Newspaper Page Text
4A
♦ TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2006
OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Don Moncrief Foy S. Evans
Managing Editor Editor Emeritus
Polls not always reliable
We enjoy reading the results of
polls as much as anyone, but we
often wonder about their accu
racy. Or, worse yet, we worry about the
people who respond to the polls.
As reported in this newspaper last
Thursday, only 40 percent of respon
dents to a poll said that President Bush
is handling the economy well.
This result comes in the face of the fact
that the economy, for a couple of years,
has been growing at a healthy rate. The
fact that the Federal Reserve has raised
interest rates each time it met for more
than two years, until last week, reflects
the econo
my’s robust
ness.
Yet more
than half of
Americans do
not believe
that the
economy is in
good shape.
Can this be a
result of false
informa
tion that has
been fed to
them by the
mainstream
media? Truth
of the matter,
most people
have no way of knowing the answer,
unless they rely on sources that often
are slanted.
Polls on most subjects are merely a way
for some organization to make news.
When potential voters say how they will
vote, polls are more likely to be accurate.
Polls asking opinions on the economy or
how the war is being fought lack cred
ibility because most people questioned
do not have first hand knowledge of the
subjects.
None of us know as much as we would
like to know and our opinions on many
subjects are a result of information we
have received through the media.
We believe that it is wise to take the
results of most polls with a grain of
salt.
Kyoto treaty a trap
The Kyoto Treaty would require the
United States to cut back on indus
trial growth in order to reduce the
release of pollutants into the ozone.
It would tie the hands of industries in
this country.
President Bush and the Senate have
rejected the treaty, because it exempts
from these stringent requirements such
growing economies as China and South
Korea.
If provisions of the Kyoto Treaty are
imposed on this country’s industries it
would hasten the time when the United
States would become a second rate
nation.
We are concerned that one of the lead
ing Republican candidates for President
in 2008 Sen. John McCain has come
out in favor of adoption of this treaty by
the United States.
We have trouble believing that anyone
concerned about our country’s competi
tiveness in the global economy would
want to put us at such a disadvantage.
We hope that Georgia’s Senators and
our Representatives in Congress will use
their influence to abort any efforts to
change our present stance on this issue.
Send your Letters to the Editor to:
The Houston Home Journal
P.O. Box 1910 • Perry, Ga 31069 or
Email: hhj@evansnewspapers.com
This result comes In the
face of the fact that the
economy, for a couple
of years, has been
growing at a healthy
rate. The fact that
the Federal Reserve
has raised interest
rates each time it met
for more than two
years, until last week,
reflects the economy's
robustness.
NCLB based on flawed concept
The federal No Child Left Behind
law was adopted with good
intentions. Much of the law
makes sense. Some of the assump
tions, demands and expectations are
unrealistic.
The Houston County Board of
Education can point to examples where
NCLB’s rigid rules result in inaccurate
assessments of a school’s performance.
Personally, I have trouble with point
ing fingers at schools as “underperform
ing”, rather than saying that students
at a school are underperforming.
A basic concept of NCLB is that all
young people, regardless of their cul
ture, family backgrounds, economic
status and even mental capacity should
all perform at the same level.
It is a fallacy that all children are
equal and that they all will perform
at the same level, unless you strive for
mediocrity rather than excellence.
Many government education pro
grams have failed because they are
short of reality.
School Board Member Skip Dawkins
said last week, “We’re all for No Child
Left Behind and AYE It has enabled us
to emphasize things not done before,
but it has its pitfalls.”
One part of No Child Left Behind
assumes that it is the fault of a school
when students, as a whole, fail to meet
certain test levels. Students are permit
ted to ask for a transfer from a failing
school to another. Some people believe
that vouchers, which are permitted on
a limited scale now, could solve all edu
cation problems, when using them on a
large scale would be disastrous.
An example of NCLB’s flaws is that
T^ssesn
Political indoctrination seeping Into private
Many of my friends in the world
of talk radio extol the virtues
of private school education
versus what at least one national star,
Neal Boortz, refers to as a “govern
ment education.”
I’ve often agreed. But every year
when my kids return to private school
- the same one dad attended, along
with other dinosaurs - some new hor
ror story surfaces about the school’s
wacky liberal slant.
Last year it was the otherwise
good history teacher who right away
informed my son’s class that Ronald
Reagan was the worst president in
history.
Wonder of wonders, my once lib
ertarian son is now a proud liberal
Democrat. (As he’s a great kid, I’ll
respect his political leanings.)
This year began with a bizarre mis
sive from the upper-school principal.
She’s likable, if a bit obsessed with
East Coast prep-school perceptions.
Unfortunately, her views appear to be
symbolic of a disturbing trend creep
ing from “government schools” into
private academies and prep schools.
Parents of these children are writing
bigger and fatter checks every year in
hopes that their children will receive a
solid education, minus political indoc
trination to the left or right.
Worse, this rambling “welcome back”
letter was addressed to parents as well
as the students.
Its deep-thinking, intellectual author
tries to disarm readers with the pream
ble of, “Whatever your political lean
ings,” - uh oh, here it comes - “you
should all make a point of seeing the
film of A 1 Gore’s lecture on global
warming, “An Inconvenient Truth.’”
She also recommends a reading of
Tom Friedman’s “The World Is Flat.”
Gee, wasn’t that yesteryear’s liter
ary sensation? Could it be that this
school letter seeks to enlighten parents
OPINION
an outstanding school, which is show
ing improvement each year, can be
considered underperforming because
some students lack the background and
capacity to score high when tested.
You can’t throw a blanket over a
whole school system and expect good
results unless there are provisions for
students who might never perform
well under any circumstances. Asking
teachers to perform miracles is unre
alistic.
All children are not like peas in a
pod. NCLB assumes that the children
with disabilities, those from a minority
or dysfunctional families are capable
of learning as much and at the same
speed as other children. They aren’t.
Some parents get out of sorts when
reminded of this, but facts are facts.
Sometimes members of Congress
(probably most of the time) pass laws
with good intentions but without fully
understanding what they are doing.
A bill is under consideration in
Congress that would make some revi
sions in the No Child Left Behind Law.
Before making changes in NCLB it
would be wise for members of Congress
to receive input from classroom teach
ers, as well as administrators, to learn
what is practical and realistic.
- most of whom hold advanced degrees
in subjects far beyond education peda
gogy - when its author may herself be
behind the learning curve?
Anyway, let’s read our letter in a
sincere mood.
Gore’s controversial film and
Friedman’s widely studied book are
quickly presented as works that,
“taken together, lay out an argument
for curriculum in schools, for corporate
and political decision-making in public
life, and for personal choices each indi
vidual must make on a daily basis.”
If these works of ideas are theories,
I’m thinking, why should they become
school curriculum, much less personal
choices?
Couldn’t this educator’s attempt
to challenge our deficient intellectual
capabilities at least be an impartial
one?
Let’s read on. On Friedman: “The
flattening of the world has and will
have a profound effect on all of us, and
the reality of globalization has and
will affect curriculum in schools like
ours.”
I may not agree with her opinion or
Friedman’s judgments, but at least I
know now that she considers his well
tread theories to be facts.
Apparently, Gore’s work is no mere
hypothesis either. By the second para
graph of the letter, the writer is ponder
ing the “most characteristically human
ability (necessity?) to deny truths we
just don’t want to face.”
Then comes this admonition: “We
Foy
Evans
Columnist
foyevansl9@cox.net
£pMH|& l
Matt
Towery
Columnist
Morris News Service
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
That would be a simple, intelligent
approach to improving public educa
tion.
■ ■■
I received some feedback when I
asked last week why celebrities are
permitted to surround themselves with
gun-toting thugs called bodyguards,
who have a tendency to rough up
ordinary citizens. All of my e-mail
condemned the practice and one per
son pointed out the celebrities want
bodyguards to protect them with guns
so that the celebrities can campaign for
gun control. Sounds about right.
■ ■■
Some of the excitement in the foot
ball rivalry between Warner Robins
High and Northside High will be miss
ing this year. A region championship
cannot be at stake. They are in dif
ferent classifications, at least for this
year. WRHS is Class 5-A. Northside is
Class 4-A.
School classifications are based on
average daily attendance. The assump
tion is that Northside’s attendance this
year will put it in 5-A next year.
Still, the rivalry is fierce. Better get
there early for a seat.
* * *
Something we all should remem
ber. The United States gave a reactor,
which can be used to make a nuclear
bomb, to Iran during the Cold War. In
a foolish attempt to bribe North Korea,
our country gave it our nuclear tech
nology. ‘Nuff said.
all must work hard to face some of the
inevitability of the truths we don’t like,
and change our choices to reflect our
deeper understanding.”
I’ve paid a king’s ransom for this
rubbish.
Something tells me that “intellectual
ly challenging theories” posed by some
one such as conservative Pat Buchanan
in his new book somehow aren’t going
to make it onto this administrator’s
reading list.
And clearly we need not consider
alternative concepts to Gore’s theory.
But action is louder than words. This
second-in-command of my son’s school
has created a committee at the institu
tion to be known as the “Flat World’s
Society.”
Why stop there? How about anoth
er group, the “Pseudo-Intellectual
Subliminal Liberalism Conversion
Association of Educators Society?”
To repeat, I’d be just as appalled if
my kids were steered by their school to
watch Dan Quayle lecture on the value
of nuclear energy, or to an assignment
to read Newt Gingrich’s book “Lessons
Learned the Hard Way.”
So if anyone thinks public schools
have a monopoly on agenda-pushing
rubbish, just give me a call. I’ll get
you a front row seat at the next meet
ing of the “Melting Polar Ice Caps
Association.” It meets just down the
hall from my old locker room.
Matt Towery served as the chairman
of former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s
political organization from 1992 until
Gingrich left Congress. He is a former
Georgia state representative, the author
of several books and currently heads
the polling and political information
firm Insider Advantage.
To find out more about Matthew
Towery and read features by other
Creators Syndicate writers and car
toonists, visit the Creators Syndicate
Web page at www.creators.com.