Page 2 The Skanner Portland & Seattle October 24, 2018
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January 21
2019
Opinion
Beyond the Rhetoric: Why Times Are Getting Better
I
attended an Economic Sum-
mit at the White House two
weeks ago. It was an uncom-
monly joyous event. We
were all there to celebrate the
actual changes that were go-
ing on in our great country.
It was summed up by saying,
“Deregulation and Tax Reduc-
tion.” Those are the reasons
for our economy to start turn-
ing upwards. Like it or not,
this nation is economically
growing suddenly, or at least
during the last two years. It is
clear — the numbers don’t lie.
We
worked
feverishly
during the last 10 years to
bring a halt to a landslide of
regulation and taxation. I
chair the Government Over-
sight, Regulatory and Con-
sumer Affairs Committee
at the US Chamber of Com-
merce. It has been one of the
most rewarding activities of
my life. It recently cumulated
into the passage of the Reg-
ulatory Accountability Act.
This is essential to growth,
it makes it easier to perform
business without costly reg-
ulations and permitting to
adhere to.
Equally important was Tax
Reform. This will go down as
one of the best pieces of leg-
islation ever passed. Wages
are increasing, investment is
increasing, jobs are expand-
ing by the thousands. We now
have our lowest unemploy-
ment figures in more than
Harry C.
Alford
NNPA
Columnist
40 years. It is most notably
detected amongst Blacks and
Hispanics. It is historical
and undeniable. The stock
markets support that charge
with all-time high breaking
records. We were told by the
previous Administration that
some jobs weren’t coming
back. Guess what? They are
coming through the “door”
like never.
“
Steel plants
all over the
nation are
being refur-
bished and
that is a sure
sign of in-
creased man-
ufacturing
Our steel industry has been
on a decline for many decades.
However, it is bouncing back
with a vengeance. Remember
when they used to call Gary,
Indiana “Steel City”? That
moniker may be returning.
US Steel just announced that
it is putting an investment
of over $750 million to refur-
bish previously “mothballed”
facilities. In fact, steel plants
all over the nation are being
refurbished and that is a sure
sign of increased manufac-
turing for our nation equat-
ing to exponential increase in
high paying jobs.
Our past rigid high taxa-
tion caused investors to put
trillions of dollars off shore.
Those trillions of dollars are
starting to come back in terms
of investment and job cre-
ation. Good times are sure to
come in the following years.
As the old saying goes, “Cot-
ton is high, the fish are biting,
and the bosses are paying!”
A next determinant has
been a sudden change in our
international trade balanc-
es. America has been on the
losing end in trade. In fact,
we have been bullied by Chi-
na and the nations of the Eu-
ropean Union. That has all
changed now. The fact is the
strongest economy in the
world is the United States.
However, we have been act-
ing as a weakling. No more!
We are dealing eye to eye and
settling for nothing less than
“fair ball” when acting with
our trading partners. The in-
ternational rip-offs are over.
China has more than 2 bil-
lion persons to feed. That
is a permanent problem for
them as we have a little more
than 300 million and have
proven to manage that chal-
lenge quite well with a Gross
Domestic Product that is the
greatest in the world. Russia
has a decreasing population,
a depressed population and a
Gross Domestic Product that
doesn’t rival that of the state
of Florida. All other nations,
even the united groups of
nations called the European
Union, are miniscule to our
economic might. Thus, we
are finally acting like it and
resisting any attempt to bully
us on international trade.
Times are great! Look at
your IRAs, or stock invest-
ments and you cannot deny
that growth is here. You
must go back decades since
good times from an econom-
ical point of view were being
blessed on the United States.
If you reflect on the past
decades, the liberal point of
view has not been beneficial
to our nation. The conser-
vative approach is yielding
dividends like never. This is
reason for the progressives
to be upset with our progress.
Let them cry as we march on
with economic growth. Let
them protest, resist, obstruct
like going south with a bullet.
America is being blessed for
standing by its capitalistic
principles and following our
U.S. Constitution. It works!
Why try and fight against it?
Do Children All Need to Succeed the Same Way?
T
he
Merriam-Webster
Dictionary defines stan-
dards as, “something es-
tablished by authority,
custom, or general consent
as a model or example. For
example,” the Egyptians es-
tablished the 365-day calen-
dar, recording 4236 BC as the
first year in recorded history.
Around 1100 AD in England,
it was determined that the
length of King Henry Beau-
clerc’s foot would be used for
the standard measurement of
a linear foot.
These standards of time
and linear measurement are
still widely used and accepted
today. During the Civil War,
America recognized a need
for standardized gauges for
the railroads so that parts
were easily inter-changeable.
Standards continue to remain
essential aspects of organiza-
tion as societies increase in
size and complexity. The same
concept applies to academic
standards in education.
In the mid-twentieth cen-
tury, educators adopted ac-
ademic standards. Those
standards were designed to
ensure that all students pro-
gressed at relatively the same
pace while acquiring the
skills necessary to become
contributing members of so-
ciety.
One example of this is the
adoption of a Competen-
cy-Based Curriculum (CBC)
Julianne
Malveaux
NNPA
Columnist
by the District of Columbia
in the 1980s. CBC consisted
of a series of skill sets within
a hierarchy. Students were
required to demonstrate
mastery of the skills at one
level before progressing to
the next. Teachers were re-
“
Unlike wid-
gets, children
will never fit
perfectly into
standardized
molds
quired to teach/test/reteach
(if necessary) and then retest.
Once students demonstrated
mastery, they received a score
that reflected such. The score
did not entail how many times
the teacher had to reteach and
retest before the students ac-
quired the intended skillset.
A more recent example of
academic standards is the
2009 states-focused effort to
create clear, consistent, and
competitive learning goals,
resulting in the Common Core
State Standards. Common
Core State Standards were
adopted by 48 states, two ter-
ritories and the District of Co-
lumbia. The federal govern-
ment supported the validity
of Common Core Standards
by providing financial incen-
tives for state adoption.
Proponents of Common
Core Standards argue that the
standards provide students
with the necessary knowl-
edge to succeed in college
and career regardless of geo-
graphical location. Howev-
er, many critics have argued
against this, emphasizing
resulting ambiguity, lack of
training, and lowered student
expectations as the key points
the identify a policy in need
of revision. In 2015, the Ev-
ery Student Succeeds Act, a
re-authorization of the 1965
Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESSA), offered
a resolution.
Under ESSA, states have
the option of keeping Com-
mon Core State Standards or
creating their own state stan-
dards. The financial incentive
to adopt Common Core by
the federal government no
longer exists and the option
to work with a consortium of
states to develop standards is
also available to state educa-
tional leadership.
Guidelines set by ESSA for
state-developed
academic
standards is a step in the right
direction. ESSA allows for
states to decide how to best
set goals and meet the needs
of students. It is obvious from
the widespread criticisms of
Common Core that uniform
education standards have not
worked. As states continue to
develop academic standards
they must keep this in mind,
understanding that every
child does not learn and/or
demonstrate knowledge in
the same way.
Unlike widgets, children
will never fit perfectly into
standardized molds. They
learn to walk at different
ages. They learn to talk at dif-
ferent ages. And each child
has a different set of interests
and learning style. Students’
ability to demonstrate mas-
tery in one area over another
has a lot to do with their pre-
vious knowledge and expo-
sure to out-of-the-classroom
experiences.
As a mother to many chil-
dren, I have observed that
some of my children are good
in math, while others are mu-
sically inclined. A select few
demonstrate the ability to
make fantastic meals out of
simple ingredients, while oth-
ers have a hard time boiling
water. We must understand
that every child is capable of
achievement at high levels as
long as we encourage their
strengths. Whatever their
gifts and talents, we need
them all.