I continued to be amazed and pleased by our president.

Yesterday, President Barack Obama delivered the commencement address at Arizona State University. A controversy surrounding the event was the decision by the university NOT to give the president an honorary degree, the given reason being that his "body of work" was not yet complete. Here is how the president responded:

Now, in all seriousness, I come here not to dispute the suggestion that I haven't yet achieved enough in my life. (Laughter.) First of all, Michelle concurs with that assessment. (Laughter.) She has a long list of things that I have not yet done waiting for me when I get home. But more than that, I come to embrace the notion that I haven't done enough in my life; I heartily concur; I come to affirm that one's title, even a title like President of the United States, says very little about how well one's life has been led -- that no matter how much you've done, or how successful you've been, there's always more to do, always more to learn, and always more to achieve. (Applause.)

How cool is that? Here, something that might be perceived as a slight is turned, the a good deal of humility and good humor, into a major point of his speech.

It has been a very long time since I have come to look forward to a politician's speech.

Should OHLAP Pay For Remediation? Are We Begging the Question?

Oklahoma's Promise
Today's Oklahoman had an editorial concerning the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program known as OHLAP. The editorial criticized the fact that some OHLAP funds, less than 2%, are being used for students in need of college remediation courses which typically carry no college credit. Many people question why students are in need of such remediation. To me, and to many high school teachers, this begs the question as to why we feel that all students should be given a college preperatory curriculum when many do not want to go to college and perhaps should not, at least not right out of high school. Below is my response to the editorial:

To the Editor:

Recently, you criticized the use of OHLAP scholarships to pay for remedial college courses. You feel that taxpayers should not pay for "high school courses." You also state these students have been "short changed" in high school.

OHLAP makes no distinction between those high school students who have prepared themselves for college and those who have not. High schools do not make a distinction between students wanting to go to college and those who do not want this or are unwilling to do the preparation needed. Why don’t school allow students to make this decision for themselves? Students who wish to prepare themselves for college and do the work needed would be enrolled in college prep classes. Those who do not can take a general curriculum along with career tech classes to gain needed work skills. Oh wait, that would be tracking! Bad teacher! Bad teacher!

Truth through Art