Yes, politicians know a lot about education

I am addressing the following statements and questions made by Diane Ravitch in an article called “Do Politicians Know Anything About Schools and Education? Anything?” criticizing President Obama:

“1. Both Republican candidates and President Obama are enamored of charter schools - that is, schools that are privately managed and deregulated. Are you aware that studies consistently show that charter schools don't get better results than regular public schools? Are you aware that studies show that, like any deregulated sector, some charter schools get high test scores, many more get low scores, but most are no different from regular public schools? Do you recognize the danger in handing public schools and public monies over to private entities with weak oversight? Didn't we learn some lessons from the stock collapse of 2008 about the risk of deregulation?

2. Both Republican candidates and President Obama are enamored of merit pay for teachers based on test scores. Are you aware that merit pay has been tried in the schools again and again since the 1920s and it has never worked? Are you aware of the exhaustive study of merit pay in the Nashville schools, conducted by the National Center for Performance Incentives at Vanderbilt, which found that a bonus of $15,000 per teacher for higher test scores made no difference?”

The Obama Administration does “not favor one kind of school over another.”  The Administration favors “educational quality and accountability for all schools.”  While charter schools provide an alternative to other public schools, they are still part of the public education system.  Although some school districts permit their charter schools to be privately managed the schools themselves are still non-profit, in the same way that traditional public schools may be managed by a for-profit corporation.  Ms. Ravitch used the word “consistently” to describe the studies pertaining to the lack of success for charter schools.  Consistently is the adverb of the adjective consistent which means to be free from variation or contradiction.  I have read 9 different study summaries and the results are sporadic but definitely not consistent.  Several local evaluations have found urban charter schools to significantly outperform their school district peers.  The following are excerpts from 4 of the 9 studies:

1.        When evaluating New Orleans’ schools against the 200 point index called the State Performance Index (SPI), 19 of the 20 highest performing non-selective schools were charter schools.

2.        In its Evaluation of the Public Charter Schools Program: Final Report released in 2003, the U.S. Department of Education found that, in the five case study states, charter schools were out-performed by traditional public schools in meeting state performance standards, but noted: “It is impossible to know from this study whether that is because of the performance of the schools, the prior achievement of the students, or some other factor.

3.        In 2004, the National Bureau of Economic Research found data that suggested Charter Schools increase competition in a given jurisdiction, thus improving the quality of traditional public schools (noncharters) in the area. 

4.        A common approach in peer reviewed academic journals is to compare the learning gains of individual students in charter schools to their gains when they were in traditional public schools. Thus, in effect, each student acts as his/her own control to assess the impact of charter schools. A few selected examples of this work find that charter schools on average outperform the traditional public schools that supplied students; at least after the charter school had been in operation for a few years. 

Charter schools are attended by choice and parents may have reasons other than test scores for wanting their child to attend a public charter school instead of a traditional public school.  If the switch does not work out the parent can always place their child back in a traditional public schools.  President Obama supports the expansion of high-quality charter schools (high-quality not the charter schools that perform poorly); according to the White House education guiding principles, President Obama “…has encouraged rigorous accountability for all charter schools.”  For Ms. Ravitch to compare humans in the education system to nonhuman stock in the stock market is like comparing apples and oranges.  Stock is the proprietorship element in a corporation usually divided into shares and represented by transferable certificates.  Also, what is wrong with rewarding excellence in teaching with extra pay (merit pay)?  To answer Ms. Ravitch’s question, politicians know a lot about education (most politicians including The President have a college degree so they would not only understand education they have succeeded in life using their education).

Providing Contraception Protects Religious Freedom and Human Life

Religious-affiliated businesses are not exempt from the Health Care Reform laws requirement that health insurance plans cover contraceptives.  Both Michigan Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak and House Speaker John Boehner oppose this requirement.  Speaker Boehner even went as far as to accuse the President of attacking religious freedom.  Both of these politicians are clearly wrong.  The law does not prohibit the free exercise of any religion as required by the U.S. Constitution (there isn’t any biblical (Christian) admonition against the use of birth control).  Also, some Hindus, believe producing more children than can be supported is a violation of the Ahimsa (nonviolent rule of conduct).  The church is not being required to provide this insurance and the people are not being forced to take the contraception. This ruling is about public hospitals and universities that are required to hire without discrimination and should be required to provide insurance without discrimination. This is not about religion unless these institutions only served Catholics.  If they hire a single non Catholic, or admit a single non Catholic, then they are public and subject to public standards.  Taxpayer money shouldn’t go to any religious run healthcare facility that doesn’t provide contraception which is part of the reason they receive government funding. The contraception requirement is in fact Constitutional (“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”)

The birth control requirement protects human life and prevents abortions.  The lifetime risk of dying from an unsafe abortion in the developed world is 1 in 3,700 procedures.  Numerous studies show that use of effective modern contraception reduces unintended pregnancies and abortions.  The abortion rate in the United States dropped 8 percent between 2000 and 2008, while rising nearly 18 percent among the country's poorest women.  Of the more than 1.2 million legal abortions reported in 2008, women whose family income fell below the national poverty level accounted for 42 percent of them.  "…it's possible women have reduced access to contraception and have more unintended pregnancies," says Rachel Jones, senior research associate at New York City's Guttmacher Institute and lead author of the report published Monday in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

An Overview of President Obama’s Character

President Obama has proposed ideas of a balanced approach that give both conservatives and liberals what they want whilst considering the needs of the majority of Americans.  For instance to solve the deficit problem he has proposed three dollars of budget cuts for every one dollar of increased taxes on the wealthy.  President Obama has proven himself to be an intelligent leader who is also open-minded.

Last December President Obama was criticized by his own party because he chose to extend the Bush tax credits to ensure that millions of Americans who are out of work would continue to get their unemployment benefits.  President Obama chose the option that benefited him the least politically so that Americans already suffering including our veterans would have enough money to feed their families until they can get jobs.  It takes clarity to not be blinded by your own future ambitions but instead to pay attention to the current job at hand.

President Obama has dealt with discrimination, questions of his identity and criticism of his leadership; yet he has conducted himself in a dignified manner before and throughout his presidency.  The following are examples of how he has faced adversity since becoming President of the U.S.

The following Facebook post quote by Failed Tea Party candidate Jules Manson shows how the President has chosen to ignore the horrible racist things people say about him and his family and focus on his job as President: “It must be countered with assassinations onto them and their children,” and ”Assassinate the f—-n (N-word) and his monkey children.” 

Only a strong person could endure this kind of abuse and still put policies in place that will benefit all Americans including those who terrorize him. 

During Obama‘s health care address to Congress in 2009, U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, yelled out to Obama, ‘you lie,’  Most people would have yelled back at Rep. Wilson but not President Obama.

Rush Limbaugh seems to be questioning President Obama’s identity as an American in the following quote:  “Obama is “more African in his roots than he is American” and is “behaving like an African colonial despot”

If we were to decide if one were American based on racial ancestry none of us would be American except for those of Native American descent.  America is a nation of immigrants.

Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn criticized The President’s policies, comparing them to a “tar baby.”  The expression has come to be widely considered a racist term to describe Black Americans.

The way the President handled the Gulf Oil spill in 2010 was another example of his character, President Obama didn’t say I told you so; instead he put his efforts into solving the problem. The President planned and executed the recovery from the 2007 thru 2009 recession despite the fact the recession began over a year before he was elected our President.

Aware that our Navy Seals were engaged in the capture and execution of bin Laden, Obama went about his routine without showing signs of stress, anguish, or discomfort. His schedule during this time included dealing with the “birther business,” an appearance on Oprah, a visit to flood-torn Alabama, and a much anticipated and widely viewed presentation before the White House Correspondents’ Association.  The President has proven himself a strong, competent and classy commander in chief who has exhibited “grace under pressure”.

 President Obama’s family values are more apparent than any other candidate.  He loves his wife and is involved in his children’s lives and protects his family.  He is the best role model for American men to follow.

President Obama has brought honor to all Americans in the way he has conducted himself in other countries.  He has represented The United States well and I am sure almost no one sees Americans as rude, gluttonous, or dumb anymore.  Some of the character traits that represent President Obama and thus the American People are the following: respectful, graceful, strong, classy, charitable, competent, affable, open-minded, cool, dignified, intelligent, and clear-minded.