(Readers: Please note the blog is constructed as a story. While not all chapters are linked, after reading a few recent entries, you might want to start at the beginning. More about the blog and about the author. )

Scene:  JC, Greenie and Jordan continuing conversation about higher education.  Start of conversation entry #80.

Greenie:  “I think most everyone wants teachers and productive members of society, not prisoners.  But when all is said and done, how are we going to make this happen?”

JC:  “Jordan, I agree with Greenie.  This idea seems too ethereal to me.  The concept is great but are the concrete steps to implement?  We need a simple plan.”

Jordan:  “It is a big, abstract idea.  But we’ve already laid out two steps.  #1 is stop busing and use tax dollars for teachers.  #2 is trade the cost of incarcerating someone for more teachers.”

JC:  “So, back to my question.  What are the concrete steps to implement the two ideas?”

Jordan:  “To me the first step is for those disadvantaged to begin saying ‘Stop busing.  Use the money saved to improve our neighborhood schools.”

Greenie:  “Then what?  Each situation is going to be different, so the residents need to realize they might end up working closely with the school board.”

JC:  “Residents might have to work with the courts also.  Remember busing started implementing Brown vs. Board of Education (Topeka) and the repeal of Plessy vs. Ferguson (separate, but equal).

Jordan:  “Speaking of Ferguson…Ferguson, MO might be a good place to start this project.”

Greenie:  “Excellent location, if nothing else for the publicity.  Someone needs to check how much busing actually goes on in Ferguson but I like the location.”

JC:  “Residents are probably open to most any idea that gives them more control.”

Greenie:  “Plus the Justice Department is already investigating Ferguson so they might be open to the idea as well.”

Jordan:  “So now we have one possible location for a pilot program.  We need some more locations.”

JC:  “Jordan, what about getting with Justice for ideas?  Surely they have a ‘watch list’ for school districts that are not complying with the law.”

Jordan:  “Alright.  I’ve got a contact there I’ll call.”

Greenie:  “You know what I like about this idea?”

JC:  “OK, what do you like about this idea?”

Greenie:  “OK, wise guy.  The plan puts more control back with parents and the school district.”

JC:  “I like more control with parents.  But some of the school districts do not want integration.”

Jordan:  “This plan might give some districts an out from forced busing, which they should support.  I can’t blame parents for not wanting to have their kids bussed.  Busing is a waste of time and eats into kids’ study time and free time.”

Greenie:  “Tell me about the disruptive part.  My kids were two blocks from the neighborhood school and ended up being bussed.”

Jordan:  “How long was the ride?”

Greenie:  “30 minutes each way.  60 minutes each day on some bus when the kids were two blocks from school.  A lot of kids spend even more time on the bus.”

Jordan:  “You know what might help get the effort going?  A template for parents to follow.”

JC:  “Why not publish a template?  Conservative political groups have templates for legislators.  Aren’t they running the NC House and Senate?”

Jordan:  “Seems like it.  More ALEC templates than any home-grown legislation.”

Greenie:  “These groups are effective.  And they must think the public is incredibly stupid.  In the 2014 mid-terms Republican candidates in three different states ran TV ads their Democratic opponent was the last vote that made Obamacare law.”

JC:  “Being last three times on a single vote is hard to do.  But, hey Republicans have their own math.”

Greenie:  “Now, now.  Be nice.”

Jordan:  “I’ve got another one.  The Charlotte Observer published a letter to the editor from someone I know.  He is CEO of his father’s business.  The son can’t string two sentences together, let alone a coherent letter.  He used a template for the letter and added a few names to make it local.  And the paper published it.”

Greenie:  “Not often do I admit learning something from far-right Republicans, but in this case, we should take a lesson from them.”

JC:  “Let’s use their template idea.  We need to make sure the tone and text focus on moving forward and not rehash old issues.”

Greenie:  “If we’re not careful, we’ll spend too much time talking about why the black community remains at the bottom of the economic ladder and not enough time looking at solutions.”

Jordan:  “What do you mean?”

JC:  “How many times have you heard or read that blacks were slaves, then subject to Jim Crow Laws.  As a result, blacks lost self-esteem and blah, blah, blah.”

Jordan:  “JC, aren’t you being overly harsh?  Isn’t a lot of that true?”

JC:  “My point is what you keep preaching, Jordan.  You can’t drive very fast looking through the rear-view mirror. “

Greenie:  “But all the info is true.”

JC:  “And so what?  Every other ethnic group has been discriminated against.  And guess what?  Every other ethnic group has moved on.”

Greenie:  “Point well taken.”

JC:  “Put all the information, arguments, blame and whatever else you want in a pot, turn the heat to high and wait for it to boil.  When it’s finished boiling, there’s one thing left.” Jordan:  “That one thing is.”

JC:  “Personal responsibility.”

Greenie:  “Seems to me we are back to the adage ‘You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.”

JC:  “That’s exactly where we are.  Nothing of significance is going to happen to get blacks off the bottom rung of the economic ladder until the black community stands up and says, ‘We want to change.  Not whites want you to change.  We, the black community, want to change.  We would others to help us.”

Jordan:  “The first project could be rebuilding neighborhood schools.”

 

(Readers: Please note the blog is constructed as a story. While not all chapters are linked, after reading a few recent entries, you might want to start at the beginning. More about the blog and about the author. )

Scene:  JC, Greenie and Jordan continuing conversation about higher education.  Start of conversation entry #80.

Greenie:  “What’s the real issue here?  Busing, separate but equal, quality neighborhood schools, or something else?”

JC:  “I’m confused too, Jordan.  What is the real issue?  And what do we need to do to address it?”

Jordan:  “Now we are getting someplace.  As a society we are great at treating symptoms and lousy at addressing the underlying causes.”

JC:  “OK, great Mr. Philosopher, explain to us mortals what you’re talking about.”

Greenie:  “Specifically related to schools or busing or education or whatever.  More to the point, please.”

Jordan:  “My view is the only sure-fire way out of poverty is education.”

 JC:  “Agreed.”

Jordan:  “I also believe, based on many years empirical data in this country, and worldwide, that a  public-school system can deliver a high-quality education.”

Greenie:  “I agree.  We are all products of public primary and secondary schools.  And JC and I, unlike you Jordan, attended public universities for our advanced degrees.”

Jordan:  “I taught at a public university…or at least I was an adjunct.  So there.”

JC:  “Now that we have the public/private school backgrounds out of the way, what about recreating a credible, quality public-school system for K-12?  Make that K thru college.”

Jordan:  “I think that’s a good way to frame the issue?  ‘What’s required to recreate a credible, quality public-school system?’  I would add one element…affordability.  The system needs to be affordable for taxpayers and affordable for participants, especially at the college level.”

Greenie:  “Making it affordable is critical.  Have you checked tuition at some public universities?”

JC:  “Tuition rivals some middle-line private schools.”

Greenie:  “Jordan, are you suggesting we cut back on or even eliminate charters and private schools?”

Jordan:  “You know my feelings about charter schools.  Despite all the rhetoric, charters are a diversion of public tax dollars to the private sector.  Using tax dollar to fund charters is part of a long-term strategy to erode and eventually eliminate public schools.”

JC:  “Whoa, Jordan.  What about private schools?”

Jordan:  “If people want to pay for private schools, including parochial schools, I’m OK.  But…and this is an important but…”

Greenie:  “…no vouchers?”

Jordan:  “You got it.  You want to send your kid to private school?  OK but so subsidy from taxpayers.”

JC:  “What about home schooling?”

Jordan:  “I’m opposed to that as well.  As we talked about, parents can do all the home schooling they want after regular school hours.  If little Johnnie is as bright as the parents claim, then little Johnnie can soak all the information he wants after regular school hours.  Kids need to be exposed to more diversity, not less diversity.  Bright kids need to learn how to deal with others who aren’t as gifted.”

JC:  “Alright, what’s next?”

Jordan:  “The only way public schools are going to work effectively is to start with schools in the neighborhood.  Neighborhood schools allow kids to develop an emotional bond to the school.”

Greenie:  “Neighborhood schools mean no busing for most students.”

JC:  “What if the neighborhood has a high crime rate.  How are the kids going to get to school?”

Jordan:  “Here’s where society has an obligation.  We…collective we…have to protect the kids going to/from school.”

JC:  “I need to ask a question again about cost.  Who’s going to pay for all this?  I know the question sounds so Republican-like but who is going to pay for this?”

Greenie:  “Good question, JC.”

Jordan:  “It is a good question and a great lead-in to finding a solution.”

JC:  “…and that solution is?”

Jordan:  “A holistic approach to calculating cost.”

Greenie:  “Jordan, sounds like another abstract idea.  Washington have your brain muddied?”

Jordan:  “The approach might appear abstract but the approach is sound, and realistic.  To me using a holistic approach to cost is the only way we…again, collective we…are ever going to start making progress toward rebuilding a quality education system.”

JC:  “Why do you say that?”

Jordan:  “A holistic approach allows all cost increases and all cost decreases to be combined.  Without a holistic approach, usually only a portion of the issue is addressed.”

Greenie:  “A holistic is an Interesting idea, but I need an example.  Still too abstract.”

Jordan:  “Alright.  Take the idea of what we’ve been discussing — credible, quality neighborhood schools.  What are the extra costs to achieve the goal?”

JC:  “More security in some neighborhoods.  Higher teacher pay.  Maybe rehabbing some schools.”

Jordan:  “What about the savings?”

Greenie:  “Fewer buses, less fuel, fewer bus drivers, more time before and after school for education and activities and probably lower crime.  And, eventually more productive members of society.”

Jordan:  “Take crime.  How much it cost to incarcerate someone?”

JC:  “How much does it cost to keep someone in prison for a year?  Don’t know.”

Jordan:  “Try $40-50,000 per year.”

JC:  “So over a 5-year period, the cost is $200-$250k.  Over a 10-year period, the cost to society is say $400-$500k.  So if we send someone away for five years, it’s the same cost as an undergraduate education at Harvard or MIT?  And that’s without any financial help from the school. I never thought about it that way.”

Greenie:  “You mean as a society we have a choice – send someone to prison for 5 years or pay full tuition, room, board, books and everything else for someone to attend Harvard or MIT?”

JC:  “I’ll take paying for someone to go Harvard.”

Jordan:  “I’ll take MIT.”

Greenie:  “We figured that.”

Jordan:  “Anyway, now you are beginning to see how the choices we make as a society affect us in different ways.  A holistic approach attempts to consider all implications of a decision, not just a few parts.”

Greenie:  “For the same cost to taxpayers, we can put someone in prison for 5 years and teach him or her few, if any, skills that are useful upon exiting or send someone to school and end up with a great education.  Duh.  Seems simple enough to me.”

Jordan:  “Let’s be realistic.  Not everyone who goes to prison comes out as totally untrained.  And not everyone who goes to prison is smart enough to attend university.  But many people are and as a society we are wasting that potential.”

JC:  “Interesting approach. Spend money in one area and avoid spending money in another area.  How are we going to get that point across?  So many politicians and voters focus on today and 10-second sound bites and not focus on the longer term.”

Jordan:  “What segment of society is affected most by lack of quality, credible neighborhood schools?”

Greenie:  “The black community, I guess.  But the issue really applies to a larger portion of society.”

JC:  “Greenie, you’re right.  Jordan has been outlining a program to help the black community get off the bottom rung of the economic ladder.”

Greenie:  “Is this holistic cost approach part of that program?”

Jordan:  “Implied but not overtly detailed.”  Maybe it should be.”

JC:  “Jordan, you used one word to summarize the program.”

Greenie:  “What word was that?”

JC:  “R-E-S-P-E-C-T.”

Greenie:  “You don’t sing like Aretha but its a great one-word tag line.  A two-word tag line might be “Holistic R-E-S-P-E-C-T.”

Jordan:  “Holistic respect is going to some explaining.  But it does capture the essence of the issue.”

JC:  “Holistic respect doesn’t ring, as they say.  Let’s have lunch and see how it sounds after some food.”