Last night the last thought on my mind with regards to the news was Senator James Meek’s call for students to skip their first day of school.  Now understand, I knew it had to have a strong degree of importance for a community leader to call upon students to do what we as a society look upon as a wrong.  Having been an educator, parent and yes, just like most Americans a student, I knew there was something at the core of his call. 

Today after reading the Yahoo news clip, I have to say I whole-heartedly agree with Senator Meeks.  Furthermore, I whole-heartedly hope that Senator Obama is listening to Senator Meeks,

( maybe he is not afraid to say what needs to be said with regards to education in the United States.)  Then I opened my reflection for today and I knew that the Lord was calling me to share my insights as they not only align with Senator Meeks, but they go even further.  So, please hang in there…

“train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it” Proverbs 22:6

“our children are like mirrors ~~ they reflect our attitudes in life.”

We can no longer sit by and allow the inequity in education to continue.  There is a Very simple solution, one that will not be greeted with much accolades but it is a solution, a viable long-lasting solution to the pervasive problem in education.  Below is outlined an approach that not only avails equity for the student, but equity for the educator that is responsible for the outcome in the classroom. 

Annually we dump, literally dump millions, no make that billions of dollars into a failing system.  Why is it failing?  Well, we can blame educators, school systems, parents, bad children, etc.  But it is all of those reasons, but mostly it is because of inconsistency, poor management practices, and mostly INEQUITY in the delivery based on a long standing approach in education stemming way back!

An educator I should know approximately how much he or she  would be making if transferred from one school system to another.  An educator’s seniority and training should go with them wherever they go.  A parent I should know that their child would have the same equitable services regardless of what town they are transferred to, or chose to live in. 

If a parent prefers the diversity of an inner city then they should have the same opportunities that they would have educationally if they chose to live in Lake Zurich Illinois or upstate New York. 

What I am calling for is this.  If we as a nation mandate that all children attend school until a certain age then it should be a federal program.  Just like the military, just like the post office, and so on.  Teachers should be Federal Employees.  There should be one pay scale, one benefits package, and one seniority buy in.  Administration jobs should be treated the same way!

We can no longer trust local communities to distribute fairly, what by law, every  child should have the right to.  It is wrong that one community can allow their teachers to go without a contract for over two years while another community only an hour away is treating their teachers with state of the art classrooms, support systems that go beyond the norm and a salary that is almost double what a teacher only an hour  away is making.  We can no longer tolerate why one child never is exposed to quality music education, while a child in an affluent area is getting daily violin lessons.  The saddest reality in this is the child getting free violin lessons has parents that make over six figures a year and can afford private lessons!  The child that is being taught computers, foreign language, one on one instruction, etc will advance and be in line for the best scholarships and free college education, and the reality is that child’s parents will be on the top tier economically. 

My friends in America the rich to keep getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.  As far as the poverty fringe riders once known as the middle class…well then just keep on holding on by a thread and hope that they will find a way up the ladder too. 

Make educators Federal Employees

Look at education as a Universal system much like we are considering Medical Insurance

Establish once and for all an equitable system nationwide.

AS far as I can see it until we run our education system like we do our governmental offices we will be unable to bridge the inequity in education.  Until we adopt this attitude, “our children are like mirrors ~~ they reflect our attitudes in life~~ well collectively our society is our reflection of life, and we are not raising up our children in the way they should go, or are we?  Are we sending out a message that says,  “only some of you matter only some of you deserve?”  Bravo Senator Meeks, but I ask you to call on the children in Southern Illinois who are only getting $6000 a year educations to not go to school either because they are getting even less than the children in Chicago.  I ask teachers to not go to school either that first day because their fellow teachers in small towns like Herscher Illinois and other small towns throughout Illinois who are underpaid.   I ask teachers to give up a personal day and not show up and take back their schools because they want better for their communities, themselves and the children they teach.  (how is it that teachers who graduate from the same schools, paid the same tuition to get their teaching degrees can experience so much disparity in salaries? The amount of money that is being dumped into a child’s $17,000 a year education has a lot to do with the inequity of teacher and administrator salaries).  So…now when I see children and teachers from New Trier refuse to go to school on the first day because they think it is unfair that they have and others do not then I will know we are raising our children up in the way that they should go!

This morning I was watching the Sunday morning news shows and something came to mind as I was watching George Stephanopolous interview John McCain.  Up until today I had my doubts about Senator McCain and in spite of my concern over Obama I was leaning towards Obama.  (That was until I saw him saluting a crowd of over 200,000 in Germany and could not help but be reminded of other historical events involving those who rose to quickly as “people of the world.” Quite frankly I do not feel confident with anyone that goes outside too soon representing America, and do I really want other countries being responsible for the election of my President?)

So back to the point, McCain was asked about the conflict in Iraq.  I have been against the war in Iraq, I have questioned Bush’s motives, I have pondered the significance of our being there, and until recently I have thought it was a big mistake.  A great part of me still does.  But recently I have been looking deeper into the global reality of the Iraqi conflict and what it really means.  It means we need to limit the power and control of the Middle East.  It means we need to be present in an area that is unstable.  We do need to be mindful of the past 40 years of unrest in Iraq, Iran and Israel.  It does indeed affect the entire world.  My one criticism of McCain is this.  When he was asked about concern over political and financial growth in Russia and what does it mean to the United States and the rest of the world I was saddened that he only mentioned concern over Putin.  That when he was asked simultaneously about Iran he only mentioned Russia and the instability in Iran, what I wanted him to say was that he was concerned about the Triad between Russia, Iran and China, that he would include in the conversation regarding Putin’s hand choosing of Medvedev that he would discuss Hu Jintao and Medvedev’s alliance against the placement of missiles on the Eastern front to protect against Iran.  Bottom line is this, and I encourage you to read on regarding my rationale on this topic.  Bottom line: Who is contributing to the buildup in Russia?  Who is strengthening Russia economically, politically?  Who is contributing to Iran’s nuclear growth and military provision? It is not solely Russia and Iran helping the other, there is a third party, a large third party, a communistic third party.

Is Russia gearing up for a fight? Is it just acting as the eastern world’s scarecrow?  Why would Russia seek to act the scarecrow for Iran?  What it is the overall purpose of a military buildup and by what financial means is a recently struggling country able to build up a military strength?

Russia is the stop gap between the Western world and China. In order to measure the importance of Russia and its role as either scarecrow or legitimate bully, we must identify what entity is fueling its ability to stand up against the United States in either role.

Let’s look at Russia from a logistic, strategic point of reference.  It is the provider of a logistic land mass that can protect China by land access as well a provider of the necessary nuclear commodities for Iran.  Example: Russia supplies nuclear materials to Iran, Iran supplies oil (and is a leading energy source) to China, China supplies financial support to Russia, Russia builds up as a “junior power” under China, Iran becomes the dominant power in the Middle East, and China continues to consume the world’s energy resources while it continues to build up economically to become the world’s superpower.

The evidence that identifies a Triad in the East including Russian, China and Iran has grown in significance.  As the United States continues to trade and enable an emergence of a capitalistic mind-set for the purpose of economic growth for a few key United States investors, we begin to see an emergence of a middle class in China and India.  This consumerism extends to the excessive need for precious metals and raw materials found in Russia and Africa.  In order to put these materials into development an excessive amount of energy is necessary to do so.  The triad of Russia, China and Iran is all a part of the “bigger” plan.  That “bigger” plan is to unseat the United States, disabling it and creating an AXIS that can shut down the US. What does Capitalism look like minus democracy?

It is believed that the United States is not included in the end times and part of that is because the United States as we now know it will no longer be in existence.  The United States as a global infant is experiencing what many believe caused the fall of Rome…a disproportionate cost to fuel ratio through "synchronous failure." (Thomas Homer-Dixon, The Upside of Down)

Not long ago Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met to denounce jointly the US missile shield. This concerns me as I am confused as to the mixed messages that China is sending the United States.  China wants US citizen’s investment capital, US financial support and recent philanthropic support following the earthquake, but yet if feels as though we are a military threat.  Russia fears our involvement in and around them logistically, all the while supporting the build-up in both China and Iran.  How can we as a nation befriend and support China, at the same time that China is intimately involved with Russia and Iran?

As for this writer, I believe that Russia’s threat should be taken seriously as it has the support of its neighbors.  It is clear that there cannot be a separation between Russia, Iran and China.  Whether it is scarecrow tactics or straight on bullying, it should not be ignored.

What does it mean in relationship to the “end?” Well, the end will first be a systematic end to a few, then the many, then an end to all.  Like dominoes there will be a starting point and then an “end” point.  As China consumes mass quantities of the world’s energy resources, financially builds up Russia to the point that they are flexing military muscle and financially enables Iran to rely solely on Russia and China for its continued strengthening in the Middle East we must identify the strongest point of the Axis.

Read more on the influence of China here

 You see America (borrowing from Bernie Mac) we have a crisis, a crisis resulting from a discrimination that can no longer be tolerated as tax-paying citizens. That discrimination is against people over forty!

In an article posted on Yahoo News today via the Wall Street Journal, it expresses that a college education is no longer a ticket to financial freedom.  It does not guarantee you a better job or a job at all. 

I, for one can profess this to be all too true.  I will get to my story later.  For now, let us focus on the woman in the article.  Bea Dewing lost her job in 2000 as a result of a lay-off with Sprint.  At the time she was earning $89,000, in my opinion a modest salary considering her experience, degree and the job that she was doing.   (I would be willing to bet a percentage or two lower than her male counterparts) She thought when her lay-off came that she would be out of work for only a short period of time.  Surely with her experience and degree she would be hired in no time.  Well, America, there was one big problem!  She was approaching fifty, yes the big 5 0!  You see America we suffer from the most devastating of all discriminations, AGE!  It surpasses, ethnicity, creed, gender, it is AGE!  It is out of control.  There are many factors that make that particular form of discrimination worst, like women who are over 40, women who are black and over 40, and women who are inexperienced due to child-raising and over 40! At the base is discrimination against hiring people over a certain age, the truth is it is next to impossible to even get interviewed!

Many of us who went back to school (post child-bearing) believing that we could move through the system and be successful because we had experience (life experience) and education that we would be highly sought after, especially in the field of education.  Well that was until alternative fast track programs surfaced.  Both as a way of ridding schools with veteran teachers, busting the unions, placing blame on teachers, and what I suspect as collusion between the University systems and State level Boards of Education, they  found a way to take an inexperienced work force and put them quickly into classrooms and slap them with a Master’s degree on top of it!

I seriously cannot impress upon you the reader enough as to the number of people that I know personally, all bright, experienced, talented, worldly, well-educated that would be willing to work for next to nothing rather than have nothing to work for!

Another form of discrimination is simply this.  A bias that believes that trained skilled workers from other countries are superior to American Graduates, American citizens!  What does this honestly say?  Seriously, think about it! 

I am calling for a new form of Affirmative Action!  An Action that demands that at least a certain percent of all new employees being hired be over a certain age and that the hiring reflects the actual break-down of American Society!  An action that does not allow anymore hiring of non-American citizens until such time that our unemployment rate is below 3%!  That the money that is being invested in the Post-secondary systems by the Federal Government, private foundations, etc…be used for the purposes of training efficiently and effectively American citizens. That American Corporations and small business receive tax incentives to invest in American citizens, especially in people who are over forty and the marginalized. That HR be encouraged to look beyond actual skill and look into attainable skill.  In other words, on the job training, as we once saw as being the American way!   That limits be placed on how many people can be recruited by universities from other countries, diminishing the hire-ability of American citizens.  Along with that no taxpayer dollars go to fund the education of non-American citizens until such time that this crisis is resolved. No tuition incentives should be allowed except for those students who graduate from an American school or until you have worked for at least 2 years and have an US permanent mailing address.

Wake up America!  You are paying for what?  Those of us who are over forty (oh and by those of you that are under forty, your time is coming you are no different than any other one of us that worked really hard to get ahead, did all the right things only to be outsourced to a twenty-something, that is if you are lucky and get to make it to forty) have paid into a system for long enough, to only have it outsourced by global economic justifications.  WE have paid into the system far too long to not have the opportunities promised to us as Americans!  It is all about economy and it is far more advantageous for the United States government to invest in its tax-paying citizenry then to continually give away what should be American jobs. 

Where do I get off on saying this?  Well, I for one am a forty seven year old out of work educator.  I am facing in excess of $40,000 in student loans because I believed that I could make a difference, and that a Masters degree would secure quality employment.  I have been in the maze for over 3 years, and quite frankly, I just want to work.  I want to do what I set out to do.  What Bea Dewing set out to do, make life better for herself, and to not live on government subsidies or hope for a one bedroom government supported apartment in her golden years.  I want like everybody else wants, to see that my tax dollars are going to help those who pay into the system.  To see that we are all collectively doing what we can to remove the burden of a biased system. We do not pay into the American system to make everybody else in the world comfortable. Logic tells you that you cannot feed your neighbor if you yourself are starving.  You do not give to charity when your children are surviving on charity.  You most especially do not give crumbs to neighbors when your children do not have access to crumbs! 

We are losing, losing what might possibly be a true blue representation of what an American home once should be.  I have written before the outsourcing of our families, and touched on the extreme importance of stay at home moms.  Women who put their professional lives, dreams of model like figures, marathons, dreams of being a show-girl, singer, dancer, figure-skater on hold because the idea of their children having a home-cooked meal every night, built in tutors around the table, someone to kiss goodnight, and say good morning every morning surpassed their own.  Having a loving family was the ultimate dream…”The American dream.” (Please understand that being a stay at home mom is a luxury, a gift if you will.  Many women choose careers and I respect and admire them as I do the single Mom, or the mom that chooses to better her family’s life financially and therefore works outside the home, there job to make a “home” is huge)

I am referencing a woman I know well who died suddenly.  She did not intend to leave so soon. She never would have. She like Peter as he wrote "to lay down one's life for a friend" actually means to remain behind, to stay the course to bear the pain of loss, rather than to have someone feel the pain of his going.  She was committed to being there every step of the way, to love her husband until his last breath, not hers.  To hold her grandchildren when they would enter into this world, not witness it from another place. 

This woman was like many of us stay at home moms.  Her house was her domain, and her house was her family's home.  She made it home.  Her flawless precision in the kitchen, preparing meals, special steps in the laundry and teaching her children in the way they should go was her life work.

There is not now, nor will there ever be a replacement for a homemaker. Women who are first "homemakers," are gifts to the world.  There is a big difference between “homemaker,” and those who merely providers a house.  We now say farewell to a “true blue, died in the wool,” homemaker.  I pray that somewhere out there the art of "homemaking" is still being encouraged, taught, nurtured and understood.  If not, it could be the most devastating of all extinctions known to man!

No one will ever doubt her commitment to her children and her spouse.

***the point of this blog is to 1) share the uniqueness in this day and age of homemakers and 2) to identify that there is a big difference (not to say one is better than the other, that is up to the individual) it is just to point out that there is a difference.