Education Show, Kids in College, Alumni Reunion

What I learned this week: As media outlets attempt to make profits by providing entertainment programs, People are becoming increasingly confused with entertainers who pass as journalists and tend to appeal to emotions without sticking to fact based evidence.Example: "Republicans don't care about poor people or Obama is a Muslim, or most immigrants who are here illegally are criminals."

What I am grateful for: There are so many people in the world, who work against the odds and make this world a better place. Michelle Montas, Columbia Journalism class of 69 has been working in Haiti for years for Human Rights. In the process, her husband was assassinated and she was exiled for years. She is now back, still making a difference.


EDUCATION CRISIS: A TOWN FORUM

www.houstonpbs.org/haveyoursay/education/index.html

This is the link to the Education Crisis town forum. We felt once we do these programs which generally take 4 months to produce, we hope we have done our job which I read somewhere is best described as follows.

"OUR JOB IS NOT TO MAKE UP ANYONE'S MIND BUT TO MAKE THE AGONY OF INDECISION SO INTENSE THAT THOUGHT IS THE ONLY ESCAPE"



Whether you think public education needs reform or not, the fact is nations who don't focus enough resources in education, eventually pay an economic and social price. Although there is apparently a link to how much rich countries spend per capita and student outcomes, no one can deny as a nation we have to learn to do more with less, become more innovative and begin looking at what schools are working and why. After we finished our live one hour show, we taped an extra half hour to talk about solutions to the educational crisis. (We call it a crisis based on the drop out rate and the challenge high school students face once they graduate because they are not prepared for college coursework.)



We began the half hour with three things international Educational Consultant Bill Daggett said he would do about Texas Public Schools.



1. Our standards in Texas are too low compared to higher standards in the rest of the country.

2. Find best practices out there and share them with the rest of the state.

3. You need sustained professional development of your teachers and staff across the state.



Here are some other solutions shared in the program



1. Todd Litton of Citizen schools "KIPP and YES charter schools are having a great impact on education and HISD increasing the number of days (15 days) to several schools in the district. "One of the things we do at Citizen schools is work on expaninding the time that our children have to really learn throughout the day."



2. Scott Van Beck A challenge "Relationships and Relevance matter to our kids." I think we all know what we need to do. We have to have the will power to do it.

3. Barbara Paige Management Leadership who works with public schools kids who do well in school, recognizes the imporance of connecting them with corporate partners and teaching them leadership skills.

4. Dr. Archie Blanson Deputy Superintendent for Aldine School District which won the 2009 Broad Foundation Award for their innovative work in education said "We look at every individual child in the campus and tailor their educational need and our curriculum and instruction. We don't have a cooke cutter, canned program for all children. "

5. Richard Farias Raul Izabuirre Charter School. Charter schools have helped the public education system. "The charter schools are smaller and and are able to provide much closer attention to each and every child." That's what these kids need. "It is a myth that parents don't care about their child's education. Parents do care.

These are just some of the solutions suggested. I will have a complete list of solutions in our website soon. Check www.houstonpbs.org/haveyoursay/education.html

Beth Dennard is the guest of our upcoming Living Smart show This coming sunday at 3pm. Since my niece is going to college soon and I saw how very stressed she is about it. I felt Dr. Dennard could walk so many parents and student through the college admissions process. It is much more complicated than it was when I graduated from high school. This Thursday night at 10pm John Bradshaw, the PBS personal growth expert talks about moral intelligence. If interested in Living Smart shows, please go to You Tube and type Living Smart. See what comes up.

This past week. I went to my Columbia journalism school reunion. All I can say is that I loved meeting my classmates and walking the streets of New York. The presentations I enjoyed the most were what will happen to our industry (nobody really knows), digital and social media and how certain beats have been covered. We all recognized how lucky were were to spend one intensive year in New York with the best journalism professors in the country. If you are interested in this school, let me know.

Public Education and You on PBS and KUHF

Next Tuesday night, we host 40 Town Hall participants to discuss a subject that can be as complicated as health care. We invited a cross section of the community: teachers, administrators, principals, dropouts, state representatives, business leaders, non profits who work to improve public education, parents and those who are passionate about the subject.

I have been studying urban education for quite a while, attending seminars, talking to students, experts, teachers, parents, administrators. Many don't see the drop out rate as a crisis, because they say kids move so we really call them dropouts. Others say it is not that bad and others get mad at the media for only reporting what is negative. I can only say there is no way I can totally understand this subject unless I spend time inside many schools and live with the students and the teachers on a daily basis for more than a few months. Schools are microcosms of society. For many students they are the only safe haven they have. They may only be the only place they get a meal. Teachers, I believe mostly do a great job and it is a difficult one. Education has to be looked at in the social context it operates. This is a great challenge for though we spend more money per capita every year per students, there are also social issues that affect how we are educating. The divorce rate has quadrupled since 1960. The single parent homes have doubled. Poverty rate has gone up and many children have no health insurance or parents who really care about them. There is no doubt we need a highly effective teacher in every classroom, but can they do it alone? The one question I would ask myself and I hope you do too. What can I do? How do I contribute to make things better. I hope you join the conversation. Here are the airdates. and the first night April 20th at 7pm you can also hear us on KUHF 88.7 FM
4/20/2010 7:00 pm
4/22/2010 1:00 am
4/23/2010 8:00 pm
4/25/2010 4:00 pm

Public Education in crisis or not? Living Smart launches, Latina Voices facebook page

What I learned this week: We may know a lot of people well, but that does not mean they are our friends. As I get older, I want to spend more time with people who know me well, accept me as I am and hold me accountable as a human being.

I am grateful for: My true friends who have been with me through thick and thin and truly want what is best for me

THE EDUCATION CRISIS April 20th 7pm on HoustonPBS Live Call in show

Do you care what happens to our public schools even if your kids are not going there?

We are not getting closer to the date of our town forum on Public Education. My goal is to hear as many voices as possible on the subject. There are those who do not believe we have a crisis in public education and that the media does not spend enough time talking about the great students, the ones who beat the odds, the teachers who work way beyond what they are responsible for, the principals who go out of their way to educate their kids, the parents who are involved and engaged. I agree we tend to focus more time generally on our problems than in our solutions. That is what I hope we can do with this town forum. At least become more aware of what we need to do to improve our education system. Here are some facts that we can't deny.
The US workforce is becoming more diverse. The fastest growing groups in our city, Hispanics and Blacks are the least educated. If current trends continue, and I believe they will and we don't improve the education for all groups in our city, the skills and incomes of our city residents will decline in the next decades. Please write us to let us know what you think. haveyoursay@Houstonpbs.org

Living Smart launches its 6th season with a great lineup. This Sunday find out how a school principal took over her school lunches and improved health, academics and self esteem. If you think you know what your kids are getting for lunch, ask again!

Sunday at 3pm and repeats friday night at 10pm.

Latina Voices, please sign up as a fan on our facebook page. www.facebook.com/latinavoices
We need your support to continue producing great programs on every day issues and concerns and bring a bit of joy into our lives.

Living Smart launches April 18th, Public Education on town forum

What I learned this week: I need to spend time in nature at least once a week. There is nothing like a great oxygen fix!
What I am grateful for: Sugar Free Chocolate and having access to at least three meals a day.

Season 6 of Living Smart launches this week. I am truly excited about this season. Some of the guests are already very well known, such as Don Miguel Ruiz, the author of the Four Agreements and The Mastery of Love, the award winning novelist Chitra Divakaruni PhD., John Bradshaw, a PBS icon. Others, should and will be better known in no time. They are truly agents of change. Dr. Yvonne Butler who founded the first sugar free school in the nation, Robyn O'Brien, whose campaign against bad processed foods has led to her new nickname, the "Erin Brogevich" of the Food industry, and Dr. John Demartini whose ideas on spirituality and money are not only interesting but empowering as well. Others include Beth Dennard EdD an expert on finding the right college for your child, Herb Again EdD who prepares us for unexpected change, John Byrn PhD a Brain scientist on brain fitness, Consumer Advocate Myron Bernstein, Michelle Lees on intimacy, and Colleen Campbell Root on the legal documents you need for a hassle free retirement. I am also excited about the Living Smart shows that we now have on You Tube.
I am in the process of writing a book on what I have learned from Living Smart. I am far from perfect but I credit everything I didn't learn in Kindergarden to Living Smart!
Back to the PUBLIC EDUCATION CRISIS on April 20th at 7pm.

I would love to hear what you have to say about public education. Your thoughts on the challenges we face and your solutions. Write to us at houstonhaveyoursay@houstonpbs.org

I had the opportunity to listen to Dr. Bill Daggett on preparing kids for the future at HCC. He really made a point very clear. We adults, are not teaching kids the way they learn today. Now I understand why I can't figure out the ipod, ipad, iphone etc. as quickly as they can. Technology is moving so much faster than what we are used to. He insists we have to figure out how kids learning and focus on that. We are basically outdated in our thought pattern with regards to public education.

I also listened to Dr. Pedro Noguera at an A Challenge event. I really liked what he said. He insists if we don't change the social context in which children learn, we will not improve public education. For example he said, "Poverty is an educational issue." the best thing that recently happened to public education is the passagage of health care reform because so many children did not have basic healthcare. He says too many basic needs are not met today so that children can learn. He shared many examples of schools that work but he also felt we need a paradigm shift. We need to find the underlying causes for the lack of excellence and work on that. If we remain apathetic we will pay in the long term with higher crime, bigger prisons, less economic opportunity.

Both men were hopeful if we quit being so apathetic about public education and poverty in our community. What do you think?