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Shaving with the Troll Razor

By
Tom Deighan
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If you have watched The Big Bang Theory, you may remember references to Occam’s Razor. “Razors” are just general rules or assumptions, and in a nutshell, Occam’s razor proposes that the simplest explanation or solution is often the most likely reality. Big Bang Theory cites Occam’s Razor often, which is a bit ironic since the entire show is based on making everything simple as complicated as possible. 

Hanlon’s Razor is similar: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. (I love Wikipedia!)  This glib razor is actually traced back to a joke book submission (again, Wikipedia!), but an aunt might express this more compassionately: “Bless their heart, they just didn’t know any better.” Unfortunately, Hanlon’s Razor cuts both ways, for ignorance of the law of gravity won’t protect anyone from a hard landing, whether they were pushed or blindly walked off a cliff. However true Hanlon’s joke may be, it is still a very harsh and cynical way to look at people. 

I prefer an earlier version of Hanlon’s Razor attributed to Johann Wolfgang Goethe that is much more forgiving: “Misunderstandings and lethargy perhaps produce more wrong in the world than deceit and malice do.”  (Yup, Wikipedia.)  Goethe’s view is much more accurate in my experience, especially when it comes to human disagreements. Zealots and trolls surely exist, but miscommunication and misunderstandings are at the root of most problems between rational individuals who are open to consider both context and intent. Malice takes over when those disagreements escalate and communication deescalates, however. Unfortunately, in our social media age we can no longer extend the benefit of the doubt, only vitriol. Only the worst (and most complicated) options are considered such as malice, deceit, or stupidity. Occam’s and Hanlon’s razors have now been replaced by the Troll Razor: Attribute absolutely everything to malice and stupidity, even if it could be otherwise attributed to mere miscommunication or an innocent mistake. (Not Wikipedia.)  

How many people’s lives, careers, and reputations have been ruined due to misunderstandings, bad thumb dexterity, or being too busy to think through a click?  We no longer allow for context or intent, so misinterpreted or mistaken tweets have literally destroyed dreams. People in a hurry have “liked” a comment or photo from a friend without thinking through the sociopolitical implications of a newly defined word, misplaced comma, disordered sentence, or typo. Every email, text, or post can now drag anyone to virtual execution. Life on the edge of the Troll Razor provides no grace to anyone, whatsoever, unless they agree with us.      

Good men and women on both sides of the political aisle and from all backgrounds have suffered the slice of the Troll Razor. I personally know people who have experienced this at all levels, from private citizens to politicians, over the past year. But if you think this culture is tough on adults, we cannot even fathom the Troll Razors slashing at our children and teens. Online and virtual reality is real world for the smartphone generation, and we know kids can sometimes be vicious. We may have all faced bullies on the playground as kids, but the bullies can now follow kids home and live in their heads. 

Nevertheless, our kids handle this better than many adults. After facing it so much, they are learning to dull the Troll Razor by ignoring, deleting, and disengaging, which is quite remarkable considering how many adults around them wield the Troll Razor with impunity. After getting cut both ways, our children are learning that not every offensive post, email, or text is spawned by pure evil. They are often just misunderstandings, hurriedness, or poor thumbing. They are learning that rational people can disagree and even make mistakes.  They can even “like” the good in something without “liking” the bad, embracing people, despite their flaws . . . and their own. If our kids can extend grace in a social media age, maybe adults can, too. In fact, I am sure we all will, for eventually everyone gets cut by the Troll Razor, and we will begrudgingly follow our children’s examples. And by the grace of God, someday, rational people will put away their blades, leaving the trolls alone in their caves to slice and dice each other.  

Tom Deighan is a public educator and currently serves as Superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. He may be reached at deighantom@gmail.com

Fun Political Terms

By
Tom Deighan
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Some new words are unforgettable, needing little or no explanation. They intuitively and metaphorically illuminate the previously undefined. (Who heard of “crowdfunding” and “selfies” 10 years ago?) As we enter a new political season, however, we keep using the same stale, old terms to describe our hyper-partisan, social media political reality, and it’s boooring.  Time to freshen things up.

“Flaming Pennies” are the radical one-percent willing to burn the world down just to make a point, and they wield inordinate power in our social media age.  They are not necessarily radical because of their beliefs but rather their behavior. Worse than even hateful social media trolls, flaming pennies actually leave their basement. Fortunately, when rational adults ignore the flaming pennies, much like walking away from toddlers throwing a tantrum, they lose their power. Eventually, they will even turn on each other to prove who is more dedicated to the cause.  That’s why we don’t have flaming nickels. 

People immediately understand the term “Cable News Goggles,” because regardless of how non-partisan, unbiased, and fair-minded we claim to be, we all favor one news source or another. Whether that be the Fox News side or the MSNBC side, we all have our biases.  In fact, I now trust naked partisans more than so-called “unbiased” sources.  At least we know what the partisans are selling! Our Cable News Goggles certainly impact how we look at the world, even non-political issues, and if you have any doubt if yours are red or blue, just look at what pops up in your newsfeed.   The algorithms know us better than we know ourselves. 

“Gotham City Shades”, on the other hand, are an entirely different type of eyewear that force us to assume faraway “big city” problems are rampant here at home.  We are convinced that the rampant crime, radical behavior, and extreme social problems we see in the media are happening right next door in the same magnitude. (Really?) Yes, bad stuff happens everywhere, but Gotham City Shades create boogey-man central to push agendas.  No one wants to live in Gotham City except Batman, and you can’t get one of those belts off the rack at Nordstrom.  

“High-Noon Strangers” are those politicians and activists that heroically invade communities to save the day. They appear at school board meetings, city councils, and even lead marches through towns they could only find on Google Maps.  Their mission: to save dumb locals from themselves.  They usually come from Capital City or are trying to get there, and nowadays, they are often funded by faraway dark money.  They always claim a constituency, but look a little closer, and you just might find a large gallery of cardboard cut-outs cheering them on.  They ride in, shoot the place up, and leave before the smoke clears.  Don’t worry, their supporters are carefully stored for the next town to prevent creasing.  

Finally, because this column is “mostly” educational, let’s consider two complementary educational terms: “Pollyanna Public Schools” and “Evil Public Schools”.  These are the false, extreme forces dividing common-sense parents and educators nowadays.  One side entirely ignores the unnecessary problems pushed into public schools, and the other side ignores the miracles public schools accomplish every day.  Meanwhile, both sides clamor for more money to either reward mediocrity or to start their own separate schools.  I have been beating this drum for over a year now, but don’t we have more choices than Marxism or Crony Capitalism? 

Sure, it’s arrogant to presume I can coin new terms, but I teach college stuff now, so that makes me a true “speck-spert” (a so-called expert who presumes that his knowledge about a tiny subject also makes him smart about real-world issues). Don’t worry, however, I get all of my political insight from actors, entertainers, and social media influencers, so you know I am well-informed.  After all, if you cannot capture an idea in a Tik-Tok or a meme, nowadays, you are probably busy doing unimportant stuff like working or raising your family.

Tom Deighan is a public educator and author of Shared Ideals in Public Schools. You may email him at deighantom@gmail.com 

What’s Next, For the Kids?

By
Tom Deighan
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In recent years, satire and parody from comedy sites like The Onion and The Babylon Bee have proven to be prophetic, as many “jokes” later became true. Parody, satire, and old-fashioned comedy are now dangerous for many reasons. First, they may get you cancelled, and secondly, your silly joke may become reality.  

I used to joke that politicians’ worn-out battle cry “for the kids” had been used to promote everything imaginable. Under that slogan, Oklahoma has championed issues like liquor by the drink, horse racing, the lottery, and medical marijuana. The only thing  left, I foolishly surmised, was legalized drugs and prostitution, “For The Kids!”  Our proposed state question for recreational weed lists education as its first beneficiary. So far, I was only half prophetic.  

The surreal is now real, not unlike professional wrestling, which is why I call this new reality the “educational smackdown”. It’s all theatrics, and level-headed parents and educators are forced to choose between two elitist mindsets: Pollyanna Public Schools (PPS) and Evil Public Schools (EPS). Meanwhile, neither side accepts any responsibility for their antics, leaving us with very stark choices in the upcoming elections. Now that primaries are over, I wonder if either side will pivot to reflect the beliefs of common-sense parents and educators. 

To capture the hearts and minds of sensible parents and educators, the PPS crowd must admit that radical agendas have been pushed into schools for decades. Age-inappropriate issues, hostility towards people of faith, and out-of-touch national unions have alienated many from public schools. We need to own that as educators. To win back rational parents and educators, the PPS crowd needs to get real. We have usurped the parent-educator partnership in favor of faraway activist agendas. 

Likewise, the EPS crowd cannot continue to pretend that everything in public schools is deplorable. Local schools accomplish miracles every day, and local communities know it. Clearly, the new strategy of replacing one form of indoctrination with another doesn’t work; neither does focusing on isolated examples of bad behavior while ignoring their own complicity in crippling public schools. We can do better than taxpayer funded barbeque grills or vague teaching laws that proponents cannot even follow in their own classrooms. We trust the doctor-patient relationship; let’s trust the parent-educator partnership, too. 

Case in point: as data emerges from the pandemic, both sides are outraged, but neither side will admit their part in the dumpster fire. Sensible parents and educators struggled to survive it while flaming pennies (the radical one-percenters on both sides) set their schools ablaze. One side openly advocated to close schools while the other side created knee-jerk rules that forced schools to close. In retrospect, both sides needed closed schools for their own contradicting political purposes, and the proof is now in the pudding. As a superintendent during all this, I navigated both sides to keep my schools open, but in the end, no one won.

We now need leaders with the courage to represent everyday parents and common-sense educators, but so far, we are only faced with extreme choices offered with faux outrage, bluster, and backroom deals of elitists in a pretend educational smackdown. We need a leader willing to betray their own orthodoxies to serve sensible, everyday, common-sense parents and educators – leaders willing to honestly resist the extremes of their respective political cults. Eighty percent of parents and eighty percent of educators agree on eighty percent of kid-level issues, and this 80/80/80 rule works every day in your neighborhood schools. May the forgotten and ignored majority of parents and educators rise. 

Most importantly, however, we must stop all jokes, parodies, and satire. Let’s call on the government and big tech to immediately shut down, de-platform, and block sites like The Onion and Babylon Bee, because we can no longer discern pretend from reality. Besides, God only knows what will happen next . . . for the kids!

Tom Deighan is a public educator and author of Shared Ideals in Public Schools. You may email him at deighantom@gmail.com.

A Simple Academic Vision

By
Tom Deighan
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Through the years, I have read volumes of academic visions containing indecipherable educational jargon that seems to create more questions than answers.  (Unfortunately, I have also produced my fair share as well!)  Yet, I have rarely seen any succinct academic visions for Pk-12 education through the elementary, middle, and high school levels.  Education is an infinitely complex journey, but the challenge of a long journey has never stopped anyone from starting with a simplistic road map. Likewise, I think we need more clarity in education about progression from elementary to high school.  Like a long road trip across the country, we need to know our destination, and we need to know which way to turn at Albuquerque.  Below is a simple academic vision for PK-12 education:        

At the elementary level, each grade will foster high character, healthy relationships, and strong morals as evidenced through personal accountability.  Mastery of essential academic skills and facts necessary to succeed at the next grade level will be the primary focus for all students, with reading and math literacy always taking precedence.   Mastery of reading and math skills will be further evidenced in their application through writing and speaking about science, history, civics, and other academic subjects. Graphic and performing arts will enrich and support academic growth.  Physical education and unstructured play will be incorporated as essential components of childhood and necessary to learning. 

At the middle level (middle schools and junior highs), mastery of elementary skills will be expected upon entry, and if necessary, students will be rigorously remediated until mastery of essential academic skills necessary for middle level coursework can be evidenced.  High moral character and behavior are expectations as students grow and mature socially. Middle level coursework will provide deeper exploration of distinct academic subjects. Students will support results and conclusions with evidence, facts, and logical discourse through written and oral communication.  Graphic and performing arts will support deeper understanding of history and culture through artistic expression.  Health/physical education, athletic competition, and extra-curricular participation will be promoted for all students.   Pre-college and pre-career diagnostics will provide students and parents with insight regarding possible career paths as they prepare for high school.

Finally, high schools will be structured as college and career preparation centers that foster strong social connections.  All academics, programs, and discipline will prepare students to enter the workforce, to further their education, and to be productive community members.  College and career readiness assessments will guide all academic instruction.  Whenever possible, students will be challenged to address real-world academic, civic, and business issues within a given field and model professional behavior.  Highest evidence of proficiency will be demonstrated through written and oral communication, artistic expression, professional experiences (internships/mentorships), and concurrent enrollment.  Participation in extra-curricular activities is affirmed as an essential component of students’ growth. Every student will graduate, and every student will graduate with college or career experience.

As a career educator, I wonder if we have unnecessarily complicated the educational process.  Oversimplification is certainly not the answer, but in an increasingly complex and divisive world, parents, students, and educators need to identify their common ground and shared expectations regarding education.  In my experience, when they are given that chance, they will agree much more than they disagree, and when they disagree, they will do so with tolerance and dignity. Perhaps my little academic vision is imperfect, but that’s ok if it will begin crucial conversations to rediscover the role and nature of schools.  

Tom Deighan is currently the superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. He may be reached at deighantom@gmail.com  You may read past articles at www.mostlyeducational.com

The Myth of an Epic Snow Day

By
Tom Deighan
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Remember when we only knew if school was cancelled by tuning into the local television or radio stations? The list would stream across the bottom of the screen in alphabetical order in an excruciatingly slow loop. If yours wasn’t listed on the evening news, it might appear on the ten o’clock news, or we tuned in before school. Oh, the suspense! In retrospect, this was all incredibly inconvenient but terribly exciting, and to this generation, it all sounds like a mythical Norman Rockwell scene on a magazine cover.

Sometimes, we did not know school was cancelled until the bus simply failed to show up.  On one such occasion, I remember a group of us dutifully waiting on the corner in a snowstorm for a such a bus that never arrived. While we waited, someone playfully tossed a loosely packed snowball, then another. Within seconds, a friendly melee erupted as we pelted each other with handfuls of soft powdery snow.  Kids nowadays cannot imagine standing on a corner in a snowstorm, wondering if their bus will arrive or if school would even open, but that bus never did arrive, and we did not make it home until dark.

Our joy quickly spread through the neighborhood, and we never wondered once about school. We disappeared into clouds of powdery snow, and as the temperatures quickly rose and the snow grew stickier, we headed for the park to make snowmen.  What naïve and inexperienced elementary kids we were!  Just as the sun peeked through the clouds, I remember a distinct Thwap! Then another and another. 

The middle-schoolers ambushed us. Older and wiser, they reserved their energy early in the morning, patiently waiting for the consistency of the snow to change from corn starch to sticky cotton candy.  And while we dreamed of silly snowmen, they forged an armory of snowballs.  Barely inside the park gates, panic ensued as my friends fell to the left and right. Our attackers moved like a trained militia, aiming snowballs at our stinging faces. When we fell, they pelted us mercilessly while a soldier gleefully pulled out our collars or waistbands, filling them with icy snow.  

For a short time, all joy of a snow day vanished as the middle-schoolers unleashed wintery carnage on us, but high-schoolers soon emerged, seizing their stockpiles of snowballs and raining fire and ice on that poor group of tweens.  As we sniffled and snotted, we watched snowball justice on a Medieval scale, and our former foes soon lay buried under mounds of snowballs in the city park. The high-schoolers disappeared as quickly as they arrived, and it was all over. 

The joyful spirit of a snow day returned, however, and those same middle schoolers helped us with our snowmen, and we promised not to tell our parents.  Before long, we lost ourselves in snow angels and forts and sliding down hills with cardboard we pulled from dumpsters.  Not an adult in sight, and we never went home.  Our parents never wondered where we were or worried. They knew we would come home when we got hungry or when the streetlights came on, whichever came first.

Modern children still know the joy of a snow day, but in our overconnected, overprotected, and overscheduled world, few of them will ever experience an epic snow day.  The stinging of fingers and toes near the fire. The pure happiness of a carefree, adult-free day with no certainty and no worry. Children wandering and battling faux wars that led to truces marked with snow angels and cardboard sleds. 

Like old Saturday Evening Post magazine covers, it’s all a myth to modern families.  Nevertheless, maybe some things we have lost are worth rediscovering, like the suspense and joy of a surprise snow day. Unfortunately, our childhoods are now the Norman Rockwell images for this generation, but maybe some parts should once again be real, for I can think of nothing this generation needs more than a truly epic snow day.

Tom Deighan is superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. You may email him at  deighantom@gmail.com and read past articles at www.mostlyeducational.com

More Juvenile Justice and Mental Health Needed

By
Tom Deighan
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The specter of a school shooting always lurks in the back of parents’ and educators’ minds, but this week, it openly torments us. Adequate prayers cannot be uttered at a time like this, but we pray, nonetheless.  In the days and weeks ahead, we will learn more details, but we will also lose focus and interest as well.  Before that happens, we must seize our current state of crystal clarity and chart a different course regarding school safety, juvenile justice, and juvenile mental health.      

First, we must recognize who is to blame for this school shooting. Yes, the Uvalde shooter was troubled, bullied, and disadvantaged, but so are billions of children who do not do such things.  This young man was simply evil.  Yes, he was once a good boy, but in the end, he proved to be pure evil. Yes, he watched bad movies, listened to bad music, and visited bad websites, but unlike the countless others who also do those things, he chose to do evil. Yes, in hindsight, everyone could have done more for him, but he alone is responsible for his evil acts, not everyone and everything else who could not see the future.  Evil people will always have somewhat of an advantage because normal people do not think the way they think.  Evil people have an even greater advantage, however, when we are unwilling to recognize evil, or we keep blaming evil actions on everyone but the evil person. He and he alone is responsible for this. 

Our responsibilities lie in trying to prevent this in the future, while this is fresh on our mind. We must commit to quickly rebuilding our juvenile justice and mental health systems. Almost without exception, people who were close to school shooters recognized the evil tendencies, but they rarely had any options because we have completely dismantled our juvenile justice and mental health systems in recent decades. Schools are clearly not equipped to serve the modern variants of violent or disturbed children, but schools are often legally required to keep violent and disturbed children in school with everyone else. 

We recognize the right of all students to attend school free of harmful adults. The same right should apply regarding a school free of violent or disturbed children.  We know that the earlier we identify and serve them appropriately, the better chance we have of helping them, and this cannot always happen in school.  I don’t know if the Uvalde shooter had such services available, but they are almost non-existent in Oklahoma. We desperately need a robust juvenile justice and mental health system for kids who pose a threat to other children, so they can get the help they need at early ages.  

Thankfully, few children turn evil, but those who are struggling deserve the appropriate mental health services, and often that means long-term, in-patient mental health care, especially for the violent or disturbed. School shootings are extremely rare, but the numbers of violent and disturbed children are growing, and they should not attend school with everyone else until they have received the services they need.  Such children are suffering greatly, and they also have a disproportionate impact on the schools they attend – even if they do not turn into shooters. No one wishes to institutionalize any child, but without that option, we are institutionalizing whole schools.   

We need a system to serve disturbed or violent children before they turn evil for their sake and for the sake of schools struggling to deal with them. This is a very difficult discussion, and not very politically correct for a superintendent, but we clearly need to adopt new strategies for this growing segment of students. They deserve to be helped, and our schools deserve to be safe, but we do not currently have the system to serve them.  While this wound is fresh, let’s commit to create that system.  And although our prayers seem inadequate, keep praying for our brothers and sisters in Uvalde.   

Tom Deighan is author of Shared Ideals in Public Schools. You may email him at  deighantom@gmail.com and read past articles at www.mostlyeducational.com

Plan Now to Pray for Schools

By
Tom Deighan
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Summertime for churches is similar to summertime in schools.  It is a time of recharging, but summer is also a critical planning time.  Little happens in the fall or spring without intense planning in the summers, which is why this is the perfect time to discuss formal plans for Second Sunday School Safety Prayer (or S4 Prayer).  Perhaps, it can become a tradition that spreads.

This monthly call to prayer originally arose after Sandy Hook, but this is only partly about school shootings, which are worst-case scenarios. On a practical level, school safety is a more complex community issue, and the acronym S.C.H.O.O.L.S. describes it perfectly: safe, caring, healthy, open, orderly, learning, spaces.  All parents, educators, and students want safe schools, and all communities and faith-based organizations want S.C.H.O.O.L.S., too.  Common ground in 2022?

Parents first want to know that the school is safe, caring, and healthy.  Only then can S.C.H.O.O.L.S. be open and welcoming places that foster high standards of behavior to ensure orderly, open learning spaces where children can flourish. Second Sunday School Safety Prayer (S4 Prayer), therefore, is about much more than simply praying for protection from evil people; it’s about praying for the essence of your local schools and entire community.  

Like it or not, your local schools are a perfect reflection of your community, much like Wal-Mart.  Ninety-five percent of your families attend local public schools, and I bet 95% shop at Wal-Mart; they both serve everyone who shows up.  You might not like what you see, but what you see in the mirror is usually the best you got!  Schools (and Wal-Mart) only reflect what is in the mirror, so if we desire to see change, those changes must also be reflected in the whole community. 

Praying regularly for your local schools’ safety, therefore, is prayer for everything that matters.  Your children, your parents, your community, and your culture.  Parents want S.C.H.O.O.L.S. wherein all children feel loved, and all children graduate adult-ready. This only happens when communities are in alignment.  Even in 2022, nothing can align a community faster than the involvement (or indifference) of its faith-based organizations. For positive change, we must prioritize consistent, targeted prayer for our schools on a truly broad scale. Schools cannot make this happen.  Only the faith community can organize this, and in an age when we cannot seem to agree on anything, praying for school safety seems like an easy start.

Praying monthly for S.C.H.O.O.L.S. may not seem like much, but whenever we pray for people, our attitudes often change first as we think and feel differently about them.  From that, relationships grow, and lives change. In an age when no one seems to agree on anything, we need to find something that brings us together.  Ultimately, however, we should not pray for S.C.H.O.O.L.S. because it unites us or makes us feel good.  We should do it because prayer works, and when our local faith community agrees in prayer about something so important – in an age when agreement is so rare – nothing is impossible.

America has certainly rediscovered the importance of public schools, but instead of seeking solutions, we have turned schoolyards into political battle zones. Where are the peacemakers if they are not in our churches?  Perhaps, a simple prayer every second Sunday of the Month for the safety of our schools is a good first step because like it or not, public schools matter to all of us, even if we do not like what we see in that mirror.  So, please pray this second Sunday for the safety of our schools in the upcoming year – and please plan now to do this every month during the school year. Let’s decide now to make S4 Prayer a monthly tradition.  Who knows what we will see in the mirror (or at Wal-Mart) a year from now? 

Tom Deighan is author of Shared Ideals in Public Schools. You may email him at  deighantom@gmail.com and read past articles at www.mostlyeducational.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

By
Tom Deighan
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A few things are consistent for me around Thanksgiving.  First, I can always count on my lifelong friend and childhood hero, Toby Dawn McIntyre to resurrect his greatest business idea:  Toby and Tom’s Hot Turkey Wings!  “Remember when we were kids?” He says dreamily.  “Getting stuck with the chicken wing was like losing a bet, but now an entire industry has been built on the part of the chicken everyone used to hate . . .” 

He is right, chicken wings were so low on the food chain in my family that we wouldn’t even give them to the dog for fear she might choke, but I always had my gullet full of them, mostly because I was the youngest and slowest of seven at the dinner table.  Whoever turned them into a business was a genius, but each Thanksgiving I must suffer through Toby and Tom’s Turkey Hot Wings. Everyone has a crazy uncle like this during the holidays, and Toby is my Thanksgiving tradition. I can never eat turkey without thinking of giant hot wings.  Mostly, however, I think of my mom this time of year. 

Barbara Jean claimed to be ninety-eight-pounds soaking wet.  When my dad died, she faced the world alone with seven children.  At the time, we lived in Florida, and our nearest relatives were fifteen hundred miles away, but nothing intimidated that woman.  Shortly after my father’s death, she threw a dart at a map (so I have been told), and we moved across the country – just her, seven kids, and two young vagabonds named Hank and Fudgy. That started a journey that crisscrossed four states and a dozen towns. My mom was tough as nails and fearless, and she did everything for her children, but our life was a little crazy at times.   

But that woman could cook!  I grew up eating things like borscht, arroz con pollo, home-made stroganoff, couscous, and her Italian food made with “authentic” Italian sausage bought from Krebs, Oklahoma.  She was like an international food fair all rolled up in a tiny package. Her best dish, however, was hands-down her Thanksgiving stuffing. This was back during the time when people still stuffed the bird (back before salmonella, I suppose) and it was heavenly.

During the Holidays, however, she became Martha Stewart.  She stuck to Thanksgiving traditions that brought a sense of normalcy.  She showed her love by selflessly providing for us and by feeding whoever wandered by for Thanksgiving dinner each year.  I also remember her this time of year because she was a lunch lady, once in a school and once in a prison.  So, when I see the excitement of staff and students for the annual Thanksgiving lunch each year, I am thankful for them, and I think of her. (Clearly, I am unapologetically partial to lunch ladies.)  

As crazy and unpredictable as life has become recently, we really need Thanksgiving, for it is when we settle into old traditions and count our blessings. Honestly, it is very hard to be grumpy or mean when we are thankful, for gratitude is like my mom’s warm stuffing during Thanksgiving.  It brought us all together and slowed down the chaos.

The world seems like it’s spinning apart, but it just might be falling into place. Perhaps, Thanksgiving 2021 will refocus us on what matters: God, family, friends, and our blessings to be Americans and Okies. Who knows? It could be our turning point. And if your crazy uncle tries to sell you on the idea of turkey hot wings this week, don’t burst his bubble with Toby and Tom’s Hot Turkey Wings.  Let him have his moment and offer them another helping of mom’s stuffing.  One day, you will cherish that moment, trust me.

Tom Deighan is currently the superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. You may email him at  deighantom@gmail.com and read past articles at www.mostlyeducational.com

The Grapes of Wrath: A Modern Version

By
Tom Deighan
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In John Steinbeck’s classic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family finally reaches the end of its rope.  Setback after setback, loss of their livelihood, and finally, loss of their land force the Joads to reluctantly leave the only home they have ever known for the promised land of California.  Oklahoma proves to be as indifferent to their absence as it had been to their presence.  The Joads quietly leave everything they have ever known behind, but as backward and misunderstood as they and the countless other Okies were, they never left their dignity.  They never once presumed the world around them would bend to their needs.    

Much of the world still sees Oklahoma through the Okie stereotype.  We are a fly-over state, insignificant and backwards . . . a place of noble victimhood.  We have become the Joads, not because others have branded us Okies, but because we have resigned ourselves to suckling our providers in the abandoned barns of misfortune.  We are a state rich in resources, strong in character, and unrelenting in resolve.  We have traded that strength for a cheap stoicism.  We have become caricatures of the caricatures created so long ago by a pretentious Californian, but the current state of Oklahoma need not be the enduring state of Oklahoma.  Our next generations deserve better than fatalistic surrender to the self-fulfilling prophecies of a boom-bust economy.  We are not bound to the past; rather, we choose to cling to that which we have known – the way of the Joads – motivated by a misguided fealty to suffering as a rite of passage.   Our challenges may be unprecedented, as some have suggested, but I cannot imagine them worse than the challenges overcome by the generations before us.

Oklahomans are by nature independent, self-reliant, and more than a little stubborn.  When things get tough enough, our Wrath kicks in, and we either deal with it or we quietly move on.  Oklahoma educators are cut from the same burlap.  Your classroom teachers and school support professionals have endured a lot in recent years and will continue to endure . . . until one day they won’t.  When they cannot take anymore without sacrificing their dignity, they will quietly move on to something else or somewhere else.  Oklahoma teachers are following in the Joads’ dusty footsteps.  As intimately as they love this state, other promised lands beckon.  As quietly as Ms. Joad and Mr. Joad plied their trades in our Oklahoma schools, they have been quietly leaving.  And just like Steinbeck’s Okies, the Sooner State is as indifferent to their absence as it was their presence.

If you get a chance any time soon, pick up a copy of The Grapes of Wrath, or catch the movie.  It’s worth the popcorn.  For another option, just visit your local public school to see a modern version unfolding right before your eyes. Today’s Joads, however, are neither destitute nor uneducated.  They have options and will reluctantly go where leaders acknowledge their value and loyalty.  None of us educators are naïve, this is not a problem which can be solved overnight, but neither did it evolve overnight.  Past Oklahomans may have endured the Dust Bowl, but they spent that time addressing the causes so their children would never suffer such calamity again.  Our state suffered from the mass exodus of Okies during The Great Depression, but in the end, we will suffer much more from the current Okie exodus.  Oklahoma educators are choosing to follow the Joads because Oklahomans can give up a lot, but they will never give up their dignity.  And unfortunately, our school professionals are losing hope that our state leaders will abandon the past in order to meet the needs of the next generation.

I originally wrote this article in 2017, shortly before Oklahoma teachers walked out because they felt unvalued, but now in 2022 they feel vilified. Whereas the grapes of wrath in Oklahoma teachers’ souls were once “growing heavy for the vintage,” they have now simply withered on the vine because a profession emptied of dignity quickly becomes an empty profession.

Tom Deighan is superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. You may email him at  deighantom@gmail.com and read past articles at www.mostlyeducational.com

Drowning Ducks and First Day Jitters

By
Tom Deighan
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0

Earlier this week, I thoroughly confused DPS staff with this story about drowning ducks. As young newlyweds, my wife and I visited a lake for the afternoon, and I saw a couple of ducks badgering another duck. The poor little guy could barely hold its head out of the water, so in my most manly voice I squealed, “Renee!  They’re drowning him. Save him!”  Renee immediately sprang into action, but on the way to save that duck, she slipped in the mud, ruining her brand-new white Reeboks. Of course, the duck was fine, but I shared this story to illustrate two important principles:

First principle: When someone relies on you to be calm, and you panic, they will abandon all reason and run into a lake to save a drowning duck. 

Second principle: Ducks don’t drown easily, so don’t be too quick to run into the lake and ruin your Reeboks, even when your crazy husband is screaming. (On the other hand, when ducks really do start drowning, it’s serious!)  

We hoped for a normal school year, but like clockwork, COVID once again reared its ugly head, and this year may be more uncertain than ever. The urge to panic is real, but I want to be sure the ducks are drowning this time before I send her into the lake to ruin another pair of Reeboks.

Yes, we face uncertainty again, but we have been on this road for some 500 days. I cannot make sense of dueling narratives on the news channels, but I know we kept schools safely open last year, and we did this without a vaccine. We also saw relatively little spread last year in the schools, like the studies we reviewed last summer. The State quarantined a lot of healthy people, but we rarely ever had 50 or more confirmed positive cases in our schools at any given time, even at the peak. Despite quarantining over 2,500 students and staff last year, we managed to keep school open safely. So far, quarantines have not resumed.

If last year is our guide, and we do not send healthy people home to quarantine, this is more manageable than last year. If last year is our guide, we will see very limited spread in schools. If last year is our guide, without vaccines, then we are better prepared to face this year. If last year is our guide, we are some hard-to-drown ducks!  Nevertheless, we do not have the same options we had last year. We also have more people in our buildings. This year certainly could be worse, much worse, so we should be ready. 

We will not panic, however, because ducks rarely drown. We will do what is necessary to keep DPS staff and students safe. If necessary, we will close schools. If necessary, we will go virtual. If necessary, we will limit visitors and events. And if necessary, we might even go rogue because when ducks everywhere are drowning, all options must be on the table. But let’s not ruin our white Reeboks just yet, for we are nowhere near the COVID peak we saw last year. The most important thing we can do right now is to stay home if sick. That is our first and most important line of defense. 

Our students rely on us parents and educators for reassurance and certainty. COVID is real, and it is deadly, but we have 500 days of past COVID perspective. We know more and have more tools than we did last year. Yes, the Delta and the other dozen variants may truly upend everything, and if so, we will respond accordingly. We cannot panic, however, for if we panic, our students have no hope of a normal school year. Trust me, when ducks start drowning, I will be the first one screaming, but until then, let’s keep our Reeboks dry. Above all, please stay home when sick, and please continue to pray for the safety of our schools this second Sunday of the month.  

Tom Deighan is currently the superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. He may be reached at deighantom@gmail.com You may read past articles at www.mostlyeducational.com

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