Tired of Hot Air

A press release from the Pittsburgh Public School Board just came out. I have to find some way to link it to this blog but if you contact me I can email it to you.

However, you didn't miss anything. The press release rattles off rhetoric with little substance. Aren't we all tired off this. Just another political speech that lacks any specifics on issues and plans. There's never any mention of money. Absolutely no transparency.

I would like to get to the bottom of this and interview the policy makers. Find hard data and let us discuss it.

I want to be involved but who can sort through all the BS. We need to form a community decipher the school boards actions and a make them accountable to the public.

Assignment Zero

It appeared promising. Hundreds of people working on a project to get the most in-depth and widest scope of information on a relevant topic. But right now there just seems to be cacophony of voices. There is no moderator or organizer, just hundreds of people talking at once.

Hopefully, they will sort through all the information and make it in to something worth reading.

My personal experience with Assignment Zero is less than satisfying. Mostly it's an argument with some random guy. We debate the concept of "experts". This rather childish debate is typical of the Assignment Zero. Most of the site is childish. It's just one giant play pen for newsies and media junkies. Granted, I one of them but I have a purpose.

The project will go one for a while but my prediction is that it will fail. But perhaps this cold is making me cynical.

I hope some one will check out this site and tell me what they think.

Assignment Zero - Critique

Everyone's a critic and everyone entitled to their opinion.

Assignment Zero - An experiment in pro-am journalism. This new and interesting experiment. One word comes to mind after perusing most of the site - envy.

The site obviously took a lot of time and money, that's what I envy.

A team of people working on the site and yet I'm still not sure what the experiment is all about. Where are the stories? What exactly are the stories? What's the focus? 700+ members, I'm one of them, doing what exactly? Assignment Zero grandiose goals and resources attempts to cover everything. A mile wide and an inch deep, so the saying goes.

Not to be arrogant but the concept of Local Education News could bring information with laser like focus and with community structure something woefully lacking in Assignment Zero. Thus making it relevant.

I have spent five to six hours invested in Assignment Zero. I'll write more about this experiment because I think it will shed some light on what my project is about. But off I go to class to discuss the merits and problems with the No Child Left Behind Act.

Personal Update

It's been a while since my last post and I feel compelled to explain.

I have not neglected this project but I have so many fires to tend. I'm currently taking two education classes. It's kind of an ethnography of the teacher's culture, as well as learning about pedagogical methods.

These classes also require classroom observations. Thus far I've attended a suburban elementary school and a urban charter high school. These have have been very informative and I plan to observe as many classrooms as possible. There's nothing like seeing the rubber hit the pavement to understand the mechanics of a complex organization.

Business plan research is also taking much of my time. I have a dilemma between for-profit and non-profit objectives. While this is not a true stumbling block for progress, I have probably dedicated to much time considering the options.

Also my roof has been leaking since November and litigation continues with the contractor. Also I killed my car while on vacation and had to blow the remaining student loan money just to get back home and replace the car. In other words, I've been really stressed so I took a break where I could.

I truly believe in this project. The elements that keep me coming back are truth and justice.
We can collectively discover the truth about our schools. With that truth we can wield justice. Then that justice will lead every one to freedom.

Forgive my rhetoric but there is a depth of logic that I will explain later.

Community Building - A poor metaphor

Building a community brings to mind a frontier mentality. Few couragous people setting up a homestead. Soon other will see the beauty of their work and decide to move there.

Not only is this idealistic but it is also inaccuarate. We live in the midst of humanity. People surround us at any given moment. We are far from alone. Yet we do not have a community to speak of.

We are supersaturated with people. So my metaphor borrows from science of crystal formation. This project aims to be the seed crystal. Community Crystalizing.

I believe public schools to be the natural place for this form to take place. A place where there are thousands of students, teachers and parents. A place where the potential for real community has already gathered but has no solid form as of yet.

The seed crystal is what it will take for for the larger crystal to form around. If this project can develop a single molecular structure perhaps that will be enough to create a gem of a community.

Domain Name Bought

I bought the domain name "localeducationnews.com"

Sadly, "ourschools.com" was already taken. Just thought that had more zing and marketability. Yet, I don't despair. The other name is much more serious and accurate, right?

This one step further makes me realize the emormity of the project. The role I truly want is a editor/moderator/writer role in this project. I want content that informs and enlightens people on educational issues.

Now I feel like a founder of company worried about marketing, logos, web design and hosting, non-profit or for-profit status and worst of all money. It's a business whether it's a non-profit business or not. All I see right now is the huge cost this project could entail.

Many people might think how this project of getting ordinary citizens to write for free and posting it on the web could cost a lot of money. Sure that part is relatively cheap. But If any one is going to read it then that might cost a few hundred thousand. And it's not about advertising.

Just to get some understanding of the cost. I have spent over $5,000 on classes for teachers just to understand their perspective and insight. Really, I have no intention of becoming a teacher. This is part of my Master's in Journalism and Mass Communication degree.

To host a website and design one that will actually have quality information this project will need a database manager to aggregate test score, census information, government documents, and etc.

The web design and hosting can be expensive as well. There are a lot of bells and whistles to make this project truely work. For example running a chat room will use up much more broadband than simple posting text. Not to mention possible podcasting and video.

Now I see why "Youtube" sold for a billion. It wasn't just the name.

There is much I think I can bring to the table as far as journalistic principles and democratic philosophy. However, all of this money stuff will take more time to process. I still will attempt to work on it.

Forget Esoteric, Let’s Get Practical.

We need writers, photographers, audiographer (My new word for a person recording sounds. Is there a better word for this?) and other content provider to focus on our schools. I want this to be based in and around Pittsburgh but anyone is welcomed to bring issues to the table.

What is going on in our schools is a mystery. I may know a few things about my daughter’s school but I know nothing of anyone else’s school. The same is true for most people. How did the PTO/PTA meeting go? What was the assembly about? Who got elected as school president? Did a teacher or administrator stop working suddenly?

That last question can raise some issues of defamation and libel. So we should respect the privacy and reputation of people. After all, most of these people are not public figures. But if they’re elected officials they’re fair game.

Other things we might want to know is the condition of your schools. Working bathrooms? Security official arrest anyone?

Lets start out with something to focus on covering. It's up to anyone though to determine what is news. There will be some rule to deterimine appropriate content but just a few.

Borrowing from My Missourian, a citizen journalism project, is a distinct possiblity. The rules are:

• No personal attacks
• No profanity
• No nudity
• No attacks on race, creed, or religion

Post a comment to further this discussion.