The Real Killers

The United States of America just suffered another mass shooting of elementary school children, this time in Texas.   I wrote about the last one(!) in 2012, and I basically predicted this one a week later.

If it isn’t already obvious, nothing has changed in the last 10 years.  I take that back, something has changed – it’s even easier now to buy guns, especially assault-style weapons. 

The gutless politicians governing our gun-crazy culture love their power too much to do anything about mass shootings.  These Republicans – and let's call a spade a spade, that’s who they are – accept millions of dollars from the gun lobby to retain their legislative ‘jobs’ in return for making it easy in this country to buy plentiful guns and ammunition.

These pathetic grifters love money and power more than the safety of the citizenry.  As cover, they try to blame mass shootings on everything else but guns.  Then after some time goes by, they try to water down our gun laws even more, as directed by their gun-lobby (Read: NRA) overlords.

It's hard to think how much less safer our gun laws can be when an 18 year-old in Texas can buy assault weapons without a comprehensive background check or waiting period.  How hard is it to correlate that with the fact the United States is the only nation in the world where mass shootings regularly happen?

In a way, the gun lobby has had it right all along.  Guns don't kill people, people kill people -- especially if they're a politician with an R behind their name.

In Support Of The Half-Birthday

I'm writing this entry on my half-birthday.  It's six months from my last birthday, and six months to my next birthday.  The question is, do half-birthdays mean anything?

I never used to think so.  Growing up with an August birth month, I never had a school day where others might have recognized even my regular birthday.  It was kind of a bummer when you were youngster, watching everybody else get attention on their birthday that you never got.

Things are a bit different now.  Back then no one celebrated half-birthdays in schools like some elementary classes do now, which is a very nice thing for us summer birthday people.

Also, as I've aged I've paid more attention to half-birthdays, at least my own.  We only have a certain number of trips around the sun, and nowadays I kind of like to mark the halfway point for some perspective on how things are going.

Also, there's at least one half-birthday that's somewhat consequential in America.  That's when a person reach age 59.5, which makes them eligible for penalty-free withdrawals from most retirement accounts.  It's not much, but for people thinking about retiring, it's something.

So let's give it up for the half-birthday.  Why celebrate only once in 365 days when it can be done twice?

August And Everything After

August has always been a month of mixed feelings for me.

As a youngster, it was always important to me as my birth month.  If fact, I always considered my mid-month birthday as the pinnacle summertime event of my childhood.  Unfortunately, because of its close proximity to the start of a new school year, the immediate aftermath was a huge letdown.  It was like coming off of a sugar high.

As an adult, August is still an important milestone month, because now my wedding anniversary is also included as part of it.  But while the school year has no direct impact on me now, it’s still a negative mental marker of the summer ending, with the daylight hours getting shorter, and the temperature getting colder.

This year, my August attitude has been the same as usual.  There have been many highs in the first half of the month to go along with the birthday / anniversary attention, including family gatherings for weddings, and the always-important Iowa State Fair.  (Not just attending the fair, but once again competing and judging.)

But now here we are at month’s end, with the Labor Day holiday at hand, and the melancholy feeling is taking over.   The more leisurely summer days and evenings are ending, and everything you told yourself you’d wait to do until the Fall is now staring you smack in the face.

One good thing about getting older is, I can at least enjoy the usually beautiful September / October weather.  That wasn’t the case in my younger years, when the hours of helping work on the farm were even longer.  It wasn’t the case in my young adult years, either, because those months typically brought with them a vast array of kids’ school and sports activities.

Farewell, August.  I look forward to seeing you again next year – at least your first 20 or so days.

The LOST Loss

I’m a big believer in behavioral science / economics, which is essentially the idea that people are motivated in all facets of life by potential gains or losses, and their calculation of the underlying risk in achieving / suffering those gains and losses.  The gains and losses are often related to money, but can also be based on things like religion, politics, or relationships.

Unfortunately, many times humans do not properly calculate the underlying risk, leading to bad decisions / behavior.   I thought about this again this week, when the residents of my county were asked to vote in favor of voluntarily and regressively taxing themselves via a sales tax increase.

The local option sales tax (LOST) has been around for a while in Iowa, as a way for county localities to raise additional tax revenue by tacking on another 1% to the statewide sales tax.  When it was first introduced around 15 years ago, the idea was to allow counties to use the money solely for school infrastructure improvements over a 10-years taxing period.  As with most new tax ideas, I've hated it from the beginning.

Over several years, every county in Iowa passed a LOST, increasing the total sales tax from 5% to 6%.  And as a result, we have the nicest school infrastructure in the United States.  For real.  I’ve been to most other states, and their school building suck compared to Iowa.  (Of course, there’s absolutely no evidence that nicer bricks and mortar mean smarter kids, but that’s another story.)

But then something happened that was only predictable to those of us with common sense:   The LOST never went away.  In fact, after the school districts mismanaged their budgeted improvements to the tune of millions of dollars, the state decided to simply make the statewide sales tax 6%, and allow another, new LOST for counties to use as they wish.

97 Iowa counties have piled on to this regrettable legislation, leaving only two that have not voted for a new LOST that increased sales taxes from 6% to 7%.  (Note:  That isn't a 1% increase, that’s a 19% increase, a math computation the LOST supporters don’t want anyone to know about.)  My county is one of the remaining two, and this week, after an affluent neighboring suburb passed a LOST a few months ago, my county decided to have another vote.

Which brings me back to behavioral economics.  Why would anyone vote to tax themselves, especially with no explicit guarantee that local government would spend the money on non-essential services?  Yet, it happens quite often – as I mentioned, it recently happened in 97 out of 99 other instances in Iowa.   It’s usually backed with nothing more than a promise that the sales tax it would help to offset some other tax burden (this time it was property taxes) or that it would not be permanent (see above).

My answer is, it’s another matter of not properly calculating the risk.  Many people don’t recognize the cumulative impact of a regressive tax.  They think of it in terms of ‘just an extra penny on the dollar’ rather than a whopping 19% increase on every Average Joe that will probably cost hundreds of dollars a year, and many thousands of dollars over many years.

As in past LOST votes, I voted no, and I’m pleased to day this time it failed (barely).  I’m not against paying for essential government services, but I’m totally against voting to tax myself for undisclosed services I may not need, to be administered by government bureaucrats that haven’t been truthful, and who aren’t good stewards to begin with.

In other words, I’m for properly assessing risk and behaving appropriately. 

Dear Graduating Class of 2017

It's time for another edition of giving my latest advice to graduating seniors.  I'm sticking with college graduates again this year, for reasons which I outlined last year.

To the college graduates of 2017:

You're facing a tough situation.  The good times are over, your future job prospects aren't great, and our nation's social and political environment has never been more toxic.  Oh, and for some of you, you're student loan debt may be brutally high.

Start with this:  As soon as possible, forget about your college degree.  Once you have a job, your employer won't care about your grades, or where you attended school, or where you spent your summers volunteering for some social good.  All your employer will care about is whether you can add more value than you cost, and if you can, they win again by looking good for hiring you.  Everything else is pretend.

So forget being a college graduate..... but don't forget to live like a college student for as long as possible.  There’s no need, nor should you have any expectation, to live in a nice place the first five or so years post-college.  Instead, try to live like you did in college, by living sparsely with or without roommates.  (So don't move into your parents basement!  Did your parents live with you in college?)

And ignore any peers who you may soon start to see driving expensive cars, and purchasing nice homes. It should be obvious to a college-educated person such as yourself that they're doing this with the parents' money.  Look at it this way -- if your parents are still changing your diapers at 25, that doesn't make you a success.

Last but not least, tackle this tough situation with toughness -- show some grit.  Seriously.  You can start by watching this brief TED Talk by a researcher named Angela Duckworth, who has spent a considerable portion of her life studying how 'grit' leads to success.

Oh, and congratulations.

Dear Graduating Class of 2016

So ends another school year, and so begins another attempt at imparting wisdom upon this year’s graduates.  In the past, I’ve sometimes had messages for both high school and college graduates.   I’m going to ignore the scholastic grads this year, maybe from this point forward.  18-year-olds are so brainwashed from living in the same social-political-economic environment their whole lives, I don’t see how they can process an outsider’s advice anyway, much less execute it.  But college grads – they have no excuse.

So to the college graduates of 2016:

Let me start by saying that I’m withholding my congratulations.  Oh sure, you may have done enough to get your degree, but what’s the accomplishment in that?  I've previously chided the act of celebrating high school diplomas, and as for you, was there ever a doubt that with enough time and money, you would eventually graduate?

Let’s get real.  With apologies to the rocket scientists out there, getting a college degree isn’t rocket science.  Heck, you didn’t even need to GO to college to get a degree.  Thanks to technology, not to mention lower standards, you can get a degree on-line for the most part.  If it was going to take a massive effort to get degree, you probably wouldn’t have gone to college in the first place.

As for what's next, like I've said to your predecessors, if you haven't figured that out yet, you've already made your first real-life screw up.  That's what the last 4 or 5 or 5+ years were for.  If that's you, then you're probably headed back to live in your all-too-willing parents' basement for an undisclosed period of time.  So much for repeating my best advice from last year to “go out there and try to never move back in with your parents!"

However, regardless of whether you are unemployed and living with your parents, or you are planning to travel the world and live day-by-day, or you actually have a job, there are still important things you now must do.  Be responsible.  Be accountable.  Be socially aware.  Have an opinion.  Have a sense of humor.  Improve yourself.  Positively influence those around you.

Most of all, figure out a way to contribute to the betterment of society -- it's not so hard.  For some of you that might mean staying in your parents basement, so if that's what you were going for, it all worked out.

Dear Graduating Class of 2015

If it's the latter part of May, it's again time for my annual advice to graduating seniors.  I have both a college undergraduate and graduate student this year, so I'm going to say it with more meaning.

This year, I only want you to remember three things:

Challenge authority -- sometimes.  You've probably been taught to respect authority, and that's what you should do.  However, the racial tensions we're seeing now related to police actions against black citizens ought be enough to keep you from respecting authority without question.  The best way for anyone to avoid confrontations with authority is to follow the rules/laws.  Having said that, remember that absolute power corrupts absolutely.  To borrow half of a phrase from the late Ronald Reagan, respect, but verify.

Challenge religion -- mostly.  You've probably also been taught to be a God-fearing Christian, or Muslim, or Jew, or some other religion (but probably Christian).  There is more good about that than there is bad.  However, you should be wary of organized religion -- the kind that people use to justify all sorts of crazy, damaging ideas and actions.  Do you really want to live your entire secular life based on the rigid, non-secular, white-male interpretations of scripture supposedly written over 2000 years ago?  Instead, remember the words of Galileo Galilei: "I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."

Challenge group-think -- always.  If too many people think the same thing, and those people only talk to each other, they think everybody agrees with them.  What other excuse is there for all of the far right candidates running for the 2016 republican presidential nomination, most of whom have no more chance than I do of becoming president?  On a related note, this is an overarching problem with all of today's politicians, who lack the courage and/or conviction to take a stance contrary to that of the dogma of their own political party.  You would do well to always remember the old saying, "Sometimes the majority only means that all the fools are on the same side."

Now, go out there and try to never move back in with your parents!

Dear Graduating Class of 2014

Time for my annual advice to graduating seniors.  I'm going to once again concentrate on college-level seniors, but to high school graduates I have this reminder:  You haven't accomplished anything.  According to the census bureau, nearly 90% of U.S. citizens over age 25 have a high school education.  Congrats for not being the 1 out of 10, if it makes you feel better.  You know those graduation parties your parents threw to celebrate?  Those weren't actually for you, they were for your parents and other relatives, who survived your vain teenage years.  Call me in five years and we can talk about your accomplishments, if any.

As for our college graduates, I've decided I may have been too hard on you the past couple of years.  If you've got a bachelor's degree but no job or plans for independent living, you may not be entirely to blame.  It's clear there is another culprit, and I'm not referring to the economy.  It's your parents.

That's right, your parents are at least partially to blame for your troubles.  The children of the so-called 'greatest generation' have become the greatest coddlers.

You'd think that after hearing about our own parents winning World War II, then partaking in a mechanical and transportation revolution that put hard work at a premium, we would teach that same toughness and work ethic to our kids.  Instead, we've gone the other way.  We've excused your (in)actions, and often allowed you too much slack during college, where many of you now don't even attempt to find a full-time job until after graduation.

And there's no pressure to find a job, because we parents will do you graduates an even greater disservice by acting like we're your best friends.  We bring you back in to room with us while you consume without cost or limit, halfheartedly looking for full-time work during the day while wholeheartedly going out with your other unemployed friends at night.  Of course, you'll accept this offer -- why not?  It isn't as if you have anything else to do.

This seems especially crazy to me, because when your parents were your age, moving back in with their parents would have been less than a last resort.  Back then, college grads found a cheap apartment, a roommate (or two), a jalopy car, and a so-so job -- whatever it took to remain independent.  Have you become so lazy and reliant on your parents' money that you aren't willing to do these things?  For many of you, the answer is yes.

In summary, at your age, your grandparents were fighting a war, and your parents were on their own, possibly even married with children.  Most of you graduates are about as far from that as you can be.  So much for learning what you live.

So, it's up to you, graduates.  Your parents have sold out to be your friends.  Your friends have sold out to be your enablers.  Unless you have a trust fund, you're going to have to pick yourself up by your bootstraps (have your parents tie them first), and self-start your way out into the big world.

Good luck.  And remember, in the immortal words of Judge Smails from Caddyshack, "The world needs ditch-diggers, too."

Getting School-ed Again

This week, the local Community Section of the Des Moines Register reported that my school district, the Johnston School District, ended its most recent fiscal year with a $2.1 million budget deficit.  A huge screw up by administration, right?  Heads are going to roll, right?  I mean.....um.....hold on.....I'm being told in my earpiece that apparently the school board thinks it's.....OK?

Said the school board president, "I think my takeaway would be these (numbers) look OK.  But we wouldn't want them to go any lower.  We'd really like to turn the direction around."

Now you might be thinking, give them a break, there are understandable one-offs now and then.  After all, the article said the shortfall is partly the result of having to pay over $800,000 to implement and purchase textbooks for a new math program.  If you're wondering, there was no word on whether giving everyone an iPad made a difference.

The thing of it is, besides the unanswered question of why that math stuff wasn't already budgeted for in the prior year, this is no one-off.  This is the second time in the last 4 years the school district has exceeded its budget.  And this is the group that's going to be in charge of building a brand new, multi-million dollar high school.

I guarantee that if something like this happened in the for-profit world, there would be VERY serious consequences.  Budgets would be immediately slashed, as would jobs. Who knows, there might even be a going-out-of-business outcome.

But in the not-for-profit, governmental world, backed by the unlimited deep pockets of taxpayers, there is no panic.  According to the article, the soon-to-be retired school superintendent offered no specific action.  The district finance director said that, other than deferring the purchase of new social study textbooks, perhaps next year they'd have to maintain current staffing levels without increases.

Gosh, don't sacrifice too much.

As a taxpayer, I'm on the hook for this spending and mismanagement, but unfortunately, I have no choice nor power to invest my money elsewhere.  Sure, I can vote for new school board members, but the problem is the governmental model, not the people running it.

Unless school districts, or other government entities, face consequences for overspending, it's just going to continue.

Getting School-ed - Update

As expected, the JCSD bond referendum passed yesterday by a relatively narrow margin on its second try - needed 60%, got 66%.

Also as expected, today I haven't heard a single satisfied supporter profess that they will no longer complain about unnecessary government spending and taxing.

Hypocrites.

Getting School-ed

On June 25th, for the second time in nine months, voters in my school district, the Johnston Community School District (JCSD), will be voting on a $41 million bond referendum to primarily build a new $81 million high school.  Unlike the last time, it'll probably pass, and if not this time, then there will be another time.

That's still no reason to vote yes.

As with virtually all such tax increase proposals that require voter approval, I heartily oppose this one.  I'm not denying that there may be a current / future overcrowding issue in some school buildings, but I am denying that it should take $112 million of taxpayer money to solve that.

(There's one of the many head-fakes that voters get on deals like this - the bonding covers $41 million, but other taxpayer funds / levies will cover the other $71 million.  That equals $112 million of our money, and I tabulated that without needing a new school facility to help me do it.)

If you want to know all about the referendum, and how the money will purportedly be spent, and the estimated cost to property owners, there's plenty of electronic or print information available, of course paid for by us JCSD taxpayers.  But if you simply want to know about how ironic-to-borderline-dumb it would be for Johnston school district taxpayers to support it, just read this:

1) After failing to pass the referendum nine months ago, JCSD changed the bonding amount from $51 million to $41 million - but not by cutting anything, only by deferring the $10 million to other taxpayer funded pools.  In other words, they cut absolutely nothing.  They apparently take us taxpayers for fools.

2) The $112 million doesn't include some very large ancillary future expenditures that are admittedly part of the long-term plan, such as a new football stadium.  You know, for educational purposes.  Are we just supposed to forget about that little item?

3) Voting to increase your own taxes is never a good idea.  Let's face it, it's a little bit crazy.  It's a lot crazy when you consider.....

4) School districts are often poor stewards of our money.

5) Given the current and future age of technology, what sense does it make to build expensive, huge, new brick-and-mortar schools?  Shouldn't we be planning on ways to bring classrooms to students via on-line and digital means?

6) More than a decade ago, with the support of JCSD, our own Polk County passed a local option sales tax (LOST) to increase sales taxes from 5% to 6% for a 10-year period to fund new school infrastructure.  That was the deal, ten years only.  Liars!  Less than ten years later, they and every other school district were already lobbying to extend the time, and ultimately in 2008, the state of Iowa simply went to a permanent 6% sales tax.  Why should we believe anything the JCSD tells us now about taxes, when they had no problem lying to us taxpayers a few years ago?

7) Did I mention that school districts are often poor stewards of our money?

Here's a final thing that gets to me about this goofy referendum - it's being largely supported by a very Republican-leaning district.  These folks want to tax others to benefit them and or their school children, regardless of whether those taxpayers will receive any direct benefit from the school.  In other words, thousands of folks who claim to hate the so-called socialistic ideology of the Obama administration, seem perfectly willing to support this socialistic measure.  It's another example of how some people only oppose taxes and government spending unless it's good for them, and they ought to be required to forfeit their Obama-bashing cards.

Fellow citizens of the JCSD - don't be duped!  A 'no' vote doesn't mean you oppose education, it means you support not letting others unnecessarily spend your money.  The tax-and-spend monster that is JCSD doesn't need to be fed, it needs to be starved.  We can do far better with far less than over $100 million.

Dear Graduating Class of 2013

I enjoyed writing last year's entry so much, it's now time for an updated version of my advice to this year's graduating class.  I'm going to stick with just college graduates this year, not only because one of my kids was one, but also since I don't think I can improve on my 2012 commencement message to high school graduates.

To make this year's message more universal, and in keeping with the educational theme, I'm going to make it multiple choice:

To the College Graduates of 2013:

Congratulations - [you / your parents / your banker] did it.  After [ 4 / 5 / 5+] years of [matriculation / partying / sleepwalking] , not to mention tens of thousands of [dollars / beers / hours of sleep] you have a degree.

You probably feel [good / great / overjoyed] about this accomplishment, and if you have a full-time job or have been accepted to graduate school, you should feel good.  But not too good, because now you still have to prove yourself to the [corporate / non-profit / academic] world.

On the other hand, if you have neither job prospects nor grad school plans, what the hell are you feeling good about?  You're over 22 years old, and you're likely going to be living with your [sibling / parents / 5 other unemployed friends].  Your life isn't getting better, it's getting [much / tons / overwhelmingly] worse.

Graduates, no matter what your plans are, it's time to take control of your own [life / bank account / destiny].  For some of you, this mean's you'll get to enjoy all of the [spoils / money / success] that capitalism has to offer. Unfortunately for the rest of you, this means a [low paying / hard labor / service industry] job, because you waited until now to take the controls.

Good luck, and above all, remember this:  You can't depend on [parents / government / wealthy friends] to get by forever.

Still Danger In Numbers

In honor of today, I give you something from last year.

Words Now That There Are Words

Now that we've had a week to absorb the mass murder of children and teachers at a Connecticut grade elementary school, as well as a week to listen to the pundits and politicians, let's just agree on one thing:

It will probably happen again.

Regardless of all of the talk about doing more in the area of mental health, it's almost certain that America won't do anything.  It isn't even a priority in a good economy; it surely won't be one now.  Short of imprisoning everyone currently on a mind-altering prescription drug, what could be done to absolutely ensure someone won't do something crazy?

Regardless of all of the talk about gun control and banning assault weapons, it's almost certain that America will stay the same.  Did you happen to see the NRA presser today, where they called for an armed guard at every school, which they would help train free of charge?!  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you another sign of the apocalypse, ironically on the same day many Mayan-worshipers predicted!

Regardless of all of the talk about how we'll never forget this, it's almost certain that America will slowly file this into the recesses of our collective minds, along with all of the other senseless mass killings by mentally unstable people.  We eventually will go days, then weeks, then months without thinking about it.  That's how human beings roll, excepting those directly affected.

My wife is a teacher, and despite all of the safeguards in place, a person would have no difficulty obtaining access inside the school.  Even if the system was foolproof, the windows would have to be bulletproof, so crazies like the Connecticut killer couldn't just shoot them out and enter that way.

Let's get real - the loss of freedoms to which Americans would have to agree, in order to absolutely prevent further school shootings, is something our dysfunctional, polarized culture is not willing to accept.  And if we aren't willing or able to do something while this multiple-child killing is on our collective consciousness, we aren't ever going to do it.

So, another school shooting is bound to happen again.  Not sure when, but it will, and that's the brutal reality for those with children, and for those who teach them.

Words When There Are No Words

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

ON SCHOOL SHOOTING IN NEWTOWN, CONNECTICUT

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

3:15 P.M. EST

This afternoon, I spoke with Governor Malloy and FBI Director Mueller.  I offered Governor Malloy my condolences on behalf of the nation, and made it clear he will have every single resource that he needs to investigate this heinous crime, care for the victims, counsel their families.

We’ve endured too many of these tragedies in the past few years.  And each time I learn the news I react not as a President, but as anybody else would — as a parent.  And that was especially true today.  I know there’s not a parent in America who doesn’t feel the same overwhelming grief that I do.

The majority of those who died today were children — beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old.  They had their entire lives ahead of them — birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own.  Among the fallen were also teachers — men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams.

So our hearts are broken today — for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children, and for the families of the adults who were lost.  Our hearts are broken for the parents of the survivors as well, for as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight, they know that their children’s innocence has been torn away from them too early, and there are no words that will ease their pain.

As a country, we have been through this too many times.  Whether it’s an elementary school in Newtown, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora, or a street corner in Chicago — these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children.  And we're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.

This evening, Michelle and I will do what I know every parent in America will do, which is hug our children a little tighter and we’ll tell them that we love them, and we’ll remind each other how deeply we love one another.  But there are families in Connecticut who cannot do that tonight.  And they need all of us right now.  In the hard days to come, that community needs us to be at our best as Americans.  And I will do everything in my power as President to help.

Because while nothing can fill the space of a lost child or loved one, all of us can extend a hand to those in need — to remind them that we are there for them, that we are praying for them, that the love they felt for those they lost endures not just in their memories but also in ours.

May God bless the memory of the victims and, in the words of Scripture, heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds.

END           

3:20 P.M. EST

Taxpayer Funded iPads For Everyone - Update

The good news is, my Des Moines Register letter to the editor on this topic was published today.  The bad news is, they published it in the local 'Community' section of the paper rather than the statewide edition.  So instead of thousands reading it, only hundreds will.

Oh well, as long as it exposes the Johnston Community School District as out of touch with the taxpayer, like most governmental / nonprofit entities, it isn't all bad.

Profiting In The Nonprofit World

I've blogged before about the scandals in the nonprofit world, especially when it comes to wasting taxpayer money.  (In comparison, nonprofits like charities or membership organizations focus more narrowly on only fleecing those who contribute to them.)

But when is comes to school districts, this is getting ridiculous.

In this week's Des Moines Register, you would have counted no less than four different stories of scandals, waste, nepotism, and/or outright embezzlement at four different school districts.  From superintendents to clerks, everybody seems to be working it.

The "it" is the simple knowledge that there is very little accountability or oversight in the nonprofit organizational model.  The "it" is the lack of competition and incentive that would make employees and boards pay more attention to detail.  The "it" is understanding that no matter how bad its behavior, a nearly unlimited funding stream from taxpayers will keep the entity operating.

Let's turn public schooling over to the for-profit world.  It's a bad idea who's time has come.

Taxpayer-Funded iPads For Everyone!

The following is both the truth, and a letter to the editor I sent to the Des Moines Register this weekend:

In a recent 5-1 vote, the Johnston School Board agreed to spend $1.4 million to purchase 1,600 iPads, enough for each high school student and teacher.

As a Johnston school district taxpayer, I say why stop there?  If the board thinks iPads are that important to learning, let’s increase property taxes so we can equip every middle and elementary school student and teacher with an iPad.

And if they’re really serious about this learning thing, let’s increase taxes even more so we can get an iPad in the hands every parent of every Johnston Community School District student.  After all, parents need help with their lifelong learning, too!

It sure is good to know our school board isn’t concerned about there not being one shred of evidence that student achievement is correlated to using an iPad, a technology that’s only two years old.  Only silly people without iPads probably think that way.

Dear Graduating Class of 2012

To High School Graduates of 2012:

Congratulations on what is probably the greatest accomplishment of your life so far. Now the bad news - it doesn't really matter.

If you are/were a slacker up to now, you probably feel like you got over, and in some sense that's true.  The thing of it is, you'd have to be a complete moron, or maybe a criminal, not to get a diploma with the sorry state of public schooling these days. Plus, now you're just going to continue being a slacker, so what did you really get over on? But thank you for your lack of effort anyway, because I'm always going to need people willing and only able to work in the service industry to take care of me.

If you are/were not a slacker up to now, good for you, it might have helped you get a college scholarship and made your family proud.  Unfortunately, as of this moment, you are no farther ahead in life than the slacker to which I just referred.  All that work took you to the same piece of paper that the lazy students got.  Sucks, doesn't it? The good news is, you have a better future ahead, and from here you are going to very quickly improve your chances of future prosperity over the slacker.

To College Graduates of 2012:

Congratulations on what is probably the greatest accomplishment of your life so far. Now the bad news - it's time to grow up.

What the hell is the matter with your generation?  Not so long ago, going to college meant you had four years to develop a certain set of intellectual skills, and upon your graduation you already had a job and/or post-graduate school lined up to begin a couple of weeks later.  Now more often than not, you take more than four years to get an undergraduate degree, and you have a 'now what?' look on your face as you walk across the stage, and you move back home.

Gimme a break.  What were you doing during your last year of college?  You had tons of time to complete or apply for internships, and interview for and land an actual job.  I don't know you, but I know the probability is high that you didn't put a whole lot of time into it.

And don't give me the old 'tough job market' excuses.  I know, I know, the Great Recession is making it tough on college graduates - that doesn't mean you shouldn't try.  It means you need to try harder.

Also, try expanding your job horizons already.  It's a big country out there, you don't need to limit your search to the city/state in which you grew up.  This may come as a surprise to you, but that was kind of part of going to college, realizing it's a big world of other people and opportunities out there.

I don't entirely blame you.  I also blame your parents.  Apparently, they want you to have an option that they didn't have, meaning moving back home and allowing you to indefinitely leech off of them.  Fortunately for you, my generation has decided they would rather be your adult friends instead of being your parents.

It's hard not to take advantage of this invitation to slacker-ville, no doubt.  Just be accountable, OK?  If you have a new degree but no job, it's probably your fault.  Your parents want you succeed, and they may give you a place to avoid the big, bad world for a while, but don't get used to taking advantage of it.

Which brings me to my quick and opposite advice:  It's a big, bad world out there. Get used to it.

Danger in Numbers

The following is taken directly from an April 18, 2012 email to parents of students at West Des Moines Valley Southwoods Freshman High School:

Dear VSW Parents/Guardians:

At a community meeting on Monday evening, it was suggested that building principals share the following information from the WDM Substance Abuse Coalition about April 20th with our parents:

4:20 or 4/20 (pronounced four-twenty) is a term used as a discreet way to refer to the consumption of marijuana and a way to identify oneself with the drug subculture. Marijuana users observe 4:20 as a time to smoke together and April 20 has become a counterculture holiday, where people gather to celebrate and consume marijuana.

4:20 has become a code for a time to get high, a symbol of marijuana and its culture. Teenagers believe they can talk about getting high in front of their parents without them knowing by using the phrase 4:20. Fortunately, your teenager will not have that option. April 20 events are international and 4:20 has become a worldwide "burn time." For parents, it's a red flag, a warning sign that your teenager may be into something that could harm their future. When you see the symbol 4:20 or your child wearing excessive green clothing on April 20, beware of what it represents. April 20 has now become National Pot Smokers Day.  Our pop culture is pro-marijuana, as evidenced by the success of movies and celebrities who flaunt their use. This makes it more difficult for parents to get anti-drug messages across to kids. Use 4:20 as your opportunity to get a dialogue going about drugs, and not just marijuana.

Isn't that awesome/crazy/stupid!  When I read this, I knew immediately there was a high (no pun intended) probability I would blog about it.

This email is asinine for a lot of reasons, many of which I've written about before.  (Just click on the labels.)  These reasons can be put into two main categories:

1) School administrators who think it's their job to govern kids 24/7.  Like I've said before, what happens outside of school or school functions is the responsibility of parents.  If the parents choose not to raise their children the 'right' way, that doesn't make school administrators their surrogate.

Trying to educate parents on pop culture like this is nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt to do a parent's job.  I love how the author notes at the beginning that "it was suggested that building principals" share this information.  Who suggested it, one of the principals?  Had to be I guess, because if a parent knew about four-twenty, they'd already have a grip on communicating about it.

2) People who think any suggestion of marijuana means the worst.  It's a "warning sign" if your kid wears "excessive green clothing" on 4/20?  A warning sign of what, that they follow pop culture or that they must be a pothead?  You mean like if a girl wears a short skirt she must be a slut, or if a boy wears a sideways cap he must be a gang member?

And how about the statement that "our pop culture is pro-marijuana"?  I see a helluva lot of pop culture that "flaunts" drinking too much, or using violence, but smoking pot?  Not so much.  Regardless, smoking pot would be less harmful than either of those other two things, but our society is much too repressed to admit that!

So kudos to you, Valley Southwoods Freshman High School administrators, for drawing attention to this falsely dangerous calendar date.  You've truly earned the ridicule that the students are going to point in your direction on four-twenty.