In another life I sat on a school board for several years - oddly enough in the very county where I had been a grade-school and high-school pupil.
It was the most demoralizing experience of my life. I'd always wondered what was the secret sauce that had allowed a pretty good school system to decay so severely in such a short amount of time, and the answer was surprising: the entire system had been transformed from an enterprise dedicated to the instruction of children to one whose entire operation was for the benefit of the adults.
A great many of the career educators of my youth were still in the system and I sought their counsel. Most telling was an assistant superintendent, Mr. H. "When you were a student here sixteen years ago, our entire administration consisted of four people: the superintendent, assistant superintendent, secretary, and truant officer. We rented space in the May Office Building in town. Now we have just moved nearly one-hundred employees into our own building, which cost over $5 million dollars to build at taxpayer expense. Of those hundred employees, at least half are engaged in making sure we are in "compliance" with federal, state, and county regulations. Another quarter are "supervisors," whose job is to make work for those under them, and of course it all dribbles down to the poor teachers. Our first-grade teachers, instead of teaching during the day and enjoying their families at night are producing lesson plans, which must be written, and which nobody ever reads. Lesson plans for first-graders. And by the way, when you were a student, this county had nearly thirty-thousand other students like you; now that the mines have shut down and people moved away, all this infrastructure goes to educate about nine-thousand students - about a third of the old total."
My grade school had one janitor. Now there were three. One principal. Now a principal and an assistant principal, a nurse, and a "guidance counselor." For eight-year olds. Right. The bus run in the "holler" where I lived had comprised one run in the morning and one after school - with the bus filled to the gills. Now three nearly-empty buses morning and evening, "so the big kids can be separated from the little kids." Yeah.
The greatest eye-opener was how the Board itself had been, like Gulliver, tied down by a thousand threads, each designed to maintain the system's stability. Grievances or problems had been handled previously by individual action; problem solved. Now any employee who got his/her panties in a twist invoked the "grievance" system, tying the system in knots - specifically the school board itself. That was us. We spent 80-90% of our time in grievance adjudication, and if the employee didn't like the outcome, they simply went over our heads, lawyer in tow. A local newspaperman phrased it perfectly: the school system is a giant school bus carrying a plethora of passengers: the students, the parents, the teachers' union, the service employees and their union, and of course the lawyers for all the above. The bus driver has an accelerator and brake. Everyone else has at his seat a giant brake pedal. Should anyone get annoyed, he simply stands on his brake with both feet and the system grinds to a halt. We were reduced to figureheads only; we could make NO substantive changes because whoever's ox was gored would immediately tie us up in a "grievance." We were reduced to lobbying the public to raise its own taxes so we could build new schools with our names on bronze plaques at the door. I became the first Board member in history to actively lobby in the local newspaper against a school bond. I wasn't popular in the Board office. When the head of the teachers' union railed in a public meeting that the buildings were too old to use for teaching, I simply asked her how old were the buildings at Oxford?
I can tell you from reading reports - and from personal experience - the products of this Government School System are for the most part innocent of the most basic facts needed for a successful life.
Tweaks, adjustments, "reforms," et al are not going to make our students in any way competitive in the global arena. Sometimes revolution is needed, and I believe this is the perfect example. The only way to "reform" the education system is with Universal School Choice. It will cause the Democrats and their union masters to shriek like broke-dick dogs, but the very best reform for any system is pure competition.
Celia, you have no idea how states run their primary and secondary schooling; if you did, you wouldn’t say such a foolish thing as “…turn the schools back over to their communities.”! Please educate yourself on how our children are educated!
You can’t be serious. We have, over the years foolishly given over our decisions to a centralized government that we might not truly realize how much control NON elected people have over our children. Local control may have some bugs to work out, i.e. we have to get back to talking to our local representatives. The American people actually get it. We may have been asleep at the wheel for a time but, we get it now!
Dennis, The Department of Education enforces federal statutes prohibiting discrimination in programs and activities receiving federal funds and ensures equal access to education for every individual. Beyond that, what non-elected people have control over children’s education?
In our state, the answer is state education bureaucrats, who determine curriculum from hundreds of miles away. There is no transparency on curriculum so parents can only be reactive, not proactive. This whole process does not pass through our state legislature. Who's kids are these, us parents or the State's? Did I answer your question?
Sea, every state has a department or agency running its public education. Only 13 states have elected officials running their public education; the rest are appointed by the governor, state legislator, or a state board. The kids belong to their parents, who are supposed to elect officials to run their state, which in some fashion runs the educational system.
Just me: Pretty much everyone in the Department of Education. Is this a test? I don’t do stupid, ignorant yes. I think we’re over here. You’re dismissed; class is over.
We don't need federal free-loaders and water carriers for the unions to enforce anything. Only states and local governments (school boards) should be involved in education. Federal government needs to be shrank and fast
I’ve had hundreds of discussions with a dear cousin over the years who is a public school teacher. Mind you, as a professional, I’ve been teaching those coming up behind me for 35 years. My cousin rarely makes any sense. Only when she blames the parents can I agree with anything coming out of her mouth. It seems to me that she and her colleagues are on another planet.
Just, I've been teaching in public school for 25 years and I agree with Celia ... turn education back over to local control. Get rid of the Department of Education. I work in the belly of the beast and it ain't pretty.
You identified the key variable. The Teachers Unions run our state. Incompetent teachers are shuttled between schools, as they can't be fired. Tiny school districts are replete with "assistant principals". Many kids hit the school system scoring in the 80's and 90's in standardized tests, ready to excel, and the school system slowly grinds them down to the 50-60%ile by middle school. 100% school choice is the only option, especially for minority kids who don't have the resources for tutors or private school.
Teachers are the LEAST of the problem. Of all public servants--police, fire, etc.--teachers are paid the least and have almost no down time. Class sizes are larger than ever and the lesson planning eats up their free time.
Also, back in the day, if a teacher gave a student a D or an F, or had them suspended, the student's parents would back up the teacher and discipline their kid. Now it's the reverse. My uncle is a UNIVERSITY professor and tells me that he's pressured to pass kids who don't show up to class, don't do the assignments, etc. because the parents will raise holy hell--with HIM--if their precious bundle of joy fails a class.
We need to start with whittling down administrators before we even consider reforming teachers.
In my state Teachers make more than Police or Border Patrol, but less than Firefighters. Oh, and they work 9 months. The good ones often get frustrated and the bad ones remain, as I mentioned earlier. Still, I know in some states they earn very little, and I agree we have top-heavy administration. Fordham University once did a study that concluded that only about 1/3 of education dollars actually get into the classroom. And to your other point, you're absolutely correct - Administrators need to back their teachers, and School Boards need to back their administrators. Problem is, you can't fire them. That is simply an untenable albatross on the public education system.
You are correct for the most part. My wife is a English teacher in the local school, her big beef is prepping kids for the "STAR" tests, she agrees with the principle that you have to measure to improve, but she disagrees with some/much of the current content.
Well, when kids grow up and have to face the "real world", they will indeed get "measured to improve". It's called a (job) review, and everyone (at least in the private sector) has them. I would respectfully suggest that there is value in kids finding out what they do and don't know, as is the case in every other country I know of. If they don't like their STAR score, we can give them a cookie or a participation trophy. Kids need to be challenged, not coddled.
We have a severe metastatic administrative disaster in our country. From the disgusting corrupt swamp of DC to the smallest community education system. From the large corporations and hospital chains we are DROWNING in regulations and useless administrators
Administrators are at the low end of the value chain for sure. I’ve taught both of my daughters that the only way to advance in our society is by being a value creator. Low value tasks will either be eliminated or outsourced.
I wish. This reminds me a meme. 10 people are standing around while one guy, Dave, digs a hole. They have names like "Human Resources Administrator," "Diversity Consultant," "Marketing Manager," "Administrative Assistant," etc. The caption reads: "We're going to have to tighten our belts. Sorry, Dave, but we're letting you go."
"We spent 80-90% of our time in grievance adjudication, and if the employee didn't like the outcome, they simply went over our heads, lawyer in tow."
Private businesses have owners and employees. Both are empowered to do one thing: serve customers. Without customers, there is no business, because customers can go elsewhere. Monopoly government ALWAYS AND EVERYWHERE turns this setup on its head. The system is run for the employees ONLY, and the "customer" be damned. The term "public servant" is the greatest euphemism in human history.
The two most frightening sentences anyone can hear, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help", and "I from Microsoft and you will love our new Upgrade".
This situation is one of the primary reasons why we chose to pull our kids out of the (supposedly great) local school district and enrolled them in Catholic schools. While the Catholic schools weren't perfect, we always believed that a much greater emphasis was placed on traditional education and less on bureaucratic BS and the gamesmanship dance between the school board, administration, and the teachers union. Also, when student discipline was necessary - it was taken.
I also like the comment about old vs. new school buildings. In our area, the mantra seems to be "the only good school is a new school". Beautiful historic buildings are being torn down in favor of new cinderblock, cookie-cutter, education factories. Little effort is spent maintaining existing school buildings, knowing that by letting the old buildings get run-down, the chances are better to get state funding and build shiny new buildings in their place.
Same here. Our oldest son (who has ADHD) started middle school right after we moved from Kansas to Iowa. His elementary school in "backward" Kansas had all special education services integrated in the classrooms, with students going in and out at various points of the day for whatever services they needed, so no one was singled out or made to feel "stupid."
His new middle school in "famed for education" Iowa had only two options for him: normal classes with no accommodations for his ADHD or the special ed class, which was mostly mentally retarded students. He couldn't cope with the former (especially since the school had a "rotating" schedule, which meant you didn't have the same classes at the same times each day), but the latter had nothing whatsoever to challenge his (not-impaired) intellect.
I had been considering homeschooling since before the kids were born, and fortunately, the new school district had an excellent homeschool assistance program, so we made the leap. I was amazed that, working one on one, we could get through a full day's worth of material in about three hours, and my son was infinitely less stressed out.
The following year, when the school tested our younger son as "gifted" but then failed to do anything about it, he joined his older brother at home, where he quickly caught up to his brother's grade level. When we moved to the rural town where we now live, our oldest was able to go to public high school and *cope.* Our younger son skipped a grade and entered middle school, where he did very well.
I ended up homeschooling their younger sister a few years later (and at least one year later than I should have started). She was more challenging than her brothers, since she refused to remember any information that she did not see any immediate use for. Art was her passion. But she, too, eventually went to public high school and coped well there.
If I had kids today, I wouldn't let them anywhere near the indoctrination centers.
My young kids are in a tiny public school (less than 70 kids total in K-7) in an agricultural area. The building is a tiny little two room school house with a bell tower from the 1800’s and all of the classes were combo classes of different grades. The school has always been very traditional with no amenities besides great teachers - no gym, no lunch program, no after school activities - but I loved the scrappiness of it. The teachers traveled in the summer and incorporated things from their travels into the curriculum, some of the kids rode horses to school, every day starts with the pledge of allegiance still, and the “hot lunch program” was a volunteer sign up of moms who made a home cooked meal for the entire school once per week. I have no idea how this school was never shut down by some government agency in this state but it was/is a gem. Until two years ago when the superintendent retired and some woke one replaced him. Her first order was trying to implement a DEI plan which backfired with the parent body and had to be reversed. She eliminated the cool hot lunch program and tried to implement a new grading system (teachers went to the board against it). Most all of her efforts at “improving” the school failed and she was not trusted by teachers or parents. The school stayed open all during COVID otherwise I would have pulled my kids. I started going to every board meeting and became the school’s PTO president to keep an eye on things. Fortunately the board fired her this year and hired a new guy from rural Alaska.
My kids love their school and I’m still confident they’re getting a great education without the indoctrination but I have toyed with homeschooling all three of my kids. They are several grades ahead of their peers (one of the benefits of small classes is the teachers flex their instruction for the range of abilities) and still love learning. Both my husband and I work full time though. We have flexibility- I work from home a couple days per week and my husband works four 10s. We both love our jobs. If push came to shove and this new Alaskan superintendent doesn’t work out, I would do whatever I needed to do to pull them and homeschool as I will not put them in a different public school for all the reasons discussed here. I have heard other homeschool parents say getting through their lessons goes fairly quick. Is it feasible to work full time and still homeschool? I don’t want to feel like I’m short-changing my kids’ education but on the other hand it seems like they could get so much more out of just two hours of homeschool instruction than 6 hours of public school education. And a lot of learning just takes place in day to day interactions. I would love to hear if homeschooling was really a full time job or if it ended up adding more flexibility to your lives. I suspect it’s the latter but I have a lot of people insisting it’s crazy to even consider working and homeschooling.
We unschooled 4 of our 5 kids. Depending on what kind of homeschooling you choose, your role as a parent will be different. In unschooling, you aren't instructing so much as you are facilitating your kids in pursuing their own interests and passions, so a lot of their learning happens incidentally, in the course of following their individual trajectories. It means that different kids will have different educations, but I think that is the reality anyway given that kids respond to any given instructional experience according to their own personalities, strengths, and interests. (Hence the fact of kids moving through even the same school system yet coming out with different learning and abilities.) The biggest advantage of homeschooling, whether with curricula or not, is the flexibility to tailor the learning experience to the kid, to meet them where they are.
That said, from my experience and observation, the single most fundamental component for any child's successful life preparation is the strength and health of their family relationships. That is true whether a kid goes through a school system or learns at home. Loving, functional family bonds are what will go the furthest in setting kids up for a productive, stable life.
Homeschooling (I speak from experience) is not for sissies--it does require investments of time and money. Social isolation is a danger -- if not addressed creates real problems for children as they turn into adults. On the upside, there is no one standing over you scolding you with their regs and rules. I recommend books, lots of books--not e-books, actual ink-on-paper-in-binding books. Lots of great books available at great prices at Alibris/eBay and other outlets. Best wishes.
Thanks. Money is not a problem nor are books. I never could get onboard with digital books so years ago I just built a makeshift library in our house to store the books. We have thousands and the collection is substantial including most of the classics. Cole’s book just got added to the pile. That’s actually one of the things that interests me about homeschooling- I love reading and especially love the classic stuff they don’t cover anymore. I want my kids to be exposed to topics and titles that will never make the reading list of a public school. The social aspect doesn’t concern me either - it’s purely the time.
The only instances in which I've seen homeschooled children experiencing social isolation is when their parents are obsessively sheltering them from anything outside their own home. In most cases, homeschooled children are far better socially adjusted, since they spend time interacting with people of all ages (the way we all do in the real world) instead of being trapped in an artificial setting with kids of only their own age and (alas) maturity level.
Both my children received good educations from the public and for my daughter, Catholic, High schools, albeit less rigorous than what I remember having had.
However, if they were in school today, I’d home school them for sure.
I saw a short documentary on Catholic schools. They run on a much smaller budget than public schools and had a 90% plus graduation rate and a high rate of students going on to higher education.
I did a lot of research on that back in the 90's. As you say, Catholic schools did better with less, consistently. They don't indoctrinate Catholicism - they don't see that as their mission - but they do teach values, right vs. wrong. What a concept. They tend to give teachers more creative control, aren't unionized and, unbeknownst to many, are mostly located in poor neighborhoods. They also insist on uniforms as a "leveler" - the rich kids can't flout fancy clothes, no one is stealing tennis shoes, etc. Most public schools around the world use uniforms instead of free dress, by the way. Many lessons to learn from the Catholic model.
On a trip past a few large school complexes yesterday in rural Washington and Oregon, I remarked to my husband that we spend millions on school buildings/playgrounds/athletic fields that sit empty for like 4 months plus every year. So wasteful. School should be year round because no kid needs to help with the potato harvest anymore.
In Florida, the school buildings are fenced off and locked during vacations and summers.
I am a big proponent of year round school. This is purely speculative but I suspect year round school may adjust the motivations of who goes into teaching as well. I’ve known a few teachers that shared they went into teaching to have summers off.
The Australian system of around 8-10 weeks of school with 1- 2 weeks vacation, with 4 terms spread across the year works much better. Summers are around 5- 6 weeks through Xmas time and new year, being the southern hemisphere.
Maybe some, but the teachers I know all teach summer school to make extra $$.
Plus, summer is a time to BE A KID--not sit in a classroom. When else in life are you going to end a school year with a seemingly infinite summer stretching out in front of you for you and your friends to have adventures?
The infinite summer adventures of my childhood no longer exist. Children are not allowed to play in their own yards unsupervised, let alone roaming the neighborhood as we used to do. All summer means today is infinite time to spend shooting things in the latest video game.
You're both right about school during summer. The other bad thing about it is that kids simply *forget* half-a what they learned over the long break. Gotta be done over in the Fall.
I don't think most countries do that to their kids. No reason to, now, like You "said," M. Unwoke.
When I went to grade school, we had a principal, a secretary and a janitor. We need laws that say schools teach the three Rs (The RS is a metaphor for core subjects) and no politics, no sexual "enlightenment" and no social justice. The only sex taught should be sex educate (straight biology nothing more). Teachers should leave their politics and social change philosophies at the door and those who don't comply are fired with prejudice.
Social justice, politics, sexual ambivalence are the parents' responsibility not the schools.
Children came out of one-room schoolhouses across this country with better educations than they get now. They could read, write, and do arithmetic--despite the fact that many of them never went to school after the 8th grade--better than the "high school graduates" than many of these Woke schools are pushing out, unprepared, into a harsh world.
My kids spent time going to school in a rural area in one of South America's poorest countries during their vacation. The school had dirt floors. My daughter's comment, when she was about 8 years old? "They're at least a year ahead of us in math, Dad".
The pity of it is that in marginalized communities, elementary schools are promoting kids who are two to three years behind on standardized tests. That ruins them (yes, it's not an overstatement). We spend way too much time and money on higher education, ignoring closing the gap in elementary school. How about instead of forgiving loans, we provide funding for additional teacher's aides in nonperforming schools? Or is that too radical a concept?
In the traditional one-room schoolhouse, students of all ages and abilities would be grouped by how far they had gotten through the textbook series. They would keep working on the material until they grasped it. The teacher would give each group individual attention at various points throughout the day, and students might tutor each other.
The point was to progress through understanding the material, not to be advanced by age. A student might be determined to catch up with their age-mates (for the sake of pride), but it was not required.
Celia, you are exactly correct! This age promotion nonsense simply pushes the problem to the next level and dumbs down classes. The one room schoolhouse would be a big improvement upon our public school system and I'm speaking as a public high school teacher for 25 years.
You have confirmed for me that changing school board members doesn’t solve the deep rooted issues in our education racket. Thank you for your honest efforts and sensible suggestions.
"the very best reform for any system is pure competition." That is why we need school vouchers. The left fights school vouchers tooth and nail as do the teachers' unions. They are not interested in student educational welfare. Unions are big business and depend on union dues for fat salaries and that is all they care about. Greed drives them.
The left loves to hold up the Scandinavian countries as an example because of the large social programs they have. Well these paragons of social programs all have school vouchers so the parents can decide which educational institution is best for the children not the government. If we have vouchers, you will see a change in public schools in order to compete with private schools.
The left lies about being the party of compassionate welfare and the party that looks out for us but it is all about money. The Teachers' unions contribute large sums to the Democrat Party. They in effect bribe the Democrats to put students' education aside for money. It disgusts me.
As soon as any organization takes its eye off of the customer (the children, in this case) it’s all over. Time to close up shop. The same bloated structure that has been put in place for K-12 is also prevalent in higher education too. Both should be eliminated.
Many don’t really get the “in the service of others” that is so at the core of being human (and successful). Those who avoid such service, really never rise to much - as they are always concerned about self.
You spelled it out, really well. My school has 900 students. We have a Principal, a Director of Student Services, 3 Assistant Principals, and a Dean of Students. Most of these folks have their own Admin Assistant. Then there's someone in charge of finances and supplies, a School Psychologist, a School Social Worker, a Family Liaison, 4 School Counselors, Multiple Department Chairs....and then they had to rehire a retired Administrator just to handle virus paperwork. None of these people are teachers...and it is very hard to get a direct answer about anything. Most of what they are engrossed in: policy.
One of the real eye-openers in my experience was the relationship between the Administration and the teachers' union. I'd always assumed that as natural enemies they would keep each other in check. Not so. Their job is to obscure any problems and keep them from public view.
We had a problem with racial violence at our county's largest school. One local doctor got so tired of treating beaten-up - and sometimes knifed - kids that he launched a local lobbying group that gave the Board and Administration a really hard time (This was before I was elected.). He was a colleague, and in watching his group, I realized that the Admin's job was what I called, "diffusing directed energy." I'll illustrate.
Suppose your daughter is assaulted by several "mean girls." This is a real problem, and has been happening over and over to other girls, with no resolution by the system. You go to the superintendent. He says, "Yes, Mrs. Jones, that is an outrage and it won't be tolerated. I am going to take that problem to the Committee on Racial Violence (I made that up.) and they will address it at their next meeting."
So far, so good. What he does NOT tell you is that said committee only meets quarterly. Three months pass. He brings it to their attention. They decide to investigate. When you check over the next year, they tell you they can't comment on an ongoing investigation. In the meantime, you have transferred your girl to another school. Or you have moved to another county. Or you have moved out of state.
The Super has done his job. He kept you from contacting the newspaper or organizing other parents. What he had not done is his REAL job. This is not a bug; it's a feature - part and parcel of the "system." Get your kids out of Government Schools. Now.
My 3 sons are grown and very happily out of our school system. On the other hand, I am a newer Special Education Teacher. I have a front row seat to everything that makes your blood boil and leaves one searching for sanity. I worked extremely hard to get into my position and I am using it to make a difference, behind the scenes. I still advocate for necessary changes. We do not have a bargaining teacher's union in our district. I'm a member of a Professional Association, mostly for legal protection, because I deal with some extreme behavioral challenges.
My niece is trained as a special-ed teacher. She had been assaulted - yes assaulted - so many time by her retarded students, with absolutely NOTHING done by the local system, that she quit and is now a receptionist at an apartment building. She said that nothing would ever bring her back into a schoolhouse.
Thanks, Jim. Well put and so true. I left public for private and while the education is better in some ways, the people are repugnant. I live in a wealthy suburb outside of Boston, though and dream about a regular life in a regular town with schools like the one’s you described 16 years ago. Sad sad sad.
I live in such a place now - on a small piece of property my stepdaughter describes as "like a park," but it's an illusion. Yes, it's a park. For me. But I'm 69 years old, retired, with good retirement income. I spend my days working on old airplanes and keeping my "park" in good repair.
For everybody else, that is out of reach. I have two near-thirty-year-old sons, neither of whom has a job, neither with a wife - or even a girlfriend. Neither with a family. Both educated in Government Schools, with occasional breaks for private education, tutoring, camps. Maybe I should have homeschooled them both. I don't know. What I do know is that there is a tremendous gap between them and Asian kids, but unlike some, I don't fault the Asians; they have done well because they have worked like draft horses. Local kids are working in fast food, in timbering - brutal, dangerous work - and in retail sales. Stories like those of the Asian kids are rare. I sure wish I knew what the hell went wrong.
That's a great point, smits3, that most people don't know. It was JFK - via executive order, not legislation - that allowed Federal government workers to organize.
I really appreciate Jim writing this and it enlightened me.
smits3 wrote about this quote:
"We spent 80-90% of our time in grievance adjudication, and if the employee didn't like the outcome, they simply went over our heads, lawyer in tow."
I've been in and observed plenty of bad situations that were caused by one or both of the parties involved. Looking at the extreme negative of both sides: Management assumes that since they are management they must always be right and thus don't admit their wrongs, compromise or really listen to the grievances. Employees affected by management often place their rights well before their responsibilities (which often come last).
That being said, these situations are created by both parties especially when people feel entitled to everything. Making smaller organizations thus limiting the number of people often helps, but what is better is creating a culture of listening and teamwork is what helps most. Dialogue without vilifying others allows people to disagree and then compromise.
As demonstrated here, it becomes about the adults: massive bureaucracies, strong entitlement to "my rights", and the complete lack ability to get along.
The children who want to learn really suffer.
Clearly, these adults (and many many more on both the extreme left and right) never learned the basics of kindergarten: use the resources you have, do your tasks first, and play well with others.
Thanks for writing, Jim. Agreed. The only way to affect change is to cut funding like the government is currently doing to you with inflation caused by shutting down energy development. Are you adjusting your lives right now? Damn straight you are. With all the education resources like Khan Academy et al. you have choices.
Hey Jt. You’ll need to put more bait on that hook for me to bite on this thread. Ah. What the hell. I’ll be serious for a minute. The reason why Western public schools are failing their students is precisely because the traditional forms of pedagogical instruction and their central focus on the achievement of key core learning outcomes, have been undermined by decades of financial neglect by Government, outside interference in curriculums, and intellectual & achievement relativism.
I'm afraid you're going to have to be more specific than that. You don't think kids would benefit from learning about a peer who demonstrated grit and agency, and was succeeding as a result? You don't think we need more kids like that? Or you don't think it's a shame that he died so young?
It isn't just Rory. There are several people who are throwing shit at this article. Don't know WTF is wrong with them. And I'm not sure I want to know. Seriously, WTF???
I agree with you. Debate someone. Use logic and facts to back up your argument, not insults. It has been my experience that the left will never debate or refute you point by point. They insult and call you names.
In order to refute someone you need history, facts and logic. the left can't bring themselves to do that. Insults are intellectual laziness.
Or don't as it is an insult to the memory of Cole (Kevin).
Thanks for bringing this to our attention Bari. I'll put in an order for the book and make a donation.
It sounds like 'unschooling' is Montessori to the tenth power.
Cole was the only member of his family that wasn't disabled. Their target raise was $25K, and they're at $20K now. Hopefully they'll far exceed their target, and maybe Warren, Mark or Elon will notice this campaign and step up as well.
As I edit this at 6:40am Central time, over $6K has been raised in the last two hours (since Bari published this), and it had been 13 hours prior since the last donation. Safe to say that the folks here have been responding. I like starting the day feeling that some folks do care.
"Or don't as it is an insult to the memory of Cole (Kevin)."
Yup. I'm thinkin' Kevin was younger than Greta. Is that right? Because imagine Kevin at Greta's age. He would-a just *smoked* her, in just about every area, right? Well, even at the age he was, he managed to do it.
My point was that Greta has been a carefully constructed entertainer that her parents manage. Some here might think the same of Cole, but I don't. OTOH, I've been played before.
Nah - you're right. Greta (mostly her parents) leverages human pettiness in the name of hyper-weening and narcissistic self-aggrandizement. Cole just DID stuff.
sad he died so young , then again my grandfather came to America at 12 alone no family spoke no English became a success started selling rags on the street eventually he had a few high end clothing stores . there were and will be exceptional people
and so many of those trying to cross the border are in the same position. I'm not for Biden's shameful open border policy, but the Mexican people are very good people and I have a great deal of respect for them. The parties need to come together and develop a better system to allow them access to the country, while weeding out the narcos, sex traffickers, and all the riff raff. That can only be done when the borders are closed and a fair policy applied to let people in.
I dunno much about Greta, other than I'd gathered what You just "said" about her. But Cole/Kevin? I'd be downright *amazed* if You and I have been played in this manner. Now, do I say he's *perfect,* and matches *perfectly* to the image surrounding him? I don't think *anybody's* that good.
But a carefully constructed entertainer wouldn'a gotten the things he did, apparently, get done. One's a talker. Getting fame and fortune, right? One's a *doer.* They live on separate planets, AFAIK.
Cole/Kevin is still represented in much of the country, but the vast majority of college educated graduates couldn't even comprehend the possibility. Nor could the elites/Masters/Overlords who've been conspiring to take over our country.
100+ years ago, Cole's story wasn't that unusual. Boys became adults at 14/15, but now, they don't mature until 25+. Why did our society think it was a good thing to extend adolescence?
According to Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto, it was a conscious effort led by the robberbarons to squeeze out the entrepreneureal spirit from youth to make them good employees (rather than self-made men, like they were).
Although it has been a small number of people to do this, I think this self-made aspect of young tech bros has captured so much of our cultural imagination because it harkens back towards that age of self-reliance and diligence of even the very young.
I hope a movement starts in Cole's memory to encourage more self-made kids.
Celia, the left hates stories like this. They push everybody is a victim of a flawed society and because they are victims they should be dependent on the government.
And LP they love when bad things occur so that they can exploit the tragedy or problem as a "crisis" to garner more power. We see it every week in a myriad of ways. Rahm E let the cat out of the bag.
Celia, it is pretty simple and all around us: some people are just full of hate. They profess that love trumps hate yet they exhibit their hate all the time especially to those who dare not bend to their will. God bless the Cole Summers of the world. We need more like him.
A truly remarkable boy in a very unremarkable world. He is what made America great- courageous, ambitious, creative and without any of today's silly ills. Who needs anxiety and stress, when you know exactly who you are and your life is an assured adventure. His short life will inspire many young people to say screw it to all the insanity that surrounds them, and go out to create new and novel solutions and just have fun with their inherited freedom. Actually it is the parents who need to be inspired by Cole, if they can understand his remarkable nature, they will raise more Coles and Collettes.
After 40 years as an educator—26 in the California public school system and the last 14 in my own designed school—I will observe that until the teachers’ unions implode, nothing will change. Nothing.
My BIL (a CPA and investor) was just talking with my about the massive opportunity to retool schooling as individual entrepreneurs. It sounds like you're way ahead of that and good on you!
I applaud you for designing your own school. I think there is a great need, and I would think market, for that now. It should be done in all neighborhoods too.
My school began as an after-school college prep academy where students came to learn what they were not begin taught in public school--mainly writing, critical thinking, and literary analysis. I couldn't keep up with enrollment alone and began hiring people to teach who had that spark, gift, and intelligence to actually TEACH.
To answer your question, it was not a charter school although I support the charter school movement which has always been in the lion's den with the union. I was invited to a seminar in 1999 or early 2000 held in Milwaukee on the growing charter school movement. There around the table were the following charter school advocates: a contingency of African Americans from Atlanta, a Hispanic group from Denver, and an assortment of evangelical Christians--all believing that their kids were not being well served in the public school system. I was blown away.
Congratulations on Your much-needed work. That conference must-a been something *else.*
The charter schools in with the union? Ignoramoose. Only one I know much about is Success Acadamies in NYC. I'm pretty sure they were non-union, on account-a they detested the unions. BUt others? Dunno.
Did *You* have to deal with unions in Your hiring? (if You have time.)
Coleman Hughes has a podcast with Roland Fryer on the data behind Charter vs Public. He says that your average charter school isn’t better than your average public school but there are certain concrete things that ANY school can implement in order to achieve student success.
But this topic is irrelevant in light of Cole’s story because he was unschooled. It’s not a model we can just replicate. It’s the values he and his parents held that are the main story and tell us something amazing about what is possible in America.
Your point is well taken: Cole was a prodigy, no question. His "unschooling" was a departure from traditional modes of educating our young. Surely, few families have the time to try this experiment.
But I think Bari's motive in posting his story is to continue the discussion about curricula, parent input and control of just WHAT is supposedly being taught in the United States in its public school system, and what grass roots changes can unfold, if any. In both the charter and public school systems, parents must step in and take back some of the rank and file decision-making power.
At the crux of this debate lies the union.
By the way, the nature of my response is inductive; that is, the thesis is the last sentence in the essay.
Ignoramoose here. I can never keep inductive and deductive straight in my head. Most things I do better with. All that to say...
I think it was this morning i read about the Teacher's Unions getting sued for not providing the amounts they spent on political donations on the proper forms. Five or more laters, I think after a FOIA, it came out to either $50 or $100 million. Can't recall. Don't recall if Randi Weingartner (I thin') makes $300 or $500K. MOst probably $500K.
That's what the unions are about, in a nutshell. Pay and Power. First, last and always.
Another lawsuit, I think by same guy, that Teachers were paying union dues for political causes they did *not* support. They won.
My recollection was that it was a pyrrhic victory. That the union just had to specify that's what they were doing to people entering the union and then it was okay. Don't quote me on that.
The pandemic showed it plain and clear. The unions did what it does best to keep the kids outta school. Exercised political power. You think they care what damage they caused to the kids? I had actually thought that they had at least *some* concern for the kids. Up until seeing it was otherwise. IMO.
The second lawsuit you reference was about agency fee in California and I was part of that lawsuit. With agency fee, you must pay for collective bargaining even if you are not a member of the union but the fee is now reduced to account for CTA's political spending.
It's an old trope shared by most self made people that public schools are great factories of mediocrity. This truly exceptional young man is certainly collaboration of that theory and his loss leaves us all a bit poorer. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for this inspiration. This young man did more in 14 years than many ever get done. May God bless and comfort his family, and I will continue to spread his inspiration and determination by sharing his book with my high school students.
Thank you, Bari, for sharing this story. We are so bombarded with information these days that I often skip over news/stories. I always read your posts because I know it will be interesting and thought provoking. Yes, the story has a tragic ending for the young man, but how wonderful that he led such a purposeful, full life and lived exactly as he wanted.
We have to let Cole Summers' life serve as an example of the endless possibilities this country has to offer. Every morning he woke up, and had choices to make. He could have felt sorry for himself for having two parents who were physically disabled and an autistic brother. Instead he saw them as examples of love and he strived to serve and make them proud. In a perfect world, we would have been able to follow Cole's life through books he wrote, people he helped and his accomplishments by just living as a good man. We're living in an age when the word privilege has a negative connotation. I can only express how privileged I feel just to read this article about Cole Summers. God bless him and his family.
It’s sad how many people in our society need to hear from a 14 year old what the real power of freedom is - it’s the power to create change, the power to be better, the absolute necessary ingredient to positive evolution. And yet, we do. And that was one incredibly powerful message on why freedom is more important than the vast majority of us realize! Thoughts and prayers are with that family, and that community, for their loss. Sounds like a truly special life was lost…
In another life I sat on a school board for several years - oddly enough in the very county where I had been a grade-school and high-school pupil.
It was the most demoralizing experience of my life. I'd always wondered what was the secret sauce that had allowed a pretty good school system to decay so severely in such a short amount of time, and the answer was surprising: the entire system had been transformed from an enterprise dedicated to the instruction of children to one whose entire operation was for the benefit of the adults.
A great many of the career educators of my youth were still in the system and I sought their counsel. Most telling was an assistant superintendent, Mr. H. "When you were a student here sixteen years ago, our entire administration consisted of four people: the superintendent, assistant superintendent, secretary, and truant officer. We rented space in the May Office Building in town. Now we have just moved nearly one-hundred employees into our own building, which cost over $5 million dollars to build at taxpayer expense. Of those hundred employees, at least half are engaged in making sure we are in "compliance" with federal, state, and county regulations. Another quarter are "supervisors," whose job is to make work for those under them, and of course it all dribbles down to the poor teachers. Our first-grade teachers, instead of teaching during the day and enjoying their families at night are producing lesson plans, which must be written, and which nobody ever reads. Lesson plans for first-graders. And by the way, when you were a student, this county had nearly thirty-thousand other students like you; now that the mines have shut down and people moved away, all this infrastructure goes to educate about nine-thousand students - about a third of the old total."
My grade school had one janitor. Now there were three. One principal. Now a principal and an assistant principal, a nurse, and a "guidance counselor." For eight-year olds. Right. The bus run in the "holler" where I lived had comprised one run in the morning and one after school - with the bus filled to the gills. Now three nearly-empty buses morning and evening, "so the big kids can be separated from the little kids." Yeah.
The greatest eye-opener was how the Board itself had been, like Gulliver, tied down by a thousand threads, each designed to maintain the system's stability. Grievances or problems had been handled previously by individual action; problem solved. Now any employee who got his/her panties in a twist invoked the "grievance" system, tying the system in knots - specifically the school board itself. That was us. We spent 80-90% of our time in grievance adjudication, and if the employee didn't like the outcome, they simply went over our heads, lawyer in tow. A local newspaperman phrased it perfectly: the school system is a giant school bus carrying a plethora of passengers: the students, the parents, the teachers' union, the service employees and their union, and of course the lawyers for all the above. The bus driver has an accelerator and brake. Everyone else has at his seat a giant brake pedal. Should anyone get annoyed, he simply stands on his brake with both feet and the system grinds to a halt. We were reduced to figureheads only; we could make NO substantive changes because whoever's ox was gored would immediately tie us up in a "grievance." We were reduced to lobbying the public to raise its own taxes so we could build new schools with our names on bronze plaques at the door. I became the first Board member in history to actively lobby in the local newspaper against a school bond. I wasn't popular in the Board office. When the head of the teachers' union railed in a public meeting that the buildings were too old to use for teaching, I simply asked her how old were the buildings at Oxford?
I can tell you from reading reports - and from personal experience - the products of this Government School System are for the most part innocent of the most basic facts needed for a successful life.
Tweaks, adjustments, "reforms," et al are not going to make our students in any way competitive in the global arena. Sometimes revolution is needed, and I believe this is the perfect example. The only way to "reform" the education system is with Universal School Choice. It will cause the Democrats and their union masters to shriek like broke-dick dogs, but the very best reform for any system is pure competition.
A perfect illustration of why we should eliminate the Department of Education and turn the schools back over to their communities.
One among many reasons. The DEA is/has been a disaster.
OMG, President Ronald Reagan said that too. I’ve been screaming that for years. De-centralize and get back to the local people.
Both You and Celia have the right of it, M. Wills. This was a comment I was gonna make on Sir William Shayne's ideas about how the country should work. (If You saw that.) https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/abigail-shrier-in-defense-of-political/comment/7248285
His other ideas were better.
You "said" anything I might-a said, a *lot* better 'n I would-a.
Thanks, jt. I was never a teacher, but never did understand why we ever needed a federal department of education. It's a titanic waste of money.
It was needed to funnel money to the teacher's unions and control the indoctrination of our youth.
Celia...agree and the Conv. of States might be the platform for launch...as in maybe.
Celia, you have no idea how states run their primary and secondary schooling; if you did, you wouldn’t say such a foolish thing as “…turn the schools back over to their communities.”! Please educate yourself on how our children are educated!
You can’t be serious. We have, over the years foolishly given over our decisions to a centralized government that we might not truly realize how much control NON elected people have over our children. Local control may have some bugs to work out, i.e. we have to get back to talking to our local representatives. The American people actually get it. We may have been asleep at the wheel for a time but, we get it now!
Dennis, The Department of Education enforces federal statutes prohibiting discrimination in programs and activities receiving federal funds and ensures equal access to education for every individual. Beyond that, what non-elected people have control over children’s education?
In our state, the answer is state education bureaucrats, who determine curriculum from hundreds of miles away. There is no transparency on curriculum so parents can only be reactive, not proactive. This whole process does not pass through our state legislature. Who's kids are these, us parents or the State's? Did I answer your question?
Very well said. Thanks for that.
Sea, every state has a department or agency running its public education. Only 13 states have elected officials running their public education; the rest are appointed by the governor, state legislator, or a state board. The kids belong to their parents, who are supposed to elect officials to run their state, which in some fashion runs the educational system.
So, they're in charge of discriminating against Asians? You must be one of those Liberal Racists I've been hearing about.
But your kind of racists are politically okay, right?
Just me: Pretty much everyone in the Department of Education. Is this a test? I don’t do stupid, ignorant yes. I think we’re over here. You’re dismissed; class is over.
Looks like you need to sue "Just me" for misgendering you. ;~)
Dennis, if it were a test, you failed!
We don't need federal free-loaders and water carriers for the unions to enforce anything. Only states and local governments (school boards) should be involved in education. Federal government needs to be shrank and fast
You must be a teacher.
Now, that was funny………
Brian, I have not been a teacher in the past or the present and don’t anticipate being one in the future.
I’ve had hundreds of discussions with a dear cousin over the years who is a public school teacher. Mind you, as a professional, I’ve been teaching those coming up behind me for 35 years. My cousin rarely makes any sense. Only when she blames the parents can I agree with anything coming out of her mouth. It seems to me that she and her colleagues are on another planet.
Brian, teaching and what aspect?
well...you are stillllll fired...the end, tis I
So why do you defend them ?
Brian, I didn’t know I was defending them.
Sarcasm alert. You are too clueless to teach anyone anything.
Troll, I'm beginning to wonder if You have made it past secondary schooling.
That just cracks me up. YOU calling somebody *else* foolish!?! Yer a laugh riot!
Well. Matters have to be "turned over" to some party. "Local communities" sounds like a fine option.
Just, I've been teaching in public school for 25 years and I agree with Celia ... turn education back over to local control. Get rid of the Department of Education. I work in the belly of the beast and it ain't pretty.
You identified the key variable. The Teachers Unions run our state. Incompetent teachers are shuttled between schools, as they can't be fired. Tiny school districts are replete with "assistant principals". Many kids hit the school system scoring in the 80's and 90's in standardized tests, ready to excel, and the school system slowly grinds them down to the 50-60%ile by middle school. 100% school choice is the only option, especially for minority kids who don't have the resources for tutors or private school.
Couldn’t agree more!
Teachers are the LEAST of the problem. Of all public servants--police, fire, etc.--teachers are paid the least and have almost no down time. Class sizes are larger than ever and the lesson planning eats up their free time.
Also, back in the day, if a teacher gave a student a D or an F, or had them suspended, the student's parents would back up the teacher and discipline their kid. Now it's the reverse. My uncle is a UNIVERSITY professor and tells me that he's pressured to pass kids who don't show up to class, don't do the assignments, etc. because the parents will raise holy hell--with HIM--if their precious bundle of joy fails a class.
We need to start with whittling down administrators before we even consider reforming teachers.
In my state Teachers make more than Police or Border Patrol, but less than Firefighters. Oh, and they work 9 months. The good ones often get frustrated and the bad ones remain, as I mentioned earlier. Still, I know in some states they earn very little, and I agree we have top-heavy administration. Fordham University once did a study that concluded that only about 1/3 of education dollars actually get into the classroom. And to your other point, you're absolutely correct - Administrators need to back their teachers, and School Boards need to back their administrators. Problem is, you can't fire them. That is simply an untenable albatross on the public education system.
I love Texas! it’s where freedom goes to breath.
The leftists are working hard to change that however.
Yeah, I know……..fingers crossed they’re not successful.
You are correct for the most part. My wife is a English teacher in the local school, her big beef is prepping kids for the "STAR" tests, she agrees with the principle that you have to measure to improve, but she disagrees with some/much of the current content.
Well, when kids grow up and have to face the "real world", they will indeed get "measured to improve". It's called a (job) review, and everyone (at least in the private sector) has them. I would respectfully suggest that there is value in kids finding out what they do and don't know, as is the case in every other country I know of. If they don't like their STAR score, we can give them a cookie or a participation trophy. Kids need to be challenged, not coddled.
Do not disagree with the concept of testing, but the content of the STAR test is questionable
Golfer, you are correct; in a nutshell, primary and secondary schooling is a local issue with state oversight.
We have a severe metastatic administrative disaster in our country. From the disgusting corrupt swamp of DC to the smallest community education system. From the large corporations and hospital chains we are DROWNING in regulations and useless administrators
Administrators are at the low end of the value chain for sure. I’ve taught both of my daughters that the only way to advance in our society is by being a value creator. Low value tasks will either be eliminated or outsourced.
I wish. This reminds me a meme. 10 people are standing around while one guy, Dave, digs a hole. They have names like "Human Resources Administrator," "Diversity Consultant," "Marketing Manager," "Administrative Assistant," etc. The caption reads: "We're going to have to tighten our belts. Sorry, Dave, but we're letting you go."
I'm going to borrow your meme. That about sums it up!
Excellent advice, Brian.
"We spent 80-90% of our time in grievance adjudication, and if the employee didn't like the outcome, they simply went over our heads, lawyer in tow."
Private businesses have owners and employees. Both are empowered to do one thing: serve customers. Without customers, there is no business, because customers can go elsewhere. Monopoly government ALWAYS AND EVERYWHERE turns this setup on its head. The system is run for the employees ONLY, and the "customer" be damned. The term "public servant" is the greatest euphemism in human history.
The two most frightening sentences anyone can hear, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help", and "I from Microsoft and you will love our new Upgrade".
Thank you for pointing out that quote, it made me think about how people just are unwilling to get along. Its both bad management and bad employees.
I'm going to write something more but it is in reply to the parent comment by Jim.
Once again, thank you for pointing out this quote.
Ooooweee. You strike lightening *again.* (Meaning, right You are. And yeah, a euphemism!)
This situation is one of the primary reasons why we chose to pull our kids out of the (supposedly great) local school district and enrolled them in Catholic schools. While the Catholic schools weren't perfect, we always believed that a much greater emphasis was placed on traditional education and less on bureaucratic BS and the gamesmanship dance between the school board, administration, and the teachers union. Also, when student discipline was necessary - it was taken.
I also like the comment about old vs. new school buildings. In our area, the mantra seems to be "the only good school is a new school". Beautiful historic buildings are being torn down in favor of new cinderblock, cookie-cutter, education factories. Little effort is spent maintaining existing school buildings, knowing that by letting the old buildings get run-down, the chances are better to get state funding and build shiny new buildings in their place.
Home schooled our kids. It was great. Brought the family closer. Also realized even with a challenging curriculum school was done by 11
Same here. Our oldest son (who has ADHD) started middle school right after we moved from Kansas to Iowa. His elementary school in "backward" Kansas had all special education services integrated in the classrooms, with students going in and out at various points of the day for whatever services they needed, so no one was singled out or made to feel "stupid."
His new middle school in "famed for education" Iowa had only two options for him: normal classes with no accommodations for his ADHD or the special ed class, which was mostly mentally retarded students. He couldn't cope with the former (especially since the school had a "rotating" schedule, which meant you didn't have the same classes at the same times each day), but the latter had nothing whatsoever to challenge his (not-impaired) intellect.
I had been considering homeschooling since before the kids were born, and fortunately, the new school district had an excellent homeschool assistance program, so we made the leap. I was amazed that, working one on one, we could get through a full day's worth of material in about three hours, and my son was infinitely less stressed out.
The following year, when the school tested our younger son as "gifted" but then failed to do anything about it, he joined his older brother at home, where he quickly caught up to his brother's grade level. When we moved to the rural town where we now live, our oldest was able to go to public high school and *cope.* Our younger son skipped a grade and entered middle school, where he did very well.
I ended up homeschooling their younger sister a few years later (and at least one year later than I should have started). She was more challenging than her brothers, since she refused to remember any information that she did not see any immediate use for. Art was her passion. But she, too, eventually went to public high school and coped well there.
If I had kids today, I wouldn't let them anywhere near the indoctrination centers.
My young kids are in a tiny public school (less than 70 kids total in K-7) in an agricultural area. The building is a tiny little two room school house with a bell tower from the 1800’s and all of the classes were combo classes of different grades. The school has always been very traditional with no amenities besides great teachers - no gym, no lunch program, no after school activities - but I loved the scrappiness of it. The teachers traveled in the summer and incorporated things from their travels into the curriculum, some of the kids rode horses to school, every day starts with the pledge of allegiance still, and the “hot lunch program” was a volunteer sign up of moms who made a home cooked meal for the entire school once per week. I have no idea how this school was never shut down by some government agency in this state but it was/is a gem. Until two years ago when the superintendent retired and some woke one replaced him. Her first order was trying to implement a DEI plan which backfired with the parent body and had to be reversed. She eliminated the cool hot lunch program and tried to implement a new grading system (teachers went to the board against it). Most all of her efforts at “improving” the school failed and she was not trusted by teachers or parents. The school stayed open all during COVID otherwise I would have pulled my kids. I started going to every board meeting and became the school’s PTO president to keep an eye on things. Fortunately the board fired her this year and hired a new guy from rural Alaska.
My kids love their school and I’m still confident they’re getting a great education without the indoctrination but I have toyed with homeschooling all three of my kids. They are several grades ahead of their peers (one of the benefits of small classes is the teachers flex their instruction for the range of abilities) and still love learning. Both my husband and I work full time though. We have flexibility- I work from home a couple days per week and my husband works four 10s. We both love our jobs. If push came to shove and this new Alaskan superintendent doesn’t work out, I would do whatever I needed to do to pull them and homeschool as I will not put them in a different public school for all the reasons discussed here. I have heard other homeschool parents say getting through their lessons goes fairly quick. Is it feasible to work full time and still homeschool? I don’t want to feel like I’m short-changing my kids’ education but on the other hand it seems like they could get so much more out of just two hours of homeschool instruction than 6 hours of public school education. And a lot of learning just takes place in day to day interactions. I would love to hear if homeschooling was really a full time job or if it ended up adding more flexibility to your lives. I suspect it’s the latter but I have a lot of people insisting it’s crazy to even consider working and homeschooling.
"Scrappiness" is a really underrated attribute these days. We could use a lot more of it in this country and in our schools.
I agree. It's closely correlated with "grit" and "resilience"—two qualities also in short supply.
We unschooled 4 of our 5 kids. Depending on what kind of homeschooling you choose, your role as a parent will be different. In unschooling, you aren't instructing so much as you are facilitating your kids in pursuing their own interests and passions, so a lot of their learning happens incidentally, in the course of following their individual trajectories. It means that different kids will have different educations, but I think that is the reality anyway given that kids respond to any given instructional experience according to their own personalities, strengths, and interests. (Hence the fact of kids moving through even the same school system yet coming out with different learning and abilities.) The biggest advantage of homeschooling, whether with curricula or not, is the flexibility to tailor the learning experience to the kid, to meet them where they are.
That said, from my experience and observation, the single most fundamental component for any child's successful life preparation is the strength and health of their family relationships. That is true whether a kid goes through a school system or learns at home. Loving, functional family bonds are what will go the furthest in setting kids up for a productive, stable life.
Homeschooling (I speak from experience) is not for sissies--it does require investments of time and money. Social isolation is a danger -- if not addressed creates real problems for children as they turn into adults. On the upside, there is no one standing over you scolding you with their regs and rules. I recommend books, lots of books--not e-books, actual ink-on-paper-in-binding books. Lots of great books available at great prices at Alibris/eBay and other outlets. Best wishes.
Thanks. Money is not a problem nor are books. I never could get onboard with digital books so years ago I just built a makeshift library in our house to store the books. We have thousands and the collection is substantial including most of the classics. Cole’s book just got added to the pile. That’s actually one of the things that interests me about homeschooling- I love reading and especially love the classic stuff they don’t cover anymore. I want my kids to be exposed to topics and titles that will never make the reading list of a public school. The social aspect doesn’t concern me either - it’s purely the time.
The only instances in which I've seen homeschooled children experiencing social isolation is when their parents are obsessively sheltering them from anything outside their own home. In most cases, homeschooled children are far better socially adjusted, since they spend time interacting with people of all ages (the way we all do in the real world) instead of being trapped in an artificial setting with kids of only their own age and (alas) maturity level.
Having done so is my biggest parenting regret. I was a product of public education and had confidence in it. No more.
Both my children received good educations from the public and for my daughter, Catholic, High schools, albeit less rigorous than what I remember having had.
However, if they were in school today, I’d home school them for sure.
Mine were in school.during the transition period.
I wish everyone had you as a teacher. My God, what a mom you are.
*blushes* Thank you!
I saw a short documentary on Catholic schools. They run on a much smaller budget than public schools and had a 90% plus graduation rate and a high rate of students going on to higher education.
Charter schools as well. Need school choice
I did a lot of research on that back in the 90's. As you say, Catholic schools did better with less, consistently. They don't indoctrinate Catholicism - they don't see that as their mission - but they do teach values, right vs. wrong. What a concept. They tend to give teachers more creative control, aren't unionized and, unbeknownst to many, are mostly located in poor neighborhoods. They also insist on uniforms as a "leveler" - the rich kids can't flout fancy clothes, no one is stealing tennis shoes, etc. Most public schools around the world use uniforms instead of free dress, by the way. Many lessons to learn from the Catholic model.
Nuns with rulers can accomplish educational miracles.
My 65 year old wife still has 'nun nightmares' from her elementary school days at St Alphonsus.
Lean administration and no teachers unions
On a trip past a few large school complexes yesterday in rural Washington and Oregon, I remarked to my husband that we spend millions on school buildings/playgrounds/athletic fields that sit empty for like 4 months plus every year. So wasteful. School should be year round because no kid needs to help with the potato harvest anymore.
In Florida, the school buildings are fenced off and locked during vacations and summers.
Makes no sense.
I am a big proponent of year round school. This is purely speculative but I suspect year round school may adjust the motivations of who goes into teaching as well. I’ve known a few teachers that shared they went into teaching to have summers off.
The Australian system of around 8-10 weeks of school with 1- 2 weeks vacation, with 4 terms spread across the year works much better. Summers are around 5- 6 weeks through Xmas time and new year, being the southern hemisphere.
TY. Yeah, I'd heard about that one. Seems reasonable to me.
Maybe some, but the teachers I know all teach summer school to make extra $$.
Plus, summer is a time to BE A KID--not sit in a classroom. When else in life are you going to end a school year with a seemingly infinite summer stretching out in front of you for you and your friends to have adventures?
The infinite summer adventures of my childhood no longer exist. Children are not allowed to play in their own yards unsupervised, let alone roaming the neighborhood as we used to do. All summer means today is infinite time to spend shooting things in the latest video game.
The summers kids have now would be no loss.
You're both right about school during summer. The other bad thing about it is that kids simply *forget* half-a what they learned over the long break. Gotta be done over in the Fall.
I don't think most countries do that to their kids. No reason to, now, like You "said," M. Unwoke.
I agree.
Catholic schools all of the way for us for a variety of reasons. No regrets. I taught in both parochial and public....public was horrible.
When I went to grade school, we had a principal, a secretary and a janitor. We need laws that say schools teach the three Rs (The RS is a metaphor for core subjects) and no politics, no sexual "enlightenment" and no social justice. The only sex taught should be sex educate (straight biology nothing more). Teachers should leave their politics and social change philosophies at the door and those who don't comply are fired with prejudice.
Social justice, politics, sexual ambivalence are the parents' responsibility not the schools.
Children came out of one-room schoolhouses across this country with better educations than they get now. They could read, write, and do arithmetic--despite the fact that many of them never went to school after the 8th grade--better than the "high school graduates" than many of these Woke schools are pushing out, unprepared, into a harsh world.
My kids spent time going to school in a rural area in one of South America's poorest countries during their vacation. The school had dirt floors. My daughter's comment, when she was about 8 years old? "They're at least a year ahead of us in math, Dad".
The pity of it is that in marginalized communities, elementary schools are promoting kids who are two to three years behind on standardized tests. That ruins them (yes, it's not an overstatement). We spend way too much time and money on higher education, ignoring closing the gap in elementary school. How about instead of forgiving loans, we provide funding for additional teacher's aides in nonperforming schools? Or is that too radical a concept?
In the traditional one-room schoolhouse, students of all ages and abilities would be grouped by how far they had gotten through the textbook series. They would keep working on the material until they grasped it. The teacher would give each group individual attention at various points throughout the day, and students might tutor each other.
The point was to progress through understanding the material, not to be advanced by age. A student might be determined to catch up with their age-mates (for the sake of pride), but it was not required.
Celia, you are exactly correct! This age promotion nonsense simply pushes the problem to the next level and dumbs down classes. The one room schoolhouse would be a big improvement upon our public school system and I'm speaking as a public high school teacher for 25 years.
ABSOLUTELY!
You have confirmed for me that changing school board members doesn’t solve the deep rooted issues in our education racket. Thank you for your honest efforts and sensible suggestions.
"the very best reform for any system is pure competition." That is why we need school vouchers. The left fights school vouchers tooth and nail as do the teachers' unions. They are not interested in student educational welfare. Unions are big business and depend on union dues for fat salaries and that is all they care about. Greed drives them.
The left loves to hold up the Scandinavian countries as an example because of the large social programs they have. Well these paragons of social programs all have school vouchers so the parents can decide which educational institution is best for the children not the government. If we have vouchers, you will see a change in public schools in order to compete with private schools.
The left lies about being the party of compassionate welfare and the party that looks out for us but it is all about money. The Teachers' unions contribute large sums to the Democrat Party. They in effect bribe the Democrats to put students' education aside for money. It disgusts me.
"...the very best reform for any system is pure competition." Well-stated, and so very true.
As soon as any organization takes its eye off of the customer (the children, in this case) it’s all over. Time to close up shop. The same bloated structure that has been put in place for K-12 is also prevalent in higher education too. Both should be eliminated.
College administration is the core problem, both misgovernance and exploding costs.
Many don’t really get the “in the service of others” that is so at the core of being human (and successful). Those who avoid such service, really never rise to much - as they are always concerned about self.
Very true.
You spelled it out, really well. My school has 900 students. We have a Principal, a Director of Student Services, 3 Assistant Principals, and a Dean of Students. Most of these folks have their own Admin Assistant. Then there's someone in charge of finances and supplies, a School Psychologist, a School Social Worker, a Family Liaison, 4 School Counselors, Multiple Department Chairs....and then they had to rehire a retired Administrator just to handle virus paperwork. None of these people are teachers...and it is very hard to get a direct answer about anything. Most of what they are engrossed in: policy.
One of the real eye-openers in my experience was the relationship between the Administration and the teachers' union. I'd always assumed that as natural enemies they would keep each other in check. Not so. Their job is to obscure any problems and keep them from public view.
We had a problem with racial violence at our county's largest school. One local doctor got so tired of treating beaten-up - and sometimes knifed - kids that he launched a local lobbying group that gave the Board and Administration a really hard time (This was before I was elected.). He was a colleague, and in watching his group, I realized that the Admin's job was what I called, "diffusing directed energy." I'll illustrate.
Suppose your daughter is assaulted by several "mean girls." This is a real problem, and has been happening over and over to other girls, with no resolution by the system. You go to the superintendent. He says, "Yes, Mrs. Jones, that is an outrage and it won't be tolerated. I am going to take that problem to the Committee on Racial Violence (I made that up.) and they will address it at their next meeting."
So far, so good. What he does NOT tell you is that said committee only meets quarterly. Three months pass. He brings it to their attention. They decide to investigate. When you check over the next year, they tell you they can't comment on an ongoing investigation. In the meantime, you have transferred your girl to another school. Or you have moved to another county. Or you have moved out of state.
The Super has done his job. He kept you from contacting the newspaper or organizing other parents. What he had not done is his REAL job. This is not a bug; it's a feature - part and parcel of the "system." Get your kids out of Government Schools. Now.
My 3 sons are grown and very happily out of our school system. On the other hand, I am a newer Special Education Teacher. I have a front row seat to everything that makes your blood boil and leaves one searching for sanity. I worked extremely hard to get into my position and I am using it to make a difference, behind the scenes. I still advocate for necessary changes. We do not have a bargaining teacher's union in our district. I'm a member of a Professional Association, mostly for legal protection, because I deal with some extreme behavioral challenges.
My niece is trained as a special-ed teacher. She had been assaulted - yes assaulted - so many time by her retarded students, with absolutely NOTHING done by the local system, that she quit and is now a receptionist at an apartment building. She said that nothing would ever bring her back into a schoolhouse.
Thanks, Jim. Well put and so true. I left public for private and while the education is better in some ways, the people are repugnant. I live in a wealthy suburb outside of Boston, though and dream about a regular life in a regular town with schools like the one’s you described 16 years ago. Sad sad sad.
I live in such a place now - on a small piece of property my stepdaughter describes as "like a park," but it's an illusion. Yes, it's a park. For me. But I'm 69 years old, retired, with good retirement income. I spend my days working on old airplanes and keeping my "park" in good repair.
For everybody else, that is out of reach. I have two near-thirty-year-old sons, neither of whom has a job, neither with a wife - or even a girlfriend. Neither with a family. Both educated in Government Schools, with occasional breaks for private education, tutoring, camps. Maybe I should have homeschooled them both. I don't know. What I do know is that there is a tremendous gap between them and Asian kids, but unlike some, I don't fault the Asians; they have done well because they have worked like draft horses. Local kids are working in fast food, in timbering - brutal, dangerous work - and in retail sales. Stories like those of the Asian kids are rare. I sure wish I knew what the hell went wrong.
Exactly. When you combine government money with unions, you have a tried and true recipe for incompetence and self-interest.
Even FDR forbade public employee unions. He knew taxpayers have no one on their side in this arrangement.
That's a great point, smits3, that most people don't know. It was JFK - via executive order, not legislation - that allowed Federal government workers to organize.
I really appreciate Jim writing this and it enlightened me.
smits3 wrote about this quote:
"We spent 80-90% of our time in grievance adjudication, and if the employee didn't like the outcome, they simply went over our heads, lawyer in tow."
I've been in and observed plenty of bad situations that were caused by one or both of the parties involved. Looking at the extreme negative of both sides: Management assumes that since they are management they must always be right and thus don't admit their wrongs, compromise or really listen to the grievances. Employees affected by management often place their rights well before their responsibilities (which often come last).
That being said, these situations are created by both parties especially when people feel entitled to everything. Making smaller organizations thus limiting the number of people often helps, but what is better is creating a culture of listening and teamwork is what helps most. Dialogue without vilifying others allows people to disagree and then compromise.
As demonstrated here, it becomes about the adults: massive bureaucracies, strong entitlement to "my rights", and the complete lack ability to get along.
The children who want to learn really suffer.
Clearly, these adults (and many many more on both the extreme left and right) never learned the basics of kindergarten: use the resources you have, do your tasks first, and play well with others.
Nicely "said," M. Fellows. TY. Sums it up pretty good. "Bring back the art of compromise" is surefire winner. That's probably why nobody'd go for it.
Thanks for writing, Jim. Agreed. The only way to affect change is to cut funding like the government is currently doing to you with inflation caused by shutting down energy development. Are you adjusting your lives right now? Damn straight you are. With all the education resources like Khan Academy et al. you have choices.
Thank you for sharing!
Preach, Jim preach!
On your knees, Sinner!
His biography should be added to the required reading list for middle schoolers. We need more kids like him. What a tragedy that he passed.
After 13 hours of no donations, $6K has been raised since Bari published this. Thanks Bari.
Edit: Total is now $37K. That's about $20K since Bari published.
Edit: Now $48K
Edit: Now $52K
Youth clearly wasn't wasted on this young man. Here's to dreams and those that pursue them
Just sent links to this article and to the book on Amazon to the principle at my sons middle school with exactly that recommendation.
Let the teachers teach.
You're joking. Teachers?
Hey Jt. You’ll need to put more bait on that hook for me to bite on this thread. Ah. What the hell. I’ll be serious for a minute. The reason why Western public schools are failing their students is precisely because the traditional forms of pedagogical instruction and their central focus on the achievement of key core learning outcomes, have been undermined by decades of financial neglect by Government, outside interference in curriculums, and intellectual & achievement relativism.
I'll give You partial credit. For the "intellectual & achievement relativism." Assuming I understand what You mean by that, which I likely don't.
Laugh out loud moment..
Funny retort.
Get a grip mate
I'm afraid you're going to have to be more specific than that. You don't think kids would benefit from learning about a peer who demonstrated grit and agency, and was succeeding as a result? You don't think we need more kids like that? Or you don't think it's a shame that he died so young?
Or, more likely, it's a troll.
It isn't just Rory. There are several people who are throwing shit at this article. Don't know WTF is wrong with them. And I'm not sure I want to know. Seriously, WTF???
Hi Celia. The last refuge of the inarticulate is foul and abusive language.
You've perfected the abusive language perfectly, so I wouldn't say so too much if I were You, "friend."
Sometimes 4letter words just feel good.
Just because someone disagrees with you doesn’t make them a troll Jon.
I agree. It's the tone of the comment, as well as at least one other you've made here.
Hey James.
Its clear enough I feel. I kept the prose style simple for the audience
And insulting to boot.
I agree with you. Debate someone. Use logic and facts to back up your argument, not insults. It has been my experience that the left will never debate or refute you point by point. They insult and call you names.
In order to refute someone you need history, facts and logic. the left can't bring themselves to do that. Insults are intellectual laziness.
If the boot fits…….
" if the boot fits " you know where you can stick it
I rest my case!
And You wonder why people think Your abusive? Really?
thank you so much. being a bit dense thanks for keeping it simple , you must be the next Shakespeare , just call me Hulverhead
There is only one Shakespeare Jerry. Despite what all those Cultural Relativists will tell you!
Gimme a break. I agree with M. Mueller. (Tho I haven't read the book yet, it's just *gotta* be good, right?)
I agree Golfer. It should be banned…along with golf
A lazy joke. Mea Culpa !
Compare Cole to Greta.
Or don't as it is an insult to the memory of Cole (Kevin).
Thanks for bringing this to our attention Bari. I'll put in an order for the book and make a donation.
It sounds like 'unschooling' is Montessori to the tenth power.
Cole was the only member of his family that wasn't disabled. Their target raise was $25K, and they're at $20K now. Hopefully they'll far exceed their target, and maybe Warren, Mark or Elon will notice this campaign and step up as well.
As I edit this at 6:40am Central time, over $6K has been raised in the last two hours (since Bari published this), and it had been 13 hours prior since the last donation. Safe to say that the folks here have been responding. I like starting the day feeling that some folks do care.
Greta is an artist's conception of a prodigy. Cole was a real prodigy.
Thanks for keeping the focus on Cole here. This story made my heart sing and then wail.
The world needs more people like Cole.
Bari, thanks for sharing Cole with us. :)
"Compare Cole to Greta.
"Or don't as it is an insult to the memory of Cole (Kevin)."
Yup. I'm thinkin' Kevin was younger than Greta. Is that right? Because imagine Kevin at Greta's age. He would-a just *smoked* her, in just about every area, right? Well, even at the age he was, he managed to do it.
My point was that Greta has been a carefully constructed entertainer that her parents manage. Some here might think the same of Cole, but I don't. OTOH, I've been played before.
Nah - you're right. Greta (mostly her parents) leverages human pettiness in the name of hyper-weening and narcissistic self-aggrandizement. Cole just DID stuff.
You said what I was just typing in, better, M. smits3.
sad he died so young , then again my grandfather came to America at 12 alone no family spoke no English became a success started selling rags on the street eventually he had a few high end clothing stores . there were and will be exceptional people
and so many of those trying to cross the border are in the same position. I'm not for Biden's shameful open border policy, but the Mexican people are very good people and I have a great deal of respect for them. The parties need to come together and develop a better system to allow them access to the country, while weeding out the narcos, sex traffickers, and all the riff raff. That can only be done when the borders are closed and a fair policy applied to let people in.
Great story! And a LOTTA exceptional people start out as immigrants to the U.S.
I dunno much about Greta, other than I'd gathered what You just "said" about her. But Cole/Kevin? I'd be downright *amazed* if You and I have been played in this manner. Now, do I say he's *perfect,* and matches *perfectly* to the image surrounding him? I don't think *anybody's* that good.
But a carefully constructed entertainer wouldn'a gotten the things he did, apparently, get done. One's a talker. Getting fame and fortune, right? One's a *doer.* They live on separate planets, AFAIK.
Cole/Kevin is still represented in much of the country, but the vast majority of college educated graduates couldn't even comprehend the possibility. Nor could the elites/Masters/Overlords who've been conspiring to take over our country.
100+ years ago, Cole's story wasn't that unusual. Boys became adults at 14/15, but now, they don't mature until 25+. Why did our society think it was a good thing to extend adolescence?
According to Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto, it was a conscious effort led by the robberbarons to squeeze out the entrepreneureal spirit from youth to make them good employees (rather than self-made men, like they were).
Although it has been a small number of people to do this, I think this self-made aspect of young tech bros has captured so much of our cultural imagination because it harkens back towards that age of self-reliance and diligence of even the very young.
I hope a movement starts in Cole's memory to encourage more self-made kids.
I think it happened when adolescence extended into the 40s and 50s. Went downhill from there, Jon.
The loss of this amazing young man is tragic, and not merely for his family.
I'm astonished (and frankly disgusted) at the people expressing negativity about this article.
Celia, the left hates stories like this. They push everybody is a victim of a flawed society and because they are victims they should be dependent on the government.
And LP they love when bad things occur so that they can exploit the tragedy or problem as a "crisis" to garner more power. We see it every week in a myriad of ways. Rahm E let the cat out of the bag.
Celia, it is pretty simple and all around us: some people are just full of hate. They profess that love trumps hate yet they exhibit their hate all the time especially to those who dare not bend to their will. God bless the Cole Summers of the world. We need more like him.
jealousy has no bounds
Celia, you’re not alone.
What an inspiration! RIP Kevin Cooper, you are gone too soon!
A truly remarkable boy in a very unremarkable world. He is what made America great- courageous, ambitious, creative and without any of today's silly ills. Who needs anxiety and stress, when you know exactly who you are and your life is an assured adventure. His short life will inspire many young people to say screw it to all the insanity that surrounds them, and go out to create new and novel solutions and just have fun with their inherited freedom. Actually it is the parents who need to be inspired by Cole, if they can understand his remarkable nature, they will raise more Coles and Collettes.
An incredible and inspirational story. My heart breaks for his family.
What an amazing kid. Condolences to his family.
After 40 years as an educator—26 in the California public school system and the last 14 in my own designed school—I will observe that until the teachers’ unions implode, nothing will change. Nothing.
Bingo.
My BIL (a CPA and investor) was just talking with my about the massive opportunity to retool schooling as individual entrepreneurs. It sounds like you're way ahead of that and good on you!
I applaud you for designing your own school. I think there is a great need, and I would think market, for that now. It should be done in all neighborhoods too.
Yeah, I know. Sure there are others here, too.
That's one reason we need to end the monopoly the current system holds. School choice. Charter schools.
Is Your school a charter school, if I may ask?
My school began as an after-school college prep academy where students came to learn what they were not begin taught in public school--mainly writing, critical thinking, and literary analysis. I couldn't keep up with enrollment alone and began hiring people to teach who had that spark, gift, and intelligence to actually TEACH.
To answer your question, it was not a charter school although I support the charter school movement which has always been in the lion's den with the union. I was invited to a seminar in 1999 or early 2000 held in Milwaukee on the growing charter school movement. There around the table were the following charter school advocates: a contingency of African Americans from Atlanta, a Hispanic group from Denver, and an assortment of evangelical Christians--all believing that their kids were not being well served in the public school system. I was blown away.
Congratulations on Your much-needed work. That conference must-a been something *else.*
The charter schools in with the union? Ignoramoose. Only one I know much about is Success Acadamies in NYC. I'm pretty sure they were non-union, on account-a they detested the unions. BUt others? Dunno.
Did *You* have to deal with unions in Your hiring? (if You have time.)
Coleman Hughes has a podcast with Roland Fryer on the data behind Charter vs Public. He says that your average charter school isn’t better than your average public school but there are certain concrete things that ANY school can implement in order to achieve student success.
But this topic is irrelevant in light of Cole’s story because he was unschooled. It’s not a model we can just replicate. It’s the values he and his parents held that are the main story and tell us something amazing about what is possible in America.
Hi Ramesh,
Your point is well taken: Cole was a prodigy, no question. His "unschooling" was a departure from traditional modes of educating our young. Surely, few families have the time to try this experiment.
But I think Bari's motive in posting his story is to continue the discussion about curricula, parent input and control of just WHAT is supposedly being taught in the United States in its public school system, and what grass roots changes can unfold, if any. In both the charter and public school systems, parents must step in and take back some of the rank and file decision-making power.
At the crux of this debate lies the union.
By the way, the nature of my response is inductive; that is, the thesis is the last sentence in the essay.
Ignoramoose here. I can never keep inductive and deductive straight in my head. Most things I do better with. All that to say...
I think it was this morning i read about the Teacher's Unions getting sued for not providing the amounts they spent on political donations on the proper forms. Five or more laters, I think after a FOIA, it came out to either $50 or $100 million. Can't recall. Don't recall if Randi Weingartner (I thin') makes $300 or $500K. MOst probably $500K.
That's what the unions are about, in a nutshell. Pay and Power. First, last and always.
Another lawsuit, I think by same guy, that Teachers were paying union dues for political causes they did *not* support. They won.
My recollection was that it was a pyrrhic victory. That the union just had to specify that's what they were doing to people entering the union and then it was okay. Don't quote me on that.
The pandemic showed it plain and clear. The unions did what it does best to keep the kids outta school. Exercised political power. You think they care what damage they caused to the kids? I had actually thought that they had at least *some* concern for the kids. Up until seeing it was otherwise. IMO.
The second lawsuit you reference was about agency fee in California and I was part of that lawsuit. With agency fee, you must pay for collective bargaining even if you are not a member of the union but the fee is now reduced to account for CTA's political spending.
Well, I was sure wrong about that. Ah well...
It's an old trope shared by most self made people that public schools are great factories of mediocrity. This truly exceptional young man is certainly collaboration of that theory and his loss leaves us all a bit poorer. Thank you for sharing.
Well said. Thank you!
Thank you for this inspiration. This young man did more in 14 years than many ever get done. May God bless and comfort his family, and I will continue to spread his inspiration and determination by sharing his book with my high school students.
Thank you, Bari, for sharing this story. We are so bombarded with information these days that I often skip over news/stories. I always read your posts because I know it will be interesting and thought provoking. Yes, the story has a tragic ending for the young man, but how wonderful that he led such a purposeful, full life and lived exactly as he wanted.
We have to let Cole Summers' life serve as an example of the endless possibilities this country has to offer. Every morning he woke up, and had choices to make. He could have felt sorry for himself for having two parents who were physically disabled and an autistic brother. Instead he saw them as examples of love and he strived to serve and make them proud. In a perfect world, we would have been able to follow Cole's life through books he wrote, people he helped and his accomplishments by just living as a good man. We're living in an age when the word privilege has a negative connotation. I can only express how privileged I feel just to read this article about Cole Summers. God bless him and his family.
That kid was so lucky.
You try to raise your kid that way in CA or NY or MA and most other states and you would have CPS down on you like a ton of bricks.
Right? How are you supposed to raise a kid like this in a low-trust society?
You go rural.
What an amazing young man and what a loss for not just his family, but for all of us.
I just ordered the book for my 14 yr old son. Think I might order another for my 21 yr old daughter too.
It’s sad how many people in our society need to hear from a 14 year old what the real power of freedom is - it’s the power to create change, the power to be better, the absolute necessary ingredient to positive evolution. And yet, we do. And that was one incredibly powerful message on why freedom is more important than the vast majority of us realize! Thoughts and prayers are with that family, and that community, for their loss. Sounds like a truly special life was lost…