Stumbled onto the "candidates debate" for Morris Area school board last night. It's "Morris Area" and not "MACA," the latter term devoted to the athletic teams. It can get complicated like when referring to tennis which is actually in with West Central Area.
The parents with kids in sports can learn this stuff fast. For the rest, it can sometimes seem a little head-scratching. And this applies to understanding the post-season for sports too. So much more complicated than in past times. "Past times" in my mind evokes the boomers' young years. Up until 1971, no varsity girls sports. Girls were left totally out in the cold. I mean, can you believe it? Again and again I am astounded thinking about this.
And for boys we had the one-class tournament evoked with such dripping nostalgia in the movie "Hoosiers." I think it's the "old oaken bucket philosophy" that suggests that past times were preferable to today, which they most certainly were not.
So in 2024 - this election year for the school board - we have girls and women's sports bathing in the spotlight of attention. It really should have happened sooner. For whatever reason the year 2024 is a huge step for that. And then we take it for granted. As a boomer aged 69 I can offer a lot of perspective.
And before we drop the subject of "Hoosiers," why didn't we get to know the cheerleaders? They were definitely there. I don't recall a single line spoken by those girls. We have seen a comeback for cheerleading in our MACA system. Got my attention at Big Cat Field early-on this autumn. I remember so many seasons where cheerleaders were a staple of the experience.
I weigh different interpretations of why it was phased out and why it came back. I have talked with certain people about this. The most "innocent" explanation for the cancellation was the purported unavailability of an advisor. Hmmm. Sorry but that doesn't really cut it with me. We have always been a totally viable school with the commensurate resources.
The less-innocent reason would be "political." That would be: cheerleaders were "eye candy" from an earlier age when it was boys who handled the serious business of sports - what the public came to see. Cheerleaders were just supposed to help us cheer louder. So it seemed a rather regressive, uninspiring proposition. You might say it was in line with females' role in the "pre-libbers" days.
Now in the year 2024, while we totally embrace the widened opportunities for women, we have lightened up on some of the old hard-line attitudes from the land of Gloria Steinem or whatever. Steinem's nature/persona would grate on a lot of us now.
The typical American would watch the movie "Hoosiers" now and get misty-eyed, right? The sheer power of the Republican Party now means we are not wedded to progressive attitudes, even though it's those attitudes that made the development of girls/women's sports possible in the first place.
If you went around now talking about how "regressive" the concept of cheerleaders is, people would look at you funny. "What's your problem?"
Best of both the old and the new? Is this Nirvana? We'll see if we really reach Nirvana if the Republicans take complete command of our national leadership. If Trump comes back. If he doesn't, are we really done with him? Will the cult of Trump remain viable all around us?
Board answers to who?
So another school board election is upon us. I'm sure I watched most of the Wednesday night debate/discussion. Everyone seemed to be trying to say the "proper" things so it was rather yawn-inducing.
My first question or reaction would be: Why was the teachers association putting on this thing? I assume that MATA stands for "Morris Area Teachers Association."
The school board members do not work for the teachers - heaven help us - they work for the public. And there is always a major risk of a schism between the public and the self-interested teachers. I use the team "teachers union" rather than "association." It is most certainly a union. And only a child would not see that teachers present a self-interested agenda.
The teachers like this
I heard the candidates talk about high standards, accomplishments and goals. The teachers like such talk because it hints that we need such highly-qualified (and richly compensated) teachers because, what would we do without them? I have written before that teachers like to make their courses hard because it gives them a feeling of importance as teachers.
Teachers have in fact been forced to back off on this. Best illustration: "honor rolls" that are substantially longer than when I was in school. Why on earth did our parents permit a system where maybe only 3-4 kids made the 'A' honor roll? What did those kids know that the rest of us did not? Teachers played mind games with us with how they developed assignments and exams where a majority of us would come up short for one reason or another.
Perhaps my philosophy of education is winning in the long run. It is winning in terms of practice even though the school board candidates like to talk in such lofty language about things like standards and goals. Oh to hell with that - if I'm a parent I would want the teachers to be primarily gentle caretakers who are not going to shoot down my child's sense of self-worth with boot camp-style discipline.
Well I'm a boomer and our fathers quite literally went through boot camp for WWII. Maybe they felt there was something to be said for that kind of discipline. These same fathers turned a blind eye basically to what was going on in Vietnam, the escalation and the "body bags." If you think MAGA is crazy today and I do, it can't be any worse than turning a blind eye to Vietnam.
So as a parent I would want teachers to be fundamentally gentle to guide my child to basic maturity. For most of the kids a solid mastery of reading, writing and arithmetic is going to be good enough. If you want to be a doctor you'll have to seek more. Don't try to push all the kids in that direction, in the name of promoting "all kids have potential for greatness." That's nothing but a sick cliche.
So much pretense in the statements made by school board candidates. A public school is not out to change the world so knock it off. Take care of our kids, be empathetic with them, impart some knowledge along the way. The kids really will enrich themselves with their electronic devices. Oh yes they will. I enriched myself with comic books.
And above all, I think our school should lift up the co-curricular phase which I think is even more valuable than academics! Don't you hate the term "academics?" Do you even hear the term "cramming for finals" any more? I would guess that our colleges have backed off on thrusting this miserable experience on kids - colleges need students! Hear that, UMM? Yes, Provost Imholte would roll over in his grave.
Drum roll?
Who will I vote for? First I'll have to make sure it's safe to vote (at the armory) because there could be MAGA poll-watchers there to intimidate. I'd scram if that happens. The MAGA people think they are doing God's work. Yes, God's work to make favorable comparisons to Hitler. Maybe Trump is being substituted for Jesus and God, both of them. I think he's a dangerous, vain, fat fool.
"Beware false prophets." Oh heck, most of y'all like at Good Shepherd Church will not pay heed. May God have mercy on their souls.
Addendum: The board candidates sought such a convivial air with the MATA last night. But remember the whole progression of teachers showing up for school board meetings and complaining with some intensity? Enough intensity that a spokesman accused the board of "lying." A bridge too far. I have seen teacher unions get too big for their breeches through the years. I have seen teachers try to organize boycotts of businesses. The board should never feel in concert with the teachers. Don't find out the hard way. If the North Dakota property tax revolt spreads to MN, we may realize we cannot even allow teacher unions anymore.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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