Quraysh Ali Lansana, Enid native, receives NAACP Image Award

Arts & Entertainment, Black, Culture , , , No Comments

Quraysh Ali Lansana, born Ray Myles, in Enid, was awarded an NAACP Image Award for his work in literature and education in a ceremony in Los Angeles on Feb. 17.

From The Oklahoman:

Lansana — who attended the University of Oklahoma before he crossed over from broadcast news to poetry — and co-author Georgia A. Popoff have been nominated for an NAACP Image Award for excellence in instructional literature for the book “Our Difficult Sunlight: A Guide to Poetry, Literacy and Social Justice in Classroom and Community.”

The 43rd NAACP Image Awards will be televised nationally at 7 p.m. Friday on NBC.

The book is a teaching tool for writing instructors. Lansana has spent 10 years as an associate professor of English and creative writing at Chicago State University.

Lansana teaches at Chicago State University.

Who Do We Blame for the State of Education?

Opinion, Uncategorized , , , , 1 Comment

Wilfredo Santos Rivera speaks at the 2012 Martin Luther King Program at Temple B'nai Israel

Wilfredo Santos Rivera recently made a speech suggesting that Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS) are not doing everything possible to insure the success of the students.  Part of the problem I have with it is that Mr. Santos Rivera, a former member of the OKCPS school board, seemed to bypass the fact that No Child Left Behind is a very costly failure.  The schools are being judged according to a system that is fatally flawed.   I don’t understand how Mr. Santos-Rivera can blame the school board when the same problems we have here in Oklahoma City exist all across the country.

He seems to think that by working together, the Jewish, Black and Hispanic communities can change the outcome for thousands of students.  But are we really working together, or just leaving it up to the school board and Janet Barresi to fix what is broken?

Are we going to leave the fate of our children up to a group of narcissistic politicians?

How are we supposed to promise our students a bright future when millions of jobs are leaving the country on a regular basis?  Where are they supposed to find a job when they graduate?

My friend seems to think that all this suffering is going to make us stronger.  Is that what always happens?  Did the Jews who were sent to concentration camps get stronger?  I thought most of them died.  Do soldiers who fight wars get stronger?  I thought they came home with post traumatic stress disorder.  Do people who have to work 16 hours a day get stronger?  I thought they died young.

My friend seems to have this romantic idea that suffering makes us special.  If so, there are billions of people all over the world, living in abject poverty, who must be very special.

Yes, once in a while somebody like the incredibly talented Tyler Perry manages to fight his way out of poverty.  But does that mean that the masses can do it?

I am a teacher and a mentor.  I tell my students and my mentees that if they work hard, they can succeed.  Am I lying?

What are we doing to make sure the next generation has a shot at the American dream?  These are not rhetorical question.  We all need to roll up our sleeves and work like dogs if we want our children and grandchildren to have the same opportunities we had.  Are we doing that?

There are lots of things we could do, like lower the cost of college.  But where are we supposed to get the money to do this when millionaires pay a lower tax rate than school custodians?

While I honestly think that Mr. Santos Rivera has actively tried to do his part to make the schools better, I don’t think that the average citizen has done the same, unless they happen to have a child in a particular school at the time.  These are all our schools, folks, and they are all our children.

If you have an idea for how to fix this problem, please state it in the comment section below.  Then make a list of steps that need to be taken to effect the change you suggest, and start making them.  Just talking about this over a cup of tea is not going to change matters.  Positive change takes dedication and determination.  Are you ready?

Note: Mr. Santos Rivera’s speech can be found at:  http://www.willyandjoe.com/

OEA Led Teachers in Rally at Capitol on March 15

Oklahoma Politics, Politics , , , , , , No Comments

Hundreds of teachers came from the far corners of the state today, in vans and buses, cars and trucks, to rally at the State Capitol, speaking up for education and educators.

The rally was led by Linda Hampton, the Incoming President of the Oklahoma Educators Association.

Click arrow for slideshow. View photos in album format.]

Teachers brought concerns about their pensions, their rights, and classroom funding. They do not want Oklahoma's budget to be balanced on the backs of our school children and their teachers.

Hampton stated that Oklahoma's teacher pension plan is only 49% funded.<!--break-->

The teachers, who were wearing red, shouted slogans and listened to speeches before heading into the Capitol building to talk with their Senators and Representatives.

One retired teacher, Nancy Zorn, summed up the sentiments of the day with the following to her Representative:

"Teachers build the American Dream, one child at a time. We assess each student's needs, we speak to their dreams. We assuage their insecurities and nourish their talents.  Public school teachers receive every kid with open arms; we don't choose the most intelligent, attractive, or promising. Public schools reflect our society.  All the future criminals pass through our rooms as well as our leaders, professional men and women, and workers of all kinds that constitute our diverse society.   We try to teach and love them all .  We distribute our skills and knowledge equally.  This is what justice means, fair and equal distribution. Now we ask justice for ourselves."

-- The author of this article, Fannie Paschall Bates, is a certified public school teacher.


This is an excerpt of an article originally published by Oklahoma Citizen.

Bill to allow school bus advertising progresses in Oklahoma Senate – Action Needed

Oklahoma Politics, Politics , , , , , No Comments

The Campaign for a Commerical Free Childhood is alerting citizens in states where legislation is being proposed to allow corporate advertising on school buses (this would overturn long-standing prohibition on the practice). Oklahoma is one such state, where S.B. 509 just passed out of the Senate Appropriations Subcommitee on Education and was referred to full Senate Appropriations Committee.

CCFC explains the problem and their campaign to stop this cynical and exploitive advertising to a vulnerable, unwitting audience -- our kids:<!--break-->

Faced with unprecedented budget shortfalls, many states are considering overturning long-standing laws that prohibit advertising on school buses.  If this new legislation passes, school buses could be transformed into traveling billboards for everything from fast food to violent and sexualized media.

That’s why we’ve created the School Bus Ad Action Center.  There you’ll find summaries of each of the state bills, updates on their status, and links so you can urge your legislators to oppose this commercial escalation.

We at CCFC are enormously concerned about the financial plight of schools.  But commercializing our children’s education is not the answer.  Advertising on school buses exploits a captive audience of students and undermines parents who wish to shield their children from commercial influences.  It also undermines the educational process.  Anything advertised on a school bus will have that school’s implicit endorsement—regardless of its potential harm to children.  All of the proposed legislation would prohibit products such as alcohol and tobacco from being advertised, but junk food and other harmful products would still be allowed.  And if schools turn down certain advertisers they deem inappropriate for their buses, they could be subject to costly First Amendment challenges.  

School bus advertising may even make school buses less safe: the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services opposes allowing advertising on the exterior of school buses because of concerns it will distract other drivers.  

And while schools shouldn’t sell students out for any price, it’s worth noting that allowing advertising on buses won’t even make a dent in schools’ deficits.  School bus advertising in Colorado Springs only generates $40,000—in a district with more than 27,000 students.(1)  By selling ad space on its 103 buses, the Thompson School District in Colorado only generated about $3,000 per year—about $.20 per student.(2)  Ypsilanti, Michigan stopped placing ads on its school buses when revenue fell far short of projections.(3)

It was your opposition that stopped the controversial BusRadio from airing its commercialized broadcasts on school buses.  Together, we can stop this latest commercial intrusion into the lives of schoolchildren.  Please visit http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/actions/schoolbusads.html to tell your legislators to vote “No” on school bus ads.

References:
(1) http://news.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20101213/NEWS0102/12120381/Ads-on-school-buses
(2) http://www.stnonline.com/home/latest-news/3124-colorado-school-district-evolves-school-bus-advertising-program-to-raise-money
(3) http://adage.com/article?article_id=130965

Here is the bill and its current status:

OKLAHOMA: S.B. 509
An act relating to school transportation equipment; allowing school districts to sell advertising on school buses; providing a preference; specifying use of revenue; placing restrictions on content.

STATUS: As of 3/8/11, passed Senate Appropriations Subcommitee on Education and referred to full Senate Appropriations Committee. Keep up-to-date with this bill here.

SYNOPSIS: Allows school district boards of education to sell advertising on the exterior of transportation equipment; requires establishment of advertising review board; states duties of the board; provides an advertising preference for certain products; specifies use of generated revenue; places restrictions on content of advertising.  Ad prohibitions: ads that promote violence; ads that discriminate based on race or sex; libelous ads; ads for political candidates; obscene or pornographic ads; ads for gambling, drugs, alcohol, or firearms; religious ads.  Junk food ads would be allowed.

BILL TEXT: S.B. 509

You know already what ads you'll be seeing on school buses is this bill passes: McDonald's, Cocoa Puffs, Coca Cola and who knows, maybe the Army, that seems to think you can never start too young to encourage future cannon fodder to enlist. In fact, it's a sure bet that some lobbyist for the fast food industry or the cereal council straight up wrote the bill.

This is really unacceptable, adding to the already poor health of our kids in Oklahoma where obesity is an epidemic.

This calls for immediate action! Please contact the following Senators to kill this bad bill. It doesn't matter whether they are your senator or not, but if they are, all the better conversation starter.

Here is a quick tool for reaching your senator on this issue and a form letter to send -- but a personalized email to these senators would be far better.

Ask them to not only oppose the bill, but to talk to the other committee members about it. Don't let Oklahoma join the states that are selling out our children for a few dollars.

Oklahoma Senate Appropriations Committee (contact info by following the links below):

 

Find your Oklahoma legislators

Please report the results of your lobbying in the comments below.


This is an excerpt of an article originally published by Oklahoma Citizen.

HB 1551 – Creationism Bill – to be Discussed in Education Committee Feb. 22

Oklahoma Politics, Politics , , , No Comments

From the desk of Rob Abiera:

According to emails from Vic Hutchison & others, Sally Kern has substituted
new language in HB1551 in an apparent attempt to appear to respond to
criticism that has been made against her bill. This new language is on the
agenda of the house Common Ed Committee (Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011).

According to reports, the new language accomplishes the same creationist
goals as the original.

Keep the heat on! Write the committee members - except for Coody & Kern!
Tell them the new language won't wash - it's just as bad as before & we're
not buying it!

From the desk of Fannie Bates:

Calling works too!
 


This is an excerpt of an article originally published by Oklahoma Citizen.