Archives for November 2016

11 Nov 2016, Filed Under: Uncategorized

Lets Take Politics Out of Climate Change Education

source: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/climate-stewards/talking-about.html

Despite the fact that overwhelming scientific consensus agrees that climate change is happening and due to human causes nearly two-thirds of American schoolchildren are not taught scientifically sound lessons on climate change. Tomorrow’s scientists, politicians, entrepreneurs and consumers are not getting the tools and knowledge to understand climate change and create the innovative solutions needed to meet the greatest challenge of their generation.

How overwhelming is the scientific consensus? Well according to this study, 95% of scientists support anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change. Most published articles in scientific journals as well as the world’s leading scientific organizations such as NASA and American Association for the Advancement of Science firmly support human caused climate change.

So why is there still so much misconception on climate change? Beliefs of climate change are divided by partisan lines. From 2000-2010 liberals grew much more likely to believe that climate change has already begun while conservatives because increasingly likely to say the opposite. According to this Gallup poll only 38% of Republicans believe that increased temperatures are due to human activities while 85% democrats believe that to be true. This political divide has led to a disparity between the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change and the attention given to the subject in schools and text materials.

Unfortunately politics and education in America go hand-in-hand. Those who decide the education standards and textbooks followed by classrooms are elected officials who often do not have expertise on the subjects they write policy on. For example in 2009, the Texas Board of Education declared that public school teachers must present both sides when discussing global warming. In addition, the State Board of Education is also responsible for making decisions on what textbooks are used in classrooms. So textbook companies often dial down climate change’s severity in order to get bought by state education systems. For example Pearson’s fifth-grade social-studies book used in Texas states “scientists disagree about what is causing climate change.”

How can we make sure our students receive an accurate climate change education? State Boards of Education should defer to climate scientists when writing standards and selecting textbooks. The Texas Board of Education must remove its 2009 policy on climate change that is not supported by the scientific consensus and create Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) guidelines on climate change education. In addition more support should be provided for teachers who are often unprepared to teach climate change or nervous about tackling such a controversial topic. At the middle school level only 41% of teachers have a college degrees in science or engineering and even those with scientific backgrounds do not feel prepared to teach climate change in the classroom. Supplemental training through Education Service Centers would help these teachers feel more confident in the lessons they teach on climate change.

Although implementing new climate change education policies and programs would be incur costs and push-back from parents and teachers, there are already many resources on climate change education available from sources such as the National Science Teachers Association and NASA that can aide this process. Creating clear education requirements written in conjunction with climate scientists and offering resources to train teachers can ensure that climate change is taught accurately in classrooms and not subject to political ideologies.

11 Nov 2016, Filed Under: Uncategorized

Unplugged: Addressing the “Homework Gap”

Source: https://thejournal.com/~/media/EDU/THEJournal/Images/2016/07/20160728homeworkgap.jpg

Today, nearly all school districts in America assign online homework, and most high school students need to be online to study. As part of the Obama administration’s ConnectED program, school districts across America have been working to connect 99 percent of schools with next-generation broadband and high-speed wireless access by 2018. Moving forward, a key challenge in the 2016 U.S. Department of Education National Education Technology Plan is how educators should effectively use connected technology in teaching. In school, changes in technology and Internet access have the potential to further empower students’ active learning.

However, not all students have Internet access at home, creating a “homework gap” where connected learning stops at the school exit.

Source: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/20/the-numbers-behind-the-broadband-homework-gap/

Although over 80% (almost 24 million) families with school-age children enjoy Internet access at home, a disproportionate number of lower-income families make up the five million households with school-age children that lack home internet connectivity. Furthermore, lower-income families with school-age children that do have Internet connectivity are under-connected. In 2015, a third of families below the federal poverty level only accessed the web from their mobile devices. While robust access to the Internet at school aid learning for these students, losing connectivity their last mile home contributes to an inconsistent educational experience.

With twenty percent of students in America are falling behind in an increasingly competitive global educational area, it is crucial to close the homework gap. The failure to address the growing digital “homework gap” can exacerbate the existing social and economic inequalities keeping nearly 1 in 3 students in lower income families from accessing the educational resources needed to succeed in the 21st classroom, workplace, and beyond.

Source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/POTUS_Code.jpg

Internet connectivity would help level the playing field for these students.

Increased household Internet access would require better reach of discounted Internet programs and expanded service to lower-income families. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can serve an oversight and participatory role. As broadband connectivity in general is a technical issue, expanding access has enormous policy implications; the FCC should also ensure that basic Internet service overall reaches its existing speed benchmarks. The FCC should also continue to encourage service providers to reach rural areas and tribal lands, as these areas have historically been underserved by technology deployment. ConnectED and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s ConnectHome programs serve as complementary models for expanding Internet access for children in lower-income families.

Lifeline, an FCC subsidy program, was modernized in March 2016 to support broadband subscriptions, over landline phone service. The Internet Essentials program by Comcast has connected over 750,000 low-income families with children eligible to participate in the National School Lunch Program.

In cities like Austin, projects such as Google Fiber have successfully targeted lower-income households for connectivity through “community connections,” but requires buy-in from the community at large. The FCC can encourage other Internet providers to promote similar programs, and companies like Sprint are working with non-profit agencies and community organizations to connect students through its 1Million Project. The Free Basics program by Facebook could be another potential consideration for domestic deployment if regulatory issues are adequately addressed.

Funding broadband expansion programs may grow expensive, but with private industry support, public-private partnerships may be cost-effective. Additionally, scaling the ConnectED and ConnectHome pilot programs may prove difficult nationwide due to local regulations, if they are continued over the next several years. Finally, it is unclear where telecommunications reform falls on President-elect Trump’s agenda. Navigating the next four years will be a new challenge, but addressing the issue of opportunity for all students will be worth the effort.

11 Nov 2016, Filed Under: Uncategorized

The Incarcerated States of America

By: Reginaldo Valdez bill clinton

Bill Clinton promoting his Crime Bill at Stone Mountain Correctional Facility, Georgia, 1992.

The world’s first modern democracy with all its freedoms and opportunities to pursue happiness is deteriorating; the American dream is dying. The United States with five percent of the global population spends 80 billion dollars a year to hold 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. Half of all American prisoners have drugs as a serious offense on their record. Most of these drug offenses have been non-violent crimes and come at a significant cost to the tax-payer. The United States spends around 80 billion dollars a year maintaining its prison programs. It is estimated that non-violent drug offenders cost tax-payers 32 billion dollars a year. Federal mandatory minimums force judges to give federal mandatory minimums to drug offenders, even if judges believe the penalty is too strict. Federal minimums do not work as a deterrent. The majority of prisoners who finish their sentence are likely to return to prison with the same drug problem. Federal mandatory minimums are expensive, they restrict judicial discretion, and are ineffective.

Hands/Dollar prison bars

Steve Mcalister Via Getty Images

A solution to eliminating federal mandatory minimums is to pass legislation in Congress that would repeal them. In order to ratify our bill, Koch Industries and the White House will have to partner their efforts to obtain votes. At the moment there is momentum on both sides of the aisle. Koch Industries teamed up with the White House to eliminate federal minimums by crafting legislation. This bipartisan bill would eliminate federal minimums in lieu of already existing judicial guidelines that allow judges to examine each case holistically. There have been bills introduced in the House and the Senate by both parties with several bipartisan cosponsors. It is only with the coordinated efforts of the White House and Koch Industries that congress can pass the legislation before a new congress is introduced.

Valerie-Jarrett-and-Mark

Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President and Mark Holden, Head Counsel of Koch Industries via Koch Industries

The biggest obstacle is perception. Drug users are still viewed as criminals in society. Representatives in the House and the Senate may have fears of losing their primaries because they might be depicted as being weak on crime. A solution to this problem is majority bipartisan support. If a majority of legislators from both parties favored the legislation, then representatives would have a reasonable justification for supporting the bill. Timing is also an issue. The Obama administration is half of our momentum, and it might go away in January if the new President does not support repealing federal mandatory minimums. It is vital to coordinate efforts now to mobilize and pass our bill. In these last months the President will attempt to solidify his legacy and does not have to worry about being re-elected, instead the White House can use its resources to pass this legislation. There are obstacles to be faced in passing our bill through Congress, nevertheless there are ways that these hurdles can be overcome.

obama visits prison

President Obama’s visit to El Reno federal prison in Oklahoma via VICE Media

The time to act is now. Every day thousands of Americans are unjustly behind bars for violent crimes and the taxpayer has to pay the bill. As a country that prides itself for protecting and maintaining freedom how is it possible the country turned a blind eye to its own citizens? The Incarcerated States of America will persist as long as we have laws that limit judicial discretion and statutes that impose minimum sentences on non-violent drug use.

Sources:

For more information please visit the Sentencing Project website.

Sentencing Project. (2010). Deterrence in Criminal Justice: Evaluating Certainty vs. Severity of Punishment. Washington, D.C.: Wright
Trends in U.S. Corrections. (2015). The Sentencing Project
Gill, M. (n.d.). Correcting Course: Lessons from the 1970 Repeal of Mandatory Minimums. Families Against Mandatory Minimums.
Criticizing Sentencing Rules, U.S. Judge Resigns. (1990, September 29). Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/30/us/criticizing-sentencing-rules-us-judge-resigns.html
Padwa, H., & Cunningham, J. (2010). Narcotic Rehabilitation Act. In Addiction: A Reference Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO.