Someone once pointed out to me that health insurance is not really "insurance." Unlike auto insurance or home insurance that actually insures against something which may or may not occur, there is really nothing potential about health care - everyone will get sick and old and need health care at some point. The only question is when. It should not be called "insurance." It is simply health care.
With that in mind, someone else mentioned to me the other day that health care companies do not provide health care, they only answer phones. Sarah and I have been fighting our insurance to pay for a prescription, even though the doctor has ordered the prescription several times already. Lots of phone calls.
So I was amused at the following series of Enquirer.com headlines I saw the other day. 
Fidelity, Mattel, Macy's, GM, Ford - everyone - is getting battered by the economy. Well, not everyone. 
...everyone, but Humana, apparently, who's opening a new 300-person office, with at least part of that manning a new call center.
(See Trends In The City also.)
It's Not Really "Insurance"
What Message Does Cincinnati Send?
I've linked to Paul Graham before. In Cities and Ambition, he says:
Great cities attract ambitious people. You can sense it when you walk around one. In a hundred subtle ways, the city sends you a message: you could do more; you should try harder.I wonder what message Cincinnati sends?
How much does it matter what message a city sends? Empirically, the answer seems to be: a lot. You might think that if you had enough strength of mind to do great things, you'd be able to transcend your environment. Where you live should make at most a couple percent difference. But if you look at the historical evidence, it seems to matter more than that. Most people who did great things were clumped together in a few places where that sort of thing was done at the time.
No matter how determined you are, it's hard not to be influenced by the people around you. It's not so much that you do whatever a city expects of you, but that you get discouraged when no one around you cares about the same things you do.
On Community Learning
There used to be a charter school, and it still may be there - I'm not sure - in Over-the-Rhine called W.E.B. DuBois Middle School. In a very short time, it became one of the few charter schools in the state to attain a rating of Excellent. Parents and community raved about the school. Kids scored the highest possible scores on state tests for reading and math.
I used to see the kids walking along Central Pkwy on my way to work in the mornings. I didn't know where they were going. But it was quite a sight. They walked single file on the sidewalk, with an adult at the front of the line and one in back. They were always smiling and bouncing, and the I want to say they all wore dark blue jackets. The boys did at least.
Then the founder and principal of the school was ousted and convicted of fraud or something. Not sure.
But back to their success. W.E.B. Dubois kept the kids there until 6 pm. The school was also open on Saturdays and Sundays. And instruction was year-round.
Is that what it takes to succeed in a low-income neighborhood? To practically raise the kids becaue no one else will?
Schools can no longer just be schools for some of these kids to succeed. The services must not be just educational, but holistic and comprehensive.
Which is why this quick story about progress on the new Rothenberg School and Community Learning Center reminded me about all the new CLC's being built by CPS right now, one of the many things they're doing right.
From the CPS web page:
Communities and schools are strongly linked — one seldom succeeds if the other fails. Schools need families and communities that are involved in the education of students; communities need schools that serve as centers of neighborhood life.
...The district launched its 10-year, $1-billion Facilities Master Plan in 2002, with the goal of creating Community Learning Centers within all of its fully renovated and newly constructed buildings. There is no "cookie-cutter" design for a Community Learning Center; each represents the energy and needs of its neighborhood.
...For example, Winton Hills Academy identified health concerns as a barrier to students' learning. As a result, they now partner with a pharmacy, a primary and oral-health care provider, and a full-time behavioral health clinic to provide services to their students and families.
...Community Learning Centers are proven success stories. Benefits for students include: improved academic performance, higher attendance rates and greater parent involvement. One example is Winton Hills Academy — enrollment is up, discipline incidents are down dramatically, and the building hums daily with after-school and summer programming run by the YMCA.
The World Is Awesome
This isn't local, but the video made me smile. It's only a minute long.
via Pop Something.
CCV Preparing For Election Year
I guess with no anti-gay, anti-lesbian agenda on this year's ballot, the Citizens for Community Values is feeling a little need for attention. Which would explain why they called for a press conference in front of City Hall denouncing CityBeat for accepting money from legal customers in return for gasp publishing ads! What is this business they call "advertising," and why has nobody ever told me it was illegal before?
This is wrong on so many levels, it's comical. Allow me to enumerate.
- CityBeat is guilty of nothing but accepting payment for ads, which of course lots of people do. Even if their customers were not legal, wouldn't the job of arresting and prosecuting them fall onto the shoulders of law enforcement? Why would anyone expect CityBeat to police its advertisers? Wouldn't that be the job of, um, the police?
- The letter sent to CityBeat from CCV is lacking. As CityBeat points out, there is no where to send a reply as they request. Also, it is signed by 39 people, most of whom are reverends and pastors I've never heard of, the chief of police, county sheriff, and some random attorneys. I wonder if any of those reverends and pastors have ever told their flocks that the federal government introduced AIDS in the black community.
- I'm not fan of prostitution. I think it's exploitative and a general drag on neighborhoods, but as they say it's the oldest business in the world. But if I was a fan, I certainly would not look in CityBeat to get my kicks. If the CCV was really concerned about this, they should target the Yellow Pages, the internet, and the late-night TV ads that run while I watch syndicated episodes of Friends at 11 pm at night. They should work with the law enforcement privately, perhaps with CityBeat's help. Vice squad usually doesn't hold a press conference at City Hall when they are preparing a bust. To this point, this line from the letter is laughable:
"...it has been brought to our attention that the adult classified ad sections of both your weekly print edtion and your online edition have become primary avenues through which the sex-for-sale industry in greater Cincinnati markets their destructive services."
Election Wrapup: CPS Levy Passes
The CPS levy finally passed, which is good.
Some people are not pleased. Such as this lady.
I am writing to voice my displeasure with the passage of the Cincinnati school levy. I estimate the levy will raise the property tax on my home by at least $800, which is an amount my middle class family, like many others in the area, simply cannot afford. The primary consequence Cincinnati will see as a result of this will not be better schools, but increased flight to the suburbs by middle class families where the schools are better and crime rates and taxes are lower. I love Cincinnati, and I don't want to move, but my family may be the next family to move to the burbs.- Deborah Gates, Columbia Tusculum
- First of all, the levy adds an estimated $240 in taxes on a $100,000 home. So Miss Gates of Columbia Tusculum owns a house in the mid $300's. Now, I hesitate to even bring this up, because I'm uncomfortable classifying people based on these things, and I know that $300,000 does not buy as much house as it used to, but it makes me wonder if Miss Gates is truly middle-class (and makes me wonder what truly is middle-class anymore anyway)? And I wonder where she sends her kids for school?
- Because it's true that the schools, crime, and taxes are all better in the suburbs, obviously. If her kids attend private schools, I understand why, and I understand why still paying property taxes is upsetting. (Which is why I believe that vouchers and charter schools are in the solution somewhere, but they must be held to the same standards as public schools - the government cannot afford to fund public education the same way it cannot afford to fund health care, but I digress.) But if she loves this city so much, then she should know that, as I've said in previous blogs, the future of this city long-term depends on having publicly-funded education that parents will not hesitate using. And the levy helps achieve that goal. If her kids do attend public schools, then Miss Gates should support the levy anyway.
- Not to mention that in all this CPS is doing a good job and is setting the trend. In the appendix of the book about teachers that I read, there was a list of around a half-dozen school districts around the country with forward-thinking teacher-payment systems. CPS was one of them. Additionally, in the last CityBeat before the election, there is a great article on the importance of CPS and the great progress it has made.
"...one person in particular, Joe Nathan, suggests that CPS could serve as a model for other districts. He represented the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for seven of the years it was involved with local schools and was so impressed he wrote an opinion piece for the The (Minneapolis) Star Tribune praising the district.
So CPS is improving. How is it improving? Why do you think they spend all that money?
'Powerful progress in the Cincinnati Public Schools may help efforts to improve Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools,' Nathan wrote in 2007. 'Despite its problems, CPS grew from a four-year, 51 percent high school graduation rate in 2000 to a four-year, 79 percent graduation rate in 2007. It also eliminated the graduation gap between white and African-American students. Graduation rates for all students increased. Cincinnati appears to be among the first (if not the first) major urban districts to eliminate this gap.'"
Teachers Have It Easy
Every educator and politician in America should read this book.
From the back cover:
Teachers Have It Easy is a landmark work examining how bad policy makes the teaching profession unsustainable. Interweaving teachers' voices from across the country with hard-hitting facts and figures, the book presents a clear-eyed view of the harsh realities of public school teaching.
With a look at the problems of recruitment and retention, the myths of short workdays and endless summer vacations, the realities of the work week, and shocking examples of how society views America's teachers, Teachers Have It Easy explores some of the best ways to improve public education. Case studies demonstrate how current salary reforms are transforming schools, the lives of our teachers, and the educational experiences of our children.
And Then There Were Idiots
Allow me to chime in on the recent "scandal" involving the Lakota East high school performance of "And Then There Were None" a.k.a. "Ten Little Indians" a.k.a. "Ten Little N------" (I do believe some words shouldn't be used).
If any of you have been involved with high school theater at all, you know that these kids have put in months of work into this show. That is I believe the single most important factor in all of this. And to have all that work nearly thrown away?
And for what? To please one man who apparently likes to hear himself talk. Shame on Mr. Hines for even bringing this up. Though he may have a legitimate issue, this is hardly the arena for raising it.
Shame on the school administration. This makes them look like they are afraid of their own shadow. This should be a total non-issue. If they want to offend someone, there are more interesting ways to do it.
I can empathize with Mr. Hines, since I don't know anything about his background or experiences. Some people say that there are no black people or white people or yellow people - there are only people. I believe that those people are mistaken. Race should not be ignored, because it is an integral part of who we are. It affects our culture, our behavior, our speech, our very looks. Why ignore it?
By the same token, we cannot underestimate what it is like to live in a minority culture in this country, or any country. Majority/minority issues disrupt the playing field. One type of outcome for the majority and minority person might appear identical, but rest assured it was far more difficult for the minority to accomplish. Outcomes of another type may be easier for minorities to accomplish.
I didn't mean for this to turn out to be a race manifesto. To Mr. Hines, awareness is necessary, but not at the expense of a high school play.
Electronic Voting
I am not into the voter disenfranchisement thing. If you want to vote in this country, if you really want to vote, then no one can stop you from voting. I don't care if you don't have a car, move every week, work from 6 am to 10 pm every day, no one can stop you from voting. There are absentee ballots. There are provisional ballots. Polls open before most job shifts start and close after most end. Precincts should not be more than a few miles from your home (less if you are in the city). The only way to make voting easier if they brought the ballot to your doorstep and let you vote while they waited outside. If you are unwilling to take the trouble to vote, then sure you may find obstacles. If you are too stupid to figure out how to vote, then maybe you shouldn't be voting anyway.
That said, why can nobody in this country install a reliable, electronic voting system?
Think about every time you use your credit or debit card. You swipe it in the little tiny machine, electronic records across the country are updated, and you get a paper receipt, all within a few seconds, the same way, every time.
Probably because credit card companies are highly motivated to maintain such a network. Probably the same reason we're still driving cars on gasoline in this country.
Progressive Cincinnati
The topic in Sunday's Forum was the Independent Living program run by Lighthouse Youth Services and Hamilton County. In a nutshell, the program places 17-yr-old foster kids in their own apartment. They are given some financial support, but other than that must operate pretty much on their own. They must hold down a part-time job, manage their income, their rent, their laundry, their meals, and all the while finish their (ideally) last year of high school.
It's a great program, especially when you consider most foster kids, upon turning 18, are "handed bus fare and their belongings in plastic garbage bags, sometimes being chauffeured to the nearest Salvation Army shelter." I know 18 is considered adult in our society, but how many 18-yr-olds do you know who can suddenly live on their own with no family?
I'd heard about Independent Living before from Sarah, who sees some of her kids enter foster care under Lighthouse, and from CityBeat. But this is what I never knew: the Lighthouse Independent Living program started right here in Cincinnati and is now considered a best-practices model being implemented all across the country.
Who knew Cincinnati was so progressive?
Meeting People In My Neighborhood
Sarah and I get two parking spots for our townhouse. One spot is directly in front of our unit. The other spot is in the parking lot past the other end of our row and at the bottom of the hill. I give her the spot in front because I figure she has to be at work at a certain time and I don't.
So every day I get home from work, and I have to walk up the hill, past all of our neighbors.
But I don't mind. This way, I get to talk to some of our neighbors on the way home. I figure I know about half the people in the complex. Don't get me wrong. Sometimes, after a long day, I sprint up the hill, muttering, "Please, please, let nobody talk to me." But usually I like it. It really is one of the qualities of living in the city. Sometimes, you just can't avoid your neighbor. Another quality is that parking will be a pain in the ass. In this case, the two qualities are intertwined.
So there's that and also, most days, the walk is the only way to keep my legs from atrophying after sitting at my desk all day long.
Nesselroad-Slaby
For god's sake, more coverage of Brenda Nesselroad-Slaby? As if two weeks of unrelenting stories and video of her police interview and video of her dropping off doughnuts moments before Cecilia's death weren't enough, now we have exclusive photos of... the inside of her car.
At least the print edition doesn't have the the same photo front and center, like it did recently with a vidcap from her police interview.
Not to say I haven't read each and every one of those articles (I did not watch the videos!).
Because the Enquirer is right about one thing: the story provokes, I believe, some interesting opinions on topics ranging from equality in our justice system across race and class, to the frenetic lives many middle-to-upper class Americans are leading right now.
In a society that is moving faster and faster, observe: a 40-yr-old mother with a 2-yr old and a 5-yr old, an assistant principal, earning $70-$80k/yr. Put another way, a career woman holding off children like many career women these days, doing well for herself compared to most women, her daughter's not-too-common name, and her own hyphenated surname. From her interview today, she had tried to do be everything to everybody, a super mom and a super administrator.
Let me point out some other things. Admittedly, I am biased because I hear about some nightmares in education every day. Nesselroad-Slaby was at the bakery by 6:30 am, at work by 7 am for her 7:15 am school-openeing meeting that was to last 8 hours. The woman was up by 6 am at the latest. I know that there are millions of career mothers who have never left their children in their cars. But all it takes is one time. And how many of them consistently wake up before 6 am every morning?
Some months ago, a poor, young, single African mother was arrested for locking her two children in the closet while she went to work. Her children were taken away. The children were fine save some bruises, hungry - I think they had pissed themselves or something. Apparently, she had done it many times before. This mother was single and poor. No father to watch the kids. No money for daycare or a babysitter. No father to earn extra money. Have to have a job. America is worst in the world when it comes to policies for working mothers. What was she supposed to do? Now she has a criminal record. Her young children will grow up in foster care for quite some time probably. Any chances her son/daughter will contribute to a single parent family himself/herself?
The mother who accidentally forgot her 2-yr-old daughter in her car deserves no charges and no jail time. Honestly, I don't believe the poor, African mother deserved any either. In the single mother's case, of course she made a (bad) choice to leave her children at home, when she should have sought help from either friends or from government programs that are available. But if she didn't have any friends, and these programs are not ideal or she didn't even know about them, then it doesn't leave many options. I'm not sure what the solution would have been for her case, but locking her up and taking away her kids certainly does not get at the root causes.
