#369 – Dick Bernard: Mother's Day 2011

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UPDATE June 7, 2011. Here’s the flower we bought at the Work House a month ago, May 7, 2011.

UPDATE August 5, 2011. Here’s the same plant, now dubbed a ‘monster plant’ by our neighbors, on August 5. It’s the best plant we’ve ever had!

August 5, 2011


To all Mom’s out there, a great day.
I know at least one young Mom for whom this day has recent and tragic memories, and to her and all of the many others in this world who have lost a son or daughter long before their normal time, my condolences. Being Mom is not always easy.
Defining “Mom” these days is a bit harder than 100 years ago, as this 1910 postcard found at my grandparents farm shows.

Women’s suffrage was still 10 years in the future.
Friday I was at my bi-monthly ‘blood-letting’, donating blood at the Memorial Blood Center branch here in Woodbury.
The Nurse – herself a Mom – and I were chatting. She mentioned that she planned to go over to the Ramsey County Work House to get her Mother’s Day flowers.

Greenhouses at Ramsey Co. Correctional Facility, Maplewood MN


Flowers for sale at the Work House? I’d never heard of such a thing, but the idea was intriguing so we went over there Saturday morning. It was worth the trip.
Every society has its guys (and gals) who’ve taken the wrong turn on the road of life, and ours is no different. The inmates have Moms, and Dads, too, and while they’re doing their time, particularly if they’re not on work release, there is work. Why not grow flowers?
At this work facility, the decision was made to have a greenhouse in which they raise annual plants, and sell them on weekends beginning on Mother’s Day weekends. The flowers certainly don’t mind who plants and cares for them, and the products we purchased and delivered matched those we normally buy at the commercial greenhouse.
I’m sure there were guards somewhere yesterday, but they were unobtrusive. There were volunteers too (the lady who met us said, with a smile, “be careful, last year I came here as a customer, and here I am volunteering!”), and there were inmates helping carry and deliver the products to our cars. Our helper were a couple of younger adult inmates, very polite. I have no idea what got them their time in the slammer but that didn’t matter. They were polite and helpful.
As I say, these inmates have Moms too.
One way or another every one of us have or had a Mom, and a Dad, who hopefully at least tried to raise us to the best of their ability. Having assumed the role of a “Mr. Mom” for quite a number of years, I sort of know the trade, the perils, the pitfalls. It’s not easy being Mom – or Dad – for that matter.
But this is the day for Mom’s, whether living or dead.
Remember them, perhaps especially the Mom’s of those inmates at the Work House and other such places.
And if you haven’t done so, or done so recently, consider taking up the ‘blood-letting’ routine at your local blood bank. I evaded that duty for years but it’s now a good habit.
Have a great day. Here, thanks to Lucy’s Mom (and my daughter, Lauri), is a little gift for the day to everyone reading (click on the photo to enlarge).

Granddaughter Lucy, May, 2011


(I’m tempted to say, “Lucy in the sky with diamonds“. Great Thanks to the Beatle’s, Yellow Submarine and You Tube. Son Tom and I went to this movie sometime in 1968 at the then-Suburban World Theatre in uptown Minneapolis.)

#368 – Dick Bernard: Reprising National Teacher Day Commentary May 3, 2011

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Between the May 3 post on National Teacher Day and May 7 came the latest issue of Newsweek which included a non-affirming message for wealthy folks seeking to impose change on public schools. Their experiment seems to have been less than a noble success, but don’t expect this to be widely reported.
I am one of the legion of lonely bloggers who toil in the vague shadows of major media. We tend to be belittled and dismissed. As the number on this post indicates, I am no longer an amateur; I just don’t have name recognition.
But when my post on Teacher Day went into circulation I got some most interesting responses, including one from Mary Ellen Weller in Madison WI which deserves its own space and attention on this blog. You can find it here. She seeks dialog, and I hope she receives some responses to her thoughtful writing.
My post got the usual array of responses, from “bravo” to (paraphrased) “the sooner unions disappear from the face of the earth, the better off we’ll be”. The kudos outnumbered the brickbats.
But there were three comments from separate individuals who had no idea of each others existence who more or less in the same language said the same thing, and that got me to thinking.
The three were all women, two from Minnesota, one from Oregon. The two Minnesotans were retired after long careers in education. The third did not relate her background.
Each of the three specifically commented on what their mothers, all three career teachers, had told them somewhere along the line of growing up.
The general thread was this (paraphrased): “it’s very hard work, don’t expect anything other than the satisfaction of doing good for your students”. One said she didn’t think her mother would favor unions, but she wasn’t sure how she’d respond were she around to see what was happening in Wisconsin at this time in history.
I’m Catholic and went my first six years to Catholic Schools, taught by Nuns, and frankly the comments reminded me of the Nuns extraordinarily difficult mission: to work very hard, with no rights, and many expectations. (I have good memories of my education, both in Catholic and Public School. The Catholic Church is not exactly overrun with Nuns these days…the remaining orders of Nuns know the value of their mission, be it colleges or hospitals or whatever. The individual Nuns retain the vows of poverty, etc., but many orders are not poor.)
Thinking about those three Moms: were they in today’s environment, would they not be inclined to protest. Would they accept their lot in life as a public servant? I don’t know.
My own teaching career began back in those good old days before teachers got rights and contracts and all the rest. It was indeed a powerless time.
For me the times changed in the late 1960s when teacher anger coalesced and boiled over and some degree of parity began to be demanded. This was a hugely troubling time for most lawmakers, school board members and school administrators who were accustomed to having their own way, and now had to, at minimum, be somewhat accountable for their own actions, and recognize something called teacher rights.
I began on union staff in March, 1972, which coincided, exactly, with the beginning of the bargaining of the first teacher contract under Minnesota’s Public Employment Labor Relations Act (PELRA). Those were heady and difficult times when both sides made ample and sometimes serious mistakes as they learned new relationships and new roles.
It occurs to me that when that first contract was negotiated, only a tiny number of today’s teachers had even begun their teaching career, and large numbers who started their careers after 1972 have already retired.
Many, perhaps most, of today’s teachers don’t realize what those three female teachers endured in the days before rights.
I wonder how today’s teachers will respond to the current attacks.
It is a serious question.

#367 – Dick Bernard: "I Am", the documentary

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May 4, largely on the recommendation of our friend, Annelee, we went to the documentary, “I Am”, at the Lagoon Theatre in Minneapolis.
Wherever you are, I would highly recommend you see this extraordinary and thought provoking film.
Then seriously consider the implications of what you just saw.
The official website is here.
Doubtless, there are other on-line commentaries.
For me, it was one of the most powerful commentaries on the titanic clash of contemporary western culture versus the natural order of things that I have ever seen.
The film boils down, in my opinion, to a conversation about “competition” versus “cooperation”. Of course, our contemporary world is ruled by competitors, who won’t like this message (and who control the media message we daily consume). But the outcome for their descendants is inevitable…competition is a fatal disease.
In the long run, competition doesn’t have a chance and thus we who play by competitions rules don’t either.
But, see the film for yourself, come to your own conclusions, and hopefully let others know about it.
Because it is an ‘art film’ release, it is guaranteed a low audience, initially.
My recommendation: everyone should see it.
SUPPLEMENT: 100 Years
Not from the film, but (in my opinion) directly related.
For a time last fall I watched a most interesting TV ad. The actors were a Mom and her little girl. The little girl was trying to blow out a hundred candles on a birthday cake. The message was that it was really, really hard to blow out a hundred candles, and that we had at least 100 years left of Natural Gas in this country, so not to worry.
The ad didn’t play very long…I’m guessing there were people who saw it as I did.
Recently, the exact same text has surfaced, from the same company, on the same topic. The only difference is that there is a single actor, a nice/Dad-like/young middle-age Engineer Type man conveying the exact same message: we have at least 100 years of Natural Gas left, and isn’t that reassuring?
In the recorded history of humankind, 100 years is but a tiny fraction of a second in time; far, far, far less if one considers the time it took to create this natural resource now all but depleted.
But the message is everything: not to worry.
When the gas is gone there’ll be something else…or so we hope.

#366 – Jermitt Krage and Karen Alexander: In Wisconsin, Gov. Walker's Budget Repair Bill Indicates Need for Collaboration

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Wisconsin, like many other states, is faced with attacks by some of its citizens on public employees, public education, and local community services. These attacks are a direct outgrowth of how all of the parties have developed, used, and abused their power relationships with each other over a period of many years. While these attacks must be vigorously resisted, they also point to a need to deal with each other in a dramatically different way. We believe that way is to build collaborative relationships among all the stakeholder groups in the community.
School district and community stakeholders should be fully informed and engaged in a collaborative process to determine the potential reduction in educational opportunities and community services for students and adults. Collaborative processes allow the school district and community stakeholders to successfully assess the current reality, evaluate the interests of the parties and determine the best solutions for these complex issues created by the financial burdens placed on local school districts and communities.
The context/environment/climate for public schools, like our communities, has changed. The context of the community can’t be ignored in how we move public education forward. Community governance and school governance should be interdependent rather than independent entities. They are part of the same system.
School Districts and communities are systems whose constituent groups are intertwined within other larger systems such as the state legislature. When traditional governance structures are threatened as they are now due to the reduction in state aid for schools and communities and re-alignment of school district and community roles in managing budgets, programs and staff, it clearly demonstrates the need for collaboration within the various governmental entities at the local community level.
Public school districts and local towns, villages, and cities, as traditional systems, are structured in ways that limit their ability to make decisions on complex issues through collaborative and synergistic thinking. To increase our ability to make meaningful decisions, based on our collective knowledge, skills, abilities and thinking, the structure of these systems must become more collegial and collaborative. Strong positive relationships with all stakeholder groups are the basis for transforming the school districts and local communities from separate traditional organizations into collaborative systems. Working together, school districts and local communities are in a better position to transform a hostile environment and to sustain their roles within the democratic society.
All school district and community stakeholders including city and town councils, school board members, administrators, staff and their associations, politicians and the critics must assume a greater role in the ownership, accountability and responsibility for improving public education and local community services.
We believe that all school district stakeholders, and especially those community leaders not often included in educational decision-making, must become part of collaborative planning processes. These processes include Future Search Conferences, Appreciative Inquiry Summits, Stakeholder Focus Groups, and other processes that engage all stakeholders in dialog focused on the needs and interests of students and adults and suspend preconceived solutions.
One way to begin this new way of working together is to bring a group to the Collaborative Leadership Trust Conference. The Collaborative Leadership Trust is a national non-profit network designed to support school districts, communities and other organizations in their efforts to build and sustain a collaborative culture, shared governance systems and shared consensus decision making processes. (Click here for more information.)
Collaboration is the model for how we want our children to live. We believe the effort we put into resolving these issues collaboratively is a measure of how much we value our children. Collaborative processes allow the school district and community in concert with all stakeholders to successfully assess the current reality, evaluate the interests of the parties and determine the best solutions to the complex issues created by the financial, educational, and social burdens placed on local school districts and communities.
Written by Karen Alexander and Jermitt Krage
Collaborative Partners LLC

from left: Jermitt Krage, Karen Alexander, Dick Bernard, at Portage WI March 4, 2011


Jermitt Krage is team member with Collaborative Partners LLC. He has dedicated his career in public education to “working with those who want to change the culture of schools and who are willing to make schools better for children and to improve the quality of learning for children and adults.” After public school teaching in Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska, Jermitt served over 30 years as an organizational development and training specialist with Wisconsin Education Association Council. For the past 20 years as a facilitator, trainer and consultant, he has worked with over 100 school districts across the country conducting more than 1000 sessions with school personnel, parents and community members. To e-mail jermitt, his name (one word) @netzero.net
Karen Alexander‘s background includes 10 years of teaching in wisconsin, and over 15 years working for the Wisconsin Education Association Council and the National Education Association innegotiations and as an organizational consultant. Karen’s work includes executive induction processes, consensus bargaining, organizational restructure, and strategic planning/vision processes. To e-mail Karen, kdalexanderATwildblueDOTnet

#365 – Dick Bernard: A Troubling National Teacher Day, May 3, 2011

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Since May 3, 1985, National Teacher Day in the United States has been observed on the first Tuesday in May. About 1944 an Arkansas teacher first had the idea of a National Teacher Day, and in 1953 the first such day was observed.
May 3, 1985, I was Minnesota Education Association field staff (some would say “teacher union rep”, which I was), on Minnesota’s Iron Range. Home base was Hibbing; my area was from Ely to Deer River and beyond. I don’t recall the specifics of that Teacher Day, except that it was a time of pride to be a public school teacher. I would work for teachers for the next 14 National Teachers Days. They were always good days….
While international events may have scuttled my (and other) submissions on the value of teachers this date, here’s what I sent to the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Sunday:
“Today [May 3) is National Teacher Day in the United States; and this week is Teacher Appreciation Week.
Take the time today or this week to thank a teacher, or two, or more.
First on my own list are my parents who were public school teachers for a total of 71 years between 1929 and 1971. I was a student in their public school classrooms from 8th grade through high school graduation. Thank you, Mom and Dad.
But my parents were only two among many teachers, remembered and not, who made a huge difference in my life, in small and large ways over many years.
To college Prof. George Kennedy, who finally had it with me when I was being lazy and not doing my best in my college Geography major, thank you for getting angry at me. I remember….
To Mr. H, who was, yes, somewhat odd, but was always there and did his best with we “scholars” in high school: thank you. He taught me a great deal about accepting differences, just by being different, himself.
The list could go on and on.
These are harsh days for our teachers.
Today, more than ever, thank them.”
As noted above, this May 3 is not a very kind and gentle time for America’s teachers (which includes school administrators), and particularly for their and other public unions. One hardly needs a PhD to see the success of a campaign to demonize a great profession and the unions which represent public workers. The architects of the movement to enshrine as symbols of “teaching” the always-anonymous persons called “bad” or “ineffective”, and their unions, have been successful, probably beyond their wildest dreams. This campaign to denigrate began years ago.
There are big long term dangers to labeling groups based on actions of the few, but in the short term negative labeling does work….
The amateur “experts” are legion: from the guy I’d never seen before, who recently and loudly declared that teaching was too lowly an occupation to need a license (he noticed the headline of an editorial I was reading); to a freshman legislator wringing her hands in a public meeting about the problem of “bad” teachers – a topic about which she quite obviously knew nothing, beyond the script she was holding while reading.
Then there’s a good and respected friend who spends much of his time in the company of ‘movers and shakers’ of this major city and has apparently come to think, sincerely, that things like unions, seniority, salary schedules, contracts and due process protections are destroying good education by protecting “bad” teachers who should be replaced by fresh young faces unblemished by union things.
I’ve about heard it all.
(The amateur experts take their cue, of course, from the ‘movers and shakers’ who by and large control information. As stated so well by Connecticut Superintendent Gary Chesley in an Education Week commentary accessible below, there is “a national search for a scapegoat…teachers and the tenure laws present a fertile target for bombast and demagoguery.”)
There are, of course, big gaps in the information provided, like the specific names and circumstances of these supposedly “bad” and “ineffective” people who supposedly represent teaching. Revealing the names is apparently a risk (and responsibility) no one wishes to take. But that’s not relevant. If you can make an anonymous and supposedly defective teacher the symbol of an entire profession, why not? Indeed, creating a caricature – a cartoon – is even better than a fact.
There are other conjured issues: a friend who trusts me asked about teacher pensions, pretty obviously resenting the fact that teachers even receive pensions. Luckily I had an informed answer (which I don’t think he liked): Pensions Public001
But, this is National Teacher Day: If one can get past the negative, there is a huge amount of good out there, not hard to find. I saw it Thursday night at my Kindergarten granddaughters spring music concert for family and friends (click on photo to enlarge).

Kindergarten program at Lincoln Center elementary So. St. Paul MN April 28, 2011


I saw it Sunday morning at Church when a wonderful A Cappella high school choir (directed by a teacher) from a northern Minnesota city performed for us after services.
There was an excellent column in Sunday’s New York Times.
There is infinite room for true dialogue IF people are at all interested. There are ideas out there just begging for conversation. But dialogue and ideas require openness to other points of view; the possibility of other conclusions.
But the overall official mantra I feel this National Teacher Day 2011 is distinctly vicious and negative.
It’s time for teachers and administrators to buck up and go to work where they live, delivering an alternative (and more honest) message about teachers and teaching and public schools.

Mom, then Esther Busch and in first grade, front left, in 1915 at Henrietta School, rural Berlin ND. She and her sister Lucina, front row right, both became career public school teachers. Their teacher is Miss Gates.


Dad, Henry Bernard, with his first class at Allandale School near Grand Forks ND, 1929.


Teacher Mary Garvey with her 30 students in rural St. Paul MN ca 1939

#364 – Dick Bernard: "The Wicked Witch is Dead" The killing of Osama bin Laden

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I wrote a friend a bit earlier this evening saying I probably wouldn’t comment on the killing of Osama bin Laden a day ago.
I’ve changed my mind…a little.
All day I kept thinking about the hit song from Wizard of Oz, “The Wicked Witch is Dead”. There are endless analyses of what L. Frank Baum, author of
“A Wonderful Wizard of Oz” in 1900, might have been trying to convey in his characters and his story. I won’t enter that fray. The song did keep coming back to me.
The crowds celebrating the death of bin Laden last night and today reinforced the celebratory nature of the song.
Speaking just for myself, I believe President Obama picked the best of the bad options, and took a huge risk in opting for the mission into Pakistan. Close in mind was President Carter’s failed attempt to spring the hostages in Iran in 1979. So much is out of control in such missions.
This mission succeeded, with unknown future ramifications.
Oh that such decisions were to be easy.
I thought back to an uncomfortable conversation at the Nobel Peace Prize Festival a year ago.
At the neighboring table in the display area was a man, an Indian from India, who was a long-time and close advisor of Gandhi’s grandson. He was helping a friend of mine with her book selling.
It would be fair to say that he was extraordinary in all ways, including intensity. There was no escape from at least considering his line of reasoning. He didn’t expect agreement, nor did it seem that he necessarily even wanted agreement, but neither was it easy to wiggle-waffle around. He much preferred that the person be eye-to-eye and deal with whatever the topic might be.
He told me a little about himself, and then he circled round and presented a scenario, which I remember to be something like this: you are on your property, and you are approached by someone who you know to be very dangerous. You have a weapon, but you believe completely in non-violence. The person approaches the fence and shows every indication of doing violence not only to you, but to everyone else who also occupies your space.
“What do you do?“, he asked me.
I really had no idea what to say. By now, I was caught up in who he was, and who he represented, and what his life philosophy had to be, given he was apparently a disciple of Gandhi.
“What would he say?” I asked myself, hoping to give him an answer he himself would have given.
He knew I couldn’t figure out what to say, and he had me.
After an appropriate silence he gave his answer: “you must kill the invader if you can, because if you do not, he will do infinitely more damage.”
On one level his comment made sense.
On another, it still troubled me greatly.
But it seems to apply to the issue of the death of Osama bin Laden, though the long term implications of bin Laden, and war generally, is many degrees more serious, and no one knows for sure the future.
I’m troubled that people cheer on the news that somebody was killed.
On the other hand….