Drape's Takes

The Utah State of Office of Education (USOE) announced today that “it will develop and support open textbooks in the key curriculum areas of secondary language arts, science, and mathematics.” They also encourage “districts and schools throughout the state to consider adopting these textbooks for use beginning this fall.”

This is clearly a major victory for proponents of open education and a move laden with tremendous potential!

That said, I have mixed feelings about the announcement – or more specifically about the timing and readiness of districts across our state to transition toward open textbook use. Here’s why:

1. USOE requires Utah districts to conduct standardized testing using a Measured Progress-developed software client that can only be installed on Macintosh or Windows devices. There are no immediate plans for progressing (measuredly) away from this client-based testing solution and no solutions for the iPad or Android tablet devices in sight.
2. Very few districts in Utah are ready for 1:1 technology access: neither pedagogically, financially, nor culturally. Really.
3. Any initiative announced just before the Legislative session is subject to immediate suspicion.

Two questions now ring inside my open-education-loving head:

• Have you ever snuggled up with a netbook to read a good (e-)book?
• Is this really more of a political move – designed to convince proponents of private and home schooling that public school districts will now gladly hand over students (vouchers) AND develop a viable curriculum for them (open textbooks)?

Openness in education continues to be plagued with more than mere moral dilemmas.

I had a very interesting experience today as my doctoral cohort met with Dr. Fred Hunsaker, Utah state legislator. In our meeting, he discussed a number of leadership principles that have helped him to succeed, my favorite of which being a quotation from Margaret Mead:

Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing in the world that has.

Little did he know that many of the small groups to which I belong consist of people with highly specialized interests and abilities, geographically spread over several continents.

Most striking to me was his nervous manner. Sure, ours is a formidable group, highly intimidating – and don’t get me wrong, he was far from a nervous wreck. Nevertheless, he carefully measured most of his words, as one skillfully comfortable in the political frame. Moreover, on more occasions than one, he mentioned how intimidating I was, what with Google at my fingertips and my apparent facility with technology. Ironically, the word that he continued to use was power.

Wow.

I wonder how often people like us consider ourselves to be in positions of power, simply because we are able to play with technology, learning as we go, and highly engaged merely because we love it.


Image source: Flickr user veo_

Technorati Tags: legislator utah google twitter groups power

[Full Disclosure: On November 8, citizens of Utah will vote on what is known as Referendum 1. This issue, while currently only limited to residents of Utah, has the potential to bring vouchers to states across the nation. In my opinion, the issue of vouchers is a simple one: Do we, as a nation, believe that a quality education should be given to every child or not? As I think that an education is one of those unalienable rights to which every citizen should benefit (regardless of race, religion, or socioeconomic status), I will be supporting public education in voting against Referendum 1.]

Honorable Governor Huntsman:

I appreciate the attention you have given in supporting education in recent legislative sessions. Your support (or at least your approval) has led to many great things, including additional funding for technology in public schools. I suppose these and similar past efforts are what puzzle me so much in relation to your current efforts involving the public funding of private schools.


In response to this video, I have several questions for you:

• How does funding private schools with public funds actually help the public school system? It seems to me that as private schools gain more students (and publicly funded revenue), they also gain political power. Do we really want that?
• What about church and state? In granting private schools increased political power, we would also be distributing much of that power to various churches upon which many private schools in Utah are founded. How is a vote for vouchers not a vote to mix church and state?
  
• Why has no one (evidently) explained to you that as students are removed from public schools then a proportional number of teachers are also removed? In consequence of this fact, supporting an initiative to promote private schooling does nothing to reduce class sizes in public schools.
• How does financially assisting proponents of private schools ensure that every child in Utah (regardless of race, religion, or socioeconomic status) receive a quality education?
• Given that the average cost to attend private schools in Utah is roughly $6,000 and the proposed voucher system will only reimburse $3,000 to private school students, how do you suggest that financially challenged students pay for the remaining funds (so that they too can benefit from a quality private education)? Surely you realize that there are students in Utah that don’t have an extra $3,000 just lying around.

I suppose my final question is of a more personal nature:

• What are your true motives for promoting the voucher system in Utah? In other words, are you really concerned with helping every student in Utah or are you more concerned with enhancing your political resume?

I appreciate your attention in addressing my questions, either online or off, and sincerely hope that in future discussions I can continue to refer to you as “honorable”.

Sincerely,

Darren Draper

Technorati Tags: education vouchers referendum1 utah youtube

To my 7 readers from Utah:

2007 has been a banner year for education in Utah's political landscape: Increased funding for educational technology, a possible three-way Jordan School District split, and the upcoming unprecedented attempt to incorporate government-sponsored vouchers to fund private schooling. This issue of vouchers, currently being referred to as Referendum 1 (here and also here, see page 4), will be decided in three weeks when Utahns will vote on one of the most debated, polarizing issues in state history. As I've been asked by several people "why referendum 1 is so bad", I'll give you my take now.

• While never guaranteed to be great, private school can be great... for those that can afford it.
• Most Utahns can't afford private school - even with the funding that vouchers would provide.
• Hence, Referendum 1 would be a way to reward the people that already utilize private schools and not really a way to recruit new students.

To continue, I honestly believe the opening paragraphs of our nation's Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Furthermore, I believe (like many of the educators that served to shape our nation's educational system):

• Education is one of those unalienable rights to which all men (and women) are entitled.
  
• Neither liberty nor the pursuit of happiness can truly be obtained without an education.

In closing, I think there are many questions that all people need to answer for themselves:

• How do you feel about public funding for private schools?
• Have you studied the issues yourself?
• Do you think that every child has a right to a quality education?

Technorati Tags: vouchers referendum1 education utah

It appears that I have been tagged - thank you for your thoughtfulness. Therefore, having never been accused of not being of random mind (meaning that I have been accused of having what Steven Wright terms "HD-ADHD") - I accept. Nevertheless, I choose to play by my own rules (I'm kind of a rebel like that).

Here are my rules:

1. I will not post the original rules. I told you I was a rebel.
2. I will list as many random facts about myself as I can think of - eight, while somewhat random itself, is no magical number for me.
3. I may or may not tag anybody else after listing my randomness - we'll see (1) how long it takes me to write this post, and (2) if I want to subject anyone else to such an experience.
   

Here are my "random facts":

1. I think that rules are important but have found few that actually apply to me. Really. Just ask my wife if you don't believe me. Any teacher, principal, or prison warden will tell you that 95% of the rules have been created to control 5% of the population. Oddly, that 5% of the population has no idea who they are.
   
2. I'm actually 35 years old. Really. Just ask my mom if you don't believe me.
3. I love to take pictures of clouds and mountains. I'm not exactly sure why (other than their beauty), but I think it's their elevated status that attracts me to both subjects. I took both of these pictures (Mountains is actually a stitch of several shots) and have found them to be perfect for my desktop background.
   
   
   Clouds
   
   
   Mountains
   
   
4. I love living in Utah. I've been to many other places but always long to return home.
5. I'm a Mac guy - except when I'm using a PC - then I'm a Linux guy - but then again, Vista's nice, and me + Office 2007 = TLA.
   
6. I enjoy keeping what I call a "photographic journal". Wherever I go, I try to take a self-portrait containing an important element of where I've been. Below are a few examples. Bonus points will be awarded if you can guess where I've been (from the pictures below).
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. I love the outdoors - particularly the beautiful Uintah mountain range. These two shots were taken last summer (and comprise a part of my photographic journal).
   
   
   
   
   
8. I love to sit in my driveway, listening to the iPod or reading a book. The view is one of the reasons why (below, taken right from my chair while sitting in my driveway).
   
   
   One Of My Favorite Views
   
   
   
   
9. Numbers intrigue me - and so does writing. Even though I spent seven years of my life teaching kids about math, I find that the challenges of writing (and writing well) are now more enjoyable.
10. I love my family most. Behind that come (in no particular order) all things technology, baseball, Journey, Ray Romano, the smell of freshly cut grass, flip-flops, enchiladas, soccer, Man versus Wild and Survivorman, Johnny Cash, fleece when it's cold, Jerry Seinfeld, Mozart, whipped cream instead of ice cream, watching movies in the middle of the day, Kenny Chesney, learning, Ray Charles, lasagna for breakfast, and calm summer nights.
11. Elementary school was innocent, middle school was lame, and high school was little more than a false sense of reality. I finally began to find myself as an undergraduate, proved I could do it during my Master's program (graduated with a 3.98), and am hoping to simply survive my doctoral studies.
12. That's probably enough for now. I told you that there was nothing magical about the number eight.

Technorati Tags: random utah mountains photography