“all these are but dreams and shadows; the shadows that hide the real world from our eyes.”

― Arthur Machen, The Great God Pan

Much of this month has been spent traveling the byways and highways of the American South. 

The boy is a rising sophomore, and we’ve begun exploring the possibility of pursuing sports at the next level. That means in addition to travel baseball tournaments, which become even more scattered as the player ages, we are visiting college baseball camps. 

“Camp” isn’t quite the right word; it’s more like paying to drive 200-plus miles to throw 25 pitches and then go home.

Some of you may be protesting that it’s way too early to be seeking commitments from colleges, but that’s not what we’re chasing this summer. This summer is about opening eyes – his and theirs – to possibilities and forging relationships for the future. 

So far, we’ve been to Alabama and the University of Southern Mississippi. We loved Southern Miss.

When I asked if he could see himself attending school at the University of Southern Mississippi, he responded in the affirmative. He liked the size of the school and loved the campus. The baseball speaks for itself. This all goes in the win column. 

Four to six hours in the car allows ample time for conversation. I recall how, in my late teens, I gained a glimpse of what lay behind my father’s persona. It took a while to know the man instead of just the role. I don’t want my son to wait that long. So we talk…about everything.

Sometimes, it’s heavy, and sometimes it’s just inquiries about what I experienced growing up. What were my teen years like?

Some tales are told, while others are held back, waiting for a better day to be retold. 

Oftentimes, I get a glimpse of just how much the world has changed since I was his age. 

I have had a long love affair with the radio on extended car trips. Few things bring me more joy than sliding up and down the dial, exploring local offerings as we travel down the highway. Talk, country, rock, and top 40 radio all flow through the car speakers. 

It is a love affair he doesn’t share.

“Hey, in 20 minutes, would it be all right if I play some of my music?” he asks 30 miles past Birmingham. 

I reply, “Sure, can we just wait until this station’s signal fades?“ It was a classic country station that I thoroughly enjoyed. 

Puzzled, he asked, “What do you mean?“

“You know, when we can’t pick up the signal anymore.”

He was still obviously confused. “You mean you can’t listen to the same station from Nashville to Hattiesburg.”

It started to dawn on me that he had no idea how traditional radio worked. At first, I was incredulous, but then I began to think. Why would he be familiar? 

He’s not traveling through his teenage years with an AM radio glued to his ear or experiencing the joy of finding deep tracks on an FM station. He’s getting his music through Spotify, curated by his peers and social media. 

At first, I felt sorry for him and what he was missing, but then I thought about the deep emotional connection he has with his music. He may have found it differently, but he still sings along as it booms through the stereo. He is still ready to drop hands when I mention that some of it sucks. 

It remains his, and it still provides what music has always offered. 

It made me reflect on all the other things in his life that are different from what I experienced. Things that people of my generation regularly lambast as inferior and detrimental – phones, AI, social media, texting. 

We old farts love to spin tales about being gone for hours with our parents having no idea where we were; the only instructions were to be home by the time the streetlights came on. We forget the number of hours we spent perched in front of the idiot box, rotting our brains out, or the number of hours in a closet, cord stretched to the fullest, phone glued to our ear. 

Hell, it wasn’t uncommon for me to easily knock out four hours a day before Mom’s yelling finally got to me. 

The point is that we all have fond memories of our youth and the process of coming of age. Regardless of the era in which we grew up, it was the best time to be a kid. 

Slipping on the rose-colored glasses on occasion is fine, but we need to remember that our kids aren’t living in our time. Our education policies shouldn’t prepare them to live in our world, but rather in the world they are going to create. 

That means a world populated by phones and AI. 

I can be sad that he doesn’t know coverage maps for radio stations, but he needs to be fluent in AI, including its strengths and weaknesses, to be fully prepared for the world he’ll inherit.

He needs to be able to manage phone time without our input. 

Those are the most obvious elements, but there are a lot more. 

Just as with every generation, parents must be cautious that today’s protections do not become tomorrow’s hindrances. 

Remember, change is the only constant. 

– – –

In that light, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out today’s Supreme Court ruling. The Court Justices ruled 6-3 that a Maryland public school district’s refusal to allow opt-outs burdens parents’ First Amendment right to freely exercise their religion. That opens the door for parents to prevent their children from reading certain books with LGBQT characters.

Ok… To parents raised in different times, the books may make them uncomfortable. However, these are not those times, and today’s generation is more comfortable with LGBTQ issues.  Why would they prevent them from learning about the people they share the planet with? 

You can still disagree with some of the principles, but at least that disagreement will stem from an informed perspective. 

Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito said the court has long recognized the rights of parents to direct their children’s religious upbringing. 

The books, he said, “unmistakably convey a particular viewpoint about same-sex marriage and gender.“

“And the (school) Board has specifically encouraged teachers to reinforce this viewpoint and to reprimand any children who disagree,“ he wrote.

I don’t disagree to some extent, but the way you counter that is simple. You talk to your kids. You have frank, honest conversations. I guarantee that they are having those kinds of discussions on the playground and in the hallways. 

That said, those honest, frank conversations need to come from school officials as well. Has simply dismissing parental complaints not worked out well now? 

One of the reasons public schools are consistently under fire these days is the perception that they have declared themselves the sole arbitrators of morality. Parents have become hip to the game of pretending to consult and then ignoring. This happens all the time, and when left with no recourse, individuals often pursue actions that are not beneficial to anyone. 

Once again, here we are. 

– – –

The Tennessee State Board of Education is considering a change to how schools deal with some disruptive students. 

A 2022 state rule mandates that schools conduct formal assessments to identify behavioral causes and inform behavior intervention plans when a student displays dangerous or highly disruptive behavior.

The proposed rule under consideration by the state board of education would modify existing guidelines to permit schools to transfer a student labeled as a “disruptive force“ to a more restrictive environment before completing a functional behavioral assessment.

Disability advocates are endorsing the idea with some caveats. 

“Behavioral issues among students remain a significant challenge in K-12 schools, with educators reporting that these problems have become increasingly severe,“ said J.C. Bowman, executive director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, a Nashville-based teachers association. “Violent outbursts from students pose a risk to both teachers and fellow students. Nonetheless, it is essential to ensure that students are placed in suitable education environments.”

Jeff Strand, public policy director for the Tennessee Disability Coalition, echos Bowman’s caveat. Saying it is “very, very important that schools do not rush into this option.“

“Moving a student to a more restrictive setting is a big deal, and this rule change should not be taken as permission to do this routinely or without trying other options first,“ Strand said.

At their May meeting, state board member Jordan Mollenhour expressed concerns about the timeline for conducting mandated formal behavioral assessments. Mollenhour noted that he was worried about a child spending months in a restrictive environment before the evaluation was completed.

“Should we provide very specific guidance? If you’re going to pull them out, can we shorten that window so the child is not being forgotten?“ Mollenhour asked officials from the Tennessee Department of Education.

TDOE General Counsel Taylor Jenkins responded that while there is no strict deadline for completing assessments, the department generally suggests a timeframe of 45 to 60 days. This guidance allows for thorough and reflective evaluations, ensuring the best outcomes.

The state board of education will hear public comment on the proposed rule on July 24 before a final vote.

– – –

In case you were worried that we’d stopped arguing about about vouchers, fear not. The battle rages on. 

This week, it was announced by the Tennessee Department of Education that they won’t track the number of students enrolled in the state’s voucher program who were enrolled in a private school the previous year. 

According to ChalkbeatTN:

Tennessee families do not have to report their previous school enrollment in the new statewide voucher program application, a gap that will leave Tennesseans in the dark about whether the program will significantly expand private school access for public school students or send millions in public funds to students already enrolled in private schools.

I’m not surprised, but this is not consistent with other states. ChalkbeatTN goes on to report:

States like Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, and Alabama regularly collect and publish data surrounding previous school enrollment, and lawmakers have used similar data as a marker to gauge which communities the programs are reaching. In March, Alabama officials released data showing more than 66% of applicants to the program were already private school or homeschooled students. In the first year Florida’s voucher program expanded, the state released data showing about 69% of students were already enrolled in private schools.

This argument has always been a losing one for me. Kids have 12 years of mandated schooling; why would you insist they burn one to satisfy your ideology? 

The numbers on previously enrolled private school kids are good for one thing, fueling class warfare. The assumption is that only wealthy people attend private schools, and thus, this is seen as the rich rewarding themselves. That is just not true. 

Secondly, I’m constantly fascinated by our continual vilification of something we all desire. 

Am I happy with my life? Absolutely.

If I had to do it again, would I make most of the same decisions? It’s likely.

Do I wish money wasn’t a constant concern? Hell yea.

If I had the money, would I use it to afford my child the best opportunities to reach their full potential? We all know the answer to that.

That said, if someone wanted to be creative and put a potential governor on vouchers, they would look at a recent court ruling out of Ohio.

Under the state’s current voucher plan, not a dime of public money goes to parents who receive a voucher. Every bit of it is sent directly to the school.

Stephen Dyer, a former state representative, explains why that’s a problem:

That’s right. This whole money-following-the-kid/parental-choice narrative that voucher proponents are still spilling out is complete, utter Grade-A Bullshit.

“In 1999, the money did go to parents and kids. Page was quite concerned about this payment change because the Ohio Constitution bans state establishment of religious schools. And if state money flows directly to religious schools that rely heavily on taxpayer subsidies (she mentioned that some private schools have 75% or more of their kids on vouchers), that is establishment and unconstitutional.

“By bestowing participating private religious schools with complete control over prospective students’ participation, the “school choice“ here is made by the private school, not “as the result of independent decisions of parents and students.””

It’s as if the original creators of the Voucher program carefully crafted the legislation to pass judicial muster. Then, when they got a favorable ruling, the gloves came off.”

This is where the dilemma comes in. If five years from now, you demonstrate that there are private schools in Tennessee where over 75% of students are being funded by the state, you may have an argument that the state is, in fact, creating and financing separate school systems. Because those private schools wouldn’t be in business with government funding. This would potentially be a constitutional violation.

This is likely why the state couldn’t just use the TISA formula for funding vouchers. 

This raises an interesting dilemma. 

– – –

This week, a local middle school picked up a check from the frontman of Old Dominion. The country band, not the college. 

The money came in response to rumors that the school may be cutting its band program. 

According to Principal and dear friend Gary Hughes, the decision came after the longtime band director left for another job last year, resulting in a drop in enrollment.

Hughes said that other arts programs at the school consequently saw an increase in enrollment. That ultimately led him and his team to reallocate arts funding from Metro Nashville Public Schools to support those programs and to cut the band program.

Hughes said the school’s string, choir, drama, and visual arts programs continue to thrive and expressed gratitude for the parents and community members who took the initiative to raise money to support the band program.

This makes sense, and obviously, this is intended to be a feel-good story, which it is; however, the idea of cutting the band is preposterous to me. With all the money that MNPS spends on specialty programming, they can’t find the money for something as essential as a band program?

The other thing that comes to mind is, once again, we are presented with a vision of inequity from a school district that endlessly preaches equity. 

How many MNPS middle schools have a thriving strings program? A choir? What about visual arts? 

This is no criticism directed at Hughes – few principals are more dedicated to meeting the needs of their students – but rather a criticism of a system that continually puts slogans over actions. 

Inequities exist throughout the system, and in some cases, they should be because student needs are not the same. 

According to The Tennessean, the school’s fundraising campaign aims to raise $92,000 by June 30 to hire a full-time band instructor. However, with the donation from the Ramsey Foundation, the school now has enough to hire a part-time band instructor.

I am extremely happy for the students at this Nashville Middle School. Parents and community members deserve accolades for rising to the school’s needs. 

But can we stop pretending? Can we stop posturing?

In other words, can we have frank, honest conversations?

Can we put students over ideology?

– –

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Categories: Education