Book Review: The Smartest Kids in the World

For book club, I just finished "The Smartest Kids in the World" by Amanda Ripley. She surveys the education systems in Finland, South Korea, and Poland through the eyes of three exchange students, offering her observations on what makes these countries' education systems more successful than our own. Rigor is a concept they all emphasize, as opposed to the moon bounce of shifting standards found in the United States. This is a time when our federalist approach fails us, at times, as seen in the debate about Common Core. I don't know much about this, though I know that the debate extends to places like Indiana which has "rebranded" it, so to speak.

I've long known about the success of Finland, which has outperformed American children for decades. I think their culture of excellence is particularly when it comes to training teachers. We used to joke all of the time in college that "ElEd" was the easy major, particularly popular amongst Holy Cross exchange students who could not hack it in more difficult majors. I don't mean to suggest that so many of my teacher friends are not bright. Quite the contrary: many of them are very talented and great at what they do. But the profession is disserved that so many go into teaching without the proper training and vetting. I can't believe that someone can teach math in junior or senior high without a Math major, for example. Or specialties can be taught by someone without the proper training.

Ripley addresses canards like diversity that the left uses to demonstrate that poor, minority kids can't succeed. Schools with mixes of immigrant population do just fine in Finland, where kids are expected to learn. No excuses. You don't pass the tests, you don't succeed. End of story. I was also impressed that she didn't seem to bring her personal agenda, like squelching NCLB or testing or charters. The BASIS school, which has one in DC, is an example of a successful charter that probably doesn't have a lily white, middle class student body. But its PISA scores are off the charts. She contrasts that with the $30K private DC school that sucks in math and has a struggling football program. I do think she has a point about sports, but that is so ingrained in our culture now.

I wonder if any of the students she profiled will go into teaching? I'd be curious.

The Beating in Detroit

It's been a few weeks now since the awful beating of white motorist Steve Utash in Detroit. Charlie LeDuff ponders the same questions we all have about it:

Sadly, the talk after the attack on Mr. Utash wasn’t about a man who stopped to do the right thing. It wasn’t about Ms. Hughes, the gun-toting angel of mercy who saw no color except the red of his blood. It wasn’t about the use of justifiable force or the value of carrying a sidearm.

Instead white people asked: Where were the old-school civil rights advocates who usually spoke out against such beatings? Where was Reverend Al? Why did it take Jesse Jackson almost two weeks to say something? Not that any of them really wanted famous civil rights leaders coming to town and marching around. What they seemed to be demanding was an admission from black leaders that blacks harbor racial hatred, too.

Thank God at least one woman stopped to help him. But coupled with that awful shooting of the convenience store owner near where my brother used to live, and you wonder where God was in any of this.  You see him later in the generosity of strangers who have contributed to funds to support these families. But something is terribly wrong that this occurs at all in society, and that society allows many of the perpetrators to escape without punishment. I hope they can catch the murderers in the convenience store case and that that more arrests are made in the beating of Mr. Utash. At a minimum, I hope the limited consciences of these individuals gnaw at them and they live daily with the guilt and shame of being soulless. And the families begin to heal.

Detroit's Comeback?

Reports the WSJ: 

Mr. Orr's plan will free up more than $100 million annually for revitalization. New police chief James Craig has already implemented new IT systems that have contributed to a 14% year-over-year decline in homicides. More than 3,200 streetlights have been replaced, with about 50,000 new installations planned by the end of 2015. New mayor Mike Duggan and the city council have formed a land bank to clear blight and intend to cut property tax bills by 5% to 20% this year.

Bankruptcy is also renewing public confidence and helping spur business investment, which is critical to expanding growth from the booming downtown out. Racial tensions have receded.

Of course, the Obama Administration is going to try to take credit because they've waved millions in the city's face. But true credit goes to Governor Snyder, first, and Kevyn Orr. They've teamed up to start Detroit back on the (long) road to recovery.

Easter 2014

Easter was good this year.

We shopped, we ate out (a lot), we mostly picked our some furniture. We went to 8:30 am mass and then to brunch at Bistro Cacao. And we worked out, ate lamb, watched the Office. And it was calm in our world.

Easter is one of those holidays fraught with tension, when it's just us. It has not been the best of holidays. But this year, it was fine. Except for the drama with the drunk kid at Hawk & Dove. Gosh I hope he was OK.

So Easter was good. Though I think my favorite scene was the little boy who wrapped his legs around his mom when he took communion. And also, looking at pictures of my super cute nephews.

Holy Thursday

It'll be the first Easter "alone" in a few years. I went to Holy Thursday mass today at St. Matthew's. This day, part of the triduum, was always my favorite of Holy Week. I remember going with mom as a little kid, seeing the church all bare and solemn, the altar servers filling rows of pews. The washing of the feet. The incense. The candle lit ceremony, the procession, the canopy...the hymns, the silence. The build up to Good Friday and the Holy Saturday blessing of the Easter baskets, with their potato salad, ham, eggs, kielbasa, and the other Easter feast foods. It has been over twenty years now, I think, since I've been to that type of service. And I think I will remember those masses more than most of the ones I've attended in my entire life (I'm guessing at least 2,000?!).

I ran into one of our lawyers after Palm Sunday mass and we had tea, chatting a bit about Catholicism and college and times when you fall away. And I said this is why you trust your child, to continue on in the faith they were raised. And maybe they will remain or maybe they will drift away, only to return when they leave campus.

On a somewhat related note, there are reports that Jews are being ordered to register in East Ukraine. Now, more than ever, is time to speak out for people of faith, people who have been persecuted in the past, during one of the holiest times of the year.

Chicago

We had lovely weather in Chicago this weekend, enough warmth for two runs along Lake Michigan in shorts. There were also good meals--including at the Slurping Turtle and Henri. Not to mention time with good friends--E, D, etc. I'm sorry Michelle could not make it. We're a little at a loss of what we can do or how we can help. It sounds like her surgery will be next month, though, which I guess is a step in the right direction. How scary and helpless, though. And it makes you realize how you take good health for granted.

It also makes me sad that I'm so far apart from these ladies. There is nothing like old friends. Nothing.

Sad

My SIL's family has been in my thoughts and prayers since last Friday when her BIL was killed in a tragic work accident in Detroit. Their seven year is so close to my nephew. And it breaks my heart that three children have lost their dad. That a week ago, everything was fine, and they were celebrating Spring and Tigers baseball and anticipating Easter. And tomorrow there will be a funeral.

I think I said a week or so ago that I've been struggling with feelings of inequality, with abundance, with entitlement, with selfishness, maybe. And I feel lucky and guilty: thank God this is not my brother, my sister-in-law, my nephews that are feeling the loss. Which is not really true, of course. I know my brother and SIL will be their for their nieces and nephew, and that family will remain close and comforting and supportive. But damn. This is absolutely horrible. 36 is far too young. Granted, any age is too young to lose your father. But it should never happen when you are in the second grade. Or in high school. And no amount of money or financial assistance or lawsuit can change things.

There are other awful stories coming from Detroit...Basil, killed at his store while surviving cancer, a father who tried to help a kid he accidentally hit with his car who gets beaten into a coma. I think we all can be kinder to each other. And maybe offer more compassion, too. Because you never know.

Ten Random Thoughts of the Day

Can't believe S is in China...

Buckley v. Valeo is probably going to be struck down at some point, unless Rs lose the Court.

Good music has been tough to discover this year. I hope I haven't jumped the shark in discovering it...

New York, Chicago, jury duty...going to be an active month.

Bachelorette parties change as you grow older. Cuba Libra at 7, then home by 11. No more bar hopping in Adams Morgan (not that I ever did so much of that...).

Yoga twice this week. It's probably a good goal to do that more often, right?

Winter can't come back now that the baseball season has started, right?

I was not a fan of the HIMYM finale, like many, many others. Though Josh Radnor sells the decision to kill off the mother (spoiler!) as good as anyone, and I give the creators credit for sticking to their vision. Most shows aren't crafted so well. That being said, I wish the show had ended with the adorable yellow TM umbrella conversation. And I think it is tragically sad that the mother died at only 40.

This NYC dinner on Saturday will be epic, though I'm not too eager about sweetbreads the sequel.

No surprise that Vince Gray lost the primary. I don't know how I feel about Muriel Bowser, though I'm glad she will have competition from David Catania. And I'm glad that Charles Allen won; Tommy Wells has been a good councilman overall, and I'm sure Allen will be so as well. 

Blessings

Lately, life has been bittersweet. I've felt like things are OK overall...healthy, employed, financially secure, time spent with friends, etc. But you hear things that are unsettling...a friend who uses her grocery money to pay for the vet. A colleague's husband with cancer. People still struggling to find the right job, to cope with an unexpected bill, to not where they want to be a certain point in life. And I see extravagance and waste and entitlement all of the time. And it's not right. And then I catch myself sounding like one of those liberals whining about inequality. Just ugh.

So perspective is something to maintain, and the knowledge that life does not stay still, and what remains today can change by tomorrow. And to count your personal blessings while considering the needs and wants of others. And to resist entitlement. So this is how I'm thinking lately.