Gentle People:
Today, education boils down to what we desire for our future. Do we desire to continue an industrial society based on Oil pollution and Gas burning cars? How about genetically modified plants tolerant to deadly pesticides but the pesticides kill everything else, including Bees and Birds? How many chemicals do we need to ingest before we decide enough is enough?
Do we honestly want to condemn our ageing population to spend the rest of their lives aimlessly wandering inside giant mind numbing noisy shopping malls? How many land grabbing shopping malls do we need? These humongous stores use and abuse the advertising media in order to sell useless products to people they have labelled "consumers" and then lock their doors at night?
How about giant sky-scraping office buildings that serve no other purpose except as monoliths of industrial greed? They also lock their doors at night!
How about schools and colleges and universities that promise success to students but never define success and they also lock their doors at night? Does success mean leaving school with the ability to dominate the desperate poor and the lower working class? Is success for graduate students the idea of doing less hard labour and more social manipulation? Will they be hired to work within office buildings and shopping malls? Will they find work within the industrial banking system and learn how to accumulate money and then hide the money in places like Panama for their industrial corporate bosses?
There are alternative definitions of success! Success is having millions of students working and planting Trees in government sponsored national parks for a few weeks and then later helping farmers work on pesticide free farms for a few more weeks while learning how plants survive and thrive on this planet. Success is graduating millions of Doctors and Nurses and Biologists and Scientists and Ecologists and Artists and Musicians who have the absolute desire to save the planet from environmental destruction. Success is the use of technology for the betterment of life on Earth and not for the current Madison Avenue brain washing that works night and day to create new "consumers" for the industrial "system" and basically steals our freedom one credit card at a time! Success is finding love and raising a family without years of hard labour degrading the planet and accumulating over-whelming interest filled Bank debts!
Success includes roof-top gardens and Apple and Pear and Plum Trees planted everywhere within a city. Success is when millions of roof-tops hold cheap but powerful Solar Panels and when wind power and Electric cars and Bicycle paths run parallel to streets and high-ways. Success is the creation of clean and quick and inexpensive easily accessible small Electric bus transportation systems for the elderly. Success delivers clean water and clean air free to the people of the world. Success is when millions of people read these words and happily agree to change the current industrial system for a better co-operative quality of life. Success is the realization that life is great and rare in the universe and we are all alive to enjoy it!
Thanks for reading!
Signed: Joseph Raglione: Executive director. The world humanitarian peace and ecology movement.
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Education is my life's work.
When the President and Vice President were first elected to the White House in 2008, I told my husband Joe that I wanted to continue teaching. Nearly eight years later, here I am - still teaching English full-time at a community college in northern Virginia.
As a lifelong educator, I am proud to be part of an administration that is committed to investing in our students and restoring the promise of the American education system.
From day one, we have made education a priority - from investing in early childhood education to ensuring that more students graduate high school, and from making college more affordable to strengthening partnerships between community colleges and employers to create the next generation of skilled workers.
Today, Joe and I are visiting the Community College of Philadelphia as part of the
#HeadsUpAmerica day of action to highlight the progress we've made on free community college programs nationwide and to announce new grants to create and expand tuition-free training at community colleges.
At least 27 new free community college programs have launched in states, communities, and individual community colleges since the President's 2015 State of the Union address. And 17 other states have introduced legislation to make community college free statewide. These programs will help to provide millions of responsible students with access to higher education and the opportunity for a more prosperous life.
We'll also celebrate the strides we've made together to increase the number of college graduates, make college more affordable, and expand college opportunities for all students. Tomorrow, as part of her Reach Higher initiative, the First Lady will be celebrating College Signing Day in New York City, joining in the 1,000 College Signing Day events happening around the country.
To talk about the progress we've made together to make student loans more affordable, like helping more Americans cap monthly loan payments through plans like the President's Pay As You Earn plan, we'll host student reporters from around the nation for our first-ever White House College Reporter Day.
On Friday, as part of my Joining Forces initiative, I'll visit a high school in Florida to announce the completion of a commitment to support military-connected children and improve STEM education in military-connected schools.
And next week, the President will host the National Teacher of the Year and great educators from classrooms across the country to thank them for their hard work and dedication and celebrate their contributions to the progress we've made in improving education over the last seven years. I've also invited the 2016 State Teachers of the Year to the Vice President's Residence at the Naval Observatory for a reception in honor of this accomplished group of teachers.
As a teacher, I believe education is the foundation for building a better life. While our administration has made strides to make education a reality for more Americans, we're going to keep working (and teaching) to make sure all Americans have the opportunity to learn the skills they need to succeed, grow into careers they love, and provide a brighter future for their families.
Thanks,
Jill
