46

I just turned 46. That's the atomic number of palladium. The "discoverer" named it after the asteroid Pallas. That asteroid was named after the Greek god Pallas. According to myth, Athena killed Pallas who was the husband of Styx. Styx is a band that Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force thinks "rocks". Carl is my hero. And to be honest I don't believe that my 46-47 epoch will bring me any more happiness than my 45-46 epoch. I'll fight to keep my kids and students focussed on their education, fight to teach them to reject materialism, and try to install a investigative curiosity. I'll win some of these battles and lose some. My two main goals are to 1. finish a major book I've been working on with Eerdmans called Over, Under and Through the Bible, and to film the pilot episode of the soon to be famous TV reality show The Theologians Starring Mark Gstohl. So obviously if I have a blog post entitled "47" I'll be famous and I'll not have to type it, I'll just dictate it or outsource it or whatever Ashton Kutcher does. Happy birthday to moi.

Attacking New Orleans Teachers: A Math Problem for Bobby Jindal and the Media

So Governor Bobby Jindal has decided to make education reform the flagship of his second term. It's a smart political move. It plays well nationally. It's very pro-business for the companies making fortunes off of the charter school movement. It gives the impression that Jindal cares about youth and the intellectual future of this country. It perpetuates the myth that anyone can escape poverty through education and hard work. And if the grades don't improve, he has the teachers' union as a scapegoat.

What bothers me though about Jindal is his not-at-all-subtle attack on teachers. Consider his rhetoric. In rolling out his plan he made the following two statements about teachers:

1. "Short of selling drugs in the workplace or beating up one of the business's clients, they can never be fired."

2. "We are going to create a system that pays teachers for doing a good job instead of for the length of time they have been breathing."

Ugh. First teachers are easily fired. In fact, every teacher in New Orleans was fired after the flood. And my principal friends tell me all one needs to do is document the poor performance in yearly evaluation forms and the contract will be terminated. And notice in his business model he calls students "clients." Second, my wife is a public school teacher and I find this idea about her pay being based on simply living to be very offensive. My outrage is influenced by that fact that my kids and I all suffer due to the incredible work load placed on her shoulders. Ask anyone married to a public school teacher. Some of us call ourselves "teacher widows" and "teacher widowers." It's a major sacrifice. I look forward to June when I can have a wife again.

Besides the rhetoric, there is this myth being perpetuated in Louisiana education circles that we can all "vote with our feet." If we don't like the school in which our child is enrolled, we can switch schools. But entry into the best schools is extremely difficult if not impossible. For starters, you would need to have a parent with access to resources such as time, networking, and diligence. Louisiana Association of Educators Executive Director Michael Walker-Jones stated that many parents don't have these and other resources to make informed decisions about navigating these systems. This statement offended Jindal who argues that all parents want what's best for their kids and will be working on a level playing field in school choice.

So who is correct? I have a simple solution that a journalist could solve in about an hour. Let's take the two best performing charter schools in New Orleans, Ben Franklin and Lusher, and look at the average income for the parents of their students. Let's look at the demographics. Do these students come from houses where they have two parents? Perhaps one of these parents has time to volunteer at the school? Do they have a computer and an internet connection in their home?

Then lets compare these numbers to two of the lowest performing public schools in the city. I don't want to name names here, so choose any two RSD schools, or some of the lower performing BESE run charters. I think it's a reasonable hypothesis here that you will see a drastically lower income, far more single parents, no time to volunteer and fewer computers with internet in the home. I'm pretty sure that you will see a direct correlation between school quality and parental income.

But if the results are similar between these two sets then Jindal is correct and we all should be offended. I'm offended too, but for reasons that differ from Jindal's.

CRASH!

One week ago I, like many, thought that LSU would win the BCS Championship game and that the New Orleans Saints would win their first ever road playoff game. Neither happened. Time to pack up my Saints shrine and put it in the attic until next August.

Can You Teach Teaching? A Letter to John White & Bobby Jindal Fans

Can you teach teaching?

Yes you can. Ask my wife. She earned Bachelors degrees in Studio Art and Art History. Neither of these focussed on how to be an effective teacher. Therese decided she wanted to follow in the footsteps of many in her family and become an elementary school teacher. In California they decided that there was value in learning how to teach. So Therese enrolled in an intensive year long program set up for people who had already earned their Bachelor's degrees. She worked very hard to become a qualified teacher. To this day she relies on the pedagogical theories and resources she obtained in those classes. Since then, Therese went on to get her Masters degree, and Therese will tell you, those classes made her a much better teacher. So in fact there is value in teacher education programs.

Today the Louisiana state education board will fulfill the wishes of Governor Bobby Jindal and elect John White as the new superintendent of Louisiana schools. He will be the boss of 50,000 teachers. Thing is though, John White never took the time to learn how to teach, nor do his policies suggest that he sees a need for a formal education in how to teach. White joined Teach for America after getting a bachelor's degree in English, and subsequently taught English in New Jersey schools for three years. He then took various jobs leading Teach for America offices, and wound up implementing Michael Bloomberg's controversial education reforms for five years in New York. As that "reform" was imploding, White got out of town and came to New Orleans where he has been running the Recovery School District for the past few months.

So why is this young man doing so well in the upper echelons of Louisiana education circles? It's because Bobby Jindal and the pro-charter school movement share the same ideals as Bloomberg and other Republican education reform folks. Their idea is this:

Public education is broken and can't be fixed by throwing money at it. The main problem is principals can't fire lazy teachers because of an outdated tenure/union system. So you close failing schools (their term for schools with low standardized test scores) and let private companies start opening charter schools. You call principals CEOs and quadruple their salaries. You get rid of more expensive experienced teachers who are burned out anyway and hire younger enthusiastic teach for America workers because youth and enthusiasm trump experience and higher salaries. You get school workers to do more work for less money so profits go up. The parents win because now they can vote with their feet: if you don't like the school your child is at, put them in a school that you like. Through competition and open capitalism we all win. Hooray!

Instead, I value teachers with experience and in-depth training in the legitimate academic discipline of teacher education. I also think the teachers I know are some of the hardest working people you'll ever meet. I believe the current charter system in New Orleans works well for parents with resources but those who suffer the most are those with learning disabilities and parents without resources because all of the assets go to high performing schools and they won't take students who might hurt their test scores. I also value collective bargaining, and think the education problem can in fact be solved by throwing money at it. But I live in "charter everything" Louisiana, so I'm certainly a minority. But ask an experienced teacher, and I'll wager they support my observations.

Christmas Photo

Here is our latest family photo. It was taken Christmas Day at noon on the shores of Lake Ponchartrain:

Vegagain

Therese and I for the most part kept a vegan diet back in the 1990's. This was challenging in Omaha, a bit less so in San Diego and Jerusalem, but mostly it was challenging because I very much enjoy eating animal products. As a family we decided to try once again the vegan diet back in September. There are a few caveats though. We eat eggs from our own 8 chickens and we don't shun honey, though we rarely use it. It the most difficult for me during the holidays. Here's what we did for Thanksgiving:

The tofurkey was good, but it certainly wasn't the same as a fried turkey or one smoked on the green egg as I've made in years past. Tonight for Christmas Eve I'm making pickled vegetables for an appetizer, potato artichoke soup for a starter, and then squash & pecan filled ravioli, brussels sprouts, with a buche de noel for dessert. Typically in years past I would make a meal centered around beef wellington. Mostly though I'll miss having oyster soup. It's been a part of the Homan Christmas Eve dinner for as long as I can remember.

So why are we doing this? It's complicated, but influenced by the movie Forks Over Knives, my current status as a fat man, and a belief that a vegan diet arguably makes the world a better place. I doubt it will last more than a year, but it's an experiment, now four months old. Enjoy it while you can cows.

Saint Steve Gleason

Yesterday was the five year anniversary of the reopening of the Superdome. It was one of the most memorable days of my life. I wrote about it here. Here's a picture of me and Mark Gstohl at the game.


All last week the Times-Picayune ran articles about that amazing event. There were behind the scenes interviews with the players, coaches, musicians, workers, and broadcast professionals. Some of my favorite stories were from the ESPN crew about how that game was by far the most emotional sporting event they had ever witnessed. I found amusement in the quotation from Saints' owner Rita Benson LeBlanc about the Skids' song "The Saints Are Coming." She hated the original and described it as "an extremely harsh and barely understandable punk song." Saints players and coaches spoke about how it was the most memorable game that they had ever participated in, and the noise level in the Dome after the blocked Atlanta punt and subsequent touchdown has never been matched anywhere.


Steve Gleason, the Saints' player who blocked the punt, was featured on the front page of yesterday's paper. He announced that he has ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Gleason, like my family, moved to New Orleans, fell in love with the city, and decided to plant roots. There is much to admire about Gleason. He was at the Dome yesterday, and he served as honorary captain. It looked like he was having a hard time walking. Seeing him supported by Drew Brees, as he walked to center field grabbing the back of Brees' shoulder pads, and then upfield to start the "Who Dat" chant, well, it took my breath away. Here was an NFL athlete whose heroics five years ago caused our city to be able to boast to the world that we were strong, and we were back, and we didn't suck any more.

Thanks Steve Gleason. Words can't express how much your actions from five years ago until today have meant to me.

9-11 Christmas Song

I watched just about all of the 9-11 anniversary material. I find it is important to be aware of politics and tragedy. But I'm also cynical and a big fan of kitsch. My favorite part of the 9-11 anniversary was an amazing painting that I think accurately depicts the sentiment of America. (HT gregp1134 on Twitter)

Yes, that's Santa having a hard time with 9-11, and Jesus is there to comfort him. Santa, overcome with grief, took off his hat and gloves at that angel statue, but then fell to his knees sobbing. Poor Santa. I've thought about the image quite a bit, and I've decided that the best thing to do for America is for me to make money off of the tragedy of 9-11 with a Christmas song. It's so sad it will have to be a country tune. All I have at the moment are the lyrics, but I think they're good enough for a Grammy or the country music equivalent (Hee Haw Award?).

Title: Don't Cry Santa Clause: The 9-11 Song

(verse 1)
The terrorists weren't thinking of Santa, when they made their evil plans.
They hated our freedom and Christmas cookies and Grandma's glaze-baked ham.
So they jacked four planes, took thousands of lives, when they crashed them from the sky.
But you crossed the line you SOBs when you made dear Santa cry!

(Chorus)
Santa Clause didn't come to town, on the day terrorists knocked the towers down.
So let it all out Santa and dry your eyes, with a Jesus hug from the Lord Christ.
And cheer up Santa, we'll get revenge, we'll destroy their countries with bombs so then,
return Dear Santa to the north pole, and come 12-24, Let's roll!

(verse 2)
Nothing rhymes with Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, but we'll water board his ass 183 times for vice.
And on Christmas Eve he'll get no presents, cause Santa knows who's naughty and nice.
And Osama bin Laden, you deserved to die, for causing all of these tragedies,
But apologies to Saddam Hussein, cuz there were no WMD's.

(repeat Chorus)

A Redheaded Eskimo from Nebraska Responds to David Simon's Assertions about Standing

"I'm going to make an argument here that standing is the lamest way of reducing genuine debate, discussion, and argument in our political culture, in our culture in general, and in our society."
David Simon, Rising Tide 6, Xavier University of Louisiana

I very much enjoyed Rising Tide 6, a conference in New Orleans about social networking and blogs. David Simon was the keynote speaker. I am a huge fan of Simon's work on shows such as The Wire and The Treme, some of the best television ever in my opinion. David Simon said he hoped that his talk would be provacative, and it was. But in the end what he concluded about "standing" bothered me.

It seems David Simon is so very tired of people complaining that because he is not from New Orleans, and that because he didn't experience Katrina and its immediate aftermath, that he has no business telling our story. He claimed that these attacks on his work are ad hominem and instead they should focus on the actual stories he tells, not his background. He said that to take the idea of standing to its logical conclusion, you'd have to be a "redheaded Eskimo from Nebraska to write the story of a redheaded Eskimo from Nebraska."

Well, as someone who grew up as a redheaded Nebraskan, it's my unfortunate duty to inform Mr. Simon that the preferred term is Inuit and they neither live in Nebraska nor have red hair. Though if Mr. Simon reads this and wants to collaborate on a future project about redheads and Nebraska, I'd be game. Think Omar in overalls on a tractor stealing from corn silos.

But more seriously, I present as an argument that standing does matter... Sr. Monica Loughlin, who gave the introductory remarks welcoming attendees to Xavier. Certainly Sr. Monica's standing as a Sister of the Blessed Sacrament, the order founded by Saint Katharine Drexel, certainly that matters in her ability to tell the story of Xavier's unique mission. Doesn't it give her street cred? I could have said the same words and it would have mattered less. If a heathen like Mr. Macrochephalus would have told that story, it would have been worse than meaningless.

I very much agree with David Simon that people in the media need to be curious and honest. I also liked his anecdote about David Mills, an African American writer who complained when people told him that they loved the work he did with the African American actors on the TV show NYPD Blue. Mills would get upset and tell them he wrote the words of Sipowicz as well! Awesome. So keep telling your stories David Simon. I love watching them. But I do think that standing does matter, it matters a lot.

You can see David Simon's talk at Rising Tide 6 here, thanks to Jason Berry for the video:

Rising Tide 6 - David Simon, Keynote Speaker from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

Commemorate

Today I began class by telling the students my experiences from six years ago. They were amazed that I swam to Xavier one day, and also that I naively thought that the world would change after those horrible events. I thought America would shift from policies that only benefitted the wealthy share holders to help some of the most disenfranchised. This afternoon I walked with my dogs to the Katrina memorial near our house. It's where they buried the remains of all of the unidentified victims who passed away during the flood. My dogs were a big part of my flood experience, and I was glad they were here. It's always depressing to remember what happened six years ago. My dogs in a way are lucky, as they don't know it's the six year anniversary of anything, and they certainly don't understand the concept of a Katrina memorial. Kochise even peed on one of the signs there. But luckily today is Monday. So I'd rather commemorate a Monday tradition instead of anything as horrible as a mass levee failures and suffering and death. Here is a Monday tradition in our house and throughout New Orleans: the classic red beans and rice with cornbread.