In Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a tornado rips Dorothy from her home in Kansas and drops her in the Land of Oz. To get home, she must seek answers from the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City. In similar fashion, Mississippi has been caught in the grips of a tornado that has left both public school educators and state legislators looking for answers to the state’s education problems. Unfortunately, many legislators seem to be more interested in taking on the role of a vengeful wicked witch than truly finding answers. While state educators are steadily inching their way along the yellow brick road to the Emerald City, state legislators have lost themselves in their own self-proclaimed righteousness, contentious leadership, and omniscient swagger. Unlike Dorothy who is directed by the Good Witch and the Munchins to the yellow brick road leading to the Emerald City, most Mississippi legislators have bought into their own eminence and chosen to find their way on their own. As a result, they are so far off the yellow brick road that they are forever lost in the land of the Munchkins. These legislators, primarily Republicans, talk big about improving education in the state, but they are actually more like little Munchins floundering behind giant lilies, towering sunflowers, and tall weeds. They cannot see beyond party politics, pettiness, shallowness, and personal biases to get the job done. Instead of waging a war to improve public school
Every character in The Wizard of Oz has a reason for going to Emerald city, each have the same reason but are all in search of something different. Their reasoning for going to the promise land, Emerald city, is to find the Great Wizard, Oz. Although they are all on a journey for Emerald city and Oz, what they are in search of is very different as is each character. Through Archetypal Theory it is shown that each character's reason for setting out on the journey to Emerald city distinguishes their type of character. Their journey is to find the promised land. Although they are not aware, the characters slowly gain what they originally set out to acquire throughout their journey, rather than at their destination. Although the journey seems as easy as following the yellow brick road, there are many obstacles the characters; the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion, must face throughout this novel. Through stages along their journey, the characters are all thrown into pivotal positions that they do not realize the importance of. In turn, this results in a drastic development of their characteristics. In these stages they are put in situations, which allows them to grow and adapt to what they are seeking on their journey, are what allows them to earn what they were seeking. Each character is in search for Oz so he may grant them one wish for whatever they desire, for the Scarecrow;
For Texas, the representative is Jimmie Don Aycock. Representative Aycock if from Killen, Texas, which happens to be the neighboring city to Harker Heights. Aycock, a former veterinarian and rancher who also served as a captain in the army, has been the representative for Texas’ House District 54 since his election in 2007. He has won every election since then and continues to serve as representative. In his time as a representative, Aycock has been very active in the communities of Killen and Harker Heights as a “director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Killen Quality of Life Committee,” and even a deacon at his local church (TexasTribune). Currently, Aycock is a member of the Defense & Veterans’ Affairs Committee and is serving as the chair for the Public Education Committee. Some of the other committees he has been involved with include Agriculture and Livestock and Higher Education Committees (TexasTribune). One of the notable things about Representative Aycock is his dedication to improving education in the state of Texas. He and other legislative members have collaborated in order to prevent a school voucher program from being passed. Also, in 2015, Aycock designed and wrote his own education bill. However, he did not attempt to pass it due to the heavy opposition in the Senate. Overall, when asked about his political goals, education reform was his first and foremost priority.
In a narrative film, a plot is considered all visible and audible elements present in a film, in essence the film in its entirety including nondiegetic images. In The Wizard of Oz, the plot begins with Dorothy (Judy Garland), a young farm girl from Kansas who dreams of escaping to ‘somewhere over the rainbow’ without troubles and torment for her dog Toto from a horrible neighbour Miss Gulch (Margaret Hamilton). During a tornado she is hit on the head and is transported to the World of Oz where she meets characters transformed from her Kansas life at home, meeting three companions who are all missing a quality that they wish to gain. She goes on a journey with them all to see the Wizard
Many public sector employees, particularly teachers, felt as their profession was under attack. Consequently, thousands upon thousands of public sector employees protested the bill outside of the state capitol. The content of the bill, and the furtive manner in which many feel the legislation was introduced, created deep fissures in communities that had once embraced diversity in people, ideas, and culture. The Midwestern values of neighborliness, friendliness, honesty, and acceptance were suppressed by a toxic battle of political partisanship that blanketed the state, from college campuses to townie bars. Walker described Act 10 as part of a “divide and conquer” strategy he wished to employ in the state. In fact, the “division” aspect of that strategy was so effective that best friends refused to speak to each other. Mark Ellis, a former Republican state Senator, has even noted that “former friends and neighbors still won’t talk to him in the supermarket” as a result of Act 10. The social and political divisions prompted by the events of 2011 still remain today. Importantly, the feuding parties have deeply entrenched supporters, enabling partisan attacks that would’ve otherwise been prevented by a centrist political
The Texas AFT wants to influence the legislator because the school districts have been left to try to make up for inadequate state aid by raising local tax rates, even as the state has continued to make it much harder for them to accomplish this. Basically, all they want to do is handle the budget crisis in the school districts of Texas. To analyze the successes and failures of Texas AFT in influencing legislation is short and sweet; school systems are still under budgeted and local taxes are still being raised to help the schools. The only break educators have received was in 2006 with “surplus” dollars tax swap for which the bill is now belatedly coming due.
At a time, when Mississippi needs everyone working together to pull our state from the clutches of poverty by creating an educated work force with more options than a minimal wage existence, it is unbelievable we have elected officials who refuse to make education a priority. In a state as untrusting of government as Mississippi, it is also beyond belief that the citizens would tolerate a governor and state legislators who believe they are above the law. Of course, not all legislators oppose fully funding education; there are a few supporters in the state house and senate. But, like many citizens who support Initiative 42, they are less vocal and “in your face” than their counterparts. Unfortunately, the old adage “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” may once again prove to be true unless supporters of funding K-12 education find their voice and rally to vote for Initiative
Discussion of local government is a subject where eyes glaze over and information floats in one ear and right out the other. Most citizens know in greater depth about national politics rather than local, even if the city government has a greater influence and impact on daily life. With the permission of Professor Duckworth, I watched Frisco Independent School District’s board meeting online (link provided, pg. 4). The school board meeting explained a lot about the process, organization, and the structure of local politics.
Every legislative session has hundreds of bills introduced in the Mississippi House and Senate, and although there are some bills with merit, there are many others that are pointless, clueless, frivolous, and even retaliatory. Such a bill is Senate Bill 2006, which seems to be a direct assault on the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA). To some people that may not be such a big deal, but after reviewing Senator Tommy Gollott’s bill, his bill comes across as little more than another legislative power play.
The Constitution of California expects legislators, which includes both State’s senate and House of Representatives, to influence agency decision making, to build political support for increases or decreases in agency funding to lay the political foundation for new programs and policies, and to capture media attention and enhance the power of the California State Congress members. However, not all legislators are able to fulfill their duties and comply with the state’s expectations. Indeed, their efficacy to serve California varies on the length of their experience, familiarity to government system, and commitment to public service. Evaluating their performances for the past ten years, legislators can be distinguished by their competence
In recent years, there has been an increasing trend of polarization between the ideologies of the two parties in State Legislatures. This polarization can have wide reaching effects in regards to the policies, or the lack thereof, that are created and passed in state legislatures, and this polarization also impacts state-level elections. The increasing partisanship at the State Level also has an impact in the ease of passing laws, as well as the ability of elected officials to be able to keep their campaign promises and to implement their policy goals. There are many reasons for this trend, though there are a few major reasons that I believe are the root causes of increased polarization in American state legislatures. One of the primary causes
Education is a sensitive subject with a very divisive line. Many strongly believe in the system. Bill Gates stated, “It's hard to improve public education - that's clear.” Others oppose it just as strongly. Friedrich Nietzsche felt, “In large states public education will always be mediocre, for the same reason that in large kitchens the cooking is usually bad.” In Texas, this has always been a concerned issue for parents, teachers, and communities. It is not just a normal topic, but a major political topic, in which the state government has shown continuous efforts to compare and evaluate the standards in which students and teachers must follow. Proper education is now something that is decided for students and
The article “A Peek Under the Big Top” compares the 84th Legislature to a circus. “-the circus is back in town! The spine-chilling 84th Texas legislature that convened in Austin this month (January 2015) promises to feature daring radicals and tantalizing ideologues in the center ring. This year public education is in their cross hairs!” Then they explain how the schools are under-funded.
It has been stated that Texas has been encountering many issues leaving questions about their future in education. A high degree of students are not completing high school therefore, leaving Texas with an unskilled workforce for the upcoming years. Texas is being left with a vast group of individuals that lack the necessary education and skills needed to earn a living, and subsequently requiring assistance from the government later on. Now, it is not to say that all the fault is due to the lack of student cooperation but also the school board, and teachers themselves.
The scenario of Massachusetts was one of my favorite readings this week. The main reason is that people from the business, education, politics, parents, teachers and members of the community were involved in the creation of an educational reform in the state of Massachusetts. The system’s lack of clear goals, lack of accountability, uneven performance of school, failures rates in some areas and for some children, are some of the most salient features that impress the business leaders in the late 1980s (Blankstein & Noguera, 2015). The program of these business leaders, called “Every Child a Winner!” “reshaped the Commonwealth’s public education system with a combination of standards and accountability measures, systems improvements ranging from new executive authority for superintendents to the establishment of charter schools, and a finance system overhaul resulting in a more progressive distribution of school finance.” (Blankstein & Noguera, 2015, p. 188). Through this program, the educational system of Massachusetts were transformed to be the first in the whole nation by having a diverse, nonpartisan leadership, explicit equity arguments, high expectation, investment in infrastructure, inclusive approach to policy and implementation, and long-term commitment by various partners. (Blankstein & Noguera, 2015). However, this system has some errors, like having the emphasis on testing then good classroom teaching, and some of
Wizard of Oz is a fantasy and at the same time adventurous story of a girl named Dorothy. It is fantasy because it shows the image of a scarecrow who wishes to have a brain which in reality doesn't exist. A Tin Woodman who wants to have a heart and the irony of the Lion who wishes to have courage. It also shows magic such as the wicked witch, good witch and the other characters who was portrayed in the story.