Disturbing Trends in Fairbanks North Star Borough School District

I've found a disturbing trend in the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District. Student enrollment has remained essentially the same each year for the last twenty years, around 15,000 students. The number of teachers has remained about the same, usually just under 1,000 (this number actually includes teachers, counselors, and librarians.) The disturbing trend is that District Administrators have more than doubled in the last 10 years. There were 8 District Administrators in 1990 to and there were still 8 in 2000. Now there are 18. And although teachers and students have remained roughly the same, support staff has roughly doubled from 402 in 1990 to 817 in 2009.

The numbers of the people that are really needed when it comes to education (students and teachers) have remained about the same for 20 years. Yet in those same twenty years every other class of employees in the school district doubled (except for principals and assistant principals which has remained about the same.) And even though student enrollment has remained about the same, four schools have been built since 1990 and now the District is complaining about overcrowding. Remember this the next time the school district comes crying for money and help.

Vote Michael Ames for School Board if you want someone on the School Board that will fight to reduce the district administration and return power to the teachers, parents, students and local communities.

Enlightened or Unenlightened?

The following experience, written some time ago is what eventually led me to be interested in making a change in the educational system by running for School Board in the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District. I have come a long way since this was written, and I feel ready to make a difference.

“Let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened:-Behold! human beings living in an underground [cave]...” Thus begins Book VII of Plato's Republic. These prisoners are chained so their heads cannot turn, a fire is behind them casting shadows on the wall from objects carried in front of it. These prisoners see the shadows before them and hear those who are carrying the objects conversing. They assume the echoes are the voices of the shadows themselves. They have contests in which they name the different shadows and bestow honors upon those that identify the shadows the quickest or guess which shadows will come next.

One of these prisoners is released and dragged out of the cave into the sun. He is at first blinded. Gradually his eyes become accustomed to seeing shadows, then reflections, then objects themselves, and finally he is able to see the sun in the sky, the source of his sight. He returns to his former companions and excitedly announces his discoveries. He can no longer see clearly the shadows in the dim light of the cave. “He has returned blind!” they exclaim and refuse to listen to his tales. To them the shadows are real, the echoes are real. This man, in leaving his place, lost his sight, and perhaps, his mind. This does not, however, make the world outside the cave any less real.

I began a serious study of truth nearly two years ago. My learning has been different than I expected it to be. I was expecting great knowledge, the memorization of many things that would help me be, or appear to be, smarter. However, I studied and studied and studied, and nothing ever came, I never became 'smart'. I haven't been able to understand Euclid, I haven't been able to pick out every subtle theme in a book and argue with it's suppositions. Instead, the opposite happened. I felt as if all the 'smarts' I had, started to disappear. I was going backwards. In my quest for knowledge I felt as if I was actually losing knowledge.

Before this I had every fact, every bit of knowledge pigeonholed into a specific compartment and it all fit together nicely in my universe. Then I started to read, study, discuss, and above all, THINK...my universe was shattered, nothing fit perfectly into it's little compartment anymore. Everything ran together and created chaos inside of me. It was agonizing, heartbreaking, humiliating. In this condition, I turned to a series of Liberal Arts courses offered by Face to Face with Greatness Seminars, Inc. Readings were chosen from The Great Books of the Western World, a set of books designed to allow any individual the ability to become self-reliant thinkers rather than automatons of popular thought. Most of the works assigned for the first class I had read before, and reading them again didn't have immediate impact on me. I had three weeks after reading them, to think about them, to refer back to them, to read everything I could find about them and their authors, and to prepare to write about them. I still wasn't smart, and I had no idea what to write for the paper required for this class. I was feeling down and depressed and ignorant of everything. I wondered what was wrong with me. Why did other people claim such great knowledge and ideas when reading? I could read and not even be able to intelligently express what the book was actually about, even if I thoroughly enjoyed it.

One evening while preparing for my paper, my mind was opened, I experienced a large 'aha' or a paradigm shift. I don't understand everything yet, I don't see everything, but I believe that the true quest is not to fill my mind with facts and information that I might gratify my pride with great knowledge. The first real object of this quest, this education, is to see myself. To see myself as I really am, not the lying mask I put on to feel good about myself, and not the torturous inner hell that is all my evil, but to simply see me and my capacity for greatness. In greatness I mean, on one hand, my great capacity to do good, and on the other hand, my great capacity to do evil, both ever available to my choices. I don't have to hide from myself anymore, from my potential to do great evil. And in so doing, I no longer need to hide from my capacity to do great good.

The second object of this education, is to make myself. Make myself into what, I do not yet know, but I trust that when my vision becomes accustomed to the bright light of truth, I will discover it. I suppose that when I arrive at a point where I know what to make myself, I will find myself already made into it, not by me, but by God. My experiences and studies will have already brought me to be the person He wants me to be, a true leadership education will have made, me.

My journey has been painful, very different than I expected, and sometimes, agonizingly slow. I can see now that the destruction of the shadows on the wall is what led me to believe that I was going backwards, that I was losing the knowledge I already had. I can not see the shadows so well anymore after being exposed to such great light. Unfortunately, neither can I see outside the cave very well. What I needed was someone who can see in the light to lead me around a little. I found this in Dr. Shanon Brooks and his Liberal Arts class. He didn't take me by the hand and lead me around, naming all the new objects in this new world like I expected. I suppose if he did, I would again make false assumptions considering my blurry vision and I might be content in my new-found ignorance. Instead he simply let me know that there were great things out there, let me wander around, and offered an occasional word to help me avoid pitfalls. Because of this, my education has really changed me, rather than adding to my facade of knowledge.

Now I ask you, how far is your nature enlightened or unenlightened? Do you really know? There is a whole universe beyond the cave and I believe leadership education can help. I know the shadows are very distracting and the journey is hard and frightening, but it is so worth it. I will help you along the way to the best of my ability, I am just beginning to see.

Life is different outside of the cave, and I will never live there again. I agree with Socrates, “Better to be the poor servant of a poor master, and to endure anything, rather than think as they do and live after their manner.”

Completed Campaign Brochure

I finally finished a brochure for my campaign for school board seat D. If you would like a copy to give to your family and friends, send an email to michaelamesak@gmail.com and I will send a copy to you. I am running this campaign with no financial donations from anyone so I need your help to get the word out. If there are other ways you can help, let me know.

Tomorrow's Leaders and Leadership Education

The problems we face in the world today seem vastly different than the problems we've faced in the past. We have no examples to show us what to expect when we make certain choices. Can we really combine the ideals of liberty found in the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence with the large array of services that now seem to be required for modern society and demanded by citizens? The problems we face are new, but the process of problem solving has always been the same. The founding fathers of this nation faced a new problem, stated in the first 'Federalist' article. Hamilton wrote, “...it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country...to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force.”

The founding fathers were up to the challenge of founding a nation because they had an education that taught them how to think and how to solve problems, even if the problems had never been solved before. The type of education they had has been suppressed almost to extinction. I will introduce you to this type of education as well as two other types of education for comparison. These three types of education are called the Conveyor Belt model, the Professional model, and the Leadership model. I will attempt to explain all three as well as each model's goals, methodology, and curriculum.

Goals of each Educational Model

The first model of education is the Conveyor Belt. Conveyor belt education is used in most public schools and in many private and home schools. The goal of conveyor belt education is job training; it was introduced as job training for the poor. It accomplishes this goal by teaching students what to think. It prepares students to get a job by teaching them to obediently and compliantly do repetitive tasks and has, historically, been very successful at these goals.

The goal of the Professional model is to train an expert by teaching them when to think in their given field. This means that when an expert, such as a doctor is in his field, he is thinking in terms related to that field. If he needs to do something outside of his field, he simply calls on other experts.

The goal of the Leadership model of education is to train leaders by teaching them how to think. This is a leader who knows how to solve problems, who has a deep understanding of what is right and wrong, true and false, good and bad, and has the ability to apply true principles, or self-evident truths in every situation. This is an education that understands that each student has a purpose in life that she needs to prepare for. This is not a new model of education. This is the model of education that the founding fathers had. It is what every great leader in the past has had, and what every great leader in the future needs.

Methodology of each Educational Model

The methodology of a Conveyor Belt education is the soviet conveyor belt. This means if you are in that system you must conform to a certain mold. If you fall behind, the teacher spends more time with you and the administration spends more money because they want no child left behind. If you get ahead, they leave you alone long enough until you get back in line. There is usually an established class system, 1^st grade, 2^nd grade and so on until you're a finished product. Then they slap a diploma on your head and turn you out to be sold to the job market.

The methodology of the Professional educational model is the competitive conveyor belt. On the competitive conveyor belt if you get behind, they simply drop you. And here the conveyor belt makes sense. If you're training to be an expert, you must know some things before you should learn other things.

The methodology of the Leadership model is mentoring. A mentor who has a leadership education, or is at least one step ahead asks the student, “What are your dreams, goals, desires, etc.?” and then helps the student prepare a curriculum that is tailored to that student, in line with the life purpose, or life mission of that student.

Curriculum of each Educational Model

The curriculum of a Conveyor Belt education is usually seen as textbooks. Textbooks are actually the secondary curriculum. The primary curriculum is socialization, which is important if you're trying to produce obedient, security-minded workers.

The known curriculum of Professional education is case studies. These are usually packaged like textbooks but students study past and hypothetical cases in their field of expertise. The other half of the curriculum is socialization, but in the professional model they call it 'ethics'. This is what you must do or not do in a given field to be accepted by the others in that field.

The curriculum of the Leadership educational model is classics. A classic is a work that is worth studying again and again and you can learn something from it each time. There are classic books, classic movies, classic works of art, classic music, classic architecture, etc. Something may be a classic for you but not for someone else, only you can know what is a classic for you and what is not. The fundamental difference between leadership education and the other models is that leadership education is individualized.

Conclusion

We live in a nation where childhood education is rooted in the conveyor belt model, and adult education usually in the professional model. Tomorrow's leaders are not being trained in leadership at any time in their schooling. The tragedy of this is that we live in a nation that says, “You be the leaders, you run the government.” Yet we are producing obedient, compliant, security-minded individuals who look to experts to do their thinking. The choice is not between Professional and Leadership education, students can get both. The choice is between the Conveyor Belt and Leadership models.

Take a look into the eyes of your child, grandchild, or other special child in your life and see if you don't regard that child as someone special, someone who was born to make a difference in the world. Ask yourself if that child's current education will prepare them to make that difference. The principles of leadership education applied at every level of schooling and in the life of every person in America, an education rooted in a deep understanding of history and the classics is the education that will produce leaders, thinkers, entrepreneurs, artists, inventors and statesman that know how to think for themselves and will lead the world into and through the 21^st century.

*These principles of education are found in "A Thomas Jefferson Education" by Oliver DeMille

Fairbanks Daily News-miner Questionnaire

1. Do you support the planned elementary school boundary changes starting next school year?

• School boundaries should be lifted and children and parents should be free to choose the school and the teachers that best fit their needs and goals.

2. Do you think a new school is needed in North Pole?

• Our school district spends approximately $16,000 per student. Give that money to each child for education. Turn schools over to local communities with minimal district control. Let parents and students choose their schools and the classrooms. The money that follows each student will show where schools ought to be built, which may or may not be in North Pole.

3. Do you think all students ought to be issued laptop computers?

• Internet access is valuable, however, laptop computers are not essential to the kind of education students need. What students need is a great education that is rooted in a deep understanding of history and the classics, where teachers act as mentors helping students establish and execute individual goals.

4. The school district recently hired numerous people using federal economic stimulus money. What do you think should happen when that money runs out?

• The District should never have accepted the money. The current administration was shortsighted when they accepted and hired permanent employees with temporary money. Many corporate employees are making it through these tough times by voluntarily reducing their incomes instead of letting their coworkers go. This is an appropriate and compassionate thing to do.

5. What infrastructure improvements do you think are needed?

• These decisions are better handled at the local level and not by a centralized, distant district administration.

6. What steps do you think should be taken to improve graduation rates in local schools?

• Students should learn they have an individual purpose in life for which they need to prepare. Students should be free to excel according to this purpose and their individual genius and to study what interests them. Teachers acting as mentors inspire students to love learning. Then students will endure and graduate.

7. State money for maintaining schools has diminished. How should ongoing maintenance be funded?

• There is excess money in the school district. It does not take $16,000 per student per year to get a world class education. Reduce the bloated administration and apply that money towards maintenance. The district needs a maintenance program where projects are anticipated and budgeted for years in advance, rather than being sprung on taxpayers as urgent.

8. What is the most pressing issue facing the school district?

• The biggest issue facing the district is an emphasis on conformity. Students and teachers currently must conform to the administration's will and demands of inferior curriculum, producing obedient, compliant, security minded students. Teachers, free to mentor students in history and the classics, will produce the leaders, thinkers, artists, inventors, entrepreneurs and statesmen needed to lead the world through the 21^st century.

The 7 Keys of Great Teaching*

1.) Classics (Not Textbooks)
2.) Mentors (Not Professors)
3.) Inspire (Not Require)
4.) Structure Time (Not Content)
5.) Quality (Not Conformity)
6.) Simplicity (Not Complexity)
7.) You (Not Them)

More to come...

*found in "A Thomas Jefferson Education" by Oliver DeMille

Education Myth

The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District has less students enrolled than expected this year, which translates into less funding from the State for education. Now the School District is looking for Federal funding to make up the shortfall. Less students, but they still need the same amount of money?

We keep throwing more and more money at education. The School Board claims responsibility for children's education. Teacher's think it's theirs, Government claims it belongs to them. Parents believe that they have responsibility for their children's education. The only person that thinks it's not their responsibility is the one person who's responsibility it really is. The Students'.

We operate under an educational myth, and that is that one person can educate another. The simple fact is that you have chosen the level of education that you have received. We can inspire others to educate themselves, or we can require that they do so with threat of punishment or banishment, but we cannot educate another individual. When the responsibility for education is understood by everyone to be in the hands of the student, teachers will be more inspiring, parents will be more inspiring, government will seek to attract students to their institutions. Let's put the responsibility back where it belongs, to the students with guidance from their parents. Let's release teachers from the system and let them act in a mentorial capacity as an inspiration and guide, rather than an expert pouring 'education' into young people's minds.