DC charter schools serve fewer at-risk students than nearby neighborhood [public] schools

Edd Doerr thinks that the  Oct 8 Washington Post online article  by Michael Alison Chandler “DC charter schools serve fewer at-risk students than nearby neighborhood [public] schools” is "Dynamite".

He noted curiously, that the Oct 9 print edition of the paper did not run the story. Here is what Edd posted in the paper online ---

The article details, with maps and charts, how about 90% of DC’s large charter 

school array serve fewer at-risk kids than nearby public schools and are rather selective, which regular public schools cannot be. As the DC charters are regarded as some of the best in the US, what does this say about charters generally? The big question is why did the Post omit this article from its Oct 9 print edition?

There is a strong consensus among educators and others that charter schools – and school voucher plans – are part of an ongoing Republican/conservative campaign to undermine and privatize public education. Diane Ravitch, Mercedes Schneider, and many others, including myself, have been writing about this for a long time.

DC School Vouchers

The Washington Post on Oct 9 did publish this story by Lyndsey Layton, ”8 on [DC] council seek end to private school vouchers.” The story refers to a letter that a majority on the DC City Council sent to a congressional committee on Oct 8 urging no further expansion of the school voucher plan imposed on the District of Columbia by Congress and the George W. Bush administration. You should be able to Google the story. Here is the comment I posted online ---

“Excellent! The Council majority accurately reflects public opinion against vouchers. Remember that in 1981 DC voters voted down a tax-credit voucher plan by 89% to 11%. Remember that DC vouchers are paid for not just by DC taxpayers but by all taxpayers nationwide.

“Let’s note also that the annual Gallup education poll in August showed that Americans nationwide oppose diverting public funds to private schools by 57% to 31%, a supermajority that has held for nearly 50 years and that is reflected in the 28 state referenda from coast to coast from 1966 through 2014.”

response to “Poor kids left behind as D.C. grows richer”

by Edd Doerr (arlinc.org)

Wash Post writer Petula Dvorak’s Aug 8 article “Poor kids left behind as D.C. grows richer” called attention to increasing poverty in the nation’s capital. Here is the response I posted in the paper on line.  

Thank you, Petula Dvorak, for reminding us of the growing gap between the poor and the more well off. But this applies not just to DC but to the whole US, where about 25% of our kids live below the poverty line, compared to western Europe, where that figure is under 10%. But the situation is even worse than this bare statistic shows us. More than 60% of US kids live in families whose highest level of education is a high school diploma, per a new study from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Even among parents with some college, 18% live in poverty and 43% have low incomes, according to the Foundation for Child Development and the Center for Law and Social Policy. Kids whose parents have at least bachelor's degrees are 14% more likely to read proficiently and 19% better at math than kids with parents with only some college.

These figures also show that the poor have more kids than the more well off, and this will only get worse in the wake of the Supreme Court's terribly wrong June 30 Hobby Lobby ruling and the nationwide Republican drive to deny women, especially poor women, access to family planning aid. Add to that the conservative drive to undermine our public schools and divert public funds to special interest private schools and to charter schools that tend to be selective and to not be adequately responsible to elected school boards.

With elections coming up in November, voters who want a fairer, more equitable America should carefully consider the above.

Secular and Religious Cities

By Gary Berg-Cross

It is perhaps not surprising to find studies measuring various religious qualities in the United States. One from 2010 is aptly called the, “2010 U.S. Religious Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study (RCMS)”.  The report was the work of Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB). It provides detailed county by county information on congregations, members, adherents and attendance for 236 different faiths groups.

Perhaps most interesting are the summaries of which are the most “religious” city/metropolitan areas.  And the results aren’t that surprising.  Salt Lake City comes out as the most religious city ( of 52 with populations > 1 million) based on what the study called its 74 percent population identifying as a religious adherent (73,487 religious adherents per 100,000 persons). Most of the other top cities (or states) were in the South as one might expect. A slightly different study, focusing on Bible belief and including smaller cities finds Knoxville TN as what they called the most Bible-Minded city.

Where are the more secular cities and states?  Again not surprising the research found them in the West and Northeast. The greater area of Portland, OR-WA was the least religious/most secular city with about 32 percent identifying as a religious adherent. States like NY and Rhode Island are about the same level. That’s less than half of Salt Lake or Mississippi which is the most religious state. DC came in as the 3^rd most secular city.

It is a bit interesting that the surveys of religious observance provides an inverse look at secularity. It will be more interesting when we have funded surveys of the various forms of secularity and non-belief.  Just as some surveys covers a wealth of religious sects, it would be interesting to see a bigger spectrum on non-belief.  We might need a comparable large secular/humanist organization to fund such a detailed look, but it might be an important barometer to measure trends. We might just need a secular angel to fund it.  Perhaps the next Reason Rally will generate enough interest to pull that off.

See a HuPo article for more on this topic.

 

Images

 

Secular City: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1396331.The_Secular_City

 

 

Hearing the Voice of Freethinking Robert Ingersoll

By Gary Berg-Cross

You may have heard that WASH is holding its annual banquet in Lynchburg, VA this year on May 25. All are welcome to come. You don't need to be a WASH member to attend. Details and registration are available at:
http://washbanquet2013.eventbrite.com/

It’s a chance to join other secularists in what many call the "belly" of the fundamentalist beast.  It’s an easy label since Lynchburg is the home of the late Rev. Jerry Falwell's evangelical Liberty University and Thomas Road Baptist Church. WASH will be e serving an excellent buffet with a cash bar and food for thought.  Our speaker will be Dr. J. Anderson Thomson and the topic will be the cognitive science of religious belief.

I’m sure that Robert Ingersoll would attend if he were alive today, but I’m glad to see his ideas and life abroad in the land. Bill Moyers had a show on in March 2013 called Fighting Creeping Creationism. The 2^nd part of the show, which you can see via the link above, was a wide-ranging conversation with journalist and historian Susan Jacoby who expounded on the role secularism and intellectual curiosity have played throughout America’s history from its founders on.

This is a topic explored in her new book, The Great Agnostic: Robert Ingersoll and American Freethought. Jacoby is the perfect person to play the role of bringing Ingersoll,  “mover and shaker” of the early Republican Party, back into mainstream discussion.  Seven score years ago Ingersoll did the same secular resurrection for Tom Paine.

For most of us Ingersoll, like Paine is largely forgotten today although earlier he was listened to on topics of the separation of church and state, Darwin’s theory of evolution,  women's rights and much more.

His Centennial Oration gives one a feeling about the timely relevance of his thought:

THE Declaration of Independence is the grandest, the bravest, and the profoundest political document that was ever signed by the representatives of a people. It is the embodiment of physical and moral courage and of political wisdom....

Such things had occasionally been said by some political enthusiast in the olden time, but, for the first time in the history of the world, the representatives of a nation, the representatives of a real, living, breathing, hoping people, declared that all men are created equal. With one blow, with one stroke of the pen, they struck down all the cruel, heartless barriers that aristocracy, that priestcraft, that king-craft had raised between man and man. They struck down with one immortal blow that infamous spirit of caste that makes a God almost a beast, and a beast almost a god. With one word, with one blow, they wiped away and utterly destroyed, all that had been done by centuries of war — centuries of hypocrisy — centuries of injustice.

What more did they do? They then declared that each man has a right to live. And what does that mean? It means that he has the right to make his living. It means that he has the right to breathe the air, to work the land, that he stands the equal of every other human being beneath the shining stars; entitled to the product of his labor — the labor of his hand and of his brain.

What more? That every man has the right to pursue his own happiness in his own way. Grander words than. these have never been spoken by man.”

 

If you would like to hear more about Ingersoll’s “controversial” ideas come to the  Ingersoll Oratory contest in Dupont Circle starting at noon June 30^th, 2013. There’s a lot of great oratory to chose from, the great Ingersoll  delivered more than 1,200 speeches to packed houses across the country in the late 1800s. His arguments were usually succinct, thought provoking, insightful and still speaks to contemporary issues.
Fifteen speakers will select their favorite pieces to orate some of these ideas.  Susan Jacoby will be there as one of the judges making it a great event for secular DC.

Also of note, WASH board member Steven Lowe offers walking tours of Ingersoll’s life in DC. Upcoming are morning walks June 20th and 29th.

 

Sunday, June 23, 10 am: short version** - meet at SW corner 13th & E St. NW

Saturday, June 29, 9:30 am: long version* - meet at 450 F St. NW

*Long Version: a 1.5 mile walk lasting 2 hours, visiting 11 locations.

- Meet at 450 F Street NW.( the Building Museum/Judiciary Square METRO street level)

 

These take you through the oldest parts of Washington, D.C., to visit the sites where Ingersoll lived, worked, or spoke.

Images

Ingersoll quotes: https://www.facebook.com/ingersollorator?group_id=0

Quote on religious divisions: http://choiceindying.com/2013/02/02/robert-ingersoll-the-great-agnostic/ and http://skepticalteacher.wordpress.com/2012/08/11/happy-birthday-to-robert-green-ingersoll-the-great-agnostic/

 

For an Excerpt see: The Great Agnostic: Robert Ingersoll and American Freethought

A Cultural May Evening in DC

by Gary Berg-Cross

DC offers some interesting cultural (and free)opportunities.  One of them I heard about recently is SEAD - The network for Sciences, Engineering, Arts and Design. SEAD broad goal is to facilitate research, dialogue, and communication within and among those working in the SEAD disciplines. .It's one of those active communities that working towards:

"healthy development of neighborhoods, cities and regions and our competitive edge in economic, educational, and social wellbeing relies upon new ways of thinking as well as transformative efforts that integrate disciplines and domains. "

There ideas on "transdisciplinary, collaborative work that combines aspects of arts, humanities, sciences, and engineering for fostering innovation to improve health, education, productivity and community sustainability" sounds interesting and I'll be glad to learn more about all of this at the Thursday May  16, 2013 meeting at the D.C. Art Science Evening Rendezvous (DASER)  (doors open at 5:30)

 It's at the Keck Center, 500 Fifth St., N.W., Room 100.  

DASER co-sponsored by Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences (CPNAS) and Leonardo, the International Society for the Arts, Sciences, and Technology is itself an interesting cultural institution. 

DASER fosters community and discussion around the intersection of art and science. providing:

" a snapshot of the cultural environment and foster interdisciplinary networking. "
 

Here is some additional info on what promises to be a great DASER session with really interesting speakers:

 

5:30 to 6:00 p.m.       Check in

6:00 to 6:10 p.m.       Welcoming remarks and community sharing.
Anyone in the audience currently working within the intersections of art and science will have 30 seconds (or so)  to share their work. These are usually presented as teasers so that those who are interested can seek you out during social & networking time following the  event.

6:10 to 7:10 p.m.       Panelists' presentations (15 minutes or so each)  For May the schedule is like this:

 Roger Malina, Distinguished Professor of Art and Technology,
 and Professor of Physics, University of Texas, Dallas and
 Executive Editor, Leonardo Publications, MIT Press    

Gunalan Nadarajan  Dean, School of Art and Design, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor                         

Bill O'Brien Senior Advisor for Program Innovation
National Endowment for the Arts,    Washington, D.C.

 Carol Strohecker, Director, Center for Design Innovation,
University of North Carolina system, Winston-Salem

After Discussion  around 8 or so there is a 8:10 to 9:00 p.m.       Reception

You can register for this DASER event at http://may16daser.eventbrite.com/#

 Visit CPNAS's website for more information: http://www.cpnas.org/events/051613.html

Happy Earth Day

by Gary Berg-Cross

Along with natures' freebie of the 17 year brood II cicadas we have Earth Day to celebrate this spring in DC. It's one of my favorite things to celebrate and  I wrote this to enjoy and remember it with my grandchildren.

You and I are part of the earth, connected & united with all its life, and everything else that is on this planet and home we call EARTH.

It deservers our love, respect and care.

Today especially, but every day you, me and everyone else should wake up with the idea that we will  be a good steward for the planet. 

Wake up with the idea that you (and I) will do something special to make our home earth a better, stronger and safer place for all life.

  

Faces in a Museum

By Gary Berg-Cross

The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is one of DC’s gems- architecturally and by content.  Every few years they feature the results of the 7 panel judged Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. This year they feature 48 “faces” that stare back at you as you voyeur through. If you come in from the NPG side you are eyed by Jill Wissmiller’s 2011 ‘video portrait’ “The Gilding of Lily."  It's a long way from the small portraits of the Dutch school but continues the Renaissance spirit of moving from religious portraits that narrate the world through faith to very human ones.  This continues shift towards a broader intellectual & scientific understanding of humanity and uses modern technology like video to express its ideas. The section from The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief (Ed. Tom Flynn) uses Passmore's 3 categories for art - entertainment, telic and 'serious' art (Guernica as an example). all types are hear and perhaps mixes of all 3 with many bringing the excitement & perhaps whimsey of the first type along with the iconic impact of a cause for the 2nd.

 I’m not sure I agreed with the judges on the best, but then that’s part of the charm.  You can walk through the rooms and be your own judge.  You may stroll by an iconic women’s figure made from  100 pounds of rice. I wonder what artists of the early Renaissance would say as they strove to portray lifelike human forms with correct proportions.  Much of that is here, but in forms that astound and challenge new thinking  for idea of humanism.

Life raft was another favorite of mine with a human, telic back story. It was painted  by Katie O’Hagan in 2011, and she explains it's theme and purpose:

during a time of great personal upheaval. During this period, I came to truly understand, for the first time, the vital role that art plays in my life. As most of the solid ground I had depended on seemed to erode away, my art emerged as the only thing keeping my head above water. I woke up one morning with this image in my head. I built the raft myself and spent the next couple of months completing the painting. It’s a very literal image, and I felt quite exposed and not entirely comfortable making it at first. Now I see it as something positive to come out of a bad situation. It also marked a turning point in my work, as it has led to a move toward more personal paintings, beyond the straightforward portraiture I was doing before.

You’ll find all 48 finalists on the NPG site with descriptions from the creators. It’s a feast for humanist sentiments. Check out a slideshow with all the winners here.

DC 2013 Environmental Film Festival is here

by Gary Berg-Cross


We celebrate lots of things in March. We've already had Women’s Day - March 08  and today (March 12)  is  Brazilian Librarian’s Day. The US  sent American Library Association (ALA) President Molly Raphael to  Brazil speak on two of her presidential initiatives: advocacy for libraries, and diversity in leadership.


Coming up we have St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) and the longer March 12-24, 2013) and always wonderful DC Environmental Film Festival. The Festival scheduled is online although some cancellations do happen.

This year it features 190 documentary, feature, animated, archival, experimental and children's films from around the world. It started off with the very timely:

SPOIL

Heavy crude oil extraction from the northern Alberta tar sands is arguably one of the world’s most environmentally devastating industries... 

There are more than 75 venues around Washington, DC, which besides our regular theatrics  gives neat value added trips to museums, embassies, libraries, & universities. Some screenings are free to the public and it is wonderful when they include discussion with filmmakers or scientists.

As with last year you can watch some past Festival films on EFF's channel at SnagFilms.com for FREE!

A special focus this year is very appropriate to our Potomac and Chesapeake locals - the critical role of rivers and watersheds.