Trying to follow

Keeping on the topic of education for a little bit, I thought I’d share a video with Jonathan Kozol, an amazing author who has for years tried to make known the inequalities of the public education system known. This 9 minute interview with Mr. Kozol helps give some quick insight and understanding to what his books discuss in further detail.

Why this Matters.
A lot of people, especially many in the church, applaud our country as being of ‘Land of Opportunity’ and we celebrate it’s freedom and equality. We are not however a country of free and equal opportunity. Our education system has been grossly unequal ever since the days of slavery, keeping and oppressing generations from ever having the opportunity to a fair chance at rising up. The Bible is filled with verses concerning justice from oppression, like in Isaiah:

10:1 Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,

2 to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,

If you believe this is authoritative, then your church should be doing something about the injustice of the land that you live in. If you don’t believe the Bible as fact, then at least tuck this verse away to challenge Christians that you meet to actually follow the Bible they claim they follow.

With the daily podcast, Thoughts on the Journey, moving full steam ahead, I figured I should compile a show for all the current Trying to Follow podcast listeners. Basically this is a compilation of 6 of the daily podcasts I’ve been doing through the month of October. This is being posted in the podcast section so it will show up on the itunes podcast page for all my Trying to Follow listeners.

or Download Here.

The Daily podcasting continues:

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Some links:
Some Facts about the GED

Education Pays

Failing Reading Scores = Prison Cells

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Passing through Vanderbilt’s fairly vacant campus tonight, Mindy pointed out how sad it was that all these dormitories and other buildings sit pretty much vacant for about three months out of the year. At the same time, plenty of folks spend the nights out on the streets with no where to lay their head. The Fine brainstorm ensued and here where some thoughts the brilliant Mindy produced…

Imagine a three month rehabilitation center set up on vacant university campuses each summer. That is a good amount of time to offer a sort of detox and rehab program for a number of folks. It’d also be ample time to help diagnose mental health concerns and provide plans of care for those in need. Something like this could easily be supported by current students serving as interns and having an opportunity to gain some hands on real life experience related to their field of interest.

Another idea was to set up a three month summer education program for and put together by both students and community members (particularly those in need of living spaces). Imagine being part of a three month summer school that offered classes, workshops, discussion groups and more put together by college professors, students, homeless and formerly homeless persons, and a great many other people. Imagine living in a dorm with that sort of array of people and backgrounds. Imagine breaking bread together with folks from the other side of the tracks. Unfortunately, current colleges don’t seem to provide this, but what about the opportunity to offer these sorts of things on empty college campuses in the summer.

This is me thinking out loud.
What are your thoughts?

Get the GED FACTS

1. About one out of every seven people who receive high school diplomas each year earns that diploma by passing the GED tests.
2. Ninety percent of colleges and universities recognize the GED. Passing the GED tests puts a person in the upper 25th percentile in terms of class rank, and lets colleges know the person has the skills and knowledge equivalent to applicants from traditional high schools.
3. More than 95 percent of employers nationwide employ GED graduates on the same basis as high school graduates in terms of hiring, salary, and opportunity for advancement.
4. Sixty-five percent of GED test-takers plan to enter college, a university, trade or technical school, or business school during the next year.
5. The average age of persons taking the GED tests is 24.7 years old.

GED Background

1. Tests of the General Educational Development (GED) were established in 1942 to help returning World War II veterans finish their studies and earn a high school credential.
2. Recognized throughout North America by employers and institutions of higher learning, the GED program served as a bridge to education and employment opportunities for millions of adults since 1942. An estimated 12.6 million people have earned high school equivalency diplomas since the program began.
3. Today, GED tests measure the academic skills and knowledge students are expected to acquire during four years of high school. The GED test battery consists of five tests: Language Arts - Writing, Social Studies, Science, Language Arts - Reading, and Mathematics.
4. The GED testing program is jointly administered by the GED Testing Service of the American Council on Education and each participating state department of education. There are nearly 3,500 official GED Testing Centers in the U.S., Canada, and overseas.

Source: American Council on Education web site