Or, a more likely story, my new friend, Carlos - the plumber - and I were mopping up my kitchen floor with two dish sponges for an entire evening. And, there is the story of the week, folks. The tale that has left me exhausted for these past few days. The flood of apartment 302 caused by a dish washer that had never been used!
Monday I was beaten down by the delays and closures on the Metro. The Dupont Circle station, my destination, was closed. I got off at Metro Center - a two mile walk - to my apartment. The humidity was unbearable. I thought that taking a cab would be an easy way to get home quickly, in air-conditioning, in an automobile that, as an American-girl, I've missed these past few days. And, as you might imagine, the taxi ride I had imagined did not transpire. Instead, the cab driver insisted on open windows for ventilation - welcoming all the humid, heavy air into my space - and insisted on blasting NPR in my left ear. As if that wasn't defeating enough, he then talked to me about his financial situation and his opinion regarding Obama and BP. It cost me $10 to travel 2 miles. Ridiculous!
So, Tuesday was guaranteed to be a better day. The broken escalator greeted me at Dupont Circle but I didn't care - today was going to be a success. Truthfully, it was a good day. Arriving home, I was ready to quickly wash dishes, make lunch for the next day, change into shorts & a tee shirt and hit the town for some exercise. It was all on the up and up until I heard this strange dripping. Water was slowly creeping out from the edges of the dish washer. How strange, I thought since I don't know how to use the dishwasher - a technology that is clearly beyond my skill set. I'm happy to wash dishes like Laura Ingalls Wilder on the prairie.
Now, here's the part where I'm an idiot. Instead of calling for help, I decide it would be best to open the dish washer. And, just as I rethink the intelligence of that decision, water comes rushing out onto the floor. Who doesn't love splashing around, kicking their feet, playing in the cool and refreshing H20?
After trying three different numbers with no response, I head outside my building to use the call box to locate a manager. I dial 100 on the silver box. It rings. A voice. I tell my situation. The response, "I'm on vacation." I'm speechless. Silence. Then, the voice says, "I'll see if there's anything I can do. But, like I said, I'm away."
I head back up three flights and take out a pink sponge. What's a girl to do? The only logical response in this situation - start mopping. Carlos arrives. He saves the day. He's my plumber hero - a Brooklyn man from Nicaragua who was a water angel. He felt so sorry for me that he grabbed a purple sponge and stayed with me until the kitchen floor was dry.
So, if you were wondering how I've been, all is good now. My kitchen floor is spotless. My plumbing problems are solved. Arne hasn't called although his message is clear. It's time to embrace charter schools because the Obama administration sees them as our best and only alternative to improving public education. The Metro is a poor excuse for transportation. I'm looking forward to Friday. DC is a fantastic city - one that I'm finally starting to understand geographically. The weekend promises to be one of adventure as I venture out - solo - to explore.
The lesson I learned - plumbers have a more useful skill set than doctoral students.
I would have been concerned about you, but I've been packing for Cozumel. Leave tomorrow. By the way, I hope you listened to the cab driver. He speaks for about 60% of America. Your man continues to slip. If he's not careful, he'll catch Arne (CA governor) in the polls!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear from you. Did you get my e-mail? I was concerned about you. Looks like you and the plumber have things going your way again. Keep your chin up, things have to get better.
ReplyDeleteI've checked daily for a new post--to find nothing new in your world. Little did I know how much "new" was really happening. Good luck on your weekend excursions.
ReplyDeleteOnce again - a laugh out loud story! Wish I was there with you :-)
ReplyDeleteOh Kerry-I love my dishwasher but Billy seems to think that you can put dishwashing liquid in there and it breaks completely and we have to get a new one.....dishwashers are fun!!
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!!
I hear you on plumber v. doctoral student. I've often thought that my skill set was completely useless, too. If I were a chef, or a personal stylist, or a fitness trainer--or if my husband were one of those things!--imagine how much easier my life would be!
ReplyDeleteArne, Arne, Arne. I don't know about charter schools. I could go academic here, or I could go commonsense. Either way, I just don't think charters are the answer. The revolution will not be privatized. (ha! I came up with that myself!) Could we please just finally fix our nation's public schools...please!?!?!
Oh Osamudia -
ReplyDeleteDon't hate on the Charter schools! When you apply to college, you don't have to go to the nearest one - you get to choose based on what school is the best fit for you. Why can't we give that same choice to parents? I agree - there are lousy Charter schools just like there are lousy public schools. But I'm a believer in what they can achieve - not that they always do.
BTW - a quick fix for public schools. Have the government either fully fund or abolish SPED. Its a horrible system that has lost its way.
And for the record - I agree that in most situations, a plumber is waaaay more useful than anyone with a doctorate.
Either way, its clear that the three of us should be appearing on this show http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/19/education-nation-nbc-news_n_651028.html
Maybe we can bring the discussion worldwide!
Ted
Oh! But there's so much to hate on! I realize that some charter schools can, and do, make real differences; the KIPPs and HCZs of the world prove that. But those are small-scale wrap-around programs, which have not yet proven to be replicable on a large-scale (although Geoff Canada is working on that).
ReplyDeleteSo, while a lucky few are escaping to the charter schools, what of the rest that are left behind? We cannot escape fixing the entire public school system; a few bright spots don't justify failing everyone else.
Another problem with charters is that with the few exceptions mentioned above, they haven't really been proven to work. The latest large-scale study found that a few were better, about 1/2 offered the same level of education, and up to 1/3 of charter schools offered educations that were INFERIOR to the regular public schools. Which is particularly disturbing because charter schools are disproportionately attended by minority children. So, they're leaving their neighborhood schools, hoping to get a better education, but that better education does not manifest. And in the worst case scenarios, the lack of proper regulation for charter schools leads to self-dealing that we would never tolerate on wall-street, financial waste, and just plain 'old abuse; I could send you a string of stories about charter schools where board members are making off with millions, with students left holding the bag.
Finally, the value of "choice" is overstated. Research suggests that in the competitive context, most charter schools end up mimicking each other, providing little to no genuine variation. But even assuming you do have some variation, choosing a college and choosing a K-12 institution are just not the same thing. In the K-12 context (and really, in the higher ed context, as well) "choice" does not necessarily result in quality. For one, parents are limited in their "choice" by constraints like transportation, sibling attendance, and distance from work/home. And because schools are "free," a school has to be REALLY bad before parents leave; as a result, most parents don't, an outcome that has been repeatedly documented. So, students stay in a charter schools that is, at best, comparable to, and at worst, inferior to, their neighborhood schools. And all the while, they're losing the opportunity to be educated as well as more privileged kids, while we pat ourselves on the back for providing "choice." It just doesn't add up.
Right -
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you said - but my point is that there are examples of Charter schools that engage in the kind of transformational education that is killed in public schools by a. tradition and narrow mind sets, b. teachers' unions, and c. lack of knowledge by the constituent groups involved (a mom in B'more is hoping her kid gets home alive, she's a ways away from having a conversation about project based learning v. traditional models). You mention the two high profile examples - HCZ Link Whatever It Takes (This book is an excellent read by the way) & KIPP - and there lots of reasons why those models are not reproducible on a wide scale - but, we can certainly take some of their best practices and move them into the public school right?
Public schools are not going to magically change b/c of a President or Ed Secretary. They are going to change only when public opinion about what schools are and aren't and what we want them to be. This is where Charter schools - the good ones- can provide an invaluable service. If more people knew about HCZ, for example, there would be more of a push to recreate that model in more urban settings (Again - Obama promises to recreate the model in 20 cities - but has yet to do it) Also, Charter schools can experiment in ways that public schools aren't allowed to. Finally - ask a mom or student growing up in Detroit if they want to go to a Public School that they know is failing and deficient, or take a chance and attend a Charter school - we know what they would say. I think its wrong of us to deny some kids - even if it’s a small percentage - the chance to get out and get a better education as we wait for an incredibly intricate and complicated institution to change. That could be decades away - how many kids have to shafted while we wait for this change? And while we all might want to believe that this is going to happen soon – remember – we still run school calendars based on the agrarian calendar!
Great points, Ted; we could obviously debate this forever. It's clear that there are some things on which we agree.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the sorts of changes that would lead to better public schools are not the ones that charter schools experiment with. It makes me sad, but the state of our public school system, particularly for the least advantaged among us, is really a reflection on how we feel about the least advantaged among us. Charter schools are not gonna get us to realize that we must invest in all of our children; it's not gonna get us to realize that it makes sense for me to give up a little bit so that somebody else can have a little bit more. Charter schools won't undo our backward school financing system; it won't undo court decisions that have allowed for resegregation of our public schools. If we want a better school system, one that minimizes rather than entrenches inequality, we're gonna have to do a lot better than innovations from a few charter schools.
*stepping down from soapbox*
One more thought: I think that Canada is the one model doing the truly revolutionary work that might get us somewhere. Interestingly enough, however, he's not tinkering with the school model. Really, he's addressing all of the societal problems that carry over in the classroom. His kids are economically and racially isolated, so he tries to undermine that isolation. His parents are disengaged from a school system that has largely rejected them, so he finds ways to draw them back in. His kids are hungry, or need medical attention, and he finds ways to have their basic needs met. And, oh yeah, in addition, he's providing better classroom experiences, longer school days, and a longer school year. But it's almost secondary to the work HCZ is doing to improve his students' ENTIRE lives.
ReplyDeleteYou're right - we definitely agree on most things. I could argue the point a bit more a that Charter schools don't experiment with practices that would make for better schools - extended day, longer years, more teacher/administration accountability, more direct instruction all parts of many Charter Schools - have all been proven to positively effect student performance. But you are right - they are not the cure all.
ReplyDeleteHCZ does do an incredible amount of community work - which is needed to create a workable environment for schools. But unless every Stanley Drukenmiller-esque billionaire is willing to take on a different urban setting and pour their own money into the city, the model seems limited - again, unless the government ponies up. I think we agree - we do not live in a world where white suburbia is going to offer up more in taxes to pay for underserved Afr-Am/Hispanics in inner cities. Especially now. Especially with Obama in the White House. When you think about it, what we really need a Republican who "gets" education to get the kind of reform we need. A Republican who broke from the party orthodoxy and embraced a "liberal" ed policy would actually clean up electorally.
Good Stuff. Maybe when Kerry finally figures her way off the right Metro Stop and posts again, we can discuss another piece of Ed policy - SPED? Teacher's Unions? Standardized Tests? So much to discuss!
I just read this in the WaPo - it fits nicely into our discussion.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Ted. Ker, are there???
ReplyDelete