A pathway to fix Ohio's Schools.

A pathway to fix Ohio's education system: A note to teachers, administrators, community members and parents.

The divisiveness in our nation can be dizzying.  It seems that, even in casual conversation, extreme opinions stop the natural progression of problem solving and improving the status quo.  One of the domestic problems, that weighs heavy on my heart, is our education system in Ohio.  If you are in the education field, or have a family member “in the trenches”, you are painfully aware of the broken assessment/evaluation system, the distressing air tests and the burdensome resident educator program.  If you are a parent or a community member, you are intensely aware of the shroud of confusion associated with common core standards and mandates (or ESSA).  These are problems that I hear our community member’s express extensive frustration over, but it seems that frustration often turns into empathy and exhaustion when faced with the size and scope of the problem.

I believe every problem has a solution, even this one.  What if there is a plan that is bi-partisan and restores local control to our own local board of education?  I know it sounds too good to be true, but I deeply believe that Representative Andy Thompson (Ohio’s 95^th district) has penned a bill that will rectify many of the issues that are inhibiting what is best for Ohio’s kids.  Ohio  HB 176, “Address school assessments and curricula and teacher evaluations”, accomplishes many of the solutions I have heard teachers offer in morning meeting after morning meeting. In a two-word nutshell, it is “local control”.  HB 176 removes many of the unnecessary standardized tests, with the premise that the local districts are to determine mastery and competency.  It establishes recommended, not mandated, standards; it removes assessments from the evaluation process for teachers and administrators and it effectively ends the resident educator program.  This bill also promotes equitable reporting for charter schools and public schools and makes great strides to protect student’s data (a hot commodity that should have NEVER been a commodity in the first place).

What happens next? I encourage everyone to read over the analysis of the bill.  It digests the bill into relatively concise main ideas, and really helps familiarize yourself with what the bill contains.  Then, truthfully, the single best thing you can do is to call your local State Representative and express your support for the bill.  It does not matter how you identify politically, these measures will restore Ohio’s education system and profession.  Finally, I ask you to please spread the word to your friends and family.  If all of us work together, we can create a better education system for Ohio’s children.

Sincerely,

Nicki

My thoughts on HB 176 and teacher evaluations:
http://agvocatefarmer.blogspot.com/2017/04/teacher-evaluations-what-do-they-look.html

My thoughts on why Massachusetts standards are a good example curriculum:
http://agvocatefarmer.blogspot.com/2017/04/ohio-hb176-establishes-massachusetts.html

Link to the analysis of HB 176:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bxf9NZ-asZp3VFEyUTRVczV3MzVWY29xbFJsaUE3cGFrTjAw/view?usp=sharing

How to identify and contact your state representative:

http://www.ohiohouse.gov

Link to the full HB 176

https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA132-HB-176

The fear of failure in farming. Courage is the most valuable commodity.

Despite my fears of failure, I have in the past faced them, crossed the river and shown courage can be attained.  I have always wanted a farm since I was a little girl.  My parents raised me in the country and that planted the seed of agricultural love in my heart.  I wanted more.  I wanted to own and operate a farm that would be able to not only sustain, but provide a profitable avenue for future growth.  I could visualize my operation, but I had very few fiscal resources to start my venture.  When I say very few, I should specify; I had no savings.  What I lacked in funds, I more than compensated for in drive and passion.

My father, mother and grandfather all could see the passion that I had for my dream.  It was also no longer just me reaching for this goal; my new husband shared the same vision and passion.  Together our enthusiasm was contagious.  As Gus Lee describe courage, we too “boldly stood for the principles” (p. 40) that are found at the heart of agriculture.  Because of our passion, our family chose to put their collective resources together so that we could put a down payment down on a farm.  My grandfather then agreed to act as the bank for the rest of the amount.  An amount was set that we could manage and we began to search for properties for sale/ for auction.  Soon after, with their support, we owned a farm.   It sold at auction for the exact amount that we pre-determined could be feasible.   Albeit a rundown, uninhabitable one, but nonetheless it was a farm. For the next two years we lived with my parents, gave birth to our first daughter, and completely gutted and renovated the farmhouse.  During this time, we stared at possibility of failure many times.  But, together we crossed the river, and then two weeks later, found ourselves looking at the same turbulent waters in our journey.

Although the lesson of nothing ventured, nothing gained has been learned and lived in my life, there was a time when my courage withered and a great opportunity for our farm was missed.   There was an auction of a parcel of land that was a stones through from our new farm.  This property was an ideal addition to our pasture; however we were still thick into the renovations of our home.  The voices of doubt and the fear of failure were fresh in my mind when I went to the auction.  I knew how much I could spend on the property, theoretically.  However, this figure would also max out our credit limit and leave us in a situation where we had no more liquid capital to continue the house project.  I went to the auction.  I was alone.  I was young and inexperienced.  I had never purchased land on my own.  I was afraid.

The auction began, and there were very few bidders.  I timidly raised my number and it was quickly countered with a higher bid.  Voices of doubt rang through my mind, fears of failure swirled around me like a whirlpool instead of a mere river of fear.  Trembling, I raised my number again, and again, and again. In the end, I was in fact the highest bid, but before the gavel went down, I retracted my final bid.  I had the land, for a mere $1750.00 an acre and I let it go.  I gave in to fear.  I cannot ever take that moment back in my life.  I understand what justifications I used that day to back out. Ultimately, I allowed fear to govern the decision, and it resulted in an astronomical loss of potential to our farm.  That land value has since skyrocketed since the discovery of deep shale gas and oil.  We could have paid for that land several times over with lease money and significantly added to our grazeable land. However, I have learned and allowed that experience to shape subsequent decisions, specifically one that is eerily similar.

Once we moved into the house, the work of restoring the farm began.  We had to choose what we wanted to raise.  With little agricultural experience, we decided to watch the markets and compare those details with the land resources that we had at our disposal.   The fear of the investment of our meager savings was gut-wrenching.  We chose to purchase three heifers.  I talked to as many people as possible, and found the cheerleaders for starting a first generation farm are few and far between.  This being said, we began to hand select who we surrounded ourselves with for counsel.  These people helped us continue to face the fears of failure.  They also reminded us that the premise of risk and reward analysis is important, but sometimes bold moves need to be made in order to make strides towards success. 

Life does not often give us opportunities for redemption in a similar form that it was originally presented.  Nevertheless, the good Lord had determined that the classroom of life was ready for another lesson, and it was about to be determined if I had paid attention the first time through.  Did I learn how to mitigate fear?  Did I learn to cross the river of fear and to have the courage to make bold decisions?

As I pulled into the driveway one day, a sign caught my eye.  It was an auction sign for the property directly across the street from our farm.   I had been pining for this immaculate hill for years. Twenty acres of the most beautiful, pristine grazing ground and it was going to be for sale.  It was going to be in the same uncertain climate that the other land, the fifteen acres that I had let slip through my fingers, was in.  My heart sank.  I would not get it.  It would go for too much.  The fears started bubbling up.   But the words of Eleanor Roosevelt give an ideal frame of reference for this moment in my life. She said “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face” (p 43).  I was going to push back the voices who scoff at the idea of my dreams, go to those who have been proven counsel and follow my dreams. 

I prayed; I prayed for clarity, for discernment, and for the courage to have some very gutsy conversations.  My steps seemed clearly placed in front of me, but this was my fight alone. I went to work and called the land owners.  I asked: how long ago had they signed with the auctioneer?  Was there any way that they could cancel the auction? In a perfect world, how much would they need to get for the land to fulfill their needs?  Fortunately, they had just signed with the auctioneers and these folks were old time farmers who would love to see this land be used for agricultural purposes.  However, I needed the capital to make the purchase and banks were not an option.  I talked to my father, but he was unable to help at that time.  Fear and doubt started to creep back up, but I chose to continue the search.  I contacted a friend of the family who was a diversified investor.  The pitch was made, a verbal agreement was made and I convinced the land owners to pull their land out of the auction all within a two hour time period.  Professionally, it was the most courageous moment in my life.  I was shaking that night when it was done.  Adrenalin, I am sure played into that.  Was that me making those calls?  Did I really have the courage to make that happen? 

Since that time, the property value has increased with the oil and gas boom, and we have been able to roll that back into the farm.  Jim and I completed the fencing project on “the hill” and this past fall our cattle herd grazed that land for the first time.  I know that I will continue to struggle with my fears of failure.  However, with wise counsel, God and the faith that I am holding fast to high core values I believe that our farm will continue to thrive and grow.

What is a GMO? What is Genetic Engineering? From the perspective of a Science Teacher :)

Lately, I have had a few people ask my science teacher side to explain what exactly Genetically Modified Organisms and Genetic Engineering entail.  Let me start by saying, I am NOT the expert, but I did find a couple of reference that I think help explain the terms.  By definition, they are organisms that have modified on the genomic level.  So their strand of DNA (A-T, G-C Double helix structure that give you the instructions for all protein structures in an organism) has been modified or altered in some way.  The same thing happens when you have a baby.. some of the DNA from Mom and some of the DNA from Dad are expressed to make a new, stronger , healthier baby (if all goes according to plan).  Sometimes random mutations happen and the new baby can be even healthier, or sadly, sometimes random mutations occur that make the new baby not quite as strong or healthy.  Its all very random through the normal processes of reproduction. 


As we as a culture and a species became much more in tuned with what was happening, we would purposely breed two creatures or plants to attempt to make offspring that had the desired traits.  This works just fine, and its called selective breeding.  Do you like your kitty or pooch?  Thank selective breeding!  The problem?  Selective breeding is kind of a shot in the dark.  You don't really know what traits are going to get passed along, and it takes a significant amount of time to get the desired results.  Enter Stage Left: Biotechnology!!


Thank you modern science and your understanding of gene sequences.  Plants that are genetically engineered are nothing short of a modern miracle, and I bet Gregor Mendel would have been doing cartwheels to see how this all worked (if monks do cartwheels).  Is this a perfect system?  Of course not, there is a great deal to learn about the process, but when we are looking at farming more effectively on less land and wanting to use less pesticides..  then GE is the way to go.


I found this article to be helpful, especially if you have some knowledge of genetics, genes, proteins and promoter sequences. The short answer is that it is a protein. What makes the protein? A gene has to be coded into the protein and the promoter is was signals transcription and translation of the gene in question. With Bt, the protein is not found in equal concentrations within the plant. The great concentrations are in the regions that the lepidoptera family likes to dine, namely the ears of the corn. By just targeting moths, bees aren't harmed. If you have been following colony collapse in our nation.. that is a big win for the honey bees. The less insecticidal agents we can use the better! The whole thing is super fascinating really. The moth larvae eats the corn, the Bt protein causes their guts to kinda "fall apart" and they become septic and die. Bad day for moths, good day for everybody else. Round up ready is a different trait..  http://www2.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef130.asp


 As far as "round up ready" corn, soy and cotton there is no round up "in" the plant as you asked earlier. It is also a genetically engineered trait that allows the plant to create an enzyme (protein) that allows the plant to continue to grow when the round up is applied. Round up denies the plant a similar amino acid that creates an enzyme that it needs to grow. I hope this helps some Here is an excerpt I found that explains how these plants work: Glyphosate tolerant crops

"The second major class of GMOs (mostly soy) have been engineered to be tolerant of the herbicide glyphosate (Roundup). Glyphosate is a small molecule that inhibits an enzyme, 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS), which catalyzes an essential step in the biosynthesis of the amino acids phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan. By denying rapidly growing plants these amino acids, it is able to rapidly inhibit grown of plants onto which it has been sprayed. Glyphosate is generally considered to be inert in humans, who get these amino acids from their food, and do not have an EPSPS.

The obvious problem with using glyphosate to control weeds is that it will, under normal circumstances, also kill crop plants. However, plants that have been engineered to express an alternative form of EPSPS that functions normally even in the presence of glyphosate. These plants are thus “Roundup Ready“, and will survive doses of glyphosate used to kill weeds in the field.

Although the EPSPS gene used in Roundup Ready plants comes from a bacterium, the necessary changes could now easily be made to the plant’s own copy of EPSPS. Thus Roundup Ready crops, which produce no new proteins not found prior to genetic manipulation, shouldn’t really be places in the same class of GMOs as Bt expressing plants, which are expressing a new protein. And there is absolutely no reason to expect that there are any health risks associated with eating the altered form of EPSPS found in glyphosate resistant transgenic plants."
- See more at: http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/?p=1135...


I hope this might be helpful to someone who is confused on the topic.