Public Defender

Author: David Denby
Magazine: The New Yorker

This  article by David Denby is about a woman named Diane Ravitch. Diane married Richard Ravitch, who was a lawyer  and they did many things together, such as getting involved with politics. Diane is a seventy-four year old woman who has been a forceful voice in education discussions for over forty-years.  Last July, the American Federation of Teachers, a large teachers' union was held at Cobo Center, in downtown Detroit. Diane Ravitch made a speech about how teaching profession is "under attack" by those who argue teachers' are not doing their job when students don't pass a standard educational test, when it is out of the teachers' control.

A decade ago, Diane was one of those people she mentioned that argued that teachers were not doing their jobs. She was a supporter for many reform goals, but the results has "disavowed" her position. Today, she is trying to make things right of what she did wrong in the past. She is starting a movement in education to be more fair to the teachers. Funding is what is needed in education to become more successful. Currently, the low-waged funded schools are the one who are hurting the most, where many drop outs are and unsafe neighborhoods. Something needs to happen to public education and Ravitch is the start of this movement.

The public-school system is an "obsolete", said by Bill Gates because America can't produce qualified workers to allow America to compete internationally. It was stated in the article that "Americans scored seventeenth in science and twenty-fifth in math amount students from thirty-four advanced industrial countries". This seems like a real problem because it is true that America is falling back in education in the past couple of decades. It's a bit ironic that high-school graduation rates are higher than ever before. So i asked myself this question, "what is the real problem here in American education". Should schools judge teachers' performance by  a test?

I believe that teachers across the country are doing their best. A test that judges their performance is insulting and unmoral. Some things they can not control in a low-waged public school like funding for low class students. President Obama has became a supporter in this movement by trying to fund more for education by reducing funding for national defense. I believe Diane Ravitch is doing the right thing by starting a movement they can change American education. I also believe that America can reclaim their high status in education.

Word Count: 413

How child molesters get away with it; the case of Jerry Sandusky

Title: In Plain View
Author: Malcolm Galdwell
Magazine: The New Yorker

In the CRITICS section of The New Yorker, I found an article about the Jerry Sandusky, the man who was guilty of multiple charges of child abuse from Penn State, and how he got involved with molesting little boys. The reason why I choose this article was because I am a huge sports fanatic and this incident was sweeping across the sports nation, and I found it to be disturbing. The article first starts off with a side story of a teacher who supposedly touched three little boys. However, this teacher was known to be a nice guy and nobody believed it was true because everybody liked him so much. No evidence was found to prove this teacher was ever guilty.
 Jerry Sandusky grew up in Washington, Pennsylvania where his father was the head of the local community recreation center. All Jerry's life he was surrounded by little boys from the programs he ran such as Second Mile, which was to help troubled and disadvantage boys. Sandusky took boys from that program to the Penn State facility to "workout" and then after take "showers" with them. Sandusky was known for making "jokes, horse playing around and being a lovable goofball". What I found interesting was that child molesters use the tactic "grooming", task of locating vulnerable children. So Sandusky was testing the waters with boys in the facility and seeing how comfortable they were or weren't with Jerry touching the boys. One boy almost got Jerry into trouble since he admitted to his mother that he took a shower with Sandusky, but said nothing else leading to no evidence against him. Jerry was working for a brilliant football legend at the time, Joe Paterno, who was the head football coach for Penn State. In 2001, a former Penn State quarterback named Mike McQueary witnessed Sandusky and a boy showering together and said he heard "sexual sounds". This led up to the Jerry Sandusky case of multiple charges of child abuse and was guilty for 45 of them. This led to Joe Paterno's termination as the Penn State's head football coach and unfortunately to his death two months later.
This case of Jerry Sandusky's outcome was tragic to the school Penn State as they are penalized for Sandusky's wrong doing and the death of legend Joe Paterno. Jerry Sandusky has been grooming all his live with little boys to take advantage of them and do as he pleases with them when they were vulnerable. How can someone live with themselves knowing they have scared so many males lives when they were young and having to grow up dealing with what happened between them and Jerry Sandusky. It is unbelievable how someone can be doing this and getting away with it for so long. We all should keep a look out for groomers in the future to protect the youth and make sure this type of case never happens again.

Word Count: 488