Disillusioned

I haven't written much lately because I have been disillusioned. I have been disillusioned because Bush ruined the Republican Party by abandoning its principles, the Utah voucher legislation that passed in 2007 was defeated in a referendum driven by self-serving teachers unions, and then Obama was elected and increased the momentum of socialism in our government. Bush's expansion of the size and power of the federal government, along with the national debt, was bad enough. But now Obama, after passing his "stimulus" package, which will leave our children and grandchildren an inheritance of unprecedented debt, and probably a depression at some point, is trying to socialize our health care system. It turns out the Republican and Democrat parties really are the same--at least on the federal level. I'm a precinct chair in the Republican Party, and if it wasn't for the good leaders in Utah and the anti-tax tea parties, I would be seriously considering the Libertarian Party now. It stands for smaller government, lower taxes, and individual freedom, and is the third largest party in the United States. It is the only third party that has any chance of competing against the Democrats and Republicans. If the Republican Party doesn't get back to its roots, it will face a serious challenge from the Libertarian Party.

What frustrates me is that American voters are naive enough to believe it when politicians promise the government can solve all of their problems. Well, what can be expected of an electorate educated by a government school monopoly? Of course the curriculum is going to be biased toward government as the solution. It is a vicious cycle. With each generation that is educated by the government school monopoly, more voters support socialist-leaning politicians. These politicians continue to strengthen and expand government programs (including government schools) and our dependence on them. Those who are indoctrinated by and dependent on these programs continue to vote for more of the same politicians. Are we really free if the government has a monopoly on our education system? Sure, we can vote, but only after the government education system is through with us. The only way to stop this cycle is by breaking the public school monopoly and empowering parents and students through school choice policies.

Our current assembly line, lowest common denominator public education system also lacks the individualization, specialization, and innovation that a competitive system would offer. Most traditional public schools offer a very generic education and they don't challenge students because if they do, they will lose students and the funding that goes with them. Our higher education system is the envy of the world because in it, public schools compete against private schools. Students can shop around for the school that fits them best in terms of majors, academic rigor, environment, political and religious leanings, etc. But what choice do students have before college?

I watched a documentary on UEN in which random students were chosen from a random public school to participate in a math education experiment. Throughout their years in public school, they were given additional hands-on math problem solving opportunities. The students were greatly challenged and saw the activities as games. By the time they graduated, every one of them had passed advanced calculus. Do you think that would have happened if these students had been educated solely by our lowest common denominator public education system? I don't. I believe that many students with the same potential are being left behind. We are losing Edisons, Einsteins, Carvers, Franklins, Jeffersons, and Lincolns to our assembly-line education system.

Students need choice, innovation, and specialization. Students learn in different ways and some are ready for greater challenges, while others have disabilities and need to slow down a little. One size does not fit all. At the university level, you have everything from trade schools and junior colleges to MIT and Harvard. These schools specialize in different areas and greatly vary in their level of difficulty. Other than some charter schools, public schools do not specialize and must adjust their curriculum to the lowest common denominator. At the school where I work, we have seen that because we have a more challenging curriculum, we lose some students. Currently, our enrollment demand is greater than the cap, but at some point, the pressure may increase to dumb down our curriculum or inflate students' grades with a bell curve so fewer students will leave. Strangely, we still have a waiting list for students to get into our school, yet we cannot expel students for not trying. It is against the law. I would like to see a rigorous application process, like many universities have, so that only those who can handle our curriculum would be accepted and an academic probation system that would eventually expel students who weren't trying. Of course, other schools could focus on those students who cannot handle our curriculum--just as ivy league schools focus on the gifted and harder working students and junior colleges focus on a different group of students. This may sound elitist, but it just makes sense. For example, I would not want to go to MIT. Although I did very well at the university I attended, MIT specializes in areas that are not my strengths and is more academically rigorous than what I would want. It's just like sports. I love to play basketball and consider myself competitive. I believe that competition helps me to improve. But if you put me in the NBA, I would quickly learn to hate it because I could not handle that level of competition. On the other hand, an NBA player would probably become bored with basketball if he could only play against those on my level. Of course, that NBA player might be terrible at baseball. We all have our strengths and our interests and schools should compete to meet those needs.

I look forward to the day that school vouchers, tuition tax credits, or other forms of substantive school choice policies will offer such an education system. Because this now seems to be in the distant future (if that) I remain disillusioned, but am striving to overcome it.

School Vouchers in a Nutshell

Why is it that the American university system is the envy of the world, but our pre-college public school system performs poorly in international testing? The major difference is that public universities don't have a monopoly like public schools. Unlike public schools, public universities have to compete against each other and private universities. Only those universities that meet students’ expectations attract the students and funding they need. This competition causes both public and private universities to become more responsive to the needs and wants of students. Monopolies stifle competition, progress, innovation, quality, and efficiency. When there is no competition, there is no incentive to improve. The public school monopoly (note: not public schools, per se, but the monopoly they have) is contributing to poor academics, behavior, and values in American youth. School vouchers are the solution. They allow parents to choose the best school for their children, whether public or private (even religious), and the funding follows—providing an incentive for schools to compete to meet the academic, behavioral, and moral expectations of parents. The Friedman Foundation is the largest and most effective organization promoting this cause. Probably one of the easiest ways to make a difference in the fight for school choice is to join the cause on Facebook (and make a contribution, if you choose).

Break the public school monopoly

"Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future, that only He can see." --Corrie ten Boom

I lived in the former Soviet Union from 1995 to 1997. While there, I had the opportunity to teach English as a service in a public school. I was assigned fourth, fifth, sixth, and twelfth grade students. The fourth graders were perfectly behaved and excited about learning and life. The fifth graders were a little less so. Quite a few had dropped off by sixth grade. The twelfth graders were mostly just apathetic and cynical. Unlike the younger students, they didn't seem to have any real dreams or aspirations. All they seemed to care about was partying. When I heard a teacher say jokingly, "They pretend to pay us and we pretend to teach," it reminded me too much of my experience in California public schools. (I know there are good teachers out there, but too few of them. And the system is obviously broken because the worst teachers are impossible to get rid of once they have tenure and are paid the same as the best.) I thought, "No wonder kids become apathetic." It made me sad to think that the younger students who were so well behaved and excited about learning would end up just like the twelfth graders.

It surprised me that American public schools were so similar to public schools in the former Soviet Union. In general, our products and services were far superior to theirs. Why wasn’t our education system similarly superior? And why was the United States performing so poorly in international testing? I knew that the free market was the reason that our products and services were superior. I also knew that the free market had no part in American public schools. I continued to ponder this puzzle when I returned to the United States. I discussed it with my uncle, who is a professor of economics. He gave me an article on school vouchers that he had published. They would allow parents to choose between public and private schools with the funding following the child. It made complete sense. The consumer’s check on American businesses is what keeps them competing, progressing, and responsive. If parents could have a similar check on their children’s education, maybe American academic, behavioral, and moral standards would rise to meet parents’ expectations. In fact, education is the one area of socialization where parents do not have a check. They can ensure that the home environment is safe and positive. They can protect their children from influences in the media. They can bring their children to church. But their tax dollars will go to public schools whether or not they agree with their academic, behavioral, or moral standards (or lack thereof). That sounds like a monopoly to me. It also sounds wrong.

As a result of my experiences with education in the US and in the former Soviet Union, I chose to study political science and education. I wrote a number of reports on the concept of school choice, including open enrollment, charter schools, magnet schools, vouchers, tuition tax credits, private schools, home school, etc. The more I learned, the stronger I felt that our system must change to empower parents to choose which school is best for their children. While pursuing my bachelor's degree, I worked as a legislative assistant for a representative who was a school choice advocate. There I met members of Parents for Choice in Education, the major organization fighting for school choice in Utah. I was very impressed with them and ended up becoming a member. I was later elected as a county delegate. (After that I became a state delegate and I am now a precinct chair--which allows me to vote at the state convention for who will go on the ballot for governor, and congressional and state senators and representatives, etc.) I encouraged my fellow delegates to support the only candidate for the House of Representatives in our district who supported vouchers. We got him on the ballot and he was elected in 2004. In 2007, voucher legislation passed by one vote in the House of Representatives; however, it was challenged by educrats who support the monopoly and defeated in a referendum.

The public must be educated about vouchers and other forms of school choice legislation so that parents, not educrats, will be able to make decisions concerning their children's education. Educrats would have us believe that they know what's best for children and parents should have no say. However, those of us who don't believe in a one-size-fits-all assembly line education system feel differently. The American Founding Fathers were not educated in the way public schools educate. Abraham Lincoln was mostly self taught. Thomas Edison's mother pulled him from public school because his teacher labeled him, "addled." Public schools don't recognize the individual learning styles, talents, desires, or limitless potential of each child. In addition, the environment of bullying, materialism, immorality, etc, is not conducive to learning. In fact, it kills the natural desire for learning. Many of the great men discussed above may have lost their passion for learning had they been schooled in our compulsory education system.

I was a government and history teacher at a non-profit private school that is part of a residential treatment center (I am now an academic advisor for a virtual academy). Our clients used to attend local public schools, but they had too much access to drugs, gangs, pornography, and other things the residential treatment center was designed to help them overcome. Thus, the academy was added. The costs are about half that of similar residential treatment centers, but they are still not cheap. The academy holds fundraisers and relies on donations from individuals and organizations to keep costs down. However, it is still very difficult for many families to afford. Yet the tax dollars of those who send their children to our school still pay only for public schools. Why can't at least some of their tax dollars go toward the education of their own children? Parents should not be punished by having to pay twice when they choose to send their children to a private school because of better academic, moral, or behavioral standards. School vouchers would help to solve that problem. On the university level, public schools compete with private schools and the result is that our university system is the envy of the world. I would love to see both public and private K-12 schools benefit from competition in a similar way. Until then, my family has found a great alternative, but I will continue to fight for school vouchers.

When correctly regulated, the free market leads to competition, progress, innovation, quality, and efficiency. Supply meets demand. Monopolies stifle competition, progress, innovation, quality, and efficiency. When there is no competition, there is no incentive to improve. The public school monopoly (note: not public schools, per se, but the monopoly they have) is contributing to poor academics, behavior, and morals in the youth of the United States. School vouchers are the solution. They allow parents to choose the best school for their children, whether public or private, and the funding follows--providing an incentive for schools to compete to meet the academic, behavioral, and moral expectations of parents.

If you agree with the concept of school choice, please continue to study it; find out how to support school choice in your state; contact your governor, legislators, and other political leaders concerning the issue (maybe even run for office yourself); use your vote to support vouchers; submit your opinion to newspapers; e-mail others to refer them to this blog and other similar sites; put links on your blog if you already have one; or create your own blog if you don't. If you can just do one of these things, it will make a difference, but the more you do, the more difference you will make. Think about the ripple effect that would continue through those you influence as well. I would also like to learn about your stories. If you have any questions or concerns, let me know. Please feel free to post comments.

Surprisingly, not everyone feels that parents should be able to choose which school is best for their children. The school choice battle is ongoing and needs as many supporters as possible. Don't underestimate your ability to make a difference. Remember that the Utah voucher legislation passed by only one vote. I would never have guessed that my representative would have made the difference--and if the people had been properly educated on the issue, the referendum would not have defeated it.

Some think that charter schools are enough. I disagree. Actually, I think it is interesting that they are called "charter" schools because I see a parallel between them and the American colonies that were granted charters by England. They definitely were an improvement because the American colonists were able to experiment with more self government. At the same time, England didn't realize that giving them a taste of freedom was dangerous. In time, the colonists would demand complete independence. I believe the same thing is happening with charter schools. Charter schools give parents more say in their children's education, but there is still too much federal and state control. Parents will continue to demand more. School vouchers and tuition tax credits are the next step. Imagine the ideal school for your children (I know it is difficult because public schools have left us with no choice for so long) and imagine if public and private schools competed to meet your expectations. Now imagine if all parents were given that same power. Break the public school monopoly.

California's Proposition 8

I just made this comment on Article VI Blog, which states that some have declared open season on Mormons in California.

"It has been eight years since Proposition 22 (the California Defense of Marriage Act) passed with 61%. How many new voters have been indoctrinated by California’s liberal public education system since then? And how did Attorney General Jerry Brown get away with changing the name of Proposition 8 from, “California Marriage Protection Act” to, “Elliminates Right of Same Sex Couples to Marry?” Of course, the Superior Court of California ruled in favor of the change. If Proposition 8 passes, it will be a miracle–but then so was the passage of Proposition 22. I noticed my parents are on the list of donors. They have also been going door to door in support of Proposition 8. I have to say, though, that even if it passes, as long as children are being indoctrinated by California’s liberal public education system, we are only hacking at the branches. The long-term solution to the problem? School vouchers."

I also made a comment on this article from the same blog, which is written by an Evangelical and thanks Mormons for their involvement in the Proposition 8 campaign. It's great to see people of different faiths unite in a common cause.

Striking at the root

"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root."

--Henry David Thoreau

Glenn Beck (who may be gone soon if the Democrats reinstate the "Fairness Doctrine" under an Obama administration) said that the Republican and Democratic parties are heading in the same direction—only one is taking us in a freight train and the other one in a leer jet. I agree. It looks like Obama and Biden are going to win this race. And because we have a Democratic Congress, Obama’s universal healthcare, universal preschool, and universal college (among other huge government programs, including welfare expansion) will pass, sending us deeper and deeper into debt. Many seem to think that Bush has caused the energy and economic crises, Obama’s “change” is going to be a breath of fresh air, and that soon, under the new Obama administration, everything will be back to normal. I’ll agree that Bush definitely contributed (new big government programs like No Child Left Behind didn't help) and that the economic and energy crises may subside for a time (although there is no guarantee of that), but our country has been headed toward a true economic disaster for a long time and eventually it will hit in full force. Even if McCain and Palin win, the national debt will continue to grow. While McCain is willing to greatly increase domestic drilling, promote alternative energy, and would certainly not increase the federal debt as much as Obama, he has his own version of universal healthcare. He also wants federally funded school vouchers. While I am a big fan of state-funded school vouchers, a federal version is the last thing I want. In fact, I believe the national department of education should be abolished. Like Obama, McCain obviously believes that government is the solution, and not the problem. He is not willing to make the cuts that will lead to the elimination of our huge national debt.

If you don't believe me, read this quote from Newsweek: "The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has found that both Obama and McCain are proposing combinations of tax and spending policies that would increase the federal deficit. It found that in 2013, Obama’s proposals would produce a net deficit increase of $286 billion, while McCain's major policies would produce a net deficit increase of between $167 billion and $259 billion. In talking to CNN, CRFB President Maya MacGuineas estimated that McCain's deficit increase would fall midway between the extremes of that range, at $211 billion."

We need true change and neither of the major parties will bring that. Which forces me to ask the question: Is it time for a third party? Historically, third parties have forced established political parties to either change or be replaced. If a party gets too comfortable, it will stop being responsive. I don't think it's good for Utah to always support the Republican Party no matter what--that basically tells us they don't have to listen to us; however, the Democratic Party candidate is usually worse. We need to remember the other parties if we want our elected leaders to be truly responsive and conservative. It will be easy for me to vote third party because I’m in Utah and I know McCain will win here by a landslide. (If it was a close race, I might vote for and even campaign for McCain.) My vote isn’t going to tip the scale toward an Obama win. I couldn’t go Libertarian because I don’t believe in legalizing drugs or prostitution. I could go Constitution Party, though. Chuck Baldwin actually makes a lot of sense, and because Senators Hatch and Bennett both voted for the bailout, when they are up for reelection, as a Republican precinct chair, I will vote against them at the Republican convention. If that doesn't work, I will also vote for the Constitution Party candidate for senator. If we want a real solution to this financial crisis; if we want to eliminate the national debt; if we want to restore our Constitutional Republic, we have to vote for true change. Now I am happy to support Republicans who are true conservatives, like Jason Chaffetz, Senator Madsen, and Representative Sumsion, but Republicans who do not support conservative policies should be replaced.

Now you might ask, if the economy, the national debt, oil independence, alternative energy, and the principles of the American Founding are so important, why is the focus of my blog on education reform? The answer: We have to ensure that future generations learn the principles that this great country was founded upon or or we are just hacking at the branches and it will not last. There is no way our children are going to learn the principles of the American Founding in public schools. How are public schools controlled by a government monopoly going to teach them that government is not the answer? The only way we are going to ensure a solid future for this country is if parents are given the power to choose which school is best for their children. And the options have to include private, religious schools. That way, parents can choose schools that will provide the best academic, behavioral, and moral environment for their children. School vouchers will give them this power. Then maybe we will start seeing well-educated, principled voters who will vote for well-educated, principled leaders. Read how teaching in the former Soviet Union helped me realize this.

The solution to America's financial crisis

Dave Ramsey was on the Glenn Beck program today, where he presented his alternative to Congress's bailout plan. I think his plan makes a lot of sense. We have to stop Congress from digging us in even deeper. Both McCain and Obama are supporting the bailout! It would be nice if at least McCain would oppose it. Please take a look at Dave's plan and, if you agree with it, encourage your elected representatives (and McCain) to support it. (Update: since the bailout was passed, the next step is to vote out any member of Congress who supported it. We also need to reform our education system--that is at the root of this problem.)

http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/fed_bailout/3_steps_to_change_the_nations_future_10928.htmlc?ictid=mlfrnd&CFID=31912383&CFTOKEN=60919356

The bailout passed, but it is still important for us to study why such actions are wrong for our economy. See what John Stossel has to say:

http://townhall.com/columnists/JohnStossel/2008/04/23/the_skys_not_falling?page=1

The next big thing

I just got back from a K12.com training in the Washington DC area for my teacher/advisor role at the virtual academy where I work. It was amazing. I have never seen an organization that is so visionary. K12 is a virtual school provider that uses the latest research in cognitive science and educational psychology, as well as a collaborative business model of continuous feedback and improvement, to offer an exceptional and continually improving interactive, multi-sensory, and multi-media education. Yes, I know, what does all that mean? Well, click on this link for a quick sample of their curriculum.

I had already seen much of their curriculum because my children are enrolled in a free public K12 online academy (read the story of how that happened), but I didn't know about the creative process behind it until the training. (By the way, if you are wondering about the social aspect of an online academy or virtual school, click here to read about our story or watch a video of what other families have done.) Because K12 only hires the best curriculum developers, their interactive lessons start out great, but they continually improve too. We have all found errors in textbooks or have had ideas about how to improve products, but don't usually do anything about it. Even if we tried, most corporations are not very responsive to feedback from employees or customers. K12 is different. They value their customers and employees and offer them links throughout the online curriculum and toll free phone numbers for feedback and new ideas.

In fact, I decided I would test K12's responsiveness. At the training, I was in a meeting in which we were discussing how to deal with technical problems. I remembered that a few days ago, I had encountered a technical problem with blogger.com and had gone to a blogger.com help discussion group and posted my concern. In a very short time, I had a number of users provide quick and easy solutions to my problem. I thought that would be perfect for K12. I had also thought a lot about how Challenger School offers computer classes (including programming)--starting in first grade! That got me thinking. My son wants to be an inventor/engineer/scientist. We are always looking for new ways to help him achieve that goal, but I always feel like there is more we could be doing. If Challenger School offers programming to first graders, why couldn't K12 start offering computer classes (or even engineering/technology classes) in first grade? Yes, it sounds a little crazy, but think about it. Math and language are extremely complex, but we start teaching kids the basics in kindergarten. That principle is true with basically any subject--and in fact, students learn much better when they start younger--think of foreign languages (speaking of which, K12 purchased Power-Glide--the foreign language learning program created by my mission president, Dr. Robert W. Blair, and we use Rosetta Stone in our K12 program). Edison had a lab at home and started experimenting at a very young age. How many Edisons are we losing because we don't encourage them early enough? I approached one of the product executives with my ideas. She was very receptive and asked if I knew of any online courses already out there that they could incorporate into their program. I mentioned that I had a friend who is working on his PhD in Engineering Education who would be able to help with that. She gave me her contact information and encouraged me to get her more information. We also had a parent complain about an inappropriate remark having to do with sex and pregnancy in her daughter's health class. I encouraged her to submit feedback on it, which I did as well since I agreed with her, and it disappeared within days. Finally, one of my jobs is to track student progress. I submitted an idea for a tracking tool that would show the time students have spent in their courses (I can see how much time they spend on each page of reading, each quiz or test, etc.) in the form of a graph. That way, students, parents, teachers, and administrators could view the time they have spent versus what the expectation is and their grade. This would allow all of us to easily see the correlations and adjustments that need to be made. A few days later, I learned that they had beat me to the punch--they were already coming out with it. Wow.

Later at the training, I also asked the Vice President of Public Relations whether I could post some of the new ideas they were discussing on my blog. He told me to email him a draft of my blog entry (which I did before posting) and he would let me know. I was amazed at how approachable these people were. I started to think of how this business model could revolutionize the business world. If everyone, both employees and customers, in every business collaborated the way K12 does, progress would greatly accelerate. I then thought about how K12's students were going to be so much better educated than previous generations, and then they would join the collaboration. The progress would accelerate at an even greater rate.

Time Magazine named Gutenberg the Man of the Millenium for his invention of the printing press because it made literacy for the masses possible. Of course, this paved the way for enduring democracy because widespread education led to the creation of a solid middle class, which is necessary for an effective democracy (I came to the conclusion long ago that a major reason our society has so many problems has to do with our education system--it is a good thing that education reforms are happening. I also believe that a lack of proper education, in its broadest sense, is the reason why it is so difficult to establish stable democracies in the Middle East). In our day, Bill Gates is credited with sparking the personal computer revolution. Think about what that has done and will continue to do. This new high technology business model, the "digital nervous system," will bring us to the next level of education, collaboration, and progress. Of course, this combined with the $100 laptop project will bring educational opportunities to even more of the world (speaking of which, it was really cool to meet a lady from Malaysia at the training who was starting a K12 school there). Just as the printing press made literacy more available to the masses at that time, these advancements will bring greater educational opportunities to lower-income groups today.

It is ironic that I just finished reading The 5000 Year Leap on the plane to DC. The book explains how the Constitution and the free market set the stage for the explosion of progress and technology that the world has witnessed over the past 200+ years. I believe there is the potential for this to happen again. Many think that America is on the decline, and that is true in many ways, but there is still much good that can be built upon. There is reason to be concerned about the behavior and lack of morality of the rising generation. A very wise man named David O. McKay once said that if we teach our children without religion, we are just turning them into clever devils. (By the way, George Washington warned against the belief that morality could be maintained without religion.) A K12 education can help in this area too because it gives parents more of an opportunity to protect their children from negative influences, encourage positive relationships (our school has regular field trips and other activities), and teach them correct principles.

K12 is also releasing its own internal version of MySpace, called "the big thinK¹²." However, it will be moderated and kept appropriate at all times. I find the name "big thinK" interesting. It encourages students to think about others and the big picture. Great things will happen when K12 students come together in such a community. (I'm excited because teachers and administrators will have their own big thinK communities as well.)

There are some amazing things in K12's future. In listening to CEO Ron Packard speak about how he came up with the idea (which was very similar to Jordan Clements' story about how he founded Parents for Choice in Education because he wanted the best education for his daughter) and where the corporation is headed, we were able to catch a glimpse of K12's future. We also listened to Bror Saxberg (check out his amazing resume), who left his family vacation in Norway just for the conference and flew right back afterwards. His mind is way ahead of our time. Just as an example, he is discussing the possibility of bringing something like Second Life (a virtual world) into education. Bror also talked about his son's "addiction" to online video games. Bror said that children are constantly learning, memorizing, and becoming experts in online video gaming. He talked about the great potential such principles have in education. Kids could become addicted to education! It was so cool to hear him say that because I have said the same thing about education and video games many times. In fact, I shook his hand afterwards and spoke to him about these ideas for a while. He was very down to earth. I have often thought about how education has been left behind technologically. While kids have moved on to DVDs, cell phones, iPods, laptops, video games, etc, we still teach the same way we taught one hundred years ago. K12 is finally bringing educational technology up to speed.

On the flight home, I was reading an article about a new city in New Mexico that is focusing on alternative energy. That reminded me of Dubai, which has created Dubai Knowledge Village (DKV) and Dubai International Academic City (DIAC). By creating tax free education zones, these areas have drawn many of the world's leading universities and other educational organizations to build satellite institutions there. I think it would be great if the same thing happened in the United States, only including K12 virtual schools as well. Just imagine. It would be filled with museums like the Exploratorium, the California Academy of Science, the NASA Exploration Center, planetariums, aquariums, etc. People who love education would converge on the city and would continually share their ideas. That educational synergy would continue to grow through the generations.

Well, I'm going to go invest in K12.

A friend of mine encouraged me to include in this post some drawbacks of K12, so here are some things I have learned about K12 since I wrote the above.

K12 could have done a lot more training. I have had to figure things out as I go. I have spoken to others who feel the same about their jobs. I must say, though, that when I have a question, it's really easy to go to K12 Teacher Support for help. There, veteran K12 teachers can tell me or show me on their virtual whiteboards what I need to know. I have seen some weaknesses in the curriculum, but again, I can submit feedback on that. (I have to add that the curriculum team called me concerning some feedback I have made. They really listened and are going to make changes in the curriculum. I have never had that happen in any other school where I have taught!) K12 also had a lot of technical difficulties at the beginning of the year. We had too many new students across the country starting at once. Tech support finally doubled the bandwidth to solve the problem. In addition, I realize that virtual school isn't for everyone; however, it is important for parents to have choices. Rather than government providing a one-size-fits-all public school, it is best if parents can choose between public, charter, private, virtual, and home schooling or a combination. That's really the focus of my blog. I think the ideal, at least for my family, would be a hybrid of virtual and brick and mortar (for the more hands-on activities) private school. Actually, the charter school that I was a founding member of was going to be a hybrid. I prefer private because religion can be a part of it and the private sector basically always does it better than government.

One thing we really like about K12 is that our children are able to go at their own pace and speed past lessons (they can "test out" if they already know something--the pre-assessments help the system know what they need and don't need too and then post-assessments tell the system what they may need to review), subjects, or grades. When my son was in kindergarten, my younger daughter loved the history and science lessons so much that she couldn't be kept from doing everything with him. She is now in first grade, but is in third grade history and science. The problem is, I don't see the same thing in high school--at least at the virtual academy where I work. I believe that students should not be held back. If they can fly through lessons, subjects, or grades, they should be able to. If they are ready for college courses in some subjects, but need remedial work in others, that's what should happen. Our head of school says that that may happen in the future, though. For now, we are still trying to figure out the basics--and that is a lot with K12.

Finally, I don't think K12 has gone far enough in catering to the individual interests, talents, and learning styles of students. I believe that will happen in time, though. For example, this country needs great engineers to compete, and looking at the way the Chinese do the Olympics, I'm guessing their engineers are starting very young and will continue to start younger. Of course, they have a bureaucratic, centralized, high pressure system. Our system should also start them out young, but do it more like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, and George Washington Carver. The parents and kids should be the decision makers--the schools should be consumer driven. My son loves learning about science and technology, but we have to supplement his K12 education in those areas.

A new beginning

I now have a new job with a virtual academy powered by K12. Last Wednesday was my last day teaching at West Ridge Academy. It was a very challenging job, but also a very interesting experience. It was interesting because West Ridge is a non-denominational Christian residential treatment center and private school that works with troubled youth with issues from depression to addiction to violence. The program includes psychological and recreational therapy, volunteer LDS senior missionaries who meet with the students regularly about their spiritual progress if the students wish (most really like the missionaries, and so they do), religious classes (Mormon specific or Bible Studies), home parents who help students learn to be responsible and keep their homes clean, athletic programs, etc. I was also an advisor and assisted with a team who met with the students monthly to discuss their therapeutic, academic, and spiritual progress.

Strangely enough, I found that the behavior of West Ridge students was usually better than what I had seen in public schools. West Ridge has a system of natural and logical consequences that encourages students to continually improve. For example, students who refuse to do their school work can lose privileges or eventually end up on work crew, where they do menial jobs--a logical consequence because without an education, they could end up with a similar job. Students who fail to show real effort in their therapeutic issues can end up extending their programs.

Although I must admit it is a relief to have a new job, I will miss being able to openly discuss religion and politics (most parents who sent their children there were pretty conservative). I will also miss seeing the changes that take place so quickly in many of the students. I will share one example.

I remember when Michael (name changed to protect identity) entered the program. His posture was terrible (he had a real self-esteem problem), he was overweight, he had a problem with foul language, and he couldn't focus enough to get his school work done. As I got to know Michael, I learned that his mother had fallen into drugs and prostitution. He was neglected (his mother often chose to spend the money she had on drugs rather than groceries), abused--often by his mother's drug addict "friends" as she would leave him with them--and of course bullied in the public schools (Why is it that those who are beaten up at home have to be beaten up in the public schools too?). Michael also didn't believe in God. We quickly learned that all Michael needed was a little guidance. He had a good heart and was not disrespectful, so he progressed faster than any student I had worked with. To make a long story short, by the time he left, Michael had good posture, had lost a lot of weight (he really enjoyed running long distance--for him it was cathartic), no longer had a swearing problem, became an Eagle Scout, graduated from high school with plans to become a therapist, joined the military, believed in God, had baptized a few of his friends in the military, and most importantly, he was happy.

I don't think these changes could have happened so quickly without the spiritual aspect of the program. Michael learned that he was a child of God, that he could turn to God even when it seemed that everyone else had abandoned him, and that as a child of God, he had the potential to become like God. It is interesting that the research shows that faith in God is a very important part of recovery in Alcoholics Anonymous, but very few talk about applying faith in God to help troubled youth in other aspects of their lives. It was extremely effective at West Ridge Academy. You might expect troubled youth to be very cynical and sarcastic about religion, but I found that when I asked students about their experiences at West Ridge, I received responses like, "I have never felt so close to God," and "I have never been so motivated to overcome my problems." West Ridge still has its problems and, of course, not everyone progresses like Michael (In fact, I did see some students get worse--too often those were the tough kids who were coddled because some of the staff seemed to fear them.), but it was great to watch the positive changes. Now that I will be working at a charter school, I will not be able to discuss the importance of religion with the students. I hope that some day I will be able to see the spiritual aspects of West Ridge combined with the academic aspects of a K12 charter school (vouchers would make the creation of many such schools possible). Michael could have been so much happier for so many more years had he originally been able to enroll in a school where he could have avoided the bullying and been taught to have faith in God.

As a side note, when I first got to West Ridge, it seemed to have almost a military atmosphere. Then something happened. The management decided to really focus on relationships and a change of heart. They encouraged us to, rather than argue or push students to behave, be patient and send the message that we really cared and were on the students' side. It was a difficult transition at first, but in time, I saw that most students put their guard down. They stopped resisting because they knew we were on their side. Because the focus changed from external behavior to change of heart, fewer students would fake the program or "work the system" and more started to really change. I learned a lot at West Ridge and plan to always remember those lessons.

Conservative revolution

Because many politicians in the Republican Party have been abandoning conservative principles, many Republican voters have been joining or at least looking at the Constitution or Libertarian parties. I agree that if the Republican Party abandons conservative principles we should look elsewhere, but there is reason for hope.

As a country, we obviously understand Congress is doing a poor job, as this Gallup poll indicates:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/108142/Confidence-Congress-Lowest-Ever-Any-US-Institution.aspx

What we don't understand is that it is our own senators and representatives that are causing the problem. It's funny how we do this with both Congress and public education. We rate both poorly, but then deny that our own elected representatives or our own public schools are part of the problem. We need to wake up! They are!

Utah conservative radio talkshow host Bob Lonsberry decided to endorse Jason Chaffetz over 12-year incumbent Rep. Chris Cannon at the last minute. Here's the link to his endorsement:

http://www.570knrs.com/pages/bobs_blog.html?page=2

Chaffetz would probably have won anyway, but Lonsberry is a powerful voice for conservatism in Utah and definitely contributed to the 60% of the vote Jason received. Interestingly, now Bob has set his sites on a new target--incumbent Senator Bob Bennett.

http://www.570knrs.com/pages/bobs_blog.html

Now I understand why so many incumbents endorsed Rep. Cannon (just check on YouTube). Once one goes down, we start to understand our power. Lonsberry is right. We gave Republicans the presidency, the Senate, and the House, and what did they do with it? They acted like liberals. They increased the size of the federal government and the national debt, half fought the War on Terror, neglected to protect our borders, and left our rich oil and alternative energy sources untapped. We need to show them that if they want our votes, they will have to support conservative principles and especially the Constitution. I'm on board with Lonsberry. As a precinct chair, I will do all I can to ensure that these so-called conservatives are defeated and replaced by true conservatives. If the Republican Party doesn't get back to true conservative principles, too many true conservatives will stay home from the polls and liberals will have their way with our government and our tax dollars.

Gas prices

I should be starting a new job as a virtual school teacher in the next few weeks. I'm excited. Not only about the job itself, but I will no longer have to pay those high gas prices to commute to work because I'll be working from home. That made me think--virtual school should grow in popularity as gas prices continue to increase. Imagine how much our gas consumption would decrease and how much money we could save if more people took advantage of virtual school. In order to bring gas prices down and stop empowering the Middle East, we need to drill for oil in the Gulf Coast, Pacific Coast, and in ANWR, and we need to build more refineries. We need to look to alternative energy sources like natural gas/CNG (speaking of which, take a look at this article on Utah's pioneer efforts in CNG), solar, wind, hydrogen, clean coal, tidal power, nuclear, etc. But we need to reduce consumption as well. Online school is one way to do that.