(The
September 28, 2011
Fortiani» (Observer
Page II
Students Must Share Responsibility for Learning
A ncil N ance
I was hoping that I could agree with Ron
H erndon’s com m ents (Parent’s Corner,
Making Good Teachers, Principals, Portland
Observer, Sept. 14), but one thing struck me
as I read this statement “Remember, you
can’t become a licensed electrician unless
you have observed successfully wiring a
house.”
A house cannot refuse to be wired. How­
ever, a student can refuse to learn and can
refuse (for many different reasons) to follow
a teacher’s instructions. This happens every
day in our schools. Teachers would like
nothing more than to have all students read­
ing at grade level, but it is not as simple as
wiring the students to do so.
Students bear the responsibility for their
lack of reading prowess when they don’t
carry out assignments, when they pay no
attention in class and when they do not do
their homework. We know that you can lead
a horse to water, but you can’t make the
horse drink — same with a student. You can
by
present the steps for learning any particular
subject, but you cannot make the student
follow those steps. A student has to want to
learn more than anything else before learn­
ing can take place.
Any student who is below grade level in
any subject can take what they have learned
and proceed to a higher level, and many do,
even to the point of asking a teacher for
assistance. But a teacher cannot make a
student do anything. Schools that do not
have a front office that backs up teachers
with a detention room allow disruptive stu­
dents to remain in the classroom, holding
back students who want to learn. There is no
way even the best trained teacher can force
a student to step into the mainstream if the
student has decided not to do so.
So what is the way out? Begin by giving
students more choice in their course of study.
There is no way a class of 30 students will all
want to be on the same page, so individuals
who don' t want to take part must be given the
responsibility to come up with an acceptable
alternative. If they don’t, then the front office where the students were attentive and
has to provide a place for that student to be tried to do the assignm ents. The teacher
out of class so as not to disrupt students who could then assist those who needed extra
do want to learn. This is true for reading, math instruction. Give a teacher a class where
and all classes. It is pointless to blame teach­ students say, “I want to learn,” and the
ers for the lack of student advancement. That success rate would be overw helm ing. No
is like blaming a doctor for having an over­ teacher can teach a student who does not
weight patient who ignores his advice and want to learn and who also refuses to do
diet suggestions. The patient is at fault, not the work and the practice.
the doctor. In the schools, the students are
Students in school today stand on the
at fault, not the teachers for their own lack of edge of the m ainstream , but are not ready
learning.
to jum p in. W hat will they need to succeed
A n o th e r s ta te m e n t m ade by M r. after high school? Basic math, English,
Herndon lacks substantiation, and stands reading and communication skills, for sure.
only as an assertion. He says, “But the
But m ost of all they will need to know how
training provided to prospective teachers to learn, how to find out what they do not
and principals is a disservice.” I don’t see know . One c a n ’t learn everything in
the supporting evidence for this. The many school, but if a student knows how to
teachers who guided student teachers
learn on his or her own then that student
from the local colleges would be surprised is ready for anything.
to hear they have done a bad job. It is not
Ancil Nance graduated from Jefferson
certain that blaming the teachers for poor High School in 1959. He was a teacher at
student perform ance is justified. A teacher Jeffersonfrom 1964 to 1968. He currently is
could get 100 percent success in any class a resident o f southeast Portland.
Obama Finally Gets His Groove Back
Sounding more like
what got him elected
by G eorge E. C urry
Facing the worst poll­
ing numbers of his ad­
ministration, an increas­
ingly alienated Dem o­
cratic base and rigidly
uncooperative Republi­
cans, President Obama
has junked his Compro-
miser-in-Chief approach
and started calling out
members of the GOP who
oppose adopting programs that will help
revive the economy.
Stella isn’t the only one who got her
groove back. President Obam a has recap­
tured his 2008 presidential cam paign mode
and it com es not a minute too soon.
Obam a assum ed office determ ined to
usher in an era of civility and bipartisan
cooperation in W ashington. He accom ­
p lish ed neither. H ouse S peaker John
Boehner, who once signaled that he w el­
com ed a working relationship with the
president, quickly became captive of the
Tea Party, a sm all, energized group that
pushed Republican leaders to the right of
Dem ocratic and Republican voters.
W hen the President and Boehner were
close to reaching a m ajor budget com pro­
mise earlier this year, the Republican House
leader walked out of the talks. When Obama
attem pted to reach him by telephone,
Boehner twice refused to take his calls.
And when President Obama requested to
speak to a joint session o f Congress on his
new jo b proposals, Boehner broke prece­
dence and rejected the request because it
conflicted with one of 20 scheduled R e­
publican presidential debates.
At every turn. Republicans worked to
block O bam a’s initiatives, even if that
meant opposing some program s they
had previously supported. M eanwhile,
many of the president’s defenders were
boxed into a corner.
One of them, A1 Sharpton, claim ed
that Obama was executing the political
equivalent of Muhammad A li’s rope-a-
dope, languishing on the ropes until
his opponents tire them selves out be­
fore scoring an eventual victory. But
Barack Obama is not M uhammad Ali.
John Boehner is no George Foreman.
And instead of the “Rumble in the Jungle,”
this was the Rumble in D.C., where the
stakes are much higher.
For the first time, President Obama
proved that he can trade punches with
Boehner.
Obam a set up Boehner in his jobs ad­
dress to Congress on Sept. 8. He said,
“ ...T h e re ’s a bridge that needs repair be­
tween Ohio and Kentucky that’s on one of
the b u siest trucking routes in N orth
America.” Senate Minority Leader Mitchell
M cConnell is a Kentucky Republican and
Boehner is from Ohio.
In his speech Sept. 19, President Obama
went for the knockout blow.
“Speaker of the House John Boehner
gave a speech about the econom y,” Obama
said. “And to his credit, he made the point
that we can ’t afford the kind of politics
that says it’s ‘my way or the highw ay.’ I
was encouraged by that. H ere’s the prob­
lem: In that same speech, he also cam e out
against any plan to cut the deficit that
includes any additional revenues w hatso­
ever. He s a i d - I’m quoting him - there
is ‘only one option.’ And that option and
only option relies entirely on c u ts... So
the Speaker says we c an ’t have it ‘my way
or the highw ay,' and then basically says,
my way - or the highway. T h at’s not
smart. It’s not right.”
Obama smartly reached out to his base,
contrasting his approach to that offered
by GOP leaders.
“Now, w e’re already hearing the usual
defenders o f these kind o f loopholes say­
ing this is ju st ‘class w arfare.’ I reject the
idea that asking a hedge fund m anager to
pay the same tax rate as a plum ber or a
teacher is class warfare. I think it’s just the
right thing to do,” he said. “I believe the
American middle class, w ho’ve been pres­
sured relentlessly for decades believe it’s
time that they were fought for as hard as
the lobbyists and some lawmakers have
fought to protect special treatm ent for
billionaires and big corporations.”
Most politicians give a nod to middle-
class w orkers, usually with an eye on the
next election. Obama is no exception. But
in his Rose Garden speech M onday, the
president mentioned the “poor” four times.
T h at’s significant, considering 46.2 m il­
lion people are now living below the offi­
cial poverty line, the highest rate in the 52
years the Census Bureau has been collect­
ing such data.
A segm ent of O bam a’s political base
was deeply disappointed over his deci­
sion to direct the Environm ental Protec­
tion Agency to withdraw a plan to cut
smog levels. He reached out to his disap­
pointed base in his speech to Congress.
“But what we can ’t do - what I will not
do - is let this econom ic crisis be used as
an excuse to wipe out the basic protec­
tions that Am ericans have counted on for
decades,” he stated. “I reject the idea that
we need to ask people to choose between
their jo b s and their safety. I reject the
argum ent that says for the econom y to
grow, we have to roll back protections that
ban hidden fees by credit card com panies,
or rules that keep our kids from being
exposed to m ercury, or laws that prevent
the health insurance industry from short­
changing patients. I reject the idea that we
have to strip away collective bargaining
rights to com pete in a global econom y.
We shouldn’t be in a race to the bottom,
where we try to offer the cheapest labor
and the w o rst p o llu tio n s ta n d a rd s .
Am erica should be in a race to the top.
And I believe we can win that race.”
In reaching out to Republicans, Obama
had hoped to win over im portant indepen­
dent voters. But his standing in the polls
declined with that bloc as well. Like all
voters, independents look to leaders who
will fight for their program s.
In his speech last week, O bam a adopted
a stronger posture than he had assum ed in
the past.
He said, “I will not support - I will not
support - any plan that puts all the burden
for closing our deficit on ordinary A m eri­
cans. And I will veto any bill that changes
benefits for those who rely on M edicare
but does not raise serious revenues by
asking the w ealthiest A m ericans or big­
gest corporations to pay their fair share.
We are not going to have a one-sided deal
that hurts the folks who are most vulner­
able.”
Now President Obam a is sounding more
and more like candidate Barack Obama.
T h at’s how he got his groove back.
George E. Curry is form er editor-in-
chief o f Emerge magazine.