School Starts This Week - For Me

Throughout my adult life, I have been a vocal proponent of education.   As most parents do, I have shared with my children the importance and value of education.  Fortunately, all have chosen to continue their education beyond their high school years.    Throughout my career, I have always been supportive of those choosing to continue their educational pursuits.  Never once have I told someone to keep working when they had the desire for more learning.  However, when it has come to my own continuing education, I have rejected the idea out of hand.  Yes, I have my college degree but I have resisted time and again any idea of going back and spending any time in a classroom. 

That will all change this next week when I begin a series of classes at one of our local technical schools.  Long overdue but never too late.     At fifty-nine years of age, I have decided to embrace rather than reject our technological age.  I have been computer literate for quite some time.  However, if you compared it to how we grade out our youngster's reading levels, I would probably only grade out as computing on a third-grade level.  My knowledge has been specific to the work I do rather than in more general terms where it may be applied to any number of fields. 

It's only a continuing education program that I have enrolled in.  A big step for me though.  I am somewhat anxious about it all.  My son has repeatedly told me that I will not be the oldest in the class nor the only one looking to grow their understanding of the technological age.  His reassurance helps but there's still part of me filled with anxiety.  I really can't remember starting elementary school.  I truly have no recollections of those early years and the fears that I must have felt in starting school.  I do remember the anxiety of starting high school and even more when I went away to college.

Obviously, I survived those opportunities as I surely will this one.  There is a difference though.  This time, I am doing it because I want to.  Not because I have to or because it is the expectation.  I'm going back to further my education and develop a better understanding of today's possibilities and realities.  It's exciting and my anxiety is different as I put these words to it.  By embracing this new knowledge, I am taking a step forward with my life and choosing not to allow life to move on without me.  That's a big deal. 

I have many friends who like me choose to opt out of learning these new technologies.  They too only learn what is absolutely necessary to perform their jobs.  No more for me.  I have made the choice to understand what will make me competitive in the years ahead.  Approaching 60 years of age, I don't want to give away my maturity and experience in the workplace because of my inexperience and lack of knowledge of how to perform fairly commonplace functions on the computer. 

Over the course of the next year, I will be taking one class after another building my skills, knowledge and understanding of what will make me competitive in the workplace.  I suspect like many of the skills and learning I have experienced in the past, some of the information and education I will learn will go unused.  However, it's the whole piece that makes it valuable.  Looking back on my college education, it was the whole experience that prepared me for life and the workplace. 

I'm excited and ready to learn.  It feels good to take my own advice for a change.  I'm going back to school.  How cool is that.  Hope to see you there.      

Why Eliminating The Department of Education Is A Bad Idea.

About every three years or so as America prepares for one more Presidential election, invariably the Republican candidates for President, will speak of their plans when elected to eliminate the Department of Education.   This is a very popular position within the Republican Party and has been since it was officially established as a Cabinet level agency in 1980.  For many, the Department of Education is seen as one more bureaucratic agency staffed to the gills with unnecessary and politically appointed cronies wasting taxpayer money. 

Nothing could be farther from the truth when one takes a closer look at the Department of Education's mandate and how they perform.  The original Department of Education was created in 1867.  The early emphasis was to collect information on schools and teaching to be able to assist states establish effective schools.  Over the last 130 years, not much has changed in terms of mission.  The Department of Education provides school administrators and educators with information on teaching that works. 

The Department's official mission is, "to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access."  That mission is particularly important today as the United States is faced with extraordinary challenges within the global economy.  Our citizens must be able to compete and it all starts with arming our young people with the education they need.   Education is the only answer for our nation to be competitive.  Leaving that to the individual 50 states seems less than productive and frankly, a bit hit and miss. 

The Department employs its mission by fostering a continuing dialogue with educators and adminstrators improving education and educational results.  The Department serves as facilitator of the dialogue; disseminator of information and results passing them on to all states and their respective leadership.  Secondly, the Department of Education demands access be available for all citizens and offers incentives and rewards for excellence. 

There is no question that the Department of Education has grown substantially over the years, especially since its Cabinet level inception in 1980.  The Department currently has the third largest budget of all discretionary spending in the United States only lagging behind the Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services. That is a huge amount of taxpayer money.  The Department's 2012 budget is estimated at $77.4 billion.  Almost ten times that amount is allocated for the Department of Defense.  ($670.9 billion) 

Although the Department of Education's budget has increased significantly, the staffing levels have not.  Out of all the Cabinet agencies, it has the smallest staff.  In fact, the administrative costs of the Department of Education are only 2% of the entire discretionary budget.  Only 1% administrative costs of all the grants and loans the Department administers totaling $120 billion.  Truth be told, the Department of Education is a fairly lean governmental agency compared to its counterparts not only in government but also in the private sector. 

In effect, the Department of Education does better than most charitable organizations in the United States by delivering 99 cents out of the dollar to their recipients.  This includes assistance to states, school districts, colleges and universities and most important of all, students.  One may not always agree with the appropriations designated for states and their programs.   However, one federal agency makes a tremendous amount of sense when the goal is to provide access to all Americans as well as the opportunity to find success through education for all of our students.           

When I Grow Up, I Want To Be...

WHEN I GROW UP, I WANT TO BE ...

   Let's grow the dreams together

Unfortunately, not everyone in America has had the opportunity to have someone stand in their corner and share their dream.  It's a failing of our ever-changing world.  As a young boy, everyone in my neighborhood knew me and my family.  All the adults in my neighborhood invested in me.  They knew about my plans to be a Secret Service Agent when I was eight years old.  They knew when I turned ten, I was going to pitch in The Majors.  Of course, the members of my church knew of my plans to join the clergy when I was confirmed at 13.  It was a foregone conclusion by everyone, especially my parents, that I would be off to college to find my calling-whatever it would be.    

Today, one has to wonder who is invested in the neighbor kids.  Which neighbor knows that the young boy living next door wants to grow up to be a fireman.  Do they know that his sister wants to be a news anchor.  Probably not.  Our technological society is keeping us all busy on our phones, informational devices, and gaming  platforms.  No one has time.  Sure, social media is great for connecting folks but it's not quite the same as having the next door neighbor showing interest in you.  Our first reaction to our children having adult Facebook friends is to be concerned that the adult might be a predator. 

One of the ways for adults to invest themselves in a child's life is through any number of mentoring programs.  There are many different opportunities available through a variety of agencies, organizations, churches and even in our schools.  The one on one relationship is a meaningful one and really does help build self-confidence in our younger people.  Encouraging our young people to reach for their dreams is something that has gone on for a very long time.  At the same time, there aren't as many people involved in encouraging the dreaming. 

We need to get serious about it again.  We need to find ways to connect kids to their dreams and the easiest way is to create mentoring relationships where adults can influence, encourage, motivate and build confidence in young people pursuing their gifts.  The one thing that hasn't changed is that babies are being born in this country day in and day out and each one of these infants potentially has the opportunity to change the world.  Rather than getting out of the way, we need to run some interference and join the ride encouraging each child to believe in themselves and their dreams.   

The adults in my neighborhood engaged me every day.  They would ask how school was going, how was baseball, camp or what girl I was interested in.  They took interest in my sporting exploits and would often times show up unexpectedly at the ballpark or the gym to watch me play.  On Saturdays at the barbershop, they would read the  clippings of the game the night before and comment on how many points I scored, how many batters I struck out.  I think they were more excited than I was when I was voted Class President of my High School, when I made the game-winning shot or threw my first no-hitter. 

They would also make a point to tell me if I was doing something wrong.  Then they would tell my parents.  As Hillary Clinton once said, it takes a village to raise a child.  I, for one, was that child.  I have grown into the adult of  today thanks to my loving parents, an engaged community, a congregation of believers and a handful of dedicated, well-prepared teachers. 

My three children, Tim, Jen and Dan, all had a similar experience in their growing up years.  They grew up in a summer camp setting where every adult knew them personally and served as their extended family mentoring them along the way.  They too benefitted from an extended family at church, school and in their sports. 

Today, our busy everyday life and lack of connectivity with these supportive opportunities is few and far between.  Teachers are challenged with behaviors, academic standards and parents who are less engaged because of their own busy work lives.  We've come a long way, haven't we. 

Adults who take interest in young people are changing the world.  I think of all my years in the YMCA directing summer camp.  Where are those thousands of kids today.  I'm aware of a few former staff members and campers who have become famous but what of all the others who are making a difference as teachers, managers, factory workers, airline pilots, congressman, social workers or serving in some other fashion.  One has to wonder if something you did or enabled helped pave the way for a young person.  Everyone has the opportunity to influence, encourage, motivate and support a young person in pursuit of their dream.  Get about the business of making a difference today and let's grow the dreams together. 

Welcome to Brownie's Cap and Gown

Welcome to Brownie's Cap and Gown.  Brownie's Cap and Gown explores how we can recapture our position as the leader of the world in educating our young people.  Our first commentary will be posted later today.  Thanks for checking us out.