Fighting Injustice at Southern University

On Student Protests

Dayne Sherman
February 24, 2014

Op-ed column 

The Shreveport Times & Hammond Daily Star 

450 words

I like to see college students protesting injustice. So it was encouraging to hear about Southern University students up in arms after the shenanigans surrounding the effective firing of Chancellor James Llorens.

When students are engaged it shows they care. I don't, however, want to be guilty of throwing cold water on student fire. But it seems the protests happened in the wrong locale and toward the wrong leaders.

Sit-ins on campuses are nice, good theater. But if you want to know who is really hurting Southern University, it's Gov. Bobby Jindal.

At the end of the day, Southern University is facing insolvency. Reinstating Llorens for another year won't change that in the least.

One of Gov. Jindal's floor leaders in the House, Rep. Steve Carter from Baton Rouge, expressed fake frustration in The Advocate: “We have to find a governor that prioritizes higher education. The governor is the key … we have an opportunity as a group to make sure the candidates who run for governor list higher education as a top priority.”

Carter has been like a rose tattoo on Gov. Jindal's posterior.
But he wants everyone to forget his solidarity with the Jindal regime. This shows that things are starting to heat up in legislative districts, and some representatives are dreaming of voters with short memories when it comes to the devastating cuts to higher education.

Let me clear: The vast majority of Louisiana Republicans in and out of politics would be happy to see Southern University and all other HBCUs closed. This sentiment is embodied in Gov. Bobby Jindal, the public face of the GOP in Louisiana.

I'm no fan of System President Ronald Mason or James Llorens. As longtime Southern professor Sudhir Trivedi wrote recently, “He [Llorens] has been the most incompetent chancellor we have ever had. This is evident from the probation imposed upon us by SACS in December 2012 and the censure imposed upon us by AAUP in June 2013.”

The big problem for Southern University is at the State Capitol. That's where the nonviolent action needs to take place. That's where the real problems can be solved.

The sit-ins need to be at Jindal's office, fourth floor, Louisiana State Capitol. He's never there, but he'll get the message from his lackeys. The rest of the state and nation will, too.

Keep standing up by sitting down, but make sure you are a few miles south of Scott's Bluff when you protest. 


Dayne Sherman resides in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. He covers the South like kudzu and promises that he never burned Atlanta. He is the author of Welcome to the Fallen Paradise: A Novel. His website is daynesherman.com.

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Dayne Sherman, Writer & Speaker
Web & Social Media: http://daynesherman.com/
Talk About the South Blog: http://daynesherman.blogspot.com/
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***This message speaks only for the writer, a citizen, not for any present or past employer.***

An Open Letter to Nicholas Kristof

Louisiana Higher Education in Crisis

Dayne Sherman
Open Letter  
February 16, 2014

New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof wrote a somewhat inane piece on professors entering the public square. See his piece here: Professors, We Need You!
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/16/opinion/sunday/kristof-professors-we-need-you.html

Below is my brief open letter in response:

Dear Mr. Kristof: 

I turned in a portfolio for full professor on January 15. Over the course of the past 5 years since I turned in my portfolio for tenure and promotion to associate professor, I published perhaps 200 op-eds and letters to the editor, gave many presentations on issues related to higher education, state budgets, academic freedom, healthcare, pensions, K-12 education, and the like. I was featured on the front page of several daily newspapers. I was quoted in The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Huffington Post related to my fight against guns on Louisiana college campuses. I denounced my governor in a speech delivered on the steps of the State Capitol, and the video was shown on several TV stations. (Gov. Bobby Jindal has cut 80 % of state funding from most college campus budgets since 2009, the worst cuts of any state in the USA.) 

How much of this work ended up in my promotion file this year? ZERO. 

I won't stop doing public service, but it is hard to recruit others in a right-to-work, deep red, higher education under siege state like my native Louisiana. The advocacy work won't count toward advancement. In fact, one of the highest paid professors on my campus said to my face that I was committing "career suicide." 

People are scared here, and it is mighty hard to blame them. We have more campuses under AAUP censure than any other state, and we are a small state. 

If I didn't have tenure, I would have already been fired. 

Please get to know what it is like in the trenches.

Sincerely,

Dayne Sherman
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Dayne Sherman resides in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. He covers the South like kudzu and promises that he never burned Atlanta. He is the author of Welcome to the Fallen Paradise: A Novel. His website is daynesherman.com.

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Dayne Sherman, Writer & Speaker
Web & Social Media: http://daynesherman.com/
Talk About the South Blog: http://daynesherman.blogspot.com/
Tweet the South - Twitter: http://twitter.com/TweettheSouth/
Facebook: http://facebook.com/daynesherman
***This message speaks only for the writer, a citizen, not for any present or past employer.***

Common Core: Alleged Rigor or Real Learning?

Guest Column 
February 11, 2014
Posted by Dayne Sherman 

Common Core: Alleged Rigor or Real Learning?

By

Dr. James D. Kirylo

The last work week of January brought a standstill to much of Louisiana.  We are not accustomed nor prepared for below-freezing temperature and icy roads.  It was a good call to close schools, stores, and simply encourage folks to stay home.  And a great many of us did.  While there was a real threat to lose electricity in our area, most were spared.  It was a good opportunity to spend time with family: playing board games, watching movies, and even reviewing school work with our young ones.  Surely, many also took to social media, staying connected with others, as was the case for me.

I was particularly fascinated by a Facebook post from a parent of a school-aged child who expressed grave concern about the impact the closure of schools for three days would have on the preparation for the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (or LEAP tests) this coming spring.

Perhaps to interpret the concern another way:  instead of relishing the occasion to realize all the learning possibilities that can take place through family time, games, reading, music, and anything that captures the imagination of young minds while being homebound during that period time, this parent was preoccupied about missing LEAP practice.

And there you have it.  That is how so-called education reformers would like us to think. That is, they have indoctrinated many with the idea that the only “real” learning and measure of success is reflected in passing a test, and that only knowledge that is tested is worthy of study.  To be sure, this heightened sense of placing such importance on testing will only get worse with Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

The fundamental focus of CCSS standards underscores the alleged notion of "rigor." According to Merriam-Webster, rigor is defined as difficult and unpleasant conditions or experiences that are associated with something; the quality or state of being very exact, careful, or strict.  In other words, never-mind developmentally appropriate practice, engaging environment, nurturing environment, inspiring environment, or even a fun learning environment in our schools.  We want difficult, unpleasant, and exacting environments for our children.  Perhaps a little hyperbole here, but that’s not too far from the truth.

So, then, what does rigor look like according to CCSS?  Well, it depends on who you talk to.  Some say it means we need our young ones to think more critically; others think that it means we have to raise our expectations; and still others think we have to better prepare our young ones for college and to compete in the 21st century global economy.  

The reality is no one really knows exactly what the notion of rigor looks like in practice as per the CCSS.  There are some suggestions, guidelines, and ideas that have been proclaimed as to what it looks like.  But we really don’t know because CCSS has never been field-tested, teachers were not intimately a part of the process to form and shape the standards, and education professors were virtually left out.  As if that were not enough, at the culmination of this allegedly rigorous environment, students will then be tested to see how the rigor paid off.  However, it won’t be termed LEAP anymore; it will be called the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC).

The approximate start-up costs for these tests—along with massive technology facelifts, teacher training, books and materials—is in the $10 billion range. Additionally, it will take hundreds of millions annually for several years thereafter to fully get the program sustainably operating for Louisiana alone.  Not bad for those on the paying end of that revenue, particularly for a program that is unproven, for we don’t even know if CCSS will work.

To be clear, excellent teachers have always worked to foster critical thinking, have always had high expectations, have always nurtured the natural gifts, creativity, and talent of all their students, and have always acted locally, but thought globally.  CCSS is not espousing anything new to excellent teachers.  Excellent teachers understand that assessment is critical, realizing, however, that one size does not fit all and that a singular test and an emphasis on testing does a colossal disservice to children.

So back to that parent’s Facebook post.  If she thought she was worried now, wait until the full implementation of CCSS.  And for all those who think we are already spending a lot on education, you haven’t seen anything yet.  As for me, I plan to take my two boys to the local public library and let them explore, discover, and, ah, yes, learn.

Dr. James D. Kirylo's latest book is titled A Critical Pedagogy of Resistance.  He can be reached at jkirylo@yahoo.com.
 

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Dayne Sherman resides in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. He covers the South like kudzu and promises that he never burned Atlanta. He is the author of Welcome to the Fallen Paradise: A Novel. His website is daynesherman.com.

***This message speaks only for the writer, a citizen, not for any present or past employer.**