bones.

What is love?

I can’t put it to words.

But my pen on the paper knows.

It can’t help but write of love.

Can you feel love?

These bones of mine are stiff.

But I know these bones were made to love.

When love comes, my bones will know.

They’ll crackle and tighten.

But wait. Deep sigh. Exhale.

Love brings rest.

Can you learn love?

I’ve read all about it.

My mind is full of Jane Austen, Shakespeare and Rumi.

When love comes, my mind will race.

It’ll imagine and muse and wonder.

But wait. Deep sigh. Exhale.

Love brings simplicity.

What is love?
Rest. Simplicity.

Sounds like His love.

snowpocalypse 2010

Friday morning's local Washington Post homepage read: "Awaiting Snowmaggedon" http://bit.ly/bsFoVL. And we survived Snowpolalyspse/Snowmaggedon/Snowtorious BIG 2010! This storm ended up being the 3rd largest in the history of DC.  After 28 straight hours of 26 inches of snow, we finally got out of the house and played! We went sledding on the Capitol lawn, walked to our favorite coffee shop and just enjoyed a sunny, post-blizzard morning.

dual degree

Columbia University and Wits University of South Africa just announced a dual degree program with both universities schools of journalism. The degree "reflects the global nature of journalism in the 21st century." Students spend a year in Johannesburg and a year in New York studying advanced journalism. A journ program in two of my favorite places? Too good be true! Something to add to "maybe one day" list...

http://www.mediaclubsouthafrica.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1504:dual-degrees-from-wits-columbia&catid=49:medianews&Itemid=113

all blogged out?

Blogging is on the decline amongst the younger folks. According to a new study, "young people are losing interest in long-form blogging, as their communication habits have become increasingly brief, and mobile." Surprise, surprise. Us Generation Y-ers have found yet another means of communication to be too "complicated" and "time-consuming." And I'm as guilty as anyone.  My blog continues to shrink in the frequency and substance of posts. I've found much more delight in my 140 character commentaries (follow me on Twitter at @JennaMSchuette).

I find this to be troubling--and a matter that won't simply be solved by more adderall. Blogging encouraged many of us youngest, aspiring writer types to consistently practice our trade--even if just for an audience of one. But, why put the hours in to blogging when you can generate much more traffic via punchy, well-thought out, 140-word sentences? My answer's likely one to be touted by journalism professors. Blogging, now, isn't about the reward of an audience, but rather a classroom. It's a place to practice. And more importantly, I guess, it's a place to engage. It's vital that we keep writing.

A Penny Saved

Whew! I just finished my first research conference at AEI--an accumulation of six months of exhausting planning, researching, editing, & worrying.  And, CSPAN joined us all day for live coverage of "A Penny Saved: How Schools and Districts Can Tighten Their Belts While Serving Students Better." 

Given our education system's enormous financial dependability--we count on $600 billion in local, state & federal funding--and our economy's unpromising instability--half of the states are anticipating a cumulative shortfall of $144.8 billion for FY 2010--this is a timely topic. We must consider smart, sustainable ways to cut costs while also freeing up financial resources that can then drive promising reforms. My boss, Rick Hess, and Eric Osberg of the Fordham Institute did a wonderful job of bringing together key scholars, researchers, consultants, and district leaders to offer hopeful solutions to our education funding shortfall.  Be on the lookout for the research compiled in an edited volume, to be published by Harvard Ed Press this coming fall!

A few highlights: 

"Notice I don't have a PowerPoint presentation. We cut PowerPoints." --Jose Torres, Superintendent School District U-46

"The pressure for success from the outside world, state, federal, the community, has to become greater than the pressure for maintaing the status quo. My Superintendent friends always told me, 'Nate you gotta remember, no superintendent ever got fired cause the kids can't read.' You get fired because you shifted dollars around, you took away money from some favorite program that wasn't working."--Nathan Levenson, former superintendent of Arlington, MA

"The public is uninformed about school budgets. They often underestimate perpupil spnding in their dist by $5,00." --Martin West, Harvard University. 

"We must ask what the purpose of public education is. We don't all agree on that." --Lily Eskelsen, vice president of the  National Education Association

joy to the world

Merry Christmas from my home to yours!

Education Unbound

Below is my first post for the American Enterprise Institute's blog, The Enterprise. 

In an interview with Washington Post education columnist Jay Matthews, New York City Public Schools Chancellor Joel Klein sensibly notes, “systems don’t change because you charm them. Systems change because you have levers that enable the system to move. And it’ll be noisy because the people who are there often like the status quo.”

Successful reforms and new practices have failed to change education on a grand scale because of the barriers that lie within our current system. 

In a similar spirit, AEI’s Rick Hess takes an in-depth look at such barriers in his upcoming book, Education Unbound: The Promise and Practice of Greenfield Schooling. Using examples of vibrant organizations and individuals who are finding promising ways to address our nation’s education needs, he offers, as Klein puts it, “a well-thought-through analysis of how to enable entrepreneurialism and innovation to flourish in a way that will drive truly dynamic school reform.”

Greenfield schooling eliminates obstacles to problem solving; outfits districts and providers to assess achievement on a multifaceted scale; creates policies that attract, retain, and respect teacher talent; and frees up capital for new ventures that are willing to shake the status quo. Enacting such levers will allow for sustainable, effective approaches to address our nation’s education needs.