Lefty Grown Up [George Will on Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown's religious/military charter school]

The NY Post ^ | June 16, 2002 | George Will

[summer]

OAKLAND, CALIF.

Jerry learns to concentrate - on schools.

LONG ago - long before he served two terms as California's governor and made three runs for the Democratic presidential nomination - Jerry Brown, who has won a second term as mayor of this city, was a Jesuit seminarian and, one suspects, a test of the Christian patience of his religious superiors. He recalls that while doing his chores he was prone to flights of philosophizing, to which his supervisors would respond, "Brown, age quod agis."

[summer]

Reads as though a new Black Panther boot camp is being launched at taxpayer's expense.

How in the world did you get that impression, from a charter school founded on Jesuit principles????

BTW, in some CA public schools, there is actually a course about the Black Panthers.

[BlessedBeGod]

But the state supported the idea for this novel charter school - Gov. Gray Davis attended a military school - and the first class, about 160 seventh-graders, boys and girls, just finished its first year at what Brown calls "a pre-Vatican II Jesuit school in the form of a military academy. I am applying the truth I was brought up on." The truth of the Jesuits' founder, Ignatius Loyola, whose principles, says Brown, have "worked for 400 years."

Thought some of you might find this interesting, as it's coming from former Governor Moonbeam.

[xsmommy]

thought you might be interested since you are such a fan of former gov. moonbeam....; )

[summer]

...wear uniforms.
As for uniforms, I believe all TEACHERS should wear a uniform, because then it is much easier to identify school personnel from strangers on a large campus. And, by "uniform" I mean a neat but casual polo shirt with the name of the school, and neat pants (not denim), or, for women, a skirt.

I taught in a school that did this, and every teacher loved it because it was much less costly to maintain this kind of wardrobe for work. Other teachers I know elsewhere have told me they prefer this as well, but few schools do this.

[xsmommy]

former Governor Moonbeam

I am laughing hysterically since i just used the same epithet for him!!

[summer]

LOL...well, has he now shed his old nickname, in your opinion? :)

[dpwiener]

Reads as though a new Black Panther boot camp is being launched at taxpayer's expense.

If it were anything like a "Black Panther boot camp" the Oakland school board would be supporting it. Jerry Brown is challenging a lot of liberal orthodoxy, and very few places are as politically correct and extremely liberal as Oakland, California. From the stories I've read over the past several years, the liberals hate him for it. Their problem is that he has been such an iconic symbol of liberalism for so long that it's hard for liberal attacks on him to carry much credibility. Especially when Jerry Brown's hard-headed approach to resurrecting Oakland seems to be having great success.

[sneakypete]

I believe all TEACHERS should wear a uniform, because then it is much easier to identify school personnel from strangers on a large campus.

This sounds like a excellent idea.

[summer]

Especially when Jerry Brown's hard-headed approach to resurrecting Oakland seems to be having great success.

And, IMO, for many people in that growing group of independent voters, what you said here is the bottom line.

[summer]

Thank you, sneakypete! :)

[Cvengr]

A decent dress code, by all means,....uniforms,..I really don't see the requirement. The point regarding trespassers or visitors not properly escorted is a good point.

The point I was making was that many who fail to respect their seniors, rarely if ever respect their juniors. Even though I might have afforded liberals in positions of authority due respect for the office, I also note they are frequently the first to attack the welfare of their juniors.

This seems to be prolific in the liberal set of the Vietnam War, 'ME-Generation', baby boomers. Not all in that generation are if that ilk, but I discern a definite trend amongst that group to not sincerely respect the gist of the Constitution if it interferes with their personal agendas.

[Cvengr]

Bay Area politics and demographics is a strange beast. Berkeley, for all the University's reputation of liberalism actually has or used to have some of the most conservative working class in its mix.

Oakland, even a more divergent mix of minorities with distinct local political establishment.

Richmond, ..no thanks.

My comment about the Black Panthers is from experience that that near neighborhood was about the only place I had ever witnessed a local population so racist, yet emphatic in their fight against racism. I was amazed at the local support of the Black Panthers and interpretation of murder as a heroic social deed. Considering the diverse hotbed potentially present in that area, it wouldn't surprise me if local leadership mobilized each minority extremist group by isolated benefits.

A Black Panther boot camp, a militant Jesuit schoolyard, a Maoist schoolyard with all students holding their little red books, and Catholic nuns to slap the wrists with rulers whenever disturbance arose. Throw in a couple of Battlebot hallway monitors, a really rad afterschool skateboard/rolerblade contest and the most recent athletic fad and there seems to be a natural recipe for a politically favorable N. CA magnet school.

[summer]

FYI --

Capital Ideas Vol. 6, No. 41 November 8, 2001

A Visit to the Oakland Military Institute

by Lance T. Izumi

SACRAMENTO – Writing and researching on education issues can be depressing. The problems are huge and the forces opposing reform are despairingly powerful. Then, however, one visits a school like the Oakland Military Institute (OMI), as several PRI colleagues and I recently did, and not only does it renew one’s spirit, it proves that despite all obstacles it is possible to bring real change into the lives of disadvantaged students.

The brainchild of Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, OMI is a charter school run in partnership with the California National Guard that offers both a challenging college preparatory curriculum and a disciplined environment that allows true learning to take place. The opposition to OMI among the local education establishment was ferocious and at times hysterical. The Oakland school board opposed OMI, as did the Alameda County school board and the local teachers union. Luckily, the state Board of Education approved OMI and the school opened in late summer on the grounds of the Oakland Army Base.

On our visit, Command Chief Master Sergeant George Booker served as our friendly guide. Since the school is only in its first year, we had modest expectations that were quickly challenged.

The 162 mostly disadvantaged minority students at OMI, many from troubled backgrounds, are organized in platoons. Observing the members of one platoon on the charter school’s small asphalt parade ground, they looked like any group of boisterous adolescents. However, when told to line up in formation, these inner-city seventh graders immediately formed up and, under the command of one of their peers, marched out in order and went through a variety of complicated drills. When it was time for this and other platoons to go to class, they marched quietly, single file, into their classrooms.

Col. Floyd Davis, director of youth programs for the California National Guard, has stated that the key to student improvement is discipline. From discipline comes self respect and respect for others. Learning can then take place. One OMI student said that at first the regimen of OMI seemed too difficult, but now he likes it, wants to stay, and is receiving a good education. And the education OMI provides is first rate.

OMI uses the Saxon reading and math curriculum, oriented to basic skills and knowledge. Classroom methods are structured, teacher-centered, and emphasize getting the right answer. Drill and practice is stressed so students can automatically recall important foundational knowledge. OMI issues a weekly notice that lists homework requirements and then requires students to attend after-school study halls to complete their assignments.

Students are tested every Friday in every class. According to Mr. Knight, an OMI special-education teacher, the goal is to have all OMI students, many of whom entered the school reading four or five grades below grade level, reading at or near grade level by the end of the academic year.

Perhaps most stirring, in the wake of September 11, is the OMI creed. In unison, students enthusiastically proclaim, “I will seek the mantle of leadership and stand prepared to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America.” Further, they declare: “I am loyal and patriotic. I am the future of the United States of America.” From what we saw that day, I’m glad that these kids are our future.

Lance Izumi is a Senior Fellow in California Studies at the California-based Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy. He can be reached via email at lizumi@pacificresearch.org.

[summer]

Photos of students from Oakland Military Academy

[summer]

Here's another article: Jerry Brown's "boot camp" opens


And, here's the school's web site (BTW, with all the retired and current military personnel in FL, and the willingness of Gov Bush to try new things in education reform, a charter school like this would probably go over very big):

Oakland Military Academy

[maro]

Jerry Brown and Richard Nixon are the two most interesting American politicians of the last 50 years. Both come that strange place, California.

[summer]

Also, FYI -- see posts #33, #34 and #35, for photos of the students, two news articles about this school, and the homepage of the school and its mission statement / philosophy.

[summer]

A very insightful comment. Thanks, maro.

[let freedom sing]

So this is where Dimbulb Davis got his bright idea-- former Gov. Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown? Space cadets in fancy flights.

[summer]

Hmmm...I think it's more than "fancy flights" here...