Kultursmog
Kultursmog is a word that was originally coined by American Spectator editor R. Emmitt Tyrell. He uses it to describe the leftist political culture that is pervasive in this country. I think that it is a perfect match for the education culture as well, and specifically for D11.
Below are several descriptions/definitions of Kultursmog that I find appropriate to describe the administrative culture in D11. The descriptions are from Tyrell himself or from others who have borrowed the term. They are in italics.
The Kultursmog has petrified more inaccurate ideas and stupid prejudices than any moron religion or idiot cult ever heard of.
As everyone knows, California often leads the nation with new ideas or trends. Good or bad, these trends tend to spread across the country. California was one of the first states to adopt “new-new” math, which is math that requires students to “discover” their own formulas and math processes. As a result of this experiment, California students began to perform poorly on standardized tests at all levels. Someone in California took notice of this downward trend, and new-new math became a thing of the past. The result was improved learning and performance. In D11, despite the damage that this same math is causing to kids, the administration continues to push this curriculum on the schools. Likewise, national statistics show that phonetic reading instruction is much more effective than whole language teaching. Rather than change the district’s approach to reading instruction to a phonetics approach, D11 administrators changed the name of the reading instruction. They now call this failed approach “balanced literacy.” Same poor results, different name.
A “stupid prejudice” that the D11 administration clings to is that poor and minority students are not able to learn as well as white and affluent students. This reasoning is used constantly to explain and excuse D11’s poor performance. Because of this prejudicial thinking, students who fit the “poor” or “minority” category are subject to low expectations. Profiling is criticized in the world of law enforcement, but it is perfectly acceptable to use race to predetermine a child’s performance in the education community.
Kultursmog. It is the popular culture of the United States, polluted utterly by a weird politics, a politics often called liberal but is actually simply leftish and adolescent. It has no fixed values or ideas other than to disturb the peace.
Academia is populated by “leftish” professors who possess no ideas and who certainly have no solutions to this country’s education problems. This “leftish” political climate is equally pervasive in the K-12 arena. The teacher’s labor unions spend more time supporting left-wing organizations and causes than they do addressing education issues. These labor unions support liberal candidates over conservatives on a ratio of about 95% to 5%. The D11 labor union and administration will only support liberal candidates for the school board. None of these candidates or board members bring any ideas to the education debate, but they are told to repeatedly spout the phrase, “I support public education.”
As for disturbing the peace, watch the labor union rally its most militant members against any idea that sounds different than the status quo. These rallies are designed to project a sense of chaos that the labor union can then blame on others. No rallying ever seems to take place for increased student achievement
The Kultursmog is always politically correct, ever sensitive to the Democratic National Committee's whims, and increasingly anti-intellectual.
A look at the labor union’s national meeting agenda items shows that academia is completely wed to the Democratic Party with all of its anti-intellectual glory. (The national meetings are attended by leaders of the local CSEA labor union). Rather than strive for excellence and intellectual rigor, D11 administrators, board members, and labor union leaders brag about being “average.”
The Kultursmog may be anti-intellectual, vulgar and politically out of touch, but it remains very influential. To a vast degree, it decides what the chattering class talks about and is aware of. Its most effective influence is omission. It simply omits what it does not want to acknowledge.
D11 has an information representative whose job it is to disseminate one-sided propaganda. While constantly telling the community that D11 is as good as it can be, D11 administrators blame parents of students in poor performing schools for not being fully involved in their schools. Unless and until the district admits to its shortcomings and correctly declares a crisis in many of its schools, parents and business leaders will see no reason to become involved. Why spend time assisting a district that claims that it has no need to improve? Omission is a huge problem in academia and D11. Education leaders tend to hide the problems in their districts so those problems neever get fixed.
The D11 propaganda machine is very effective and influential. It uses the union, PTA, and its brand of cronyism to spread its message and to avoid accountability. D11 administrators never have to explain why they cannot educate 28,000 kids with a $500 million budget.
The Kultursmog has steadily corroded standards.
In many D11 middle and high schools, students rule the hallways and classrooms. Basic discipline and dress codes are not enforced, neither for students nor employees. Students are permitted to "walk" at graduation ceremonies even though they do not meet graduation requirements. As a standard practice, spelling and grammar are not corrected on student papers in many schools. Students are passed from grade to grade even though they have not met the requirements to move forward.
The Kultursmog… smeared anyone who objected (to its ideology) as "right-wing."
As soon as 4 of us who are considered “conservative” were elected in 2003, the labor union called on the Progressive Majority in Washington, D.C., to bring hundreds of thousands of dollars to bear to purchase the D11 board seats for liberals. All ideas for improvement are ridiculed as “right-wing” efforts to destroy the schools.
The liberals, so-called, totally suffuse American culture with the pollutants of their politics. Their bugaboos (white males! tobacco! homophobia!) and desiderata (law suits! regulation! more males undergoing community service!) are everywhere, creating not a culture of lively ideas but a Kultursmog that deadens the life of the mind and stifles free discourse.
D11 employees are expected to follow the “party line” in every way. Anyone who speaks out against the status quo is barred from administrative jobs in the district. Teachers who dare to speak out for improvement are shunned and pressured into silence by labor union heavies. New ideas are not welcome in D11. Employees of D11 do not work in a vibrant, open environment. Instead, they work in an environment where all control and direction comes from Central Administration and labor union leaders. For a “public” entity, D11 is a very closed society. Law suits and threats are frequently used against anyone who questions the practices of the district.
Like any Socialist regime in the world’s history, the main focus of the D11 administration is not to serve the community, but to serve the interests of those who make their living off the backs of the taxpayers, primarily senior administrators. When dealing with administration, teachers and parents alike find themselves buried in a bureaucratic nightmare.
The structure of this public entity is designed to enforce a code of silence that is killing the district from inside out. Rather than being a completely open and transparent district as one would expect of a public entity, all information is closely controlled. If there is any doubt that certain information might make the district or its employees look bad, the district’s law firm of HRO is called in to provide legal cover to prevent the information from leaking to the public.
The Kultursmog that exists in D11 will never lift as long as the district is controlled by a large central administration. Those who receive the largest paychecks in D11, and are therefore dependent on the current structure, will never willingly allow needed change to occur. As long as the teacher’s labor union spends its time and resources on party politics instead of focusing on issues of education, there is little chance for improvement. The last thing that school administrators want, but the best thing that could happen, is for the public to take control of its schools.
Below are several descriptions/definitions of Kultursmog that I find appropriate to describe the administrative culture in D11. The descriptions are from Tyrell himself or from others who have borrowed the term. They are in italics.
The Kultursmog has petrified more inaccurate ideas and stupid prejudices than any moron religion or idiot cult ever heard of.
As everyone knows, California often leads the nation with new ideas or trends. Good or bad, these trends tend to spread across the country. California was one of the first states to adopt “new-new” math, which is math that requires students to “discover” their own formulas and math processes. As a result of this experiment, California students began to perform poorly on standardized tests at all levels. Someone in California took notice of this downward trend, and new-new math became a thing of the past. The result was improved learning and performance. In D11, despite the damage that this same math is causing to kids, the administration continues to push this curriculum on the schools. Likewise, national statistics show that phonetic reading instruction is much more effective than whole language teaching. Rather than change the district’s approach to reading instruction to a phonetics approach, D11 administrators changed the name of the reading instruction. They now call this failed approach “balanced literacy.” Same poor results, different name.
A “stupid prejudice” that the D11 administration clings to is that poor and minority students are not able to learn as well as white and affluent students. This reasoning is used constantly to explain and excuse D11’s poor performance. Because of this prejudicial thinking, students who fit the “poor” or “minority” category are subject to low expectations. Profiling is criticized in the world of law enforcement, but it is perfectly acceptable to use race to predetermine a child’s performance in the education community.
Kultursmog. It is the popular culture of the United States, polluted utterly by a weird politics, a politics often called liberal but is actually simply leftish and adolescent. It has no fixed values or ideas other than to disturb the peace.
Academia is populated by “leftish” professors who possess no ideas and who certainly have no solutions to this country’s education problems. This “leftish” political climate is equally pervasive in the K-12 arena. The teacher’s labor unions spend more time supporting left-wing organizations and causes than they do addressing education issues. These labor unions support liberal candidates over conservatives on a ratio of about 95% to 5%. The D11 labor union and administration will only support liberal candidates for the school board. None of these candidates or board members bring any ideas to the education debate, but they are told to repeatedly spout the phrase, “I support public education.”
As for disturbing the peace, watch the labor union rally its most militant members against any idea that sounds different than the status quo. These rallies are designed to project a sense of chaos that the labor union can then blame on others. No rallying ever seems to take place for increased student achievement
The Kultursmog is always politically correct, ever sensitive to the Democratic National Committee's whims, and increasingly anti-intellectual.
A look at the labor union’s national meeting agenda items shows that academia is completely wed to the Democratic Party with all of its anti-intellectual glory. (The national meetings are attended by leaders of the local CSEA labor union). Rather than strive for excellence and intellectual rigor, D11 administrators, board members, and labor union leaders brag about being “average.”
The Kultursmog may be anti-intellectual, vulgar and politically out of touch, but it remains very influential. To a vast degree, it decides what the chattering class talks about and is aware of. Its most effective influence is omission. It simply omits what it does not want to acknowledge.
D11 has an information representative whose job it is to disseminate one-sided propaganda. While constantly telling the community that D11 is as good as it can be, D11 administrators blame parents of students in poor performing schools for not being fully involved in their schools. Unless and until the district admits to its shortcomings and correctly declares a crisis in many of its schools, parents and business leaders will see no reason to become involved. Why spend time assisting a district that claims that it has no need to improve? Omission is a huge problem in academia and D11. Education leaders tend to hide the problems in their districts so those problems neever get fixed.
The D11 propaganda machine is very effective and influential. It uses the union, PTA, and its brand of cronyism to spread its message and to avoid accountability. D11 administrators never have to explain why they cannot educate 28,000 kids with a $500 million budget.
The Kultursmog has steadily corroded standards.
In many D11 middle and high schools, students rule the hallways and classrooms. Basic discipline and dress codes are not enforced, neither for students nor employees. Students are permitted to "walk" at graduation ceremonies even though they do not meet graduation requirements. As a standard practice, spelling and grammar are not corrected on student papers in many schools. Students are passed from grade to grade even though they have not met the requirements to move forward.
The Kultursmog… smeared anyone who objected (to its ideology) as "right-wing."
As soon as 4 of us who are considered “conservative” were elected in 2003, the labor union called on the Progressive Majority in Washington, D.C., to bring hundreds of thousands of dollars to bear to purchase the D11 board seats for liberals. All ideas for improvement are ridiculed as “right-wing” efforts to destroy the schools.
The liberals, so-called, totally suffuse American culture with the pollutants of their politics. Their bugaboos (white males! tobacco! homophobia!) and desiderata (law suits! regulation! more males undergoing community service!) are everywhere, creating not a culture of lively ideas but a Kultursmog that deadens the life of the mind and stifles free discourse.
D11 employees are expected to follow the “party line” in every way. Anyone who speaks out against the status quo is barred from administrative jobs in the district. Teachers who dare to speak out for improvement are shunned and pressured into silence by labor union heavies. New ideas are not welcome in D11. Employees of D11 do not work in a vibrant, open environment. Instead, they work in an environment where all control and direction comes from Central Administration and labor union leaders. For a “public” entity, D11 is a very closed society. Law suits and threats are frequently used against anyone who questions the practices of the district.
Like any Socialist regime in the world’s history, the main focus of the D11 administration is not to serve the community, but to serve the interests of those who make their living off the backs of the taxpayers, primarily senior administrators. When dealing with administration, teachers and parents alike find themselves buried in a bureaucratic nightmare.
The structure of this public entity is designed to enforce a code of silence that is killing the district from inside out. Rather than being a completely open and transparent district as one would expect of a public entity, all information is closely controlled. If there is any doubt that certain information might make the district or its employees look bad, the district’s law firm of HRO is called in to provide legal cover to prevent the information from leaking to the public.
The Kultursmog that exists in D11 will never lift as long as the district is controlled by a large central administration. Those who receive the largest paychecks in D11, and are therefore dependent on the current structure, will never willingly allow needed change to occur. As long as the teacher’s labor union spends its time and resources on party politics instead of focusing on issues of education, there is little chance for improvement. The last thing that school administrators want, but the best thing that could happen, is for the public to take control of its schools.
posted by Craig Cox | 9:48 AM
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