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I grew up in a multi-ethnic neighborhood and my best friend was a Japanese American. I spent much of my youth before I was 12 at his house under the light supervision of his mother, a stay at home housewife entrepreneur. This woman was in many ways a surrogate mother to me as my own mother was out of the picture due to illness for most of my younger years.The older I get, the more I understand how influential this early experience was for my outlook and especially how important this woman was to shaping my understanding of foreign, weird things from Japan that were absolutely ordinary for me at the time.the Japanese accent: I grew up listing to Japanese English and the ‘r’ as ‘l’ and other vocal gymnastics of my friends mother. The sound of her voice was extremely soothing and even today, I hear certain words this way. I called the linen closet a ‘rinnen croset’ well into my teen years without knowing it was not an English word.tonkatsu: I would come to my friends house before school and trade my box cereal breakfast for homemade tonkatsu. I make breakfast tonkatsu for my own family now and my kids love it almost as much as they love the sugar glitchy breakfast cereals that we get as special treats.music from the edo period, especially Jōruri: At the time, I had no concept of the classification of this music. It was just the music on LP vinyl records from Japan that my friends mother played on special occasions. I imagined that this was entirely representative of Japanese period music and I only discovered years later when I was trying to identify this music that it was only one very minor drop in an ocean of Japanese musical styles, arrangements and instruments.Nichiren Buddhism: My friends mother was a Nichiren Buddhist and even thought I was an American kid living in the suburbs, this was my first exposure to organized religion. I thought it was absolutely ordinary and learned concepts such as cause and effect (karma), mandala focused worship (shinjin) and the study of specific Buddhist teachings from Nichiren (Gosho). Nichiren is a global religion, but comparatively rare in the way everybody knows about Pentecostals who speak in tongues and wrestle snakes in the swamps of Louisiana, but somehow also know it is only one sect of Protestant Christianity. It was only later I would discover that Japan was a country of many faiths and religious practices, including Zen Buddhism, Shinto, Pure Land Buddhism and many other syncretic forms of Buddhism. This ‘soft’ introduction to faith was influential in my interest in philosophy and religion in general.Pickled daikon: Daikon is not a usual thing in Western cuisine. Pickling a radish is weird. It is also delicious.Furikake: This is the most awesome topping for rice in the world and it beats soy sauce in my book. As a kid, I didn’t know what it was called and I just called it ‘Japanese spices for rice’. I still enjoy furikake!Tofu: I didn’t like tofu as a child because it was slimy - I was exposed to the Japanese ‘silken’ style of very soft tofu that is most often uncooked and simply placed in a dish (soup) as a broth absorbing protein. I went crazy about the firmer Chinese style tofu that can be fried and generally cooked in different ways to achieve different textures.I understand that these are fairly superficial things. Beyond my youth, Japan was never a central thing in my life but one of many cultures and themes that occupied my interest. I am certainly no expert on anything Japanese, but I do have a familiarity that keeps Japan on my radar in many ways. I am very happy to have had this formative exposure in my youth as it was very positive and cemented curiosity into my outlook.

Look at the top 20 states for test scores/ rankings see how many are strong teacher union states. Look at the bottom 15. See how many are right to work states. That will provide your answer.The question, as it is asked, is simplistic. My answer above, in riposte, is also simplistic.But more thoughts on the idea of testing in general, on union and non union teachers:To reiterate:Who does a better job of teaching children from poverty, teachers from strong union states, or right to work states that lack strong unions? Because the problem at the heart of public school teaching is that kids in poverty slowly but surely begin to lag behind middle class and well to do kids, until there is an unbridgeable gap.The iffy part gets into this: how do you measure student improvement if not by tests?The problem with the No Child Left Behind tests is that that are given once a year, and all children are expected to eventually progress until all students pass these tests. That includes testing all ESL kids and all Special Ed kids and all dyslexic kids (and the reason for including this part of the law was to prevent, as had happened in the past, the efforts of some administrators to boost scores by exempting kids as ESL or Special Ed or Dyslexic.) The implications of that idiotic, overly simplistic law are that either you have a really easy test that all students can pass, or you have a test that all students cannot all pass, because there is this thing called the bell curve, and so pretty soon all states are failing because, and I kid you not, by law, all states are expected to get all kids to pass, all kids, by a certain date.Further, there is a test making machine that makes a ton of money coming up with these No Child Left Behind Tests for all participating states.The present set of high pressure, everybody must pass tests is idiotic on so many levels that one hardly knows where to start.NCLB being signed into law. And yes that is GW Bush signing it. And his secretary of education, Rod Paige, who used to be the superintendent of schools for HISD in Houston, got to Washington just in time to avoid the scandals that involved cheating schools and cheating principals and cheating teachers whose high scores got Mr. Page his job in the first place...Paige's methods at HISD reassessedIn my humble opinion, if you tested kids with neutral testers the second week of school, then tested them again mid-year, again with neutral testers, then again in the spring, again with neutral testers, you'd get tests that would actually measure where kids started, and how they progressed and where they got to in one year. For kids who started behind but made progress, great. For kids who started on level or above and made progress. great.But once a year in the spring testing doesn't take into account where kids start, and in inner city and poor schools that can often mean kids start behind, and even though they might make progress, stay behind.Why three tests? Because it depends where kids start. In rich suburban schools it isn't such a problem. But to assume that all kids in fourth grade in a poor school started at a fourth grade reading or a fourth grade math level is simply denying the facts.Why neutral testers? Because if teacher's bonuses or salaries, or job existence is tied to test results, then any teacher who tests his or her kids at the beginning of the year would be able to artificially deflate scores, just using demeanor, tone of voice, concern etc. Later scores could magically jump to artificially show improvement that really isn't there.Would you have to hire neutral testers? No. All you would have to do is inform teachers one day before, so no time to plan silly business, that they were to report to another school or grade level in the district, and they would administer the test to students.The best kind of testing would INFORM teaching, not punish teachers, nor punish schools, nor be used by rich, suburban schools to tout their superiority, nor as a way to cudgel innner city schools and inner city school teachers. The best kind of testing would be nonprofit, but improved each year. The best kind of testing would get easier for kids who are way below, and get harder for kids who are way above. For third grade and above we are most likely talking about tests on computers. That kind of testing could give you an individual report on each kid, tell the teacher what that kid knew, and what that kid needs to learn. Individualized. The Holy Grail.The results would immediately be available to teachers, and administrators and parents. The results would also allow comparisons: you could compare school to school, class to class, district to district, state to state, schools in one country to schools in another. And for those teachers who wanted to, they could test more often. (I always like testing just before Christmas break, and at the end of January, as well as the beginning of the year and the end of the year. And yes I want to know how my kids at my school compare to other schools in my district, other schools in my city, other schools in my state, other schools in the country, and other schools in the world. The more comparing the better. It would stop a lot of the bullshit pretend crap that is now going on in state after state. Most superintendents are terrified of being compared to other cities and districts and states and countries because that clear picture of where their kids were would mean lots fewer bonuses, and for some, loss of their jobs)Until there is open, transparent, helpful, non-high stakes, non-punitive testing that starts at the beginning of the year, goes on all year, and helps teachers inform their teaching, all the talk about bad teachers being shielded by unions is simply a shiny object used to distract people who, in my opinion, don’t know schools, don't really get all the implications of testing, and just want to ask questions like this to cudgel unions.You CAN fire teachers in strong union states, you just have to have a legitimate reason to do so. And you have to follow a process to do so.And as someone who has worked in St. Paul, Minnesota, where the first teachers' union in the country was formed, and is still in existence, and in Texas, a right to work state, I found the teachers, the teaching, and the entire process in Minnesota miles ahead of Texas. And I say this with no disrespect for the many, many fine Texas teachers. In Houston, I've seen teacher hauled from their classroom, called to the principal’s office, and fired on the spot because their class in January wasn't doing well enough on practice tests.In Minnesota, that would not happen. A teacher would have to be fired for cause, and the causes would have to be agreed on in the teachers’ contract. Laws, and rules. Yes I know, they are pesky things.I'm sorry if I'm suggesting simplistic data. I am. But the question is simplistic and misses the point.The two best school systems in the world right now are in Shanghai and Finland..And I urge you to read By the Company It Keeps: Derrell Bradford - Education Next Marc Tucker, which starts out this way:American teachers unions are increasingly the target of measures, authored by friends and foes alike, intended to limit their power, or even eviscerate them. Looking at this scene, one would never guess that the countries that are among the top 10 in student performance have some of the strongest teachers unions in the world.Later on, in part:Finland is famously a world leader in student performance. It also has some of the strongest unions in the world, and that includes its teachers unions. More than any other advanced industrial nation, Finland’s education strategy is to give teaching the highest status and make it the most desirable job in the country. The winning combination is top-quality recruits, first-rate training, and teachers with the kind of autonomy—read trust—typically accorded to other professionals but rarely to teachers. There are no top-down accountability systems in Finland, with their implied distrust of teachers, of the sort that dominate the discussion in the United States. It is hard to say which came first, the trust in the teachers or their quality, but they clearly go hand in hand. Finland’s teachers and their unions have not engaged in confrontational politics; the unions have been at the reform table for years as essential social partners.This is an incomplete list. I used an article from the Wall Street Journal to rank the states, using the WSJ's criteriaIt's mixed, but by and large, the best schools do seem to be from strong teacher union states, and the worst schools seem to be from right to work states.If you click States with the Best and Worst Schools link below you can see the article I based this list on. As for the Right to Work states and the Strong teaching union states, I got those by googling each, then combining the two.I support unions, but please. If right to work states were doing the better job, I'd push for right to work. Just the facts, Jack.And I understand as well that even compiling this list is simplistic. A further list would also show how rankings such as this also reflect poverty. As a general rule, states with more poverty perform poorer than states with little poverty.Nevertheless the list is below.Source for Rankings: States With the Best (and Worst) SchoolsRight to work statesAlabama 46ArizonaArkansasFlorida 7GeorgiaIdahoIndianaIowaKansasLouisiana 49Michigan 42Mississippi 50NebraskaNevadaNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOklahoma 41South Carolina 44South Dakota 43TennesseeTexasUtahVirginia 11WyomingStrong Teacher Union StatesCaliforniaHawaiiIllinoisMaineMaryland 2Massachusetts 1Minnesota 6MontanaNevadaNew Jersey 4New YorkOhioOregonPennsylvania 8Rhode IslandVermont 5Washington 9West Virginia 47As for my simple minded counter question from a simple minded guy who just doesn't get it (I apologize, I'm a teacher, not so very smart. And the reason I teach is because apparently, I can't do... :)Tichrs. Those who can’t do get them tichng jobs…Then them unions keep'em from ever' be'en fahred...

I have written about him before, but will write about him again, since I am determined to keep his memory alive…Yes, Allen Collins.He was one of the founding members (at age 12) of Lynyrd Skynyrd, the man who wrote the music to “Free Bird”, “Tuesday's Gone”, “Gimme Three Steps”, “That Smell”, and numerous other Skynyrd classics, and by all accounts one of the nicest guys you could meet. He was also a dynamic stage presence — a tall (6′3″), skinny beanpole with a mop of wild curls, prone to flying leaps, high kicks, and losing himself in the music.Catching mad air onstage, 1977Collins married his high school sweetheart, Kathy Johns, at 18 in 1970, and by 1974, they had two daughters, Amie and Allison.In October 1977, when Skynyrd's plane crashed into a Mississippi swamp en route from South Carolina to Louisiana, Collins suffered two broken vertebrae in his neck, and such severe injury to his right arm that doctors wanted to amputate, something Collins' father, acting on his behalf, refused to authorize. He also suffered from severe survivor's guilt in the aftermath, having been seated between bandmates Steve and Cassie Gaines, both of whom died in the crash — along with lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, one of Collins' best friends since childhood. (Collins had not wanted to board the rickety old plane in the first place, and Van Zant had to exhort him to do so; per Gary Rossington, while waiting for takeoff, Allen kept saying, “man, this ain't right.”[1][1][1][1])Following his recovery, he and fellow crash survivors Rossington, Leon Wilkeson, and Billy Powell formed the Rossington Collins Band, hiring a female lead singer, Dale Krantz, in order to avoid comparisons with Skynyrd. Their first album, Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere, was released in July 1980 to positive reviews, and reached #13 on the Billboard charts.In September, the band kicked off their first major tour. Just three days into that tour, Kathy Collins, who was 5 months pregnant with the couple's third child, suffered a miscarriage in a movie theater bathroom and subsequently hemorrhaged to death, with her daughters waiting outside.Allen and KathyThe sudden death of his first and only love proved too much for Allen to handle, and he spiraled downhill hard, drowning himself in drugs and, especially, alcohol. His behavior became erratic and unpredictable; during shows, he would at times suddenly throw down his guitar and walk offstage, not to return.The Rossington Collins Band split in 1982 after Collins had a falling out with Rossington, who married Krantz that same year. Collins then formed the Allen Collins Band with Wilkeson and Powell, but they split after one album, due largely to Collins' addiction and behavioral issues.On January 29, 1986, Collins, then 33, had an argument with his girlfriend, Debra Jean Watts. The two got in his Ford Thunderbird, and Collins, who was drunk, crashed into a ditch, causing the car to roll. Both were thrown from the car; Debra was killed, Allen was paralyzed from the lower chest down. He would never play guitar again.The following year, Lynyrd Skynyrd reunited for a tour in honor of the 10th anniversary of the plane crash, with Ronnie Van Zant's younger brother, Johnny, on lead vocals. Allen, however, could only watch from his wheelchair at the side of the stage. He had pled no contest to the charge of vehicular manslaughter in Debra's death, and as part of his plea agreement, he spoke to the audience of the dangers of drinking and driving prior to each show.He put on a brave face, but inside, he was tormented, having to watch his bandmates play, yet unable to join them. “It was killing him”, said Judy Van Zant, Ronnie's widow, in VH1's Behind the Music. In the same special, Dale Krantz-Rossington said, “he was so tough, and so strong, but I know he never recovered from [Kathy's death]… I think he raced to get out.” [2][2][2][2]Collins suffered from diminished lung capacity due to his paralysis, and in October of 1989, he was admitted to the hospital with chronic pneumonia. He would never be released.He died on January 23, 1990, at age 37, leaving behind his two teenage daughters, as well as his parents and older sister. He is buried beside his beloved Kathy in his native Jacksonville, Florida.Collins is among my favorite guitarists, and for someone so talented — and so universally beloved by all who knew him — to suffer so much pain and loss, and be taken from us so early and so unfairly, breaks my heart.The Official Lynyrd Skynyrd History WebsiteThe Day Lynyrd Skynyrd Guitarist Allen Collins Was Paralyzed in a Car AccidentCollins hurt, woman dies as car flipsFootnotes[1] THE LAST FLIGHT OF LYNYRD SKYNYRD IT WAS THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED[1] THE LAST FLIGHT OF LYNYRD SKYNYRD IT WAS THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED[1] THE LAST FLIGHT OF LYNYRD SKYNYRD IT WAS THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED[1] THE LAST FLIGHT OF LYNYRD SKYNYRD IT WAS THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED[2] Story of Lynyrd Skynyrd[2] Story of Lynyrd Skynyrd[2] Story of Lynyrd Skynyrd[2] Story of Lynyrd Skynyrd