On The Eve of Super Tuesday. What Will You Do?

On The Eve of Super Tuesday. What Will You Do? 

By  Jennifer Shafer Wood

As we approach Super Tuesday, I hope to see a major change sweep this country. We are at a point in history where we stand upon a cliff... Will our democracy fall over the edge, to be ruled by an oligarchy in a ever growing plutocracy? An oligarchy is a small group of elite people controlling the masses, and a plutocracy is the country or territory that is ruled by a small elite group, an oligarchy. Do you understand. Do you see how the oligarch works to build a plutocracy in the United States? 

Let me explain, there is a small, yet very powerful group who controls our country today. I know, I sound like a bad SciFi conspiracy theorists. I wish I were! Money has more power in the United States than the voice of the people. Citizens United, for example, basically gave money the right of free speech. If you don't have money, no free speech for you! What happened to We The People? Two words, Big Business. Here is a prime example of this elite force, the Koch Brothers, but don't be fooled, it's not just them, there are a few others, but the Koch Brothers are the most outlandish, and are a perfect example of an oligarchy. Do some research and see for yourself. There's no excuse, you have the resources at you fingertips. This new American Dream, for the wealthy by the wealthy, will bankrupt us all. There will be the super rich, the poor, with the indebted middle class, one pay check from poverty.  

This is a fundamental problem, and we as citizens of this country need to get up and fight for our republic!  

This country was founded on the premiss of freedom and equality. We do not have equality in the United States today, far from it. The American Dream is dead for the vast majority of Americans. For the naysayer that will scream communist! because of the word equality, you are woefully miss informed. Equality, doesn't mean everyone is the same, it means every person in this country who works full time should be able to live outside of poverty and support their family. It means that healthcare is a right for all human beings. It means that Carried Interest, a tax loophole used by CEOs, and billionaires, which allows them to pay less in taxes than a teacher, a policeman, a janitor, or any wage earner in the United States, must be eliminated. Go ahead, don't believe me, look it up, Carried Interest, and see for yourself. 

Over the last 30 years, a huge transference of wealth happened in the United States. Trickle Down Economics, the baby of Milton Friedman, and the battle cry of the Reagan Administration. It wasn't just Reagan, since him, Bush, Clinton, and Obama, have helped to solidify this growing economic divide, money is bipartisan. Here's what Trickle Down Economics gave to the average American. It's  like going to get a drink of water, but the spigot only drips. It will take a long time for you to ever satisfy your thirst. But the boss has more water than he can drink! 

It used to be that CEOs made 20 or 30 times more than their employees, today conservative estimates puts that at roughly 250 to 350 times more than their employees. It's cheaper to be rich. You pay less in taxes, because you can manipulate the tax code. Heck, if you have enough money you can manipulate the tax law. Take for example George Bush's tax break for Capitol Gains, you know those millions and billions generated from being the boss. Sometimes those gains come from dubious practices like laying thousands of people off, or shipping jobs overseas where labor is cheap. It comes with environmental costs too. When Koch Industries pollutes the community where its factories are and fill the waterways with toxic waste, it causes high rates of cancer for the residents. Yes, they make money on that too! During the Reagan years, Capitol Gains tax was at 30%, after George Bush it is at 15%, and with it came $2.9 trillion dollars in deficits, and untold amounts of suffering and growing poverty.  

We are not meant to be ruled by an aristocracy like an oligarchy. This is not fair, when you earn wealth in a free and democratic society, you have to pay the people that helped you earn that wealth, because you didn't do it all by yourself, that is the American way! You also have to pay your fair share of taxes, and stop using loopholes, like Carried Interests, to skirt your tax responsibility, that is the American way! Big Business also needs to be responsible for the environment, that is the American way! 

But the system is rigged. The stacks are against the average American, and Big Business rules the land, oblivious to the pain and the hardship their unbridled greed has caused this country. With money comes power, and power over the broadcast airways is the most pervasive and insidious power that any entity can have. Thanks to deregulation, the media which was once fair and balanced, is no more. It has become a propaganda machine for the wealthy elites to promote their message and convince the masses of people that their best interest is financial servitude. Political pundits used to be neutral, however if you peel way the layers, you see the pundits are on the pay rolls of the candidates they endorse with their rhetoric. Talking media heads convince average Americans that tax cuts for the super rich are good for them too, when they are in fact against their better interest. Talking media heads balk at climate change, when climate change is very real, and that poverty is a choice, when it's not. That a welfare queen and an immigrant live high on tax dollars when they don't. There is no welfare queen, and immigrants are not stealing your jobs, or getting free healthcare. As a matter fact, immigrants face the threat of deportation, or incarceration( that's a whole other story. Go ahead, look up immigrant prisons for profit) The talking media heads say that free speech is money,when it's not. That the war on drugs is good, when we have the largest prison population in the world. That Republicans and Democrats are different, when they are the same. 

It is time for a political revolution. It is time for all of us to join together and reclaim our democratic republic. A lone voice has risen above the shadows that the corporate media casts, his message penetrates in flickers across the corporate media spectrum, while the message roars across social media platforms. His name is Bernie Sanders, a self proclaimed Democratic Socialist aka A New Deal kind of leader. The longest serving Independent congressional leader in history. He changed his party affiliation to run as the Democratic Presidential nominee. Let's face it, we still have a way to go before we get an Independent in The Oval Office, so Bernie chose to go with the Democrats. His campaign is solely financed with small donation from average Americans. He raised $94.8 million in small campaign contributions since he announced his candidacy 9 month ago. His record is an incredible testament as pioneer of social justice all his life. A civil rights activist since he was a young adult. A champion of healthcare for all, free education, a living wage, investing in our infrastructure, protecting our environment. Most importantly, he has ignited a massive movement of people to unite and reclaim this land. Like Bernie says, this presidential campaign is about all of us! We have to stay in the fight. The powers that be do not want to give up their dominance. Are you going to live via the rule of the oligarchy in a plutocracy, or are you going to live in a Democratic Republic and become an active and informed citizen? 

The time is now. What will you do? 

"Brothers and sisters: Now is not the time for thinking small. Now is not the time for the same old – same old establishment politics and stale inside-the-beltway ideas.

Now is the time for millions of working families to come together, to revitalize American democracy, to end the collapse of the American middle class and to make certain that our children and grandchildren are able to enjoy a quality of life that brings them health, prosperity, security and joy – and that once again makes the United States the leader in the world in the fight for economic and social justice, for environmental sanity and for a world of peace.

My fellow Americans: This country faces more serious problems today than at any time since the Great Depression and, if you include the planetary crisis of climate change, it may well be that the challenges we face now are direr than any time in our modern history." Bernie Sanders

The tail that wags the dog, American Corporate Media.

It started with the show, 60 Minutes, the first newsmagazine that set the precedence for the entertainment news we have today. During the 80s money began to overshadow hard news and journalism. Since then, news has become a very profitable commodity whose power can spin elections, and change the opinion of the public. It is very pervasive. Think George Orwell’s 1984. Hitler rose to power due to the airways, film, print, and radio.

Today, journalists have become protagonists in an infotainment style story that embodies extremes, and distorted information, which is controlled by the few whose only interest is profits and power. It is the epicenter of fear, power, and control. No matter how much money can by, money will not sustain a healthy republic, money sustains an oligarchy.  “The networks’ entertainment and sports operations are so troubled that news, particularly in prime time, is becoming one of the networks’ most consistently profitable businesses. To some extent, news programs are now looked to as ways to subsidize entertainment and sports offerings—just the reverse of the way things used to be.”

In 1987, the FCC eliminated the Fairness Doctrine, which required broadcasters to be honest, equitable, and balanced. Broadcasters were required to cover controversial matters of public interest. AND contrasting views. Some may argue the news we have now, covers what's happening, and provides contrasting views. In reality it covers some of what's happening, and its not fair reporting, and its not balanced. We have lost balanced, honest,and equitable. “The demise of this FCC rule has been considered as a contributing factor for the rising level of party polarization in the United States.^[2][3]” 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine

We must be active citizens and demand that the government serve the interests of the public for which it represents, and the public airways it is suppose to protect. The airways belong to the people, not business. We The People. Corporations are not people, money is not free speech.We need to reclaim our cable and broadcast airways, and enact policy that takes away the power of money, and replaces  it with the interests of the people of this country. When news becomes entertainment, and makes a handful of people, rich and powerful, our democracy is in deep trouble. The rise of Donald Trump, hate speech, and American exceptionalism, are the products of corporate media. Trump gets more airtime than any other Republican candidate. 

Free speech is hard to find on the networks or cable news. The internet has become a place where all opinions can heard, well maybe… The flip side is that there is a lot of noise, and misinformation out there. We need to protect our free and open internet from the same monied interests that have corrupted our public airways, and we need to take back what belongs to us. Vote money out,  it starts with us, The People. Get active, be informed and question every source. Or Donald Trump might become the next president.

http://niemanreports.org/articles/the-transformation-of-network-news/

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/03/business/deregulating-media-overview-regulators-ease-rules-governing-media-ownership.html?pagewanted=all

Why I am voting for Bernie Sanders.

Since a young age I have always been interested in politics. At one point in my life I considered running for office at the local level. I turned 18 in 1988 and voted in my first election. I was so excited because, Geraldine Ferraro was Michael Dukakis’s VP nominee. I survived the Reagan years as a child of a lower middle-class family, and experienced Reagnomics AKA trickle down economics first hand. I couldn’t, and I still can’t, understand how regular people, lower and middle class, can support candidates that are not out for their best interest? My best guess is that they fall for the Hollywood Effect. Reagan seemed like a likable guy. A hard working cowboy who knew the true values of America, but sadly he was an actor with no real experience other than the public loved him. The one thing Reagan and Trump have in common is they are TV stars. 

Needless to say George H. Bush won in 1988. He only lasted one term. I remember when Bill Clinton ran. I was somewhat happy, but really he was the only ticket in town that I could vote for. By his second term I became an Independent. Bill Clinton disappointed me on many levels, but by far the worst thing he did was deregulate Wall Street, and that deregulation lead to the largest economic crash since 1932. Bill Clinton was heavily funded by corporate elites and his legacy is proof in the political pudding. Hillary is the same, and though I would love to see a woman in the White House, SHE IS NOT IT! Hillary takes huge donations from Wall Street and she will be a minion to her contributors. She has already proven that with her flip-flopping and the policies she has supported. 

I switched my party affiliation back to Democrat in 2008 to vote for Barrack Obama. He deeply disappointed me! He did not bring the change he promised, and worse yet, he bailed out Wall Street, and thanks to Obama, Wall Street is bigger than ever. The next crash will be far worse. I am also deeply disappointed with the Affordable Care Act. Obama gave too much influence to private insurance companies, and that is why health care in America is still unaffordable for most people. Honestly, after Obama, I lost hope. I considered not voting, but I had to vote! I feel it is my responsibility to vote as a citizen of this country, and especially because it took women 100 years to win the right to vote! Thank you Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton! Those ladies were true American pioneers and sadly they died before the first women got to vote! 

Here we are again, another election on the horizon. At start of the election season, I was right along with moveon.org begging Warren to run! Run Warren Run! Elisabeth Warren is true champion of the people and she is really needed as a senator right now. I respect her decision to not run this time. I hope to see her run for president someday though! Disenchanted again…then Bernie Sander jumped in! I knew Bernie Sanders from Vermont. His progressive policies that benefit people, and not money. He voted against the Iraq War, Keystone pipeline; he’s in favor of a living wage, climate change policies, paid family leave, he supports women’s reproductive rights, he’s in favor of people and the policies that help regular people, not just the ultra rich. So I watched, a bit skeptical, could a senator from the small state of Vermont rally the support and funds needed to beat Hilary Clinton and her arsenal of corporate money? YES, he can, and he made history doing it with over 250 million people donating to his campaign in small amounts! When I see his Bernie Bus, it’s a shinning light of people power! 

This is the most exciting election in my lifetime! Two unlikely candidates Sanders and Trump rising to the top! What that says, is that the people are fed up with politics as usual, and that means change is coming! Though I hope our change is with Bernie and not Trump, here’s why. 

Many people argue that Bernie will bankrupt the country, we can’t afford to have the progressive policies he’s in favor off, he will give all those lazy people freebies, free school, single payer healthcare, et cetera. My arguments in this opinion piece started on FB when a commenter said, Bernie is for Freebies. First of all, Bernie is not looking for freebies, he's looking to tax the ultra wealthy, who we currently fund via tax loopholes, subsidies, and bailouts. Not to mention the billions in American taxable income in offshore accounts, that hide tax free for the wealthiest 1%, who by the way, own 60% of the wealth in this country. Brief history lesson: This country started when the people in England and Europe got tired of living via the rule of kings and the aristocracy, and left to build a new world. Remember? That good ole American Dream? I know, some people think the liberals killed it, wrong. Greed killed the American Dream, and greed bought our government with their opulent wealth. Now back to the point. Second, he's calling for an active populace to change the tides and restore balance in this country. It surprises me how many Americans blame the poor on our woeful economy, instead of the fat cats that suck this country dry with their greed. Go see, The Big Short, that's quite an eye opener! 

It also surprises me that people do not see the social welfare corporate America takes from the people of this country. Why is Walmart on welfare? What you say? They're the richest family in America, with an astonishing 100 billion dollars. They have so much money that it would take hundreds of years to count it all by hand. Okay you say, they earned it, this is America, the land of opportunity. Well, then why do we give them subsides? Why do we pay via Medicare and food stamps to Walmart employees, because their wages are so low that they need welfare. Tell me again how Bernie is looking for freebies?   

I know you think you could be rich like them too. We could all be rich like them if we tried hard and wanted it. But the reality is that the average American works harder than ever just to keep food on the table, never mind getting rich. It's near impossible today. Besides, most folks don't care about excessive wealth, they just want good paying jobs, retirement, healthy food and the ability to save for the future. The playing field is no longer a place of opportunity with equal chance for all to have the American Dream. The average worker makes $700 less a month than they did back in the 70s, yet our country is richer than ever. Unfortunately the regular tax paying public is poorer than ever. Bernie Sanders is experienced, and he does not talk like a typical politicians. He says our government is corrupt. How many politicians say that? The two front runners, Sanders and Trump, (I don’t care what the main stream media is saying, Hilary is not the front runner, it’s just not true.) step outside of typical Washington rhetoric. 

People seem to like Trump, because he says it like it is, but does he really?  Yes, the system is corrupt, I agree with that, but. What is Trump's experience? Well, he was born rich and got richer. He shoots from the hip with no clue how to run a country. Yes, he runs a business, but that does not qualify him for president. Why do people think he will look out for the average Joe? Trump is clueless to what life is like for us average folks. He will promote policies that help him gain more at the sacrifice of the rest of us. Not to mention he's decisive and his rhetoric is hateful, racist, and misogynistic. I cannot believe that Tump is Ivy League educated. He expresses himself with a very low vocabulary. He repeats himself over and over again with no real answers to what he'll actually do in the White house. All I can gleam from his speeches are, ‘I am going to win, win, win. I am going to build walls and prison camps.’ I don't want to live in an America surrounded by a wall, with Muslim people marginalized and possibly locked in interment camps. Of all the wonderful things Franklin D. Roosevelt did for this country, interment camps was not one of them! I cannot believe Donald Trump would use this as an excuse, that FDR did it, so it's a good idea. Obviously Trump needs a history lesson. Our country has since apologized for doing such a horrible thing. It is a scar on our liberty and values. Yet this man says that's how he'll handle terrorism. Terrorism is not synonymous with Muslim, it's very ignorant and plain racist to believe so.

There have been some pretty terrible acts of terror committed by Christians here in our country, Oklahoma City bombing to name just one. Actually domestic violence perpetrated by white men far outweighs the amount of ISIS attacks that happen. So the question that begs to be asked, should we put all white Christians in interment camps? No. We shouldn't lock up any person unless they are proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. Period. That's America, innocent until proven guilty. America is melting pot of diversity, an innovative country that has the potential be a leader in world that is not full of violence, a world where all people matter, a world where justice prevails and violence no longer dominates foreign affairs. We can make a better world together. America is screaming for change. The public has had enough. It is time for politics as usual to end, and that is why I am voting for Bernie Sanders! He will be a people’s president, and he is calling on all of us to be part of a political revolution, and work with him as we become a nation for the people by the people! #FEELTHEBERN

Make America Great Again!

Awhile ago I said I was giving up politics. My husband said it wouldn't last, LOL! Most of my adult life I have been an activist on various issues, both locally and nationally. From protesting the many wars I have witnessed in my lifetime, to writing testimony in favor of informed consent for vaccines, homeschooling rights, and GMO labeling laws here in CT; I have exercised my civic rights with my voice and written word. Civics is something that has been wiped clean from our public school curriculum and replaced with social studies, and that is a shame! Part of the problem I see in our country today is a passive attitude toward government, and the policies and laws it creates. This passive apathy has allowed our government to run amuck. Maybe it's the lack of civics being taught in high school, maybe people are too busy? Whatever it is, it has got to change! We are a free society, and we have to be civic minded in order to protect our eroding liberties. The government is meant to serve us, the people, not the biggest campaign contributors and the billionaire class. 

As I write this, we have some very scary laws that are not only unconstitutional, they are against freedom, and in favor government tyranny. Some of you reading this may be shaking your head right now in disbelief. Let me briefly touch on a law that scares me the most. The NDAA know as the National Defense Authorization Act, which gives the president of the USA the sole right to lockup American citizens. The law was passed a couple of years ago and signed into law on Christmas Eve by President Obama. The law strips away due process, allows the president to seize your assets, allows the president to have you taken away to a foreign prison without access to a phone call, a lawyer, and your family will not even know where you are, or that the federal government took you! All this can happen based on suspicion and the president's discretion. http://mic.com/articles/20835/why-the-ndaa-bill-is-even-scarier-than-you-thought#.0ln3T4gnd

A group of journalists led by Chris Hedges took the Obama Administration to court over indefinite detention, which is part of the NDAA. "The principal allegation made by the plaintiffs against the NDAA is that the vagueness of critical terms in the NDAA could be interpreted by the U.S. federal government in a way that authorizes them to label journalists and political activists who interview or support outspoken critics of the Obama administration's policies as "covered persons," meaning that they have given "substantial support" to terrorists or other "associated groups".[9]" Hedges et el lost, this law is now a solid part of the the federal governments arsenal of laws that strip American's of their fundamental rights granted under the Constitution and Bill Of Rights. 

Our history is not perfect, we can go back to how we acquired this land and see how brutal that acquisition was. I am ashamed of what my ancestors did to the native people to take control of America. I cannot change that history. However, I am proud of The US Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the Constitution and Bill Of Rights enabled women to win the right to vote, ended slavery, entitles American citizens with the right to privacy, pursuit of happiness, freedom of expression, and due process. Sadly, we are losing these rights rapidly. Our government spies on us, we now have free speech zones, you can be taken to jail based on a suspicion. The government can seize your property, bank accounts, and other valuables based on suspicion alone, and you don't even have to be charged, and you have to fight the government to get you stuff back, and you may lose anyhow, even though you are not guilty! http://dailysignal.com/2015/05/14/federal-government-to-return-107702-irs-seized-from-north-carolina-convenience-store-owner/

This is why I cannot afford to be apolitical. We live in a time of fear and paranoia, where terrorism lurks in the shadows, and constant war reeks havoc overseas breeding more terror. We live in a time of the greatest imbalance of income equality, where the middle class is disappearing with our freedom. We live in a time where all the income and prosperity is stuck at the top. We live in a time where women's rights are being eroded, where fear and hate are breeding a toxic racism. We live in a time where the mass media is owned and operated by a small handful of wealthy elites who shape the mainstream news with their propaganda, and hide hard news like the largest methane gas leak in history now happening in California. We live in a time of the greatest corporate welfare in the form of tax loopholes and rent seeking, "Rent-seeking results in reduced economic efficiency through poor allocation of resources, reduced actual wealth creation, lost government revenue, increased income inequality,[1] and (potentially) national decline. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking

We live in a time when most American people feel helpless and angry. Maybe this is why Donald Trump is the republican frontrunner. People say that Trump says things that other politicians are afraid to say, he's not bought and sold, he has his own money. He will make America great again. His plan? Ban Muslims, and Mexicans, build a giant wall to keep immigrants out. More tax breaks for the wealthy, hey he's a business man, he knows how to get the job done. Well, sort of. He knows loopholes and ways of keeping his fortune, his companies have bankrupted 5 times, while he kept his billions. Who paid for this? We the people did and still do. For a regular Joe, they can only claim bankruptcy once and it's much harder for a regular Joe than Donald Trump to do so. 

Trump makes lots of claims that he really will not be able to keep, but one thing he can do as president is use the NDAA and that is why I cannot give up politics. I cannot sit silent and watch a presidential hopeful spew misogynistic insults and degrading comments about women, minorities, and people with disabilities. Trump hits below the belt with cheap shots that make him popular with an already angry public. I know why Trump supporters are angry, they're tired of not being able to save money, of losing jobs to China and other foreign countries, they're tired of politics as usual. Our leaders in Washington have failed us! They don't tell it like it is, they dance to the tune of the almighty dollar. The politicians in Washington today are oblivious to the people they are suppose to serve. The two party system is two sides of the same coin. I am sick of it too! Money dictates policy and laws. 

I feel hopeless at times. We need real change, not the hollow promises of Barrack Obama, who I voted for once and did not the second time around. He campaigned on promises he would never keep and raised a billion dollars of corporate money to take office. He proved to be the same old thing another politician blowing a lot of hot air, a great disappointment! I lost almost all hope... Then Bernie Sanders came along. The senator from the tiny state of Vermont who rides in coach, who has made history with the most donations from regular folks like us! He doesn't take super pac money, he says things the other politician won't say, he speaks the truth! He addresses income inequality, corporate greed, Wall Street, and America's shrinking middle class and growing poor. Bernie Sanders is a breath of fresh air, and I hope some of the folks supporting Donald Trump will come to see that Bernie Sanders will bring back our economy, jobs, and make a fair playing field for America to be great again. Bernie can't make these changes alone, no one can! What Bernie needs, what America needs, to be great again, is an active citizenry! So today I jump back into politics, America cannot be great again until the people rise up and help make that happen! Thank you Bernie Sanders, for so eloquently saying such. "We must launch a political revolution which engages millions of Americans from all walks of life in the struggle for real change." Bernie Sanders

International Women's Day 2015

Jennifer Shafer Wood, Senator Richard Blumenthal, Rusa D'Alessandro

Stay tuned for International Women's Day 2016! 

Homework, the race to nowhere...

Homework is a major stress in my family’s life. It is intrusive as well as counter productive. There is no research to back up the claim that homework is good for children, makes smarter students, or makes kids more ready for college, and the challenges of the world. In fact, homework stresses children out. I am a mom to four children and I can tell you first hand it creates a lot turmoil in my children's lives. My oldest daughter, who is now in high school, was up late into the night for most of 8th grade doing hours of homework. One night she was rocking on the floor pulling her hair and crying! It just so happens 8th grade is a big year for students taking standardized tests. We approached the middle school principal and got basically nowhere. His attitude was that stress is a part of student life. So we signed our daughter up for homework club at his suggestion. And my daughter refused to go. Instead, she sucked it up and did the homework. She complained less, afraid that we would send her to homework club if she mentioned a word about homework.  

To keep up with all her work she told me she wanted to drink energy shots. Energy shots are those little bottles of caffeine and who knows what, that are sold in convenience stores. I was not too happy by her request and took it as an opportunity to explain to her how bad those energy shots and Monster drinks are for her growing body. She explained to me that some of her friends drink them to keep up with school work. That is a problem. Are we pushing our children over the edge, to the point of using “drugs” (caffeine is an addictive drug)? 

My daughter wanted to use a concoction of caffeine and high doses of sugar and chemicals, that are harmful to her body, in the race for good grades. At the end of the day, when we take a step back and look at life, grades are a blip in the whole of the experience, of what learning is all about. I am thankful that she can’t easily buy energy drinks, we live too far away for any convenience stores, but quite honestly, those energy drinks shouldn’t be be sold to minors in the first place! And homework and good grades should not encourage kids to use “drugs”, (Caffeine is an addictive drug, especially when formulated in high doses and used for the effect of caffeine.)

On many a weekend my daughter was up in her room doing hours of homework. She was cranky, tired, and did school work almost around the clock. Fortunately her freshman year of high school has been much easier so far. Not surprising though, since the next big test year is not until the 10th grade. I am sure her homework will increase then. Did I mention we live in a district with two schools that are proud Blue Ribbon schools? Incase you’re not aware of what a National Blue Ribbon School Program is: 

“The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes public and private elementary, middle, and high schools based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups. Every year the U. S. Department of Education seeks out and celebrates great American schools, schools demonstrating that all students can achieve to high levels. More than 7,500 of schools across the country have been presented with this coveted award.” http://www2.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/index.html

Originally  The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program was designed to close the achievement gap in schools where at least 40% of the student population was at a disadvantage. In 2003 as part of, No Child Left Behind, The National Blue Ribbon School Program changed, “In 2003, the program was restructured to bring it in line with the No Child Left Behind Law, placing a stronger emphasis on state assessment data and requiring schools to demonstrate high academic success.” School were able to nominate themselves in the beginning. Now schools earn the titled based on these criteria, “Nominated schools submit applications describing school operations such as the use of assessments and assessment data, curricula, professional development, leadership, and community and family involvement. A total of 417 schools may be nominated in any year; state quotas are determined by numbers of students and schools. The Blue Ribbon award is considered the highest honor an American school can achieve.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Blue_Ribbon_Schools_Program

So what does this mean for the student? On paper it means better schools, but in reality it means more work, more stress, and greater emphasis on testing data, which brings us to why I am writing this, homework and stress. What does homework have to do with testing and stress? Everything! Ask any parent and they will tell you homework is lots of  textbooks, workbooks, worksheets, computer work, and lots of busy rote memorization. Standardized testing relies a lot on this type of learning. My daughter’s backpack weighs over 10lbs! One night my stepdaughter was doing math homework on the computer for three hours. She had to answer 10 math questions, if she got even one wrong, she had to answer 10 new questions. It was unbelievable. I am sorry my children have to spend countless hours doing this kind of work. 

Have you tried to read a textbook since you were in school? I love history, but the American Revolution is as boring as my daughter claims it is when you read about it from a textbook, which by the way is manufactured by a small group of companies, http://www.wired.com/2012/01/why-education-publishing-is-big-business/. The largest textbook publisher is Pearson, Pearson is also the producer of the controversial Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium aka SBAC. Pearson collects private data from school districts throughout the USA. Actually, the amount of private data collected about our children in schools these days is alarming! Last spring, Pearson was caught spying on students in NJ, “The spying–or “monitoring,” to use Pearson’s word–was confirmed at one school district–the Watching Hills Regional High School district in Warren by its superintendent, Elizabeth Jewett.”http://www.bobbraunsledger.com/breaking-pearson-nj-spying-on-social-media-of-students-taking-parcc-tests/. 

Some may argue that to keep the test “secure”, spying on children is okay if it stops cheating. Cheating is never good, but Pearson really doesn't care about cheating, they care about protecting their private intellectual property. “Currently, Pearson has partnered with 18 states in the U.S., as well as Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, to produce pricey testing materials. For a five-year contract, Pearson was paid $32 million to produce standardized tests for New York. Its contract in Texas was worth $500 million. Pearson also owns Connections Academy, a company that runs for-profit, virtual charter schools. It also owns the GED program, although competitors have been creating alternatives in order to combat Pearson’s expensive tests. By and large, the massive corporation has far-reaching control over the education industry.” http://www.alternet.org/education/corporations-profit-standardized-tests

The question that begs to be asked, why are we relying on giant corporations to produce the textbooks and the tests that our children learn from? Pearson is basically designing American public school curriculum. The greatest irony I find with Pearson is that Pearson is an English company, creating textbooks, and spying on our children. I know the American Revolution was a long time ago and England and the USA are allies, but why is an English company producing American textbooks? Why aren't local school districts producing local textbooks? Some may argue that we need oversight. Why can’t we have a basic outline, and each state determines a core of what children should learn i.e. history, science, math, and reading? How each district achieves those goals should be based on their own assessments and not a giant corporation making billions in profits, while homogenizing our country. Diversity is a good thing and makes a stronger country. Unfortunately, It’s all about money, not education. Local school districts are beholden to the Federal Government’s money. The Federal government is beholden to the policymakers, and the policymakers are beholden to the people who fund their campaigns. It’s quite the vicious circle. Local schools get money from the Feds by complying with federal mandates like No Child Left Behind, and Race To The Top, which gave us Common Core and the SBAC and all this awful homework. Honestly, I don’t care about Blue Ribbon Schools and test scores, I care about diversity in education, I care about deep learning, not something a textbook teaches, and most of all I care about my children's health.

My younger children who are twins, have it just as hard as their older sisters. 5th grade is preparing them for loads, and loads of intense schoolwork in middle school. Again, I met with my 5th grader’s principal, she was nice, and suggested I time my children. When they reach the national education homework standard of 10 minutes per grade, per night, they could be done. Not as simple as it seems when a teacher doesn't cooperate with that rule, and it's still a lot for a kid to do! To help my children keep up with the demands of homework we signed them up for homework club. I was reluctant, 7 hours all day in school is long enough, but, we are giving it a try. So far, I got a pink slip home because my daughter didn’t finish her homework even after spending an hour after school! So I wrote the teacher and told him it was too much, again, I got nowhere other than, I totally disagree with the amount of work he assigns. At least he knows my position and we haven’t gotten a pink slip lately, so maybe my complaining is having an impact? 

Life in our home since the school year began has been met with a lot of belly aching about homework, tests, and stress. It’s really not very fun and not a good way to instill a love of learning that’s for sure. The worst part is when my younger fifth grade twins wakeup in the middle of the night crying about school, a test, not finishing homework, or not studying enough. Both my 5th graders have done this. My daughter couldn’t sleep one night and when I asked what was wrong she was crying about a test, that she was afraid and couldn’t sleep, because she was afraid that she would fail. My son woke up screaming in the night because of school related stress. He’s not himself somedays, and that makes me sad. I picked him up from school early twice already this year due to stomach issues, basically stress. When I brought him home he was fine. He cries about school. He has a really hard time with sitting in a chair, at a desk, for the majority of his day. If he doesn’t compete his homework he could be subjected to this: “He/she may be asked to stay in during recess to complete the work.”  http://www.portlandctschools.org/brownstone-handbook.html. Children only get gym a few times a week and 25 minutes of recess daily. Studies have shown that children do better when they have more time to move their bodies. Hours and hours of sitting and doing school work is unhealthy. My pediatrician  told me that my oldest daughter has small bruises on her spine from sitting in a chair at school all day. It’s too much sitting! We're making progress though, recently Connecticut adopted a law making it illegal to deny a child recess,

 “public act 13-173 b) Not later than October 1, 2013, each local and regional board of education shall adopt a policy, as the board deems appropriate, concerning the issue regarding any school employee being involved in preventing a student from participating in the entire time devoted to physical exercise in the regular school day, pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, as a form of discipline. For purposes of this section, "school employee" means (1) a teacher, substitute teacher, school administrator, school superintendent, guidance counselor, psychologist, social worker, nurse, physician, school paraprofessional or coach employed by a local or regional board of education or working in a public elementary, middle or high school; or (2) any other individual who, in the performance of his or her duties, has regular contact with students and who provides services to or on behalf of students enrolled in a public elementary, middle or high school, pursuant to a contract with the local or regional board of education.” https://www.cga.ct.gov/2013/act/pa/pdf/2013PA-00173-R00HB-06525-PA.pdf

Seems someone is not doing their homework at our school and is in violation of CT law. 

Punitive action for incomplete homework is going too far. There is more to education than testing and homework. I am not oppose to all homework, I oppose homework every night for hours. Do you bring your work home? Some people do, and some don’t. There is a choice in the adult world. Some careers will require additional work at home, and some do not. Personally, I am preparing my children to be adults in the real world who make choices, and think critically. How about instead of punishing children we allow them a choice in school too. If you do homework you get extra credit, if you don’t, you get nothing, but you’re not punished, and it does not affect your grade for not doing homework, but can improve your grade if you do. Choice. 7 hours is enough time to cover material all day long at school for 180 days. Occasionally a student could have some homework, a book report, a special project, studying for a test. Not every night, not for hours, not on vacation, not on Sundays, not ever! Sundays are for rest, whatever your religion or spiritual belief may be. Summer is sacred leave it alone, children need the summer just as a flower needs the sun to grow.

Having time with your family, pursuing other activities outside of school, time to read what you want, to stare at the sky if that’s what you want to do, does not interfere with learning, it enhances it. Deep learning, the kind that stays with you for life is not about rote memorization. When a child learns to read, it’s like riding a bike, you don’t forget how to read. By the way, all children learn to read at different paces, but that’s a whole other article that I need to write! Here is a list of some articles and websites that I have found on my journey to leave school at school and restore personal time for my children and family.

“If we step back from the heated debates about homework and look at how homework is used around the world, we find the highest homework loads are associated with countries that have lower incomes and higher social inequality.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/09/02/homework-could-have-an-effect-on-kids-health-should-schools-ban-it/

“What parents and teachers need is support from administrators who are

willing to challenge the conventional wisdom.  They need principals who

question the slogans that pass for arguments:  that homework creates a link between school and family (as if there weren’t more constructive ways to make that connection!), or that it “reinforces” what students were taught in class (a word that denotes the repetition of rote behaviors, not the development of understanding), or that it teaches children self-discipline and responsibility (a claim for which absolutely no evidence exists).

Above all, principals need to help their faculties see that the most important criterion for judging decisions about homework (or other policies, for that matter) is the impact they’re likely to have on students’ attitudes about what they’re doing.  “Most of what homework is doing is driving kids away from learning,” says education professor Harvey Daniels.  Let’s face it:  Most children dread homework, or at best see it as something to be gotten through.  Thus, even if it did provide other benefits, they would have to be weighed against its likely effect on kids’ love of learning.” http://www.alfiekohn.org/article/rethinking-homework/

“The 2013 American Psychological Association survey, for example, found that 45 percent of U.S. schoolchildren were stressed-out by school - and homework was the leading cause.” 

http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/More-parents-students-saying-no-to-homework-6590903.php

“We tend to think of homework as a necessary part of learning, a practice that teaches children discipline and keeps them from idleness. Yet a growing body of research reveals an astonishing truth: homework has little to no benefit in enhancing learning or performance in elementary and middle school, and only minor benefits, usually in math, in high school. This conclusion comes courtesy of a review of all major homework studies recently highlighted the Washington Post, including an update to a 2001 review conducted by the leading U.S. researcher on homework, Harris Cooper of Duke University.” http://www.alternet.org/education/why-more-and-more-parents-are-opting-their-kids-out-homework

The 8th Annual Thank The Lake Day

    Joseph FireCrow

Thank The Lake Day is an annual event that takes place at Sears Park in EastHampton every third Sunday in May to give thanks to Lake Pocotopaug. “It’s about raising awareness, we need to pay attention to our planet,” explained Priscilla Connors producer and founder of Thank The Lake Day. Connors is a dynamic and creative women. She is owner of Positively Clean, a unique cleaning service company out of East Hampton, who offers nontoxic organic cleaners and sacred space clearings. Sacred space clearing is a way of using energy to clear a home, building, or natural landscape of negative energies. With a variety of techniques Priscilla clears the land’s energy, and then cleans the home or business with organic nontoxic supplies that she makes with pure essential oils. “If you know about Reiki, this is the easiest way to explain it. It’s Reiki for the land, using symbols and co-creating, by working with the land and the earth’s magnetic grids to bring your property to it’s highest frequency and vibration,” explained Priscilla. Encouraged by her husband to write down her cleaning recipes and sacred space clearing techniques she wrote a book, The Field Guide To Vibrational Cleaning. “Positively Clean addresses the self, the home, the community, and our sacred Earth.” PositivelyClean.com

 

When Priscilla and her family brought a home on Lake Pocotopaug she fell in love with the lake and it’s natural beauty. Lake Pocotopaug whose name was derived from the Pequot Indians is a 512 acre natural lake. Back in the early part of the 20th century Lake Pocotopaug was a resort community that attracted hundreds of tourists during the summer season. Unfortunately the lake has seen better days. Each year there are large algae blooms. According to Wikipedia,“In recent years the lake has become a place of ecological study due to the large scale algae blooms that resulted in 2000. Tests have shown that longstanding shoreline development and fertilizer use are causing increasing issues.” In the early spring and summer the lake is clear. From the beginning of July to the end of the season the lake is green with algae, “ The algae blooms because of the phosphor. It’s like a green infection,” explained Connors. The phosphor comes from water runoff. Lake Pocotopaug is in a watershed and whenever people use toxic chemicals there is runoff into the lake. Gas powered motor boats add to the problem as well. The algae was so bad one year that there was a large fish die off. In an effort to help clean the lake and educate the community, Priscilla put her space clearing techniques to work and produced Thank The Lake Day, now in it’s 8th consecutive year. The first year of Thank the Lake Day Priscilla did a sacred space clearing of Sears Park. The following year Sears Park was awarded a large grant to improve the park. “Ever since then, every year, there’s always something a little bit more done to the park to improve it. That’s what happens with sacred space clearing, it may happen right away, or it may take a few years, but there’s always positive change.” 

When the idea to produce Thank The Lake Day came to Priscilla, she reached out to Joseph FireCrow. FireCrow is a renowned Native American flute player, he won a Grammy as guest artist on David Darling’s “Prayer For Compassion”, as well as seven Native American Music Awards. Connors met FireCrow while attending various Native American Pow Wows. A Pow Wow is a gathering of North America’s Native people.  Priscilla explained, “When I got the idea for Thank The Lake Day, Joseph FireCrow immediately came to my mind. I contacted him and I said, our lake is in peril, we need to bring awareness to the people about it, and educate them on the watershed and better ways to maintain it organically, and he said, “Absolutely!” Now eight years later Joseph FireCrow still comes to share his flute, drum and stories to raise awareness about the importance of the planet’s health. For FireCrow, caring for our community goes beyond our backyard, and this caring is essential for our environment today. So many people are detached from the earth. Using his flute and drum Joseph shares stories and songs from his ancestors. “The Flutes that I play evoke strong emotions and thought.” He went on to describe how music can be a means to open people up, to connect them to each other, and the planet. “ The drum represents the heartbeat of grandmother earth. The heart beat of our people. When we drum we are the earth,”  he said. Since the first Thank the Lake Day eight years ago Joseph and Priscilla have seen the water change on Lake Pocotopaug, the return of wildlife, and more people coming each year. “ I would not imagine it would be where it is today. The involvement from the community all the artists and artisans that want to be there to share in our humanity, and how we connect with our grandmother earth, and with all the animals. I am simply amazed!”

Festivities begin at 1PM with local music, yoga, and vendors. There will be food for sale by Higher Grounds. Stop and Shop donates flower petals to spread on the lake. Also, Positively Clean will be hosting a soap drive to benefit East Hampton’s Food Bank. For more information visit Thank The Lake Day on FB, or visit positivelyclean.com