Category: Commentary

Over and over again for more than fifty years of my life I have found myself having to defend teachers and the educational system in the United States of America. I have always been honest in pointing the imperfections but I have never definitively said the hard part out loud. In truth education is a easy target because of the old saw that everyone thinks they know exactly how to repair any of its deficiencies simply because they were once students and therefore should know exactly what is wrong. The naked truth is that in spite of their monumental efforts to educate the youth of our nation, teachers in the United States have not received the kind of recognition and honor that they enjoy in the nations that we keep applauding for their educational success. 

It’s time to break down the differences between the American public school experience  and that of other countries that seem to some to have a better idea of how to do things. We first must accept the truth that Kindergarten through grade 12 education in the United States is not codified by a unified conglomerate. Instead it is a hodgepodge of fifty individual systems designed and overseen by fifty different state governments. The curriculum for a particular place is designed by the state, not a national mandate. Teacher pay is determined by local school boards. The federal government has very little to say in the everyday operations of a public schools other than to support programs in poor areas, help with the cost of serving students with special needs, insure that the civil rights of all students and teachers are honored  and provide grants for students who wish to continue their educations beyond high school. In fact, few teachers are actually aware of any kind of influence from the Department of Education from day to day. It is the state government that looms large in the directives of what they must teach.

In Texas there are lists of skills and knowledge specified for every subject in every grade that teachers must use as the guide to their daily lessons. It is a monumental task to follow the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills to the letter within the confines of the school year. There is little or no room for frivolities or efforts to propagandize students. While those things sometimes happen and should be corrected, they are not the norm. Texas teachers must work hard every single day. They often stay on their feet for hours and never have even a few seconds to just tune out for a moment. The task at hand requires their total attention from the time the students arrive until all of them have left the school for the day. It is an exhausting process and only the most dedicated among them survive long term.

Designing a plan for presenting the lessons takes time and thought. Much of the most crucial work of a teacher happens beyond the hours of the school day which are used to determine their pay. Teachers take home work virtually every single day. There are papers to grade, essays to read, research to be done to create engaging lessons. Teachers must keep students, parents and the administrators informed of the progress of each individual in their care. Their work days are long and exhausting and often do not end until late into the night. They wear sturdy shoes because they are so often on their feet. Their backs hurt and they ride a daily emotional roller coaster along with their students who bring their difficulties and problems to the classroom. They have so many duties that are never listed in descriptions of their work.  

Sadly, teachers are rarely consulted about how to improve areas of education that are imperfect even though they have many wonderful ideas. Most of the time they simply have to follow the dictums of state boards of education whether or not they can see the flaws in the programs designed by nameless individuals who do not really know their students. They have to be adept at creating individual plans within the master plans to take each individual into their classrooms into account. 

I have often advocated for smaller schools located in neighborhood settings in which few students have to add hours to their school days riding in busses that bring them home so late in the afternoon that they barely have any time to interact with their families. I think that we would do well to offer both classical topics and training for future occupations so that students will not have a one size fits all kind of education. Such ideas would have to be enacted by the state legislature and designed hopefully by actual teachers who are still working inside classrooms. A bit of restructuring would eliminate the need for using public tax dollars to fund private schools with more money than public schools receive per student. The goal would be to improve public schools before surrendering to wealthy people who want to reduce their children’s private school costs.

I often hear complaints that American students are not performing as well as their peers in other countries. Much of the reason for that is that many countries track students into different groups based on their abilities and interests, something that we do not do. Everyone takes tests to determine their levels of achievement in the United States. In other countries it tends to by only the most highly academic students who do so. Comparing their educational success with ours is a zero sum game that we will always lose because our schools provide every student with the opportunity to reach higher.

Teachers in other countries are much more highly respected that those in the United States. They are paid more for their efforts. Teachers elsewhere rarely experience the high levels of diversity that American teachers take for granted and incorporate into their planning. Culturally Americans citizens all too often criticize the educational system without actually understanding what is happening in classrooms. They accept propaganda that makes them believe that students are being subjected to critical race theory and DEI overload, little of which is true. 

Our classrooms are diverse because so are our neighborhoods. Teachers equitably meet each student where they are and who they are. In one school after another students are included in the efforts to prepare them for the future without bias or prejudices. DEI is not a class. It is a way of treating all children with honor. 

Over fifty years of teaching experience has convinced me that the problems schools face do not lie in the teachers or even what was once the Department of Education. The real problem comes from politicians using schools as a cudgel to gain votes even as they have no idea what actually happens inside the thousands upon thousands of public schools throughout our nation. If anyone wants to honestly improve the system they would do well to take the time to talk with the teachers and actually listen. Our public schools can always be improved but not with mandates or total destruction. It’s time to use the resource that has mostly been ignored, the voice of our dedicated teachers.

I think that in preparation for July 4, 2025 we would all do well to carefully read each line of the Declaration of Independence and familiarize ourselves with what the Founding Fathers were attempting to decree to the people. You may find much wisdom in parsing each idea. Ask yourself if we are presently living up to the declaration made so long ago. Become familiar with what this actually says. It is indeed a beautiful document but it is not all about unity and love.

In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

I’ve been visiting President Johnson’s ranch for many years now. It is located in one of the most beautiful parts of Texas and I tend to get a bit emotional just being there. I often play some Willie Nelson music while driving along the roads leading to Johnson’s house. I stop at the family cemetery and stand under old oak trees in silent admiration for the man who created opportunity for so many Americans with his vision of a Great Society. 

I did not agree with President Johnson’s decisions during the Vietnam War but by his own admission he was uncomfortable with the job of Commander in Chief. What he loved the most was creating bills that improved the lives of the people of this country. He had a goal for our nation that began when he was a young man teaching children in south Texas in an area known as “the Valley.” There he taught youngsters many of whom were of Hispanic heritage. Often they lived in a state of constant worry about simply surviving. They sometimes came to school hungry because the family resources were so scarce in spite of the hard work of their parents. 

Johnson never forgot those kids and would often speak of them to his daughters, insisting that those years of teaching were the most important of his lifetime. He described a dream that had begun to unfold in his mind when he was in the classroom with them. He envisioned an American society in which even those struggling to simply survive would have systems of support. As President of the United States he finally had the opportunity to bring his ideas to life and they became part of the programs that he dubbed “The Great Society.”

So many Americans were uplifted by the legislation that unfolded as part of Johnson’s dream. Medicare insured that older Americans would no longer lose their homes and all of their savings in the event of a catastrophic illness like my grandparents did when my grandmother developed colon cancer. By the end of her life my grandfather literally had spent every dime that he had ever saved and was in deep debt attempting to pay for her care. After she died his only source of income was a small pension and a tiny Social Security check which did not afford him enough to even pay for an apartment. He ended up renting a room from a young widow who was struggling to keep her tiny house. Together they saved each other. Medicare would later allow our oldest citizens to receive medical care without becoming penniless.

The Great Society developed so many programs that made it possible for children to have food and enjoy desegregated educations. Medicare and Medicaid made it possible for low income Americans to receive medical care.  The Great Society took the work of Franklin Roosevelt to the next level of compassion making it possible for the children of widows like my mother to take advantage of opportunities that elevated their earning potential. In turn those benefiting were able to return the favor to our nation with the kind of professions that enrich us all. I became a teacher of mathematics. One of my brothers was an engineer who wrote the program for the navigational system of the International Space Station. My youngest brother was a firefighter who rose to the rank of Regional Chief. Before President Johnson’s Great Society programs we might not have had the opportunities to reach our goals. We benefited from the Great Society and in turn gave back so that others might enjoy better lives as well.

What a payback my family has been able to provide to the United States of America because of the Great Society programs! How may thousands and millions of times have those programs resulted in the creation of model citizens, including the first Black President of the United States! The genius of President Johnson’s Great Society has too often been distorted by those unwilling to understand the brilliance of a national investment in all Americans regardless of their race or economic status. Instead for many decades there has been one attempt after another to tear the legislation down and to reroute the so called savings to the wealthiest among us. Now that nightmare is on the cusp of coming true if it also passes in the Senate. 

In the middle of the night, just before the end of school sessions and a holiday weekend. the Republican Congress beholden to Donald Trump passed the so called “Big Beautiful Bill.” The changes will destroy much of the Great Society and insure that the richest citizens will keep more of their billions while the poorest will lose many of the safeguards that shielded them from hunger and lack of medical care. It is a travesty that few Americans will realize until the suffering begins in earnest.

It’s easy to imagine that poor people are in that situation because of laziness or bad choices they have made. The fact is that many people on the lowest end of the economic spectrum are often there because of unexpected tragedies over which they have no control. Perhaps they become injured or seriously ill and no longer able to work no matter how much they would like to do so. Maybe they are actually working but making so little money that they cant’t keep up with the cost of living. My own mother was employed from the time she was a teenager until she retired in her sixties. She would struggle financially for most of her life because one tragedy after another would impede her progress. She never complained and even adjusted to the limitations in her life but without the programs from the Great Society she would have been destitute. Now much of the help that kept her going has been decimated. 

I am saddened and angry by this turn of events. I find myself wanting to visit the Johnson Ranch. I imagine myself driving along the roads leading to his quite modest home listening to Willie Nelson singing his anthems. I’d like to sit under one of the big oak trees shading the lawn where President Johnson once envisioned a kinder nation than the one in which we now live. I will no doubt shed a tear or two and then I’ll become as determined as he once was to repair the damage that most surely has been done. That so called Beautiful Bill will soon enough make life quite difficult for so many Americans. We should all be angry.

One of the treasures in my home is a Papal Blessing from Pope John XXIII. It belonged to my mother who earned it for her good work at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church for many years. She loved the document so much that she invested in having it professionally framed, a kind of extravagance that she rarely enjoyed. It hung in her home until the day that she died and she would become quite emotional when she spoke of the pope who signed it for her. 

My mother was as devoted to her Catholic religion as anyone might be. She somehow found a way to send me and my brothers to Catholic school for our education. My guess is that she may have received a discount of some kind because she was a widow who had to measure every penny just to make it from one month to the next. She also worked as a teacher at the school for a time allowing me and my brothers to attend at no cost. 

Mama strictly followed all of the rules, even the ones that seemed questionable to me. She rarely dated after my father died because she did not often meet men who were not divorced. She would not allow herself to become close to a divorced man because she worried that such a relationship would not be favored by the church. Mostly she dedicated herself to me and my brothers and to her mother. She was incredibly generous to anyone who needed her help as well. 

Mama had a Catholic bible that my grandfather gave her as a Christmas gift. It was worn from her daily reading of it. My brothers gave it to me when she died because I was the only one who was still an active Catholic. When I began to read it I immediately noticed that she had written an inscription leaving it to my youngest brother, so I dutifully gave it to him as she had wished. In return he announced that I should have her crucifix and the papal blessing that she love so much. 

I keep the document upstairs in the room where my mother lived during the last year and half of her life. I keep it there because I have worried about floods since they have damaged properties in the Houston area so many times, most notably during hurricane Harvey. In the event that such a thing should happen to my home I want that precious document to stay high and dry. I have done the same with other treasures that I want to preserve in the hopes that one day one of my daughters or grandchildren will continue the task of keeping my mother’s prize possession safe. 

I have not always been as faithful with my Catholicism as my mother was, few people are. Many of us tend to pick and choose what aspects of that faith we believe and which we steadfastly follow. I suppose that my youthful experience with Pope John XXIII taught me that sometimes there are rules in the Catholic Church that don’t make sense and need to be changed. John XXIII did a great deal to make Catholics feel more included in the rituals of mass. He turned the priests around to face us and allowed the words and readings to be uttered in the languages of the people. For the first time we became active participants in the once mysterious rituals that we had experienced on so many Sundays and holy days. 

Other changes were to come. Lay men were tapped to be Deacons. Girls were allowed to take on the duties once given only to altar “boys.” Men and women became Extraordinary Ministers offering communion which came in the forms of both host and blessed wine. The inclusions have been lovely and have made everything more meaningful. The have additionally led me to question what seem to be antiquated ideas like forcing all priests to be unmarried and insisting that women may not be priests. Some leeway in historic rules have taken place in allowing older men who had once been married to enter the seminary to become priests, With such changes I have begun to believe that more and more modernization should and will ultimately occur. 

I loved Pope Frances. He reminded me so much of Pope John XXIII. His kindness toward all people seemed more in keeping with the words of Jesus Christ than those who centered on making rules that so often made no sense. Frances was a breath of fresh air who invigorated my devotion to the Catholic Church. During the years that he was the pope I felt that the Catholic Church was moving in the right direction by universally demonstrating compassion to even those who are all too often held in contempt by much of society. It was with great sorrow that I grieved over his passing but I hoped that his successor would continue to follow the direction of his loving openness,

I have to admit to being both shocked and pleased by the announcement of our new pope, Leo X!V. I would never have expected for an American born and raised in Chicago to elected by the Cardinals at the Conclave. It felt joyful to hear that he spoke many languages and was a kind of missionary in Peru for much of his time as a priest. I liked that he had been on X and had posted his frustration with both President Trump and Vice President Vance. He indeed seems to be a person who will continue to urge us to all be kind to those who have the least among us. His message thus far is one of love and understanding. I have great hope that there will be progress in reminding all Catholics of what is most important in living our faith. 

Pope Leo XIV seems to be intent on being a pope for all people, not just certain kinds of Catholics. I wish him well. He has made a great start. May we all heed his challenge to embrace and love all of God’s people, not just those who appear to be like us. That is the essence of what I have always learned from my church and what I have always believed. I like having a modern pope whose love extends in many directions. I think our new pope will be just the man that we need.

Is virtue its own reward? What is justice? Why should we live a moral life? These are questions that many of us are asking ourselves and discussing with others but they are not new topics driven by current events. In fact such issues have been the meat of philosophers and writers from the earliest times. 

The Greek philosopher, Plato, posited such enquiries with his classic discussion of ethics, politics, and other facets of life in Republic. Using stories and dialogue featuring different characters he approached the kind of questions that have consumed philosophers and ordinary people over the centuries. The essential themes of the Republic center on the question of why we should live a moral life when we might otherwise live an immoral one and get away with it. 

Such was a recent discussion at a gathering of the Houston Institute, whose mission is to help the people of Rice University think deeply about the best way to live. The organization seeks to provide both students and lifetime learners with exposure to the best authors and the best thinkers. Their goal is to provide a venue for meaningful conversations that lead to thinking about the best way to live. In that spirit they provide over fifty programs each year for students and adults that often include a meal. 

The discussion of Plato’s philosophical thinking with regard to justice was one of many offered for adults during this year. Those interested in meeting with a diverse group of thinkers have delighted in engaging in a poetry reading, a discussion of the Iliad, and in considering philosophical topics that ask how philosophy might enrich our lives. Each event has been thought provoking and enjoyable. 

I suppose that as an educator who continues to work with young students, I appreciate the challenges that we humans face and the questions that we each have as we navigate through the ups and downs of our lives. The Houston Institute posits the idea that a lifetime of study and learning from the great authors and thinkers of the past and the present leads to a more fulfilling experience. As humans we are filled with wonder and questions. Hearing the thoughts of others is essential to our personal growth and our willingness to consider different points of view in deciding the directions we will follow. Through philosophy and literature we can learn more about ourselves and our fellow humans. Through open discussions we share in the goodness of friendship and community.

I first learned of the Houston Institute while taking a continuing education class at the Rice University Glasscock School. There I met Dr. Victor Saenz who is the Executive Director of the Institute. Along with James Prather, the Assistant Director, he has built a thriving community of followers who encourage us all to become part of an intellectual community in which we explore questions that have distinctly defined the innate curiosity of humans. They provide a safe space where diverse groups of people can speak freely and honestly, even when disagreements arise. Much like the intellectual salons of Paris that attracted artists, writers, and philosophers, the Houston Institute is a haven for voicing questions and challenging beliefs. 

I admittedly tend to be a listener. It takes time for me to pull my thoughts together into a cohesive and meaningful whole. I enjoy the events more as a fly on the wall, observing the people whose ideas vary from one to another. Then I go home and read more, think more, distill what I have learned until it feels like something akin to my own philosophies. Being part of the adult wing of the Houston Institute has been exciting as I hear from and meet people of every age and of differing occupations and interests seeking explanations for why we humans are as we are. The discussions are both enlightening and challenging just as they are meant to be. They often cause me to question my own beliefs and to look at the world and its people in new ways. 

I have often thought of my father and his interest in so many different aspects of our human journey through life. Even though he died at the age of thirty three he left a guide to who he was with the books that he purchased and read so voraciously. Among them was Plato’s Republic. I snatched a copy of it when my mother was giving some of his things away. I hate to admit that it has sat prominently on a bookshelf for all of my adult life but I have never cracked it open to find out why he thought it was so important to have among his possessions. I suppose that the Houston Institute has finally enlivened my curiosity enough to push me to dust off the tome and peer inside. Thus they have encouraged yet one more person to think a bit more deeply.