Don't leave school without it

Most people who know me have heard more than once the story of Mr. Abell and how he took me under his wing years ago, helped shape my philosophy and set me on a lifelong search for things of value.

I can remember clearly, as if it were yesterday, his words to me - "No excuses, only Results... the name of the game is Results." "The market won't pay for excuses and apologies; apologies are not solutions to problems, they are a salve, but not results. The marketplace will pay only for results!"

What an amazing time in my life, and it's only taken 20-some years for the power ideas of Mr. and Mrs. Abell to come full circle in my consciousness. But they are just as poignant today, if not moreso, than they ever were.

Another great awakening for me were his thoughts and ideas on education:

"It doesn't take money to make money. Get that idea out of your head right now. It takes Education to make money and to make something out of yourself. The Lord himself created the Earth in six days and didn't have a business plan." "Ignorance is NOT bliss... Ignorance is devastation! Ignorance is illness and poverty!" "What you don't know CAN hurt you.. can hurt your bank account, can hurt your future..."

"That's the thing about education, Allan, Don't leave school without it."

"Learn now to Love and Master the disciplines it will take to turn Your dreams into reality."

And so I did - and still do. So much so that education and the education process has become a major passion of mine. As my dear friend and Master Educator Ms. Dianne Gum says: "The goal of education is not just to teach, but to ensure that Learning Takes Place." Incredibly powerful words to be sure.

In recent days, I've been hearing about the mass layoffs in the Los Angeles public education system. It seems the system...

(by the way, the system that says to parents:
"We're NOT going to allow you the freedom to alot your dollars for education the way that YOU see fit to educate your children, because WE know best. Instead we're going to require you, by force and government mandate, to surrender a substantial portion of your income to us and in turn WE shall decide what is best for the education of your children - grades K - 12." And whether or not WE achieve the desired RESULTS (oops... There's that word again!) is of no consequence here. There are Plenty of excuses to go around, and we're actually not accountable to anyone and there's really not much you can do about it.")

.... is having some difficulty living up to its promises. And so their answer is to just reduce the number of educators, increase class size and in general make an already horrific system with zero accountability just that much worse.

Excellent! And this is from the same mindset which is hell-bent on taking over health care, but I digress.

And so in the recent news story I heard on the way to work this week, there are outtakes of recordings of the teachers' protests on the steps of the Los Angeles County courthouse. You can hear them shouting:

"Who got the Pow-ah??!!" "WE got the Pow-ah!!"

"Who got the Pow-ah??!!" "WE got the Pow-ah!!"

UH-mazing.

Could I just make this one little observation, please?:

If .......... I were an 'educator'... and RESULTS.... (i.e. ensuring that learning takes place) were the goal... and my job was about to be cut due to budget shortfalls...... and I wanted to prove to society at large that I brought a certain sustainable Value to the marketplace as a professional....

I would CERTAINLY not be standing on the steps of the courthouse, attempting to plead my case at the top of my lungs,,, using the most HORRIFIC GRAMMER possible to prove my point:

"We GOT the power." (???) Good Lord, my parents would have been mortified.

To me, this would be like the surgeon who wanted to prove his value by NOT washing his hands before he operated. It's just difficult to fathom.

~~ A little boy on the street corner with a little stand and a sign: "Smart Pills - only ten cents."

One of his friends happens by and asks with great skepticism: "Smart Pills? Are you kidding me? No way!"

The young man reassures him: "Yes, they are bona fide Smart Pills; you won't BEElieve the results!

At this, the young man can't resist and reaches into his pocket for a dime. Sampling the pill he notes: "Hmmm,,, I don't feel any smarter..."

His merchant friend replies "Maybe you should try another one." And so he digs for another dime and pops another pill. Still no change.

"I'm not sure about this; I tell ya I just don't feel any smarter and I only got one dime left!"

The clever young entrepreneur counters - "Well, try just one more and if you don't see it working the rest are on the house!"

Seems like a fair offer and so he profers his last dime and takes a Third pill.

"HEYyyyy... These don't taste like Smart Pills! These taste like Rabbit Turds!!"

And running away, laughing, his friend yells over his shoulder "See?? You gettin' smarter already!"

Will we ever learn?