Health Care - Am I My Brother's Keeper?

Let me ask the following questions for your consideration:

1.  Am I (each of us) responsible for my fellow person/citizen?

2.  When (if ever) does it become time to stop discourse and debate on a subject?

3.  Should anyone be compelled to an action against their will, even if it for their benefit?

4.  Is it right to punish someone for their deeply held personal beliefs?

5.  Where does the individual end and the group begin?

6.  Should we ever stop listening to arguments because they are uncomfortable?

7.  What are the social/cultural/moral implications of the inequitable application of a law?

8.  If something is the 'law of the land' does that automatically make it moral or right?

9.  What (if any) is the obligation of a private citizen of this country in the face of a course of action they firmly believe to be for or against their best interest?

10.  How far would you go to stop something you believed was wrong or protect something you believed was right?

When you strip away the storm and chaos surrounding the theater of the absurd that we call our federal government these days; the above questions are the ones that I believe reach into the heart of the health care debate in this country.  It isn't about procedures and pills, who can or can't afford a doctor, left or right wing politics.  No it is about the oldest question ever asked when Cain answered God with "Am I my brother's keeper?"

Aside from the fact that the health care system in this country is badly misaligned (from hospitals, to big Pharma, to our own unrealistic expectations, the topic of another blog another time) the center of the debate isn't even about should we or shouldn't we find a way to give 30 to 40 million Americans free or reduced health care.  It still boils down to, are the haves responsible for the have nots.

Here is my rather long winded answer to the above questions.  I have always had a hard head and a soft heart.  I'm the guy who keep complaining about a welfare state then turns around and gives a pan handler a dollar even though I know he will probably not spend it wisely.  I'm the guy that collect for the homeless shelter then complains about people not being willing to work for a living.  In other words, I am a walking contradiction.  So how to I resolve that conflict?  I don't really.  For every massive policy decision, politicians look for a human face to plaster onto cold, hard facts.  I have genuine sympathy for everyone of those sad stories that are used to sell some legislation or budge initiative.  However, emotional rhetoric does not make hard fact go away. And I am a servant of facts and logic.

The hard fact is that whatever success and standard of living this country has enjoyed is a direct result of the decisions our ancestors made on how they wanted to run their live then and into the future.  Establishing both the type of open, citizen driven government we would have along with a open market economy set us on the road to enduring civic and social engagement as well as long lasting general prosperity.   Strong verse weak central government and controlled verse open markets have been a discussion and bane of our existence as a nation since the beginning.  We have paid in blood for this fight (the Civil War) and always pay when we forget the two cornerstones of our system that have allowed us to survive and thrive as a nation. When we forget the concepts of personal liberty and compromise we end up where we are now, in a dark place, fighting with one another.  What does any of the preceding have to do with health care reform and legislation? 

Everything.

This administration has completely forgotten the two cornerstone.  What's more, through a morally ambiguous and often fact free narrative, the administration has convince large sectors of the country that they are worse off than they think and only the government can save them.  The loyal opposition is no better.  Rather then carefully crafted responses of logic and reason or living up to the title of loyal opposition, they choose to use the same emotion laden tactics as the current administration and get right down in the mud with them.

And where does that leave the majority of the American public?

We have become a divided people again.  Personal liberties have been threatened or removed, the art of the compromise seems to have been lost and facts are up for grabs to the highest bidder or loudest ideologue.  We have been so busy yelling at each other and defending our egos that we forgot what started the fight in the first place.  And that brings me back to the question and start of our argument; "Am I my brother's keeper".  If you believe you are personally responsible for the well being of all your fellow humans then any initiative, argument or activity that supports that world view is one you will support, fight for and maybe die for.  If you believe that everyone is personally responsible and accountable to themselves and some higher power, then you are in opposition to your brother with equal measure of devotion to your beliefs.  These philosophies go beyond health care reform, insurance reform, even America.  They are as old as man and time itself.  We have survived as a species and a country by remembering to compromise while we do our utmost to respect personal liberties.

Taking care of our fellow citizen is an good emotional argument and you can attach some good numbers to it to add a touch more rigor and legitimacy to it but have any of us done a really neutral study of trying to successfully take care of every man, woman and child in America?  I would say that in spite of the mountains of narrowly focused data, we have not really considered if we can successfully do it much less if we even should try.  And based on my experience with government agencies verse private foundations, the belief that a central agency often far removed from the immediate problem can effect a working solution remotely does not pass the straight face test.

So why are we here now?  Because an arrogant man with a barely nodding acquaintance with the truth and a will to power decided he was going to make a country do his bidding whether we all wanted to or not.  Rather than exercising patience, consensus building, focused, workable solutions, he in a fit of ego thought he could singlehandedly transform the landscape of American life as a lasting legacy to his leadership (or lack thereof).  Sadly for us all, he has failed and rather miserably.

The Affordable Care Act and all its companion legislation has been so poorly implemented, badly written, inequitably applied that we as a nation will be fighting about it for the next ten years at least.  Even before the country was able (read forced) to "shop" for insurance, key provisions of the law where selectively not enforced, delayed or dropped altogether.  Set aside for a moment the constitutional violation of the executive not enforcing a law enacted by congress and of the abuse of executive authority involved with piecemeal enforcement.  Look at the glaring hypocrisy of declaring to the world "my health care reform has been decided, stop arguing about it and just do it" only to find that half of the people involved don't have to comply with some or all of the law.  This isn't just bad legislation, implementation and enforcement; it bad leadership.

The idea is not bad, give a helping hand to those who needed it.  Even hard headed me can see both the moral imperative and economic advantage of having a healthy work force and benefits of reduce health care debt.  But think about the best way to do it.  Have options, listen to all parties, take your time and then build something small and focused that most everyone already agrees upon.  Take ACA back to bare metal and rebuild a smaller, leaner, market driven approach with plenty of personal options and no regressive penalties and you will be surprised at the positive response.

Or just try and bull your way through bad, strongly opposed, poorly enacted and enforce legislation that will face endless legal challenges and hope that some monstrous shadow of the former "Grand Scheme" survives to the end our your presidency, walk off and declare victory.

Either way, this country is a long way from a working, lasting solution to health insurance reform.  And we still won't resolved the question, "Am I my brothers keeper"

Just say'n
:)   

It's The End of The World As We Know It.....And I Feel Fine

The Twerk Heard Round the World.

Well, something happened recently and the world (shockingly) did not end; Miley Cyrus acted like a five dollar hooker in a venue that celebrates five dollar hookers

Why did American expect anything different from the VMA?  And why was anyone surprised by anything that Hannah Montana did?  I think this has become a Pavlovian response for our society.  Take a moldable kid with stage parents, straight jacket them into a factory model for youth and tween entertainment, stifle them for about 15 years, shake and presto!  At about 20 years old they turn out to be out of control demented media/attention hounds purposely doing ever more "scandalous" things to change their "image" and "chart a new course".  And we respond so predictably.  Outrage, angst, why oh why did you do this to us Miley as if this were a personal assault on 350 million US citizens.

Let's break this down then.  What happened at the VMA was both predictable and expected.  The VMA is a forum where the outrageous is simply rageous and such behavior is not only tolerated but expected.  There will always be some desperate "artist" trying to make a statement or "chart a new artistic (autistic?) course".  This year it was Miley.  She is simply following in the disturbed footsteps of Brittany and Madonna.  We have become a society whose senses are so saturated that it takes such behavior just to get our attention. And that will wane quickly.  In less than a month we will be saying "Miley Who".  Those who were scandalized by the sad, pathetic, bizarre display are being a little hypocritical since she telegraphed this one.  New aggressive hair style, more sexualized clothing, lyrics and videos with a "hard edge".  We should have seen this one coming a mile away.  And it should have produced nothing more than a yawn and shake of the head.

But now her course is pretty well set for the next few years.  Here is what I predict.  MC will continue down the scandal road until she hits a wall in about five years (drugs, alcohol, police, violence some type of addictive or self destructive behavior).  At this point she will have an "awakening", realize the "error of her ways", get some professional help and possibly disappear for a year or two to emerge a little while later with yet another "new image"  By the time she is 30 she will probably have come nearly full circle (she has too much talent not to come back some how) and again be in front of us pulling a Sally Field ("You love me, you really love me!").  The whole while, her father will be supporting her; what else can he do?  To call his daughter a spoiled brat attention whore who needs to be smacked with a rolled up newspaper would be to admit that he failed as a parent, and most parents can do that.

No I don't have a crystal ball just a good memory.  I have seen this cycle too many times in the past for it not to come true again.  It doesn't have to be that way but sadly it probably will end up that way.  So what do I think?  It is irrelevant what I think but if I must weigh in, I am not scandalized, I am not upset, I am not surprised.  I am sad and resigned to a pop culture that rewards the extreme and superficial as it sacrifices young talent.  We get what we pay for.


Just sayin

:)

Great Expectations

"It's OK, I'm from the Union and I'm Here to Help"

For any of you out there that have stumbled across this blog, you probably have realized that the majority of the current posts are my ruminations on education in general and the dysfunctional star chamber that passes for "parent involvement" in the transformational change that is being undertaken by RSU#18.  Those of you that have read these post might be looking for and should be able to find logical inconsistency in what I have written (I would be surprised if you didn't).

On the one hand I blog about the need for change and a "broken" system.  On the other hand I blog about what a great system we had and how it is still pretty competitive.   So which is it, John, broken or fine?  Does it work or doesn't it?  You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Well actually, you can.

There is a difference between a "broken" system and successful  change agents within a system.  Let me explain.  Sometimes an organization, political structure, business etc. can function or at least be made to look like it is functioning, not because of a well organized, well staffed, well run concern but because a handful of talented, hardworking, dedicated professionals within the system refuse to let the dysfunction win and refuse to become jaded and cynical.  Even though they are often working against their own best interest as they prop up a failed or failing enterprise, they can not bring themselves to give in and allow nature to takes it's course.  Because in such scenarios  there is often blood and pain and loss and destruction; all of which is regrettable but necessary to allow for new growth devoid of the anchors of past mistakes.

It is no different in education.  Our system and by extension our educational position in the world, is barely holding it's own; not because the system is a well functioning machine serving it's intended purpose but because a small percentage of professional educator refuse to let it die.  They care about education and the children who are their charges and refuse to allow the collapse to occur and take a generation with it.

It doesn't have to be like this though.  There is innovative thinking and positive models and actions taking place through out the country.  Where the educators are given free reign, amazing things are happening.  Schools that were once written off as "drop out factories" are now turning our greater and greater percentages of college bound seniors.  Entire neighborhoods are being involved as a unified, holistic part of the education solution.  Truly remarkable alternatives are being created and executed to reach every child and help them blaze a positive path forward in life.

So why isn't this kind of energy, innovation and enthusiasm which is so characteristic of the American way of problem solving, burning away the edifice of the old to make way for the new?  Why are we not in the very midst of an educational revolution in this country that would not only change for the better how we teach our kids but save billions of dollars in the process?

This isn't happening because in every change there are winners and losers and the losers in this change feel they have too much to lose.  Who would lose?  It's a simple matter of following the money.  Who stands to lose money if teachers are given more freedom in their profession?  If merit is the greatest measure; if tenure comes under fire?  Who loses if standardized testing becomes a thing of the past.  Well one of the biggest losers is teacher's unions; the other are the standardized test factories.  Teacher's unions stand to lose billions in dues and more importantly vast amount of political access and clout if merit and choice become the rule.  And companies like the College Boards stand to lose billions as well if standardized testing is discredited or fades away.

The two largest teacher's unions in the country National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers (NEA & AFT) contribute more to political campaigns then the next three highest donors combined.  No president has passed meaningful, lasting education legislation for the last thirty years.  And standardized testing has become a multi-billion dollar a year business.

Freedom of choice for teachers, being held accountable to a high professional standard, becoming responsible for the product you produce (educated citizens) is more then the teacher unions can bear so wherever innovation that seeks to empower teachers has occurred  the NEA and AFT have worked hard to defeat such initiatives in favor of a broken status quote.  How bad could this be, you ask?  Let me put this question to you; what would you think of an incompetent co-worker who was removed from his job but still got paid full salary and benefits for sitting in a room eight hours a day playing solitaire or reading the paper?  This is exactly what happens in the New York City school system because of union contracts and tenure.  Michelle Rhea (former chancellor of the Washington D.C. school system) tried to institute a merit pay system after her attempts to close failing schools and firing incompetent teachers and administrators.  Not only was she blocked by "concerned parents" and "angry teachers", the incentive program she proposed was so threatening to the union, they blocked the proposal from even being discussed at the meeting.

So what do we do?

Nothing happens in a vacuum and action don't occur for no reason.  Unions especially teachers unions grew to meet a need.  They were initially not supported by the public but when the horrible working conditions and egregious treatment of the average American worker became more and more apparent (and some sadly very bloody protests) public opinion began to change and unions grew in number and strength.  Unfortunately, everything has it's time and the time of unions is drawing to a close.  Union membership has been in decline for the last twenty years and more union organizing is beginning to move off shore to the cheap labor markets overseas.  But like a dying beast, unions still can cause problems, pain and suffering.  What we can do is not allow it.

Support your teachers like never before, go into classrooms and participate.  Listen to and work with your professional educators and administrators.  Treat them as respected allies and not suspect enemies.  Work with budget committee and negotiators and try to get work places that are "open shops" of choice (people will still join a union).  And demand that the incompetent not be protected and carried.

But most of all be open to change.  Be receptive to the possibility that change is needed, can be good and should be attempted.  And most of all nurture the good, the positive, the right as much as you do your children.  In a positive environment, even missteps can be learned from and compensated for as we all move to a better future.

Who knows, you could be helping the next President of the United States or the next Albert Einstein.

It could happen.

Just sayin'

:)

Perspective

 "I'd Like a Side of Perspective, Please"

In a conversation with a friend, I understand that the back and forth is still hot and heavy on social media sites.  I would have thought that with the summer there would be a diminution of this type of activity but apparently not.  Perhaps one thing that is lacking here is perspective.  Having stepped back a bit, allow me to offer some now.

I am going to use one simple measure to make my point.  The ability to read is one of the most fundamental human abilities and marks our ascent as a species for the last 15,000 years.  Our ability to absorb, retain and transmit knowledge is directly related to our ability to read.

So the average world literacy rate is 84% of people 15 years and older.  The United States has a average national rate of 99%.  Think about that for a second; almost our entire adult population can read proficiently.  We are 15% better at this that the world average.  There are 65 countries below the world average.  There are another 105 below the US average.  That means there is a total of 170 that have the ability to read less favorably than the United States.  Most of these countries are in the developing world but that number also included China and India the two most populous countries on earth.  Think again about this; nearly three quarters of the worlds population does not read as well as we do in the United States.

Now you would think that this fact proves what a great job we are doing and how well the current system is working.  Unfortunate, that is not the case.  Time to break out a few more numbers.  The United States is 55th in the world on spend for education as a percent of GNP (Gross National Product).  We spend 5.5% as opposed to say Cuba that spends twice that amount.  And what do we get for our money.  We are 14th in the world in reading, 25th in the world in math and 17th in the world in science.  South Korea, Japan, Finland, Canada, New Zealand  Australia, Belgium, Norway, Poland, The  Netherlands, Switzerland and Iceland all perform consistently better across all measures then the US.  Germany, France, Ireland, the UK, Sweden and Denmark also perform better in some categories than the United States.  All these countries actually spend less of GNP then the US.

So let's take a specific example.  How does Finland which spend approximately $10 billion annually have the highest literacy rate (100%), highest math score (548) and highest science score (563) in the world?  Could it be that Finland knows something that we don't?  Do they work together as a single nation to put education first?

Compare that to the US which spend more ($807 billion) then the next 10 nations combined to come out somewhere in the middle.  We have a very literate population which speaks to a culture that values something about education but we spend billions more then many others for only average results.  What are we doing wrong compared to the Finland's of the world?

Here's what I take away from all these numbers.  We used to be a nation that put more then money into education, we put our best minds and efforts into it.  The entire society saw value and was invested in the educational system especially from a family perspective on up the chain.  We didn't have to throw money at a problem 60 years ago because we approached it like many problems in the country; we got together, rolled up our sleeves and got to work solving the issue.

And it worked, we created a system that was the envy of the world.  A system the turned out a great product at regular intervals for a national and global which we dominated.  Then we sat back and said our work was done.  We watched as the world changed around us and more disturbingly as our social values changed.  The one thing that needed to change and didn't was our educational system.  And as we now seem to do, rather then look at fundamental, systemic change based on working models around the world; we decide to throw money at the problem without a coherent plan or unified approach.  So we have a system now that is run on inertia.  Like a chicken with it's head cut off, our system is running around flapping while it dies.

There is hope though.  If we can just reach back a little to a time when parents worked together, took responsibility for the education of their child, emphasized that education over everything else and were the change agents themselves; then perhaps the systemic changes being proposed now would find greater traction and have better results.

Or we could continue to bicker amongst ourselves about minutia while the rest of the world passes us by.  The day a kid in a third world country with a stub pencil and a supportive family and burning desire to learn as a better chance at a prosperous life then our kids do will be (is) a sad day.

Just sayin'

:)

The Days of Our Lives

And on the next episode of "The Days of Our Lives"......

So the RSU#18 soap opera continues with the splashy headline of a board member resigning because customized learning is damaging her health.  Apparently the hyperbole of "it makes me sick at heart" is translated into health concerns.  I find two things odd here:

1.  Now We Become Sick....

There apparently was no sickness or ill effect for the last several years with multiple controversial issues before the board.  There was no upset when the Vision and implementation/communication strategy was announced.  There were no heart palpitations during the budget meetings and multiple votes.

However as parents got emotional, angry and energized, the vapors seemed to come on and finally overcome this individual.  Interesting timing.

Who am I to judge though?  This person sounds like and seems to be an individual of self-sacrifice and community service.  They could very well have spent their life in service to others and be a person of conscience   My only question would be, why this gesture and why now?

Just say'n


2.  Selling Knives at the Knife Fight...

The media coverage on this issue impresses me as the type of coverage designed to stir controversy and thereby sell more coverage (papers, ad time etc.).  Morning Sentinel articles especially seem to be of the tone designed to inflame emotion rather then emphasis consensus building.  I get a visual of a guy standing on the side lines saying to each combatant, "Are you gonn'a take that from him" and then making money off the pain and suffering (real or imagined) of others.

Just say'n

And now for one more observation:

Regardless of where any individuals stands on the issue of proficiency based measurement and customized learning, we (the collective we) have now spent more time, energy, ill-will, emotion and general tom foolery then we have on the last five issues (budget included) combined.  I am astounded at the amount of time currently spent on even the smallest aspect of this situation.  There is one individual that stated they spend 30 hours a week on this issue.  That is 10 short of a full work week.  This has become a job, a profession to a handful of individuals.

And where does this insanity stop?  When is enough, enough?  This will all end, one way or another, but no one seems to be able to see beyond the end of their nose to the possible ends of this business.  As Brutus said:

"Why then, lead on. Oh, that a man might know

The end of this day’s business ere it come!

But it sufficeth that the day will end,

And then the end is known.—Come, ho! Away!"

The true sadness here is that damage that is being done and will be done.  Not just to the system but to the kids and just as sadly to the parents and relationships.  What was once a close knit community of caring friends and neighbors now resembles the North and South.  And again, unfortunately, we have not learned and appear to be unwilling to learn the lessons of history.

And the most salient lesson here?  In this type of ego invested fight, no body wins, everybody loses something. So while some of us wait and hope for a ray of rationality and sanity to appear, most of us are just grabbing our popcorn and waiting for the next episode of "The Days of Our Lives...RSU 18 Edition"

And so it goes...:)

To H1B or Not To H1B....That is The Question

I have been following the immigration reform debate, jobs and the American economy debate and educational reform debate and I have come to a conclusion....I'm mentally exhausted.  I did notice that all three have a number of common threads that I would like to try to untangle here.

1.  H1B Visa

The humble HIB Visa has been gaining some popularity over the last few years.  Trend analysis on the every increasing cap for issued visas is a source of contention.  One interpretation is that the year over year increase for the last decade is a clear indication of the shortage of technical skill sets in the American labor market.  Another interpretation is that it is a mask for corporate welfare, that there is no shortage of qualified American candidates, just a shortage of companies willing to pay market rates for that labor.  For those who don't know, HIB visas are temporary visas issued to foreign nationals to fill high need technical positions when a company can not find a qualified citizen applicant.  Regardless of the hither and yond in this exchange the simple fact is that tech companies (Microsoft, Apple, Cisco etc.) have consistently demanded and consistently gotten H1B cap increases every year for the past five years running.  I will come back to my assessment of this situation in a minute.

2.  You Want Fries With That?

While the debate about visas and it's cousin the US labor market continue; jobs in this country still go unfilled.  What could be the reason for this?  Once you clear away the smoke and mirrors it boils down to two basic conditions; either there are not enough qualified applicants for a given job or the job is considers too "menial" for a large available labor pool.  I personally think that both forces are acting at the same time.  We have a native born citizen labor pool that is either over qualified or under qualified for a wide array of employment opportunities.  Someone that has just spend $100K on a college degree does not want to flip burgers for a living.  Someone that has an Associates degree in Information Technology does not have the credit hours or experience to be a Senior Software Engineer.  So what do most employers in the country do?  Hire immigrant labor either legal or illegal.  What do I use to support this assertion.  The news and actual practical experience.  When Alabama enacted it's strict immigration law, the labor pool for the agricultural sector dried up over night.  Farmer after farmer complained that they either couldn't find enough people to do the work or that the legal citizen were not willing or able to do the work.  One farmer noted that half his replacement work force quite the first day after lunch noting that the work was "too hard".  My practical experience comes from five years as an IT team manager.  I have consistently had to resort to contract resources to fill programmer position because there register of candidates was either unfilled or did not have any qualified candidates.  Approximately half my team is contract labor consisting of foreign nationals in the path to legal permanent residence or citizenship.  And each one of those individuals came to me via H1B visas.  What does this all have to do with education?

3.  If It Ain't Broke......

The top ten jobs and most sought after skill sets did not exit twenty years ago.  The United States is inextricably integrated into the global trade market importing 50% of it's consumer goods and export 30% of its produced goods.  The United States has an 8.5% global trade deficit with China, South Korea, the EU and OPEC leading the way.  The world is an economically, culturally and geo-politically very different place than is was twenty or thirty years ago.  The US has ceded it's position as a technological, economic, educational and political world power.  How did this happen?  In my opinion (and the opinion of better minds than mine) the United States stood still while the rest of the world passed us.  And at the core of this stagnation was and is an educational delivery system built for the 1950s and still run like it was the 1970s.  What does this have to do with H1B and the US labor market?  Everything!  We have been using the same model to turn out the same quality and level of individual into a labor market that they have been less and less qualified for.  We however have been very good at instilling vast amounts of confidence in the abilities of every student we release from this inadequate system.  The result is that when asked how they did, US students rate themselves at or near the top of every category while empirical studies put them at no better than 20th.  So we have greater numbers of "educated" individuals who can't fill ever more demanding skills sets but with an entitled sense of self-worth that precludes them from considering skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labor positions.

What does this all mean?  I believe that the rise in the need to import skilled labor is a direct result of a broken education delivery system.  I believe this has adversely affect the US labor market with shortages in key areas and overages in other areas.  I believe that if this country ever wants to reclaim a more realistic global leadership position (and not one in our own minds), we need to move to truly and deeply re-think how we deliver and measure knowledge transmission, retention and evaluation to produce a citizen more capable of competing in a national and global labor market.

And this transformation needs to start here and now. :)

And Now...The News

Well only one thing left, my birthday.  Made through graduation, made it through Project Grad, made it through my anniversary and we decided not to attend my nieces graduation as it was just one activity to many in a short period (besides they are coming up for Father's Day weekend).

Didn't cry at graduation (Sarah did a little) but was very proud of Alex.  He is now a graduate and headed for more education in the fall.  Vey well done, son.

We had a very low key anniversary which was fine by me.  After many anniversaries where my plans don't always turn out as expected, I was just has happy to have a nice meal at the new Japanese steakhouse and a quite night at home.

Wish my "Weasle" (Michelle) a happy graduation and was very impressed by the theater award she earned.  Well done, honey.

Completed a number of errands today and feel like I actually accomplished something.

Tomorrow, rain and lots of on line time.

Sorry this wasn't informative or contraversial, I promise there are more of those to follow.

And so it goes.....