What the Public Thinks of Public Schools

While the past few days have been dominated by news of President Obama's back-to-school speech, more important news seems to have slipped under the radar.

In a recent article from the Wall Street Journal, Paul E. Peterson, a professor of government at Harvard and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, writes that the president also owes a speech to American parents.

Peterson suggests that the public has turned a blind eye to today's American public schools. In his article, "What the Public Thinks of Public Schools," Peterson reports that public assessment of schools has fallen to the lowest level recorded since Americans were first asked to grade schools in 1981. What's more, high-school graduation rates are lower today than they were in 1970. Additionally, the math and reading scores of 17-year-olds have been stagnant for four decades.


"In another sign of declining confidence, states Peterson, "the public is less willing to spend more money on public education. In 1990, 70% of taxpayers favored spending 'more on education,' according to a University of Chicago poll. In the latest poll, only 46% favored a spending increase. That's a 15% percentage point drop from just one year ago when it was 61%."

As if that weren't enough, Peterson insists that parents should be informed about how much students learn, how much schools spend, and how much teachers are paid.

In 2007, the public estimated that teachers earned an average of $33,000 a year. In reality, that estimate was well below teacher's actual average salary of $47,000 across all states. When those surveyed were informed about actual teacher salaries, support for teachers to receive pay raises plummeted by 14 percentage points.

From the Mouth of Babes

11-year-old journalist Damon Weaver adds his "two cents" on the controversy surrounding President Obama's upcoming back-to-school speech. Last month, Weaver landed an interview with the president.

Norwood Forges Ahead Despite Some Bigotry

Not only are the Real Housewives of Atlanta causing a stir in the city that's "too busy to hate," so are this year's mayoral elections.

Just days ago, the political world of Atlanta was turned upside down after an e-mail was sent to certain city residents. The e-mail, which circulated, warned the city's black voters not to vote for mayoral candidate Mary Norwood.



Instead, the e-mail encouraged support for the two leading black mayoral candidates, Lisa Borders and Kasim Reed.

Neither the Borders nor the Reed campaign seem to be responsible for the e-mail.

According to recent polling, Norwood is ahead of both of her fellow contestants, as she is reported at 33 percent. Borders is reported at 19 percent, whereas Reed is at 16.

Should Norwood carry on to win this year's race, her victory will be significant, for Atlanta has only elected black mayors since 1976. During that time, Maynard Jackson won a historic election to become the city's first black mayor.

Whoever wins the keys to the city will replace current Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin.

* CORRECTION: My last post reported that President Obama gave a speech to students. Now, while the controversy sounding his speech is true, the president has yet to deliver the speech and isn't expected to do so until sometime this upcoming week.

Obama: The Moving Target

President Barack Obama has been in office for a little over eight months.

While browsing through some news stories at my desk today, I caught wind that President Obama has recently upset many a conservative, one whom appears to be Tammy Bruce.

After Obama gave a back-to-school speech challenging students to work hard in class and take responsibility for their education, Bruce pounced on the president's remarks.

The radio talk show host said, "Make September 8 Parentally Approved Skip Day. You are your child's moral tutor, not that shady lawyer from Chicago."

Bruce's choice of words, "shady lawyer from Chicago," rubbed me the wrong way.

They sounded coded.

Besides, when is the last time one can remember someone calling the President of the United States a "shady lawyer"?

Now, there may have been some presidents here and there who perhaps fit that description. Yet, I cannot recall a time when someone actually insulted a president with such vitriol, specifically a president who has not even assumed office for an entire year.

When George W. Bush first entered the White House as president in 2000, many people debated the legitimacy of his victory. Many were disappointed in seeing their candidate, Al Gore, lose to President Bush. Nonetheless, virtually every American came together in the end and was willing to stand behind their new president. In time, Bush made mistakes, as every president does. But -- to put things in charitable terms -- Bush's blunders were more pronounced than many of his predecessors.

By the end of the Bush presidency, the American people had grown tired, tired of Bush's style of leadership and his policies. Still, when "Dubya" was in the White House, I recall fewer Americans launching attacks on his character, however distasteful his decisions seemed during his early days in office.

For President Obama, though, the reverse is obstensibly true.

Everywhere he goes, he's a moving target.

He's too liberal. He's a socialist. He's a Muslim (as if his religion prevents him from upholding the law as written in the U.S. Constitution). Speaking of religion, some wacko pastor in Arizona thought it not strange to pray for Obama's demise.

What Bible is he reading from?

Now I'm not making the president out to be some kind of angel, because I personally don't agree with every item included on his agenda. Who does? Be that as it may, my better sensibilities suspect that those who would assign such misnomers to the president really want to say something else.

Let's call a spade a spade.

Meanwhile, another commentator, Michelle Malkin, mentioned that Obama's speech, in which he also suggested students write letters to themselves, contained a "heavy activist bent." The word "activist" is loaded with its connotations (and in this case, I believe Malkin intended for them to be pejorative)! The modern use of the word is typically given to grassroots organizers, soapbox preachers, protest leaders. Traces of these influences may be part of Obama's makeup, but he is most certainly not an activist.

He's the President of the United States.

Malkin's comments reminded me of the time when Obama beat Hillary Clinton in the South Carolina Primary.

During that time, President Bill Clinton attempted to downplay Obama's election victory that night by comparing him to Jesse Jackson.

"Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in '84 and '88," said Clinton at a rally in the state's capitol. "Jackson ran a good campaign. And Obama ran a good campaign here."

So, perhaps I should note the progress. At least the President is no longer being compared to Jesse Jackson.

Also, people are no longer calling Obama "boy," as one Republican congressman did during last year's campaign. Neither are they calling him "that one," as Senator McCain infamously did during a televised debate last year.

Still, the president has only been in office for eight months and some change.

I dare not imagine some of the other names people might hurl at him for the next three and a quarter years he has remaining.

The Great Educator

Just moments ago, I left Mount Aery Baptist Church in Bridgeport, Conn. The church hosted an inspiring event with multiple guest speakers, one of whom happened to be Dr. Steve Perry himself.

If you watched CNN’s Black in America 2, you know a thing or two about this gentleman.



Dr. Perry, or the Great Educator, as I am now dubbing him, is the principal of Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, Conn. His high school has a one-hundred percent success rate. In other words, every child—yes, every child—who attends his high school not only graduates, but also goes on to matriculate at a four-year college. How’s that for a success story!

“Our strategy is simple,” said Dr. Perry, to an audience filled with men, both young and old. “We work harder, we have higher expectations, and we use words like ‘love.’”

When I first saw Dr. Perry appear on CNN, I couldn’t help but notice his passion—the way he spoke about the American education system, how it needs fixing, and the future of our children. Now that I have had the honor of meeting him in person, I can testify to you that he’s the real deal. Plus, he’s at least three times as energized and as fired up as he appears on TV. Can you imagine?

I’m glad I visited Mount Aery Baptist Church tonight. There, I ran into some familiar faces and crossed paths with a friendly Bridgeport congregation.

Oh yes! Their pastor, Rev. Dr. Anthony L. Bennett, is a Morehouse Man, too.

I had to get that one in!

Videos from My Dad

I've been really, really, really, really busy these past few months, but finally, I'm back from my hiatus. Hopefully, I can stay consistent with these postings.

Let's pray I do.

During the break, I not only neglected to make a few blog postings here and there, but I stopped responding to e-mails as well. Case in point: I have 1,252 e-mails piled up in my inbox. So, if you sent me something within the past couple of months, please forgive me if I haven't responded to you yet. (Perhaps I should feel somewhat ashamed.)

Anyhow, this evening, I embarked on the quest to clean up my inbox. In so doing, I came across some e-mails my Dad sent me a couple of days ago that caught my attention.

Both e-mails featured videos of him.

In one, he’s interviewing the teen hip-hop group, the New Boyz. In another, he’s being interviewed by entertainment journalist Sojones Asmara.


My dad is the footwear brand director for a Virginia-based streetwear company called Shmack Clothing.

To learn more, I encourage you to check out these clips:




Shmack Shoes Preview for SoJonesTV from SoJones.com.

Long Live the King

No artist alive, dead, or yet to be born has a catalog of music more impressive than Michael Jackson. Through song and dance, Jackson has entertained audience after audience for four decades, with hit after hit after hit. From his years as the Jackson 5’s boy wonder to later being anointed the King of Pop, Jackson sang and danced his way into the hearts and homes of millions, maybe even billions. Even while his personal life suffered intense questioning, Jackson’s music continued to have its staying power. “PYT (Pretty Young Thing)” was still played at house parties, “Rock With You” at high-school reunions.



With the passing of Michael Jackson, the world has lost a musical giant—one who wrote, sung, and composed a large portion of the songs many have come to love, and to cherish. Along with his musical genius, though, Jackson’s skill to create genuinely good music—music devoid of the profanity and obscenity that seems to run rampant nowadays—is something to be admired.

Jackson’s Thriller album, which is reported to have sold as many as 109 million records worldwide in 1982, remains the highest-selling album ever. Notably, Jackson pulled this feat off without having to utter a curse word, aggrandize the thug-life, or objectify women. His music instead was uplifting and had a positive message. Contrary to most of the auto-tunes, ringtone-rap, watered-down vocals, and hyper-sexualized R&B songs of today, Jackson’s sound was evolutionary. Each album he recorded showcased his progression as an artist, as did most of his concert performances. “Black or White” offered a healthy perspective on race relations. “Man in the Mirror” underscored the importance of personal responsibility. “Beat It” is one of the greatest musical videos of all-time.

Because of Jackson’s impressive talent and storied singing career, he has traditionally been the standard by which other successful singers have been measured. Nearly every singer-performer worth his mete has either been compared to or has been influenced by the pop legend, from Usher to Omarion to Chris Brown. Yet, though these artists are talented in their own right, none can compare to Jackson, even on their best days.

Alas, the King of Pop has died. Still, his contributions to the music world will live on forever.