State schools chief top 10

Don't worry, Letterman et al. Your late night TV throne is safe. Jack O'Connell, the state superintendent of public instruction, has a Top 10 list that is a follow-up to his taking on a hotly debated issue this year: the achievement gap that separates white and Asian students from their black and Latino counterparts.

This discussion culminated in a November "summit" in Sacramento. It produced no definitive answers, but educators were exposed to a variety of approaches and theories, mixed in with some speakers whose mission was simply to inspire. Read about that summit here.

Now come the holidays, and O'Connell is at it again, sort of. It's not exactly Letterman, but then, the writers are on strike and someone has to fill in.

From the news release, here are his 10 suggestions for parents and their children. "The holiday season is a perfect time to deepen understanding and build friendships with others from different cultures and backgrounds."

1. Travel abroad without leaving California. Visit a community center, store or place of worship centered on that culture; research customs and ask questions of leaders or members of that community. Visit your local library to find books about other societies, their religions and culture. Make a scrapbook of your "travels." This travel website takes visitors on a virtual tour of cities around the world: www.arounder.com. The California State Library also has an abundance of literature in Braille and talking books: http://www.lib.state.ca.us

2. Start a family holiday tradition of learning about a different culture each year and incorporate something about that country in mealtimes, family activities and games. Get a map of the world and mark the route of your "travels" each year.

3. Find out about the state's 12 regions, their history, events, sights and activities. Then start saving and planning for a family trip to the region you'd most like to visit. The California Travel & Tourism Commission's website has a link for children: www.visitcalifornia.com/.

4. Eat at an ethnic restaurant.

5. Volunteer at your a nursing home, veteran's center or senior center. Search at www.californiavolunteers.org/index.asp

6. Cook something for a homeless family. Mow the lawn of an elderly neighbor. Hold a car wash and donate the proceeds to a good cause. This tradition can be something the family does together all year long.

7. Take the time to teach your children how to cook traditional dishes from your own culture.

8. When shopping for holiday gifts for your children, look for items that will help them learn. Many creative and inexpensive gifts are available that will help foster a love of learning: books, art supplies and science projects.

9. Many people are harried and overextended with holiday shopping, parties and visitors. Try letting go of one activity and use that time to run an errand for a neighbor who is ill or in need.

l0. Your time is one of the most valuable gifts you can give your children.

-- Howard Blume

Comments

[evelyn]

Jack O' Connell doesn't get it. Many of my students' parents don't see the value in their kids getting an education and are urging them to go to work by either dropping out of high school or working right after high school and not going to college.
It also doesn't help that we are shipping our high paying blue collar jobs overseas and that comprehensive high schools are no longer comprehensive- no more woodshop, nursing, or anything else that doesn' t have students sitting in a desk for 6 1/2 mind numbing hours a day.

Message to O'Connell: Stop hampering teachers by insisting we cram too many standards down the kids throats that have no real life connections. Make sure that kids in high schools have vocational and high tech options: not just boring A through G classes.
And thanks to the Bush economy, most parents in L.A are too damn poor to have time to be teaching their kids about the 12 regions of California but you could do us all a favor and make Geography a requirement again. The parents are working three jobs to get by. The parents who would listen to your suggestions on your list are already doing them anyway. The ones who won't either don't care or can't read or speak English.

[Herb]

Brava to Evelyn! She expressed everything that's on my mind only better! Apropos of her comment, within the next year or so I think we need to discuss the requirement, going back to 2003, that all students take and pass algebra. It's a noble and fascinating social experiment, but then, so were communism and Prohibition, which stand as history's greatest examples of unintended consequences.