Posted on 10/07/2008 12:28:54 PM PDT by jazusamo
What about those "real issues" that Barack Obama's supporters in the media say we should get back to, whenever some new unsavory fact about his past comes out?
Surely education is a real issue, with American school children consistently scoring below those in other countries, and children in minority communities faring worst of all.
What about Senator Obama's position on this real issue? As with other issues, he has talked one way and acted the opposite way.
The education situation in Obama's home base of Chicago is one of the worst in the nation for the children— and one of the best for the unionized teachers.
Fewer than one-third of Chicago's high-school juniors meet the statewide standards on tests. Only 6 percent of the youngsters who enter Chicago high schools become college graduates by the time they are 25 years old.
The problem is not money: Chicago spends more than $10,000 per student.
Chicago teachers are doing well. A beginning teacher, fresh out of college, earns more than the city's median income and that can rise to more than $100,000 over the years.
That's for teaching 6 hours a day, 9 months of the year. Moreover, a teacher's income is dependent on seniority and other such factors— and in no way dependent on whether their students are actually learning anything.
Obama has said eloquent and lofty words about education, as he has about other things— for example, how it is "unacceptable in a country as wealthy as ours" that some children "are not getting a decent shot at life" because of the failing schools.
In a predominantly black suburb of Chicago, where the average teacher's salary is $83,000 and one-fourth of the teachers make more than $100,000, Barack Obama noted that the school day ends at 1:30 PM.
In his book "Dreams from My Father," Obama said candidly that black teachers and administrators "defend the status quo with the same skill and vigor as their white counterparts of two decades before."
It is not a question of Obama's not knowing. He has demonstrated conclusively that he knows what is going on.
But, for all his eloquent words, he has voted consistently for the teachers' unions and the status quo.
"I owe those unions," he has said frankly. "When their leaders call, I do my best to call them back right away. I don't consider this corrupting in any way."
Only other politicians' special interests are called "special interests" by Barack Obama, whose world-class ability to rationalize is his most frightening skill.
Even when he verbally endorses the reform idea of merit pay for teachers, he cleverly re-defines merit so that it will be measured by teachers themselves, rather than by "arbitrary tests." In other words, Obama placates critics of the educational status quo by being for merit pay in words, while making those words meaningless, so as not to offend the teachers' unions.
The failings of teachers are only part of the disaster of inner city public schools. Disruptive and violent students can make it impossible for even the best teachers to educate students.
Administrators are reluctant to impose any serious punishment on those students who make it impossible for other students to learn. Partly this is because liberal judges can make it literally a federal case if more minority students are punished than others.
In other words, if black males are punished more often than Asian American females, that can be enough to get the administrators drawn into a legal labyrinth, costing money and time, even if the punishment is eventually upheld.
When a bill was introduced into the Illinois state legislature that would put more teeth into suspensions of misbehaving students, Barack Obama voted against that bill.
A real reformer would want to crack down on both unruly students and unaccountable teachers. A clever politician would speak eloquently, demand "change"— and then vote for the status quo. Obama talks a great game.
Thomas Sowell is a national treasure.
Thomas Sowell was born in North Carolina, where, as recounted in his autobiography, A Personal Odyssey, his encounters with white people were so limited that he didn't believe that "yellow" was a possible color for human hair. He and his siblings moved to Harlem, New York City with his mother's sister (whom he believed was his mother; his father died before he was born). He dropped out of high school and moved out on his own at age 17 because of financial difficulties and a deteriorating home environment. These hard-scrabble years are detailed in his autobiography. He later served in the US Marine Corps.What an amazing man with an amazing mind.
After his service, Sowell passed a GED and enrolled at Howard University. His high grades enabled him to transfer and complete a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Harvard College, where he graduated magna cum laude. He went on to receive a Master of Arts in Economics from Columbia University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics from the University of Chicago. He initially chose Columbia University he has said, because he wanted to study under George Stigler. After arriving at Columbia and hearing that Stigler had moved on to Chicago, Sowell followed him there.
Sowell has taught at prominent American universities including Howard University, Cornell University, Brandeis University, and UCLA. Since 1980 he has been a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he holds the fellowship named after Rose and Milton Friedman.
I'm always directing my daughter to his writings. They are clean, concise and make perfect sense.
Education ping.
Thanks for posting!
I didn’t realize that Dr. Sowell was that young! Yeah, not likely, but even at age 78 he’s infintely preferable to the Dalai Bama. I really admire Sowell, one of America’s greatest.
Obama is a good talker. I heard throughout my life the words “talk is cheap”. With Obama it seems that talk might be becoming quite expensive.
“....I bet all the species in genus sowell are highly intelligent lifeforms. :P...”
Smarty!
;-)
HF
great thread! now I can find it again...
My 17-year-old daughter is a big fan, too. She took a class using “Basic Economics” last spring, but she’d read some of his other books earlier.
Dr. Sowell is one of our national treasures, hands-down our greatest living intellectual, since Milton Friedman died. I’d much rather have him for President than Barack Osama, but he said himself that he’s way too cantankerous to ever be elected to office.
I saw him speak live once, back in the early 90’s. He was very stout then, but he’s taking better care of himself now, so maybe he’ll live as long as Dr. Friedman!
Thanks, jazusamo! Thomas Sowell is such gifted writer, and brilliant analyst.
Correct on all counts. I too, admired the late Milton Friedman who said, “I’m for any tax cut, anytime, and for any reason.” Oddly enough, my first real appreciation for Dr. Sowell dates from a reading of a column wherein he made the case that Babe Ruth was the greatest baseball player ever! I now have at least twenty books by Dr. Sowell. I was also fortunate to see him in person at St. Mary’s University here in San Antonio, Texas. He spoke to an overflow audience. I’ll cherish that visit as long as I live.
ONZ, you must have been at the same speech I attended! Students hanging in the window, scr*w-the-fire-code crowds on the floor, cute blonde girls lining up to get his autograph?
George Forman Sec. of State
That’s it. I remember Dr. Sowell’s pointed criticism of multiculturalism. He’s not into moral equivalence and ironic detachment, the two scourges of our time.
Moreover, he would never want to run because he prefers to not be in the public light too much; plus, he has written many articles decrying the absolute character destruction prominent conservatives must face at the hands of the media. <<<
maybe he understands this > http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k6KUDv1wzraWhwlBt1
Obama’s position on Chicago Schools and teachers is clearly a page out of Paolo Frere’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”.
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