Jake & Max
They’re brothers. Their mother is my daughter, Renae. That makes them my grand-sons.
As Max, the oldest, prepares for kindergarten next year, education has been quite the topic in the last year. Well, it really started even earlier.
My daughter is a certified Spanish high school teacher who left the classroom to be a fulltime mom. She’ll become an associate professor at a local college in January because she can do it twice weekly and still focus on mommydom.
We’re not Hispanic, but we do live in Texas. Renae wants her boys to be bi-lingual. That’s why, a couple of years ago, she and her husband looked to relocate to a school district that had a Spanish immersion program. Her boys will hopefully be bilingually fluent by the time they leave elementary school. It’s a goal for their family. Why? Because it’s about the kids. It’s about putting them in the best position possible for a bright, high-value future.
You could argue that being bi-lingual in English and Spanish is uniquely valuable in Texas, but it transcends our connection to Mexico. It’s about a mind that is capable of learning to communicate in two completely different languages, something I know nothing about. It’s about exposing these boys to a language – and all that goes with it – not native to them. It’s about sharpening their minds. And I suppose mostly, it’s about the possibilities for today and tomorrow.
Why We’ve Not Been Around Here Much
2011 has been a year like most…fraught with political upheaval, especially in education. I’m not political. At all. Sure, I have opinions and leanings, but I don’t enjoy or busy myself with politics. Unless you count listening to Rush Limbaugh, who I find wildly entertaining.
I am a Christian. I am conservative in my views. I’m a capitalist. I’m a proponent of individual responsibility and accountability. I’m in favor of small government getting out of my way so I can achieve whatever success might be possible for me.
In most areas of the country, I’m not at all what many down-the-line educators are, politically liberal. In the summer of 2011 I grew weary with all the Twitter streams, blog posts and articles at Huffington-Puffington (as Rush appropriately calls it) lamenting the politics of public education.
I’m not naive to politics and the impact they have on our lives. I’m thankful to live in America. I’m thankful for our quality of life, our way of life and our freedoms. Yes, I fear they’re eroding. Fast. But, still I’m thankful daily to live in America. And to have been born here, something beyond my control.
My life has been spent leading people in business. I know people. I believe in people.
My career has endured Presidents Nixon, Carter, Clinton and Obama. It’s also endured a Ford and two men named Bush. I respect the office, but often disagree with the actions of the men. Me and millions more. So what?
No American President has ever deterred me from doing work that meant something to me.
No American Congress has ever stopped me from going to work and doing my best to make a positive difference.
No American governmental agency has stopped me from trying my hardest to elevate my own knowledge, my own learning and my own ability to impact my family’s future.
Maybe it’s because my focus hasn’t been on American government, looking at them to answer the problems in my life. Maybe it’s because I’ve always felt I owed my family and myself to do my very best work. To give it everything I’ve got.
Maybe it’s because my wife and I have always focused on making the wisest decisions possible to put our family in a good position for today – and tomorrow. No, we’ve not always made the wisest choice, but still we try.
Perhaps that’s why my daughter took control of her goals for her boys. Maybe that’s why she and her husband decided to put their sons in a position to become bilingually fluent by the time they reach 4th grade. President Obama and the U.S. Congress didn’t decide that for them.
Like so many families in America – perhaps around the world – my daughter’s family is taking aim at helping the kids, their own. Because it’s about the kids.
Teachers and administrators can continue to fill the Internet with political drivel. They can take sides on every issue facing education. And they do.
Because for some (I said, some), it’s not about the kids. It’s about lazy work. It’s about not taking responsibility. It’s about not being held accountable. It’s not about the kids. It’s about winning an argument. It’s about a pension. It’s about health benefits. It’s about finding others to blame for everything. And it’s exhausting work leaving little energy left to focus on the kids.



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I became a dad on August 17th, 1980 when my son
I’m far too old. I’m like a comfortable pair of old work boots, not the latest hi-tech Nikes. Children need the influence of old work boots. Old work boots certainly need the admiration and loving care of grandchildren. We all go home winners.
His name is 


