Obama tells teachers he supports merit pay

From my experience running for local school board in 1994, this type of statement is generally a heresy with the National Education Association that merits burning at the stake. I salute Obama for having the guts to say what needed to be said. I hope he watches his back - the NEA is very good at sticking a stilleto in your ribs. Here's a part of the story as reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama today endorsed the idea of merit pay for teachers before an audience hostile to the idea, the giant National Education Association, but he softened the blow by telling the union's national assembly that he would not use "arbitrary tests" to link pay to performance.

"I think there should be ways for us to work with the NEA, with teachers' unions, to figure out a way to measure success," Obama told a crowd of about 9,000 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. "I want to work with teachers. I'm not going to do it too you, I'm going to do it with you."

He promised more pay "across the board" for teachers and extra incentives for those willing to work in lower-performing schools in urban and rural areas, though he noted that he would release the details of those goals and other education policies at a later date.

The full sorty is here: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/8335627.html

My Pink Elephant Days

The Pink Elephant has asked that I talk more about my years in the GOP. I covered this topic briefly in “My Closet Years – Part Five,” but for Pink’s benefit I will describe it in more detail. I joined the GOP originally because of public school education issues. All three of my children were identified as academically gifted and experienced recurring issues of not being adequately challenged in school. I believe in public education and find that generally in systems where the quality of the schools has gone down, it is usually because those parents who could most make a difference have abandoned public education either to seek a better education for their children, or – in my experience – for status reasons and/or to social climb through their children. For many of my former law partners in Virginia Beach law firms, I truly believe the motivation was the latter.

In Virginia Beach and most of Virginia, the affiliates of the National Education Association (“NEA”) are closely allied with the Democrat Party. As the father of three academically gifted children, what gifted education differentiation that did exist was not adequate, especially for my son who, unlike his sisters, has never been “a teacher pleaser” even though he is highly intelligent (he attended a gifted “pullout program” two days a week and was still able to have straight A’s at his home elementary school with no discernible effort). The main opponent for the expansion of gifted education services at the time was the local NEA affiliate. Since the local Democrats did not want to antagonize the NEA affiliate whose members overwhelmingly supported them at the polls, the GOP was the natural place to find a home in Virginia Beach if one was pushing for more rigorous education standards, fiscal responsibility in the school division, etc.

As part of my push to improve the academics in the Virginia Beach City Public Schools, I ran for school board in May, 1994. Since I wanted change, more teacher accountability, and would not be easily led by the desires of the Virginia Beach NEA affiliate (“VBEA”), I was perceived as an enemy by the VBEA. As the campaign progressed, I was repeatedly represented to be part of the “Religious Right” by the VBEA and made to feel almost like a criminal. Moreover, NEA affiliates from 17 other states (including the Juneau, Alaska affiliate) sent money to the VBEA to influence the 1994 school board elections in Virginia Beach. The local NEA affiliate had needed an enemy and eminent danger to raise funds and I and several others who were candidates for other seats on the school board unknowingly furnished them with an enemy. Later Forbes Magazine did an unflattering article on the NEA and referenced what had gone on in the Virginia Beach election.

I narrowly lost to my VBEA backed opponent who subsequently (A) was found to have a bogus PhD, and (B) was convicted of soliciting bribes from contractors working with the school division, and removed from office. All of this left a very bad taste in my mouth and things were so bad at our local elementary school that we transferred my two younger children to a different public elementary school that was less VBEA dominated. Having gone to a number of politic events during the election campaign and come to know a number of Virginia Beach Republican officials, I was sought membership on and was elected to the City Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia Beach and served on the City Committee and as a precinct captain for a number of years. I also incorporated the Republican Party of Virginia Beach, Inc., and served as the local Party's registered agent for several years.

One year I was awarded a certificate of merit by the City Committee. Another year, I received The Patrick Henry Award by order of Governor James Gilmore for my active support of good government in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In 2000, I was appointed by Governor Gilmore – a former law school classmate – to the Virginia College Building Authority, the bond issuing authority raising funds for Virginia’s public colleges and universities for a four year term. My last hurrah, so to speak was working on Mark Earley’s campaign for Governor and serving as co-chair for his campaign in Virginia Beach. Mark was one of my law partners and seemed a genuine supporter of Thomas Jefferson’s ideals of good government. He lost to Mark Warner and subsequently went to work for Chuck Colson of Watergate fame where, in my opinion, he must have received a “Stepford Wife” treatment and ceased to be the man I had known and respected. We disagree vehemently on the Christianist anti-gay agenda.

By this point in time, the GOP was becoming more and more controlled by the far right Christianists. A "coup" of sorts deposed the moderate chairwoman of the Virginia Beach party and the national Party continued to drift to the far right. Ultimately, I resigned from the City Committee, citing in particular my inability to agree with the mixing of religion and the Party’s legislative agenda that supported one religious view to the exclusion of all others. In short, the Party was, in my view, subverting the right to freedom of religion. Like myself, many of the moderates that were on City Committee with me have since resigned and a number have migrated to the Libertarian Party. When word of my coming out of the closet trickled back to GOP circles, I am told a lot of smearing of my name occurred in respect to “my life style choice” by some of the fundies in the Virginia Beach Party. Meanwhile, some of the Norfolk Democrat establishment embraced me. Thereafter, I more or less ceased any involvement with the GOP except for voicing concerns over the increasingly homophobic agenda of the Virginia GOP.

In January, 2004, as more anti-gay legislation, I advised the Virginia Beach delegation to the Virginia General Assembly that they were playing with fire inasmuch as it was no secret in portions of the local gay community that GOP Congressman Ed Schrock had a “secret life” that might be exposed by angry activists. The response to me was one of silence and/or nasty messages. Eventually, Schrock was “outed” by Mike Rodgers at BlogActive and Schrock dropped his re-election bid and was replaced by Thelma Drake, Virginia Beach’s current GOP representative in Congress. Other than Thelma, none of the Virginia Beach delegation has ever apologized for not believing me.

I cannot see myself (or any of my extended family that once supported the GOP) returning to the GOP any time soon. Hopefully, a major election defeat in 2008 will convince what’s left of the moderate GOP I once knew to throw the Christianists off the bus and drive them back into the wilderness where they belong. Hopefully, Pink agrees with at least some of my assessment of the current GOP.

My Closet Years - Part Five

In telling my story, I left off with my return to Virginia and private law practice. We moved to Virginia because I was already admitted to the Virginia Bar and, at the time, neither my wife nor I wanted to raise children in New York City. Returning to private law practice meant putting up again with the office politics of a reasonably large law firm and the self-identified “macho” types that are all too prevalent in the legal profession. This unfortunately included being compelled at times to participate in the bar association soft-ball league games. Not being good at the sport, I naturally went on high alert with fears that somehow my secret might become obvious based on my lack of playing ability. The only plus was that there were a couple of hot guys in the firm who looked great in shorts and shirtless, although I made studied efforts to never be caught looking.

Soon we had settled into a typical suburban pattern, with my wife staying at home with my oldest daughter, who was joined by her brother in September of 1985. He was born as Hurricane Gloria was sweeping towards a direct hit to Hampton Roads, making for tension in the labor and delivery room. The storm at the last minute veered out to sea, saving the area from huge devastation. (We had lived in Mobile when Hurricane Frederic scored a direct hit, so we knew well the type of damage that would have occurred - the best part of Frederic had been the almost communal living that had gone on with ML and our wives). Pat Robertson, of course claimed he had “prayed the storm away.” Subsequently, my younger daughter was born in 1989, fortunately with no impeding hurricane off the coast.

Being with a good size law firm meant a number of things, including (1) getting involved in civic and other organizations, not because it was the right thing to do, but to make contacts, (2) originating business, (3) treating the secretaries and paralegals as somehow something less than human, and (4) always watching your back against back stabbing by one’s supposed friends. While we would have several functions for the entire staff and their families each year where feigned camaraderie by the partners was the norm and statements were made that the most important assets of the firm were its employees, the real story was quite different. In actuality, everything was about money and the bottom line and all civic activity involvement was cynically calculated. In short, even after I made partner, I had to sell my soul and “play the game” to get along. It's ironic that immoral - although not illegal conduct - was acceptable, while being gay was not and as a result, I was trapped in the closet.

Given the cut throat reality of my job environment, being gay was obviously nowhere remotely among things “The Firm” would have approved of or condoned. (In this regard, little seems to have changed: for the recent HRBOR launch, I contacted five of the area’s largest law firms and no one was interested in being a sponsor, and only one had the courtesy of responding at all). Therefore, I continued living my life as an actor, playing the role that was expected. While it seems crazy in retrospect, at this point I still did not think of myself as gay. After all, I had never done anything with another guy, and, therefore, I couldn't possibly be gay notwithstanding the crushes on and attraction to guys over the years since I was about age 12.

Over the years, I changed law firms and found better and more moral atmospheres but never to a point that being gay was acceptable. It turned out that the last large “established” firm I was a member of was more like the first firm in this area I had joined back in 1983. I did in time come out at work in 2003 on a very discrete basis, but I kept a very low profile in terms of my sexual orientation. Ultimately, it merged with another firm at the end of 2004 and, in my opinion, I was one of the partners excluded from the merger because members of the other firm involved in the merger held political grudges against me (I had publicly asked one to resign from office when an illegal $12 million deficit was experienced by the Virginia Beach school division and opposed another in the firing of the head of the gifted education department). Now, I have my own law firm where I can follow my own political and activist objectives and be 100% out. None of my straight clients seem to care, and I have acquire a good number of gay LGBT clients too.

During these years I was joined and/or was involved in a number of civil organizations, including PTA’s, being a member and officer of my civic league, being a board member and two term president of the neighborhood pool, four term president of a local gifted and talented education advocacy organization, board membership on the local committee to prevent child abuse, eight terms on the City Committee for the Republican Party for the City of Virginia Beach, and a run for school board in 1994 (I lost by a small margin because the local teachers’ union candidates labeled me as “Christian Right”). At the neighborhood pool, I even was a regular participant in the adult volley ball games - not because I enjoyed it, but because it was the "guy" thing to do (surprisingly, I was a half way decent player).

I enjoy being a father and tried to spend weekend time with my kids (since private law practice involves long hours), including going to the beach, visiting my parents who lived fairly close by with the kids, hiking in a beautiful state park, going to movies, and numerous surf trips to the Outer Banks with my son and his friends. Between figure skating competitions for my oldest daughter, swim meets for the summer swim league, and numerous other kids sporting events, I spent countless hours hanging out with other parents. I guess stereotypically, I always got along better with the moms as opposed to most of the other dads (most of whom were NOT hot). Sadly, my inner struggle to suppress my true self, struggle with my self hate, and the need to keep up the act of being straight and father in a perfect suburban family often made me short tempered and tense. Looking back, perhaps I’d have been a better father if I had come out of the closet long before I did. It’s one of those things I will never know for certain.

I joined the GOP originally because of education issues. In Virginia Beach and most of Virginia, the affiliates of the National Education Association are allied with the Democrat Party. As the father of three academically gifted children, my wife and I were continually confronted with the problem of our children not being challenged in school. What gifted education differentiation that did exist was not adequate, especially for my son who has never been “a teacher pleaser” even though he is highly intelligent. The main opponent for the expansion of gifted education services was the local NEA affiliate. Since the Democrats did not want to antagonize the NEA affiliates whose members overwhelmingly supported them at the polls, the GOP was the natural place to find a home in Virginia Beach if one was pushing for more rigorous education standards, fiscal responsibility in the school division, etc. I felt this was especially true after the 1994 school board election where I was continually labeled “Christian Right” by the NEA affiliate and made to feel almost like a criminal. Moreover, NEA affiliates from 17 other states had sent money to influence the 1994 school board elections in Virginia Beach. The local NEA affiliate had needed an enemy and eminent danger to raise funds and I and several others who were candidates for other seats on the school board unknowingly furnished them with an enemy.

On the religion front, I continued to go to weekly mass and silently hope for a miracle cure that would end my attraction to guys. I even joined the Knights of Columbus and attained 4th Degree membership. Alas, no cure occurred. Thus my life continued up until late summer of 1999 when family crisis struck and my closet began to shatter.