The war moves on and on.....

Here we are at the third anniversary of one of the biggest mistakes the US has made in recent years... the beginning of the Iraq war. What have we resolved? Absolutely nothing! Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. Iraq was not a threat to the US. Because all this became increasingly clear, the rationale for the war was changed. That did nothing to help. More money continues to be poured into this terrible mistake. More and more and more people are being killed as a result of this terrible mistake. How do we ever get out of the hole we have dug for ourselves? I wish I (or someone) had a good answer for this question.

Sunshine Week

This is "Sunshine Week" celebrating the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA). What does "freedom" mean? Some people, when they hear the phrase, think of patriots fighting to keep our country free. When I hear the phrase, I tend to think of the makers of the original constitution and innumerable people since then who have upheld the right of citizens to speak out against corruption, against mismanagement, against secrecy and in favor of an informed citizenry. Only by having informed citizens who can speak out when they see the country moving in the wrong direction can we have the freedom we so cherish. The FOIA was one step in assuring that information be available to citizens. It has been important in maintaining our freedom. Our present administration has been one of the more secretive in recent times. Let us all call for our rights to information. Let us all be willing to educate ourselves, and to participate in the political processes, especially voting, so that we can keep this country free.

Teachers - Left and Right

A Colorado teacher has stirred quite a controversy over the whole country. Following the President's State of the Union message, Jay Bennish, geography teacher at Overland High School in Aurora, Colorado, apparently suggested that some of the things the administration has done were similar to those done by Hitler. A student, Sean Allen, recorded the conversation. The recording was given to a nationally syndicated columnist and to a radio talk show. All this caused an uproar. The teacher was suspended pending a hearing to see if he had violated school policies.

My first thought was "Why would a geography teacher give such a lecture?" It seemed much more appropriate for a social studies class. My second thought was "Why did the student give the recording to a columnist and talk show host?" Of course I can't answer these questions. My feeling is that this might have been a good discussion for a civics class. But the next step should have been a good discussion about the statements, bringing out reasons for agreeing or disagreeing. This could well result in some real learning with students seeing that life is complex and that there usually is no completely clear right and wrong side to a question like this. I think it is unfortunate that it was thrown into the media and became a yelling match with no good critical thinking going on. President Bush even became involved. When he was asked if he thought people should have the right to free speech in the classroom, he said that people do criticize him and that they should have the right to do so. He said that the ability of people to express themselves is a freedom we must protect. I hope he has the courage of his convictions, and I hope he will begin to be much more open in his administration.
The teacher is now back in the classroom. It is unfortunate that the student has felt that he must leave the school because of threats. We missed a chance for some real learning here.