? How in the hell are people SO bloody stupid!!
It's not that they are stupid, Polarberry. It's that you are another level of awakened. You came here to this world to elevate it. Why would you expect that everyone would see what you see? That said, the Republican still only got 52 percent of the vote in a southern rural former slave state and that with so much more money than his opponent for marketing support and ads, and with CNN and Fox helping him.
You wrote that "people want a polished version of T's opportunistic politics." How will democracy survive that?
I think the question is "what IS a polished version of T's opportunistic policies?" - because it's not Youngkin. And how does someone polish it without giving up the endgame?
Looks like Republicans once again used dirty tricks to barely take VA. They got rid of the primary to handpick "moderate" Youngkin. So the whack job Amber Chase wouldn't win which she probably would have giving the current state of the GOP or at least pulled Youngkin to the right during the primary to show his true colors.
They used racist dog whistles once again (surprise surprise) with CRT. The only word they see is race. Lied about it being taught in public schools. Once again used hate to motivate their voters. I had a bad feeling about the VA elections.
I'm so sick of Republicans in this country. I refuse to ever vote for one again. Even in local elections. I leave it blank if there is no other options now. I'm tired of their tactics. I'm tired to them complaining about "fraud" when they lose but things are all fine and dandy when they win.
Hopefully, this will kick Democrats in the butt to get out and vote and/or Democrats in Congress to actually get something done. Better yet, hopefully this emboldens Trump to declare his candidacy for 2024 and this makes the midterms all about him. Republicans in other states won't have the luxury of picking their candidates. The right wing nut jobs will run and pull the party down.
One bright spot is Dems hold the VA state senate. So it probably just means gridlock for the next few years there. It's not like GOP stands for much anymore or even wants to govern anyways. I hope they enjoy their hollow victory.
I have tried three times to post here. I guess Spirit wants me to have some faith.
I am disheartened by the results but admire Macauliffe's grace and model of how to graciously except a loss.
I think I will focus on that and pray for my country to be delivered from all of this.
Prayers for America please. I still love her and believe in her.
Critical thinking is a skill which needs to be taught beginning in Kindergarten pre-school or even earlier, but certain all the time in school
Since I'm fasting today and delivering my Professional Development session to teachers virtually thanks to the quarantine, let me spend a moment pontificating on this as one of the educators in the midst.
Technically - almost all of the states adopted the Common Core State Standards (many have advertised since adoption that they've removed them completely - the actual story is they were 'renamed' - it even happened here in Michigan. Publicly MDE states we use the Michigan ELA/Literacy standards, and the Michigan Mathematics standards, and the Michigan Science Standards, etc. The whole concept between these is it's less rote memorization, and more construction of arguments, analyzing evidence, coming to a reasoned conclusion, etc. In short - this is what we want.
This has led to several issues however.
First and foremost: People vilified the Common Core with an easy set of talking points. "They've ripped Chaucer, Twain, and all the important classical authors out of the classroom." It didn't really, but in the interest of "less is more" they wanted teachers spending just as much time deconstructing how arguments are made and how to read informational text as they spent on literature and without specific keywords that are easily searched out, people who didn't read the standards were able to set up camp with this argument because they honestly don't understand the point of academic standards to begin with.
Second, but only slightly coming in second place: There's a famous expression in teaching "What gets tested, gets taught." and that has rung true for me over my entire 20 years in the field. When we shifted away from "Students will understand what a Gerund is" (honestly, a fact that I myself had to look up when teaching 8th grade English the first year) toward "Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise." (Corestandards.org - HS Literature 9-10.5) you have the issue of standardized testing rearing its ugly head. I can easily write a multiple choice question saying "Which of the following is a gerund?" on a standardized test and say "Dannyboy is a terrible teacher because his kids flunked the one question on gerunds on their state assessment" - but how do you test the second one? It becomes a lot harder. It can be done, and it can be done most easily by way of an essay question but we don't offer much of anything beyond multiple choice, matching, etc. on standardized tests because they're too costly and difficult to grade.
This is all part of the narrative that schools are failing our students and that the academic standards are at the root of things.
And finally, (not really but I'm sure I'm coming to the end of my allowable post length) you have the SAT and the PSAT as the standardized measure for math and ELA in the secondary level across many, many, many of the states - and the SAT/PSAT are not aligned to the standards states have adopted. Because most states still operate off punitive laws that 40% of their evaluation is tied directly to student test scores, do you think those teachers are going to teach the things that aren't covered on the test? (This is how "what gets tested gets taught" got bastardized to begin with)
So it is the intention of state standards to cultivate and foster critical thinking - but many outside the field see nebulous standards vs the specificity they expected to see, don't understand how a standard is constructed, taught, and assessed, and ... well... it's not a far leap, skip or jump to "They're dumbing down education and teaching our kids all the wrong things" or "More Chaucer, less critical race theory." - and while I like to think we're a little more evolved in Michigan, it's happening everywhere here too. The fight against the Common Core has died down because people believed that we got rid of it (we didn't) but the same things are creeping up again under the guise of attacking critical race theory and social/emotional learning because they're harder to understand and are less concrete and visible.
I could talk about this for hours. I will stop now. Questions? Lunch is over but I'll be back tonight!
Posted by @baba:
Perhaps the R win in VA will make the Dems more focused on the midterms, their outcome, making sure their agenda is passed and democracy protected.
@baba, I agree. What happened last night in my home state, Virginia, was the canary in the coal mine. I think that Ds need to learn some lessons from Rs on messaging. The Ds are rarely on the offense, and there's a toughness that has been sorely lacking. Or to put it more succinctly in the words of @laura-f, which I have never forgotten: the Democrats have to stop bringing their NPR tote bags to a knife fight.
I’ll admit that when McCullough announced he was running, I said to myself “uh oh.” I had that sinking feeling. Not that I didn’t think he did a good job when he was governor, and wouldn’t be successful again. But I thought to myself, big D-NC machine. My sense was that his time had passed. I even voted for someone else in the Democratic VA primary, but not surprisingly, McCullough had the backing of the DNC.
Baba, you were right that people in VA didn't want more T. Youngkin's campaign knew that, and he spent the last 6 months successfully dissociating himself from T, while at the same time, not alienating the T base. McCullough tried to sell that message of associating Youngkin with T, long after that message was working. And while McCullough's campaign was hammering about T, Youngkin spent his time focusing on education (and CRT) and the economy. During one of the debates McCullough made that awkward comment that parents shouldn't tell schools what to teach their children, so Youngkin’s campaign grabbed that remark, twisted it, and ran with it. A chunk of the Fairfax and Loudoun County voters who voted for both Biden and Youngkin were white suburban women. They saw their children’s education as a primary issue. McCullough was counting on the votes from those two large counties to carry him through.
And speaking of CRT: while it’s true that Virginia doesn’t even teach CRT, so what if they did? The fact that so many people fear even a discussion about our country’s racist history and how it impacts the present, is disheartening. And I am so in agreement with everyone’s comments about the lack of critical thinking!
Because the Covid case numbers have steadily decreased here -- thanks to Biden and Northam -- the pandemic was no longer high on the list of voter concerns. (Voters' memories are short, aren’t they?) The two top VA voter issues were education and the economy/inflation. Youngkin’s campaign knew how to use both to their advantage. People here are also concerned about the rising prices, empty shelves they are seeing, the higher gas prices, etc. And once again, the voters -- at least here in Virginia -- believed that the R candidate would be better for the economy! Yup – that flies in the face of what we know to be true, but that belief still persists. It’s maddening.
I am sad and angry, and yet … I am surprisingly calm. There’s something about the bigger picture that gives me that sense of peace. I don’t need to know what that “something” is, to believe that it’s true. I feel it in my bones.
Posted by @seeker4:
Is it possible that this is a crack in the Trumpism paradigm? Will other Republicans (cowards that they all have been) now take a chance and run away from Trump?
@seeker4, I believe it might be, but only in those states that aren't truly red.
As far as how Youngkin will legislate: I do know he's no Larry Hogan, even though he represented himself as being a moderate like the Maryland Republican governor. Hogan was never on the T train. I don't trust Youngkin, so I can't say.
I read Youngkin’s statement on how he is going to improve education in Virginia and how he is going to involve parents in deciding what students will learn. Having taught in a VA school system for 20 years I am just wondering how he is going to accomplish that! Will poor parents and POC parents have a say or just the white folk? He talked about critical thinking and analyzing and other high level thinking abilities but what happens to the students with learning disabilities, exceptional ed students, emotionally disturbed students, students with physical disabilities, autistic students and the many students who do not have access to the internet, computers, tutors, at home parents or experiences outside their neighborhood. Is he going to provide all the necessary things needed (aides, adaptive software programs, special accommodations, counseling and therapy) to make these students successful? I taught in both an International Baccalaureate school and an Alternative school, and if he thinks he is going to make everything great, I hope he has another thought coming because promising something and then delivering is two different things! Wait until the parent’s demands are unreasonable, overreaching, and expensive. I believe he will try to deliver for the rich white parents and all the rest will be left behind.
Hey Community! There were many unprecedented wins yesterday across this country of ours. Something is rising beneath that will continue, so keep the faith.
In Boston they elected our first Asian (and a woman) Mayor. Need I dare point out that this change is big for a previously un-woke corner of the world. You have to have grown up in this region to understand the racism and sexism that has lived in this city. It's democrat, but.
New York City elected another black mayor. Are there any New Yorkers (@lynnventura @Lawrence) who care to comment on this precedent?
There were other historical wins yesterday which I have excerpted in the list below from a link that @bluebelle kindly sent me. https://twitter.com/lakeniaem/status/1455769034390048769?s=10
- Abdullah Hammoud is going to be the new mayor of Dearborn, Michigan! First Arab-American & Muslim person to serve in this role.
- Virginia Delegate Danica Roem (@pwcdanica), elected to a historic third consecutive term. And her third time defeating an anti-trans opponent in a historically conservative district.
- Jason Chavez, a Democratic Socialist and the son of immigrants from Mexico, wins an open seat for City Council in the ward where George Floyd was murdered last year.
- Tucson voters have approved raising the minimum wage to $15 by a very large margin.
- #Yeson24 passes in Cleveland, creating a civilian oversight board.
- The city of Austin defeated by huge margins Prop A, a Republican dark money-funded ballot measure to drastically increase the already-massive police force.
- Shahana Hanif, a former City Council employee, won her election in a Brooklyn district. A Bangladeshi American, she is the first Muslim woman elected to the Council in its history, despite the fact that the city is home to an estimated 769,000 Muslims. nyti.ms/3BEZfSV
- @sharettaforlima elected to become the first woman and Black mayor of Lima, Ohio! We are excited to see the progress she’s poised to make as Lima’s next mayor. #BuildBlackPoliticalPower
- Chris Suggs becomes youngest elected in NC history! A much needed win in North Carolina!
To get the full throttle of these wins, check out her twitter feed.
Feel free to add to the list:
- NYC elected its first ever African American Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg.
@jeanne-mayell It's actually NYC's second black mayor. David Dinkens was the first. Cheers.