by The Washington Teacher).

Ibukun Awosika founder of The Sokoa Chair Centre at Wharton:

“Africa … is highly diverse. It is [not] one country. It is 52 different countries.” She takes to task anyone who still clings to the Western business stereotypes that dog the continent. Not checking out business opportunities in such a vast and underdeveloped market is costing those people money…
“Those markets that CNN tells you are not the good markets are actually the hidden secret,”...The former chemist’s implication: Her enterprise serves as an example of the lucrative deals in African countries that savvy outside investors can encounter, if they know where to look...[continue reading]

via AfricanLoft

Last week the US History teachers were teaching about Vietnam, and decided to make it more exciting for the students by inviting in some real Vietnam War veterans to speak to the students. I tell you, the students were really excited for this- they were talking in the classroom before the presentation about how it would be great to see some real heroes, about how it would be a great chance to learn real history and not the modified liberalized version they usually hear. So the students all crowded into the auditorium, full of excited chatter.

And then the speakers will come out to speak to the students. The opening line of the presentation was "We support the troops, but that doesn't mean we support war." It went downhill after there- the speakers were all anti-Vietnam war protesters and anti-Vietnam war veterans.

As the presentation went on, the background chatter and attentive looks on students faces slowly faded away, to be replaced by the usual blank vacant stare that students assume on being brainwashed by leftism. Their natural mental defenses took over, and they began to reject the version of events presented to them by shutting down their mind, the only defense that students who are forced to be there have. Unable to run away physically, their mind flees, and the life fades from their eyes, to be replaced by a glazed look of indifference. I myself went through this process listening to the presentation.

The speakers talked about how the Vietnam War was wrong, about how the nobility was in protesting it, and how students need to always end wars and agitate against any war that we are engaged in. They talked about how it was patriotic to be against America, about how it was right to be wrong, and about how the real heroes were not our troops engaged in battle, but those engaged in battle against our troops.

After the presentation, as students quietly shuffled out, waking up to talk about football or friends and put the bad memory of the liberal brainwashing behind them, I was furious. I approached the teachers who had organized the event to confront them about the speakers they had found, about the impact that it had on the students, and the obvious lack of balance- and found that the speakers who organized it were congratulating themselves with how it went. Their eyes had assumed the fevered cast of a convert who has heard their spiritual leader, and I knew that they would not understand my points, so I turned and left, to once more rejoin the students in the halls and talk of friends and football.

UPDATE: After reading this post, The Designated Conservative asks several important questions-

Who are we as taxpayers that we continue to subsidize a public school system that has failed so completely at responding to the changing needs of our children? Who are we as a nation that we allow such mediocrity and shallowness of thought to be passed on to our children in our public schools? Who are we as parents that we accept the indoctrination of our children by zealous partisans under the guise of education? Who are we as a conservative movement that we continue to meekly yield to the left the high ground of teaching the coming generation about the true principles upon which our country was founded? - that is life, liberty, freedom, and limited government. And who are we as a community that we accept such shoddy and outmoded teaching as described by A Conservative Teacher?

The hearts and minds of our children are indeed under assault every day, from television, to the internet, to school, and if you don't wake up to this fact, you may lose your child to the wasteland of tyranny. Keep reading my blog often for more updates from the world of education.

Chris Blattman writes and asks for suggestions:

That's the (informal) course title for my spring undergraduate lecture. Turns out that's too long and rambling a name for a transcript, and so the Yale powers that be had me shorten it to the duller, "African Poverty and Western Aid"...What can the West do? The course has students read the new canon of development: Sachs, Collier, Easterly, Rodrik, etc. Putting it together, I was struck with the preponderance of rich white male academics. Don't get me wrong. I aspire to be a rich white male academic myself (I am 3 for 4--and only held back from that goal by the preponderance of student debt). But it would be nice to have other perspectives.

So the course is now set up to read other points of view--mostly, admittedly, rich black male perspectives--and think critically about the new canon. Ayittey, Ake, Ekeh, Sawyer. Mamdani, Ndulu, Wainaina. Mwenda, Mkandawire and Soludo. And some optional Franz Fanon, just to appease Chris Udry...[continue reading]