friendly ford

supreme court justices carry lifetime appointments, and their decisions carry final judgment on major political issues including civil liberties, due process, education, federalism, and privacy. recent decisions include revised statements on abortion, property, and prayer. this article profiles president ford's effort to support the university of michigan in bakke v. the university of michigan, a landmark affirmative action case. ford marshalled recommendations from leading retired military generals in an amicus brief to the court. the aritcle explains that while consevatives have pilloried ford for his major supreme court appointment, john paul stevens best reflects ford's centrist politics.

in an august 1999 opinion editorial for the new york times, ford explained that affirmative action required universities to provide necessary diversity. regression would relegate “future college students to suffer the cultural and social impoverishment that afflicted my generation.” and further:

A university, after all, is both a preserver of tradition and a hotbed of innovation. So long as books are kept open, we tell ourselves, minds can never be closed. . . Tolerance, breadth of mind and appreciation for the world beyond our neighborhoods: these can be learned on the football field and in the science lab as well as in the lecture hall. But only if students are exposed to America in all her variety.

go blue!

trippin' 2007

the progressive left
a hateful paper published by the american jewish committee claims that progressive liberal politics foments antisemitism.

Jews themselves, especially so-called “progressive” Jews, [contribute] to the intellectual and political climate that helps to foster such hostility, especially in its anti-Zionist forms.

the paper largely addresses unfortunate increases in public antisemitism. however, it is mistaken and decidedly unfair to claim independent political voices support antisemitism. we must be able to openly and honestly criticize, create, and debate political ideas.

student achievement and poverty
a feature article in the miami herald chronicles the impact of poverty on student achievement and school performance. the article explains that arcane legislation organizes funding for schools and consistently reproduces high density poverty. in short, the article determines:

"students who live in poverty go to school less prepared than upper- and middle-class students, score lower on standardized tests and are less likely to graduate from high school."

the article concludes that student achievement is more complex than school funding. however, the associate superintendent contends: ''Money isn't everything. . . but let's get to these children the funds that, by law, they're entitled to.''

2006 color of the year: green
thomas friendman increasingly promotes environmental activism in his columns. in short, he maintains that old business and bush conservatism fund both sides of the war on terror. going green, he explains, is good for the environment and good for business. however, environmental awareness was largely relegated to hippie kooks and hard lefty progressive. now, friedman explains that green is mainstream.

We reached a tipping point this year -- where living, acting, designing, investing and manufacturing green came to be understood by a critical mass of citizens, entrepreneurs and officials as the most patriotic, capitalistic, geopolitical, healthy and competitive thing they could do. Hence my own motto: ''Green is the new red, white and blue.''

new american jewish population survey
a major 2001 survey estimated there were 5.2 million American Jews. this represented a significant population decline, and it sparked strong concerns in the organized jewish community. however, 2 large surveys recently determined the American Jewish population continues to increase. a survey summary is published in the forward:

"Two major new demographic studies estimate the American Jewish population at well above 6 million people, indicating a growing Jewish community that contrasts sharply with popular images of Jewish decline. In particular, scholars say, the new studies appear to refute a widely publicized survey conducted in 2001, which counted 5.2 million American Jews and sparked widespread anxiety over American Jewry’s future."

makeba & aviyah

bonus teachers

several cities have recently introduced merit pay salary programs for public school teachers. merit pay bonuses are generally linked to student achievement on stuandardized tests, and proponents believe that increased pay will increase teacher performance. traditional capitalists maintain that free market choice supports competition and market rate compensation promotes achievement. they further explain that individual workers will work harder to achieve company goals if they receive salary bonuses or increased commissions.

merit pay advocates maintain that "value added assessment" will enhance teacher performance and promote student achievement. in fact, education secretary margaret spelling recently declared:

"[The Teacher Incentive Fund] will reward teachers and principals who show progress in raising achievement levels and closing the achievement gap . . . It works in every other endeavor. Why not [teaching]?"

chicago recently received a $27.5 M federal grant to pilot a merit pay program in 10 volunteer public schools. public school districts are increasingly studying merit pay programs nationwide. legislation or grant programs are in process in california, ohio, texas, massachusetts, michigan, new york, and tennessee. progressive school reforms have dramatically changed our buildings and our classrooms. we must continue to redesign and reshape our schools: urban public schools still have serious challenges.

i sincerely believe cities should use pay incentive to promote effective teaching. however, merit pay bonuses are misguided and ineffective. merit pay is largely centered on student achievement on standardized tests, and standardized tests can be effective measures to study larger trends in education. however, current standardized test programs mandated by NCLB privilege select ideas and skills. students and schools increasingly focus curriculum and resources towards boosting aggregate test scores. yet, research consistently shows that well rounded programs best support long term student achievement.

i believe we should provide pay bonuses to attract teachers to understaffed, underperforming schools. there are too many variables in comprehensive student achievement to accurately assess teacher pay and performance. what is family support? who are cohort teachers? what is adequate classroom progress? is principal discretion too arbitrary? what standards are measured in standardized tests?

chicago mayor richard daley declares that he "wants the very best teachers possible to go to into the most underperforming schools." yet, if we really want the very best teachers possible in the very toughest schools, we need to staff schools with the very best teachers. too often, schools hire from disadvantage. if we create competition for teaching positions in the toughest schools, school administrations can hire from advantage. fixed salary bonuses of $10,000 - $20,000 can increase teacher applications tenfold. ineffective teachers will certainly apply. however, a larger pool of applicants strengthens the very best applications.

capitalist ideals can work in our public schools. choice and competition can provide important platforms to scale student achievement. however, capitalist reforms must be regulated to balance and promote the most effective results. teachers deserve competitive wages. we consistently struggle to design the best lessons that best teach students to be committed, engaged, innovative, and thorough. let's assign salary increases for teachers to staff our most deserving students and schools.

sweet

parent choice

several recent articles have profiled progressive legislation in new jersey that legalizes formal civil unions for gay couples. critics of gay marriage won recent election battles in . . . however, there is an inexorable more towards. . . in the larger scheme, our economy moves towards conservative free market, corporate deregulation. towards liberal social values.


http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00E1FF639550C758DDDAB0994DE404482

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0B14FB39550C768DDDAB0994DE404482

7 months old : )

slideshow

our family has a holiday party each year at aunt cecilia and uncle david's home. this year was aviyah's first party, and she saw everybody!

: )

windy city

happy holidays!

dreidel dreidel

feliz channukah!
feliz channukah!



feliz channukah y prospero ano y felicidad!

grab bag

In 1970, 79 percent said their goal was developing a meaningful philosophy of life. By 2005, 75 percent said their primary objective was to be financially very well off.
"Who Americans Are and What They Do"
New York Times (December 15)

i vote for true love and real happiness.

bathtime

situps

aviyah can sit up so well now. she even tries to climb up the bathtub.
: )

there are so many things i'd like to write about:

civil union legislation in new jersey
the iraq study group
the recent conservative jewish law committee policy on homosexuality
barack obama
climate change and global warming
my students

but, it really is so hard now. our blog and our lives are really focused on aviyah. she is a cutie pie though!

; )

6 month check-up

we went to visit dr. watson for aviyah's 6 month check-up. she is 15lbz 6oz and 25.75 inches long. she is exactly in the 50th percentile.