Jay Leno Named Educator of the Year for 2011
Jay Leno Named
“Educator of the Year for 2011”
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Whereas
Jay Leno, via the Tonight Show segment called JAYWALKING, has done more than anyone else in the USA to promote the improvement
of education;
whereas Jay Leno has highlighted the lowering of standards and the flight from knowledge in the public
schools;
whereas Jay Leno has dramatized the need for more attention to hard facts and significant information;
whereas Jay Leo has caused many school teachers and administrators to turn red wth shame, and resolve to do better;
whereas Jay Leno has shown many parents what exactly was missing in the education of their children, and that reform
in the schools is much needed;
whereas Jay Leno is an inspiration to all true teachers and educators;
whereas, in all these instances, Jay Leno has rendered exceptional public service to the citizens of the United States,
he is hereby designated the Educator of the Year for 2011.
Improve-Education.org
Bruce Deitrick Price, Dir. FIRST ANNOUNCED IN 2008. UPDATED TO 2011. NOTHING HAS CHANGED. LENO IS STILL "THE MAN"
IN AMERICAN EDUCATION. |
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THE EDDIE: BACKGROUND
OF THIS AWARD
Nearly everyone who stays up
as late as midnight has seen JAYWALKING. For tens of millions of Americans, this popular segment provides a frame of reference
for discussing what has befallen the country’s public schools.
Top educators like to discuss vague theories, far-off promises and, of course, next year’s fatter budget.
Who knows what to think about any of that? But when Leno talks to adults so poorly educated they don’t know where the
Pilgrims came from, where the Eiffel Tower is, or what two countries the USA is between--every viewer exclaims, “That’s
scary! Our schools need to be better.”
Those poorly
educated adults are parents, citizens, voters, and sometimes teachers! The thought that these ignorant people are shaping
the future of the country is terrifying indeed. Viewers laugh, but they also SHUDDER. And therein lies the tremendous power
of what Jay Leno has created here.
For the educators who
preside over this wasteland, there’s no place to hide. Too much goofy ideology has permeated the schools. There are
actually educators who think they are doing children a favor by keeping them dumbed down. JAYWALKING makes us confront this
foolishness.
Predictably, our educators try to deflect criticism
by mocking the messenger. Jay Leno, they will say, is just a comedian, an entertainer. With this award, I want to insist:
no, no, no. JAYWALKING is as profound as it gets. Our future is written in those blank faces. To our top educators,
I suggest, give it up. You made JAYWALKING possible (just as you made Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? possible). And
you should be embarrassed.
To all teachers, I urge, teach
more. To all students, I recommend, demand more. Or you just might end up on JAYWALKING.
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There are several articles on this site
that, taken together, explain how our public
schools got so bad that JAYWALKING could be a feasible comedy bit; and they further explain why Bill Gates and Norman Augustine,
in "Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st Century," said that our public schools are a threat to the nation’s
economic survival:
20: The
Quizz (100 questions that high school graduates should be able to answer; or they should sue their school; see
Commentary)
21: A Tribute to Rudolph Flesch (why
our educators hated him so much, and how they came to pick the wrong way to teach reading)
26: How to Teach History, Etc. (an introduction to ergonomic education; ways to make
schools more efficient and why they so often are not)
28: Tips
for Helping Your Child Do Better in School (not psychobabble; this is basic stuff that most successful students
already know)
30: The War Against Reading (a sweeping,
quote-filled indictment of the so-called experts who gave us Whole Word)
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PERSONAL PS:
Half the things I’ve written about education the past several years have included a reference to JAYWALKING.
I know it hits home with people. Four years ago I ran into a professor from a local college who summed up her incoming students
this way: “THEY DON’T KNOW ANYTHING!!” This sweeping condemnation shocked me, even though I had seen JAYWALKING
many times. I was inspired to create The Quizz, 100 easy questions that every high school graduate should be able to answer
(#20 on this site). The Quizz was a riff on JAYWALKING and intended as a tribute to Leno’s contribution. This
award is intended as a second tribute. Jay Leno really is doing more than anyone else to help education in this country.
(Note: people who go to bed early
can find some JAYWALKING episodes on YouTube.com or on NBC.com. Enter: Jaywalking Leno.) |
© Bruce Deitrick Price 2008-12
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