Issue 99 Your right to work! June 14, 2013

   When is a union good and when are they bad?  Unions are good when they protect labor and represent workers and employees at the bargaining table.  Not to mention the right to be in a union is an expression of freedom protected under the 1^st Amendment of the Constitution, peaceable assembly which allows for the freedom of association.  Unions become, emphasis on become, bad when they represent people who do not wish to be in a union, do things that don’t have anything to do with employment like political campaigns and dealing with an entire industry rather than an employer to employee bases which jeopardizes that industry risking its shutdown.  The result is anti-union sentiments and workers that they are trying to protect loose their job.

 So when is a union good?:  Only when it operates under these three principles, one, association with the union is 100% voluntary.  Two, union activities are limited to collective bargaining.  And finally three, bargaining is confined to the employer and the workers concerned.  It does not span an entire industry, but is the factory worker and the boss of that factory negotiating.

So how do we keep unions within proper bounds?:  The first is to forbid any contracts that make union membership mandatory for employment.  That means union shop agreements must go as under that agreement a union is recognized as a bargainer and the employee is forced to have that union represent them.  This violates the first amendment right of the freedom of association through the peaceable assembly clause.  As a result of this freedom of choice it aids the employee in keeping the union boss responsible to you.  If you feel that the union is no longer representing you, you can switch to another union or abstain from union membership altogether.  In other words the union boss and leadership will fear loosing membership and will do whatever it takes to keep their membership up.

 They must work for you:  Another way to keep unions responsible to their members is to forbid both unions along with corporations from making any kind of financial contribution to political campaigns.  The reason is to protect against union dues going to candidates or causes that go against any of the members’ values, ideology or moral choices.  This though is a bit controversial as it limits the freedom of speech, but is supported by proponents who believe this form of speech is individually based and not collectively based in a union or corporation.  It’s a debate that must be had, though I hope the unions will do this voluntarily or its members force the leadership to do so to protect their union dues from being used in ways that do not fit their values nor protect their fellow members.

 Placing limits:  The final way to keep unions good is to limit collective bargaining to the employer and the employee within a specific business.  An example of this is Ford employees will only negotiate with Fords owner and Chrysler employees will negotiate with Chrysler’s owner.  This is opposed to the current situation where the entire auto industry negotiates with all of their workers, with Ford and the other motor companies on one side while all the motor companies workers on the other.  This universal scale of negotiation is detrimental for the companies involved.  The economic conditions of each company differ so one overlapping deal will financially burden some of these auto companies.  In some cases they can adapt, in others they be forced to fire the very workers that the union was trying to protect.  In the worst case scenario the entire company collapses resulting in union workers loosing their job.  Also, the contracts that are being negotiated at this universal scale become limited because there are so many varying interests that have to be met.  If it was an employer to employee contract negotiation then it would allow for better deals. 

 Direct negotiations:   An even better situation would be if employees negotiated directly with the factory boss rather than the entire company itself.  For example, say Ford motor company has a factory in New York and another factory in Alabama.  Because taxes and the economic conditions in Alabama are less burdensome the Alabama plant is more profitable allowing for a better deal for its workers.  On the other hand the economic conditions and taxes in New York are higher, so a deal that accommodates these harsher working conditions must be made that is mutually beneficial to both factory owner and worker involved.  In other words, a union member can get customized benefits based on living and economic conditions.  With this customized negotiation, factories stay open, maintain profits and the workers get the custom benefits based on the needs of the area they live and work in.  Not to mention it lessons the chance that workers will be fired to keep costs down.  The logic is that not all agreements are good at the national or even State level, so we need customization to get the best deal per employer to employee.

 Conclusion:  Unions by nature are good and are generally responsible by way of union elections.  However, the lack of union member freedom and customization of benefits inhibits them.  It is time unions update themselves for the 21^st century with these changes.  It is time to ensure the American peoples right to work.      

Issue 98 Pay per Performance June 13, 2013

Teaching is an honorable profession with teachers seeking to pass on their knowledge to students to help them get ahead in life.  So wouldn’t you love to give a great teacher more money?  Wouldn’t you love to give the minority bad teachers incentives to improve by giving them less money for their failures?  Well we can if we pay a teacher based on performance.  That’s right, a teachers pay can be based on how well they teach students.  In other words, the more successful a student is in the classroom, the higher the teachers pay.

 Why pay per performance?:  Simple, good teachers need incentives to keep teaching.  Some teach purely on the fact that they love teaching, but if they don’t get enough to live on or they are paid the same as a horrible teacher then why teach there.  They loose any reason to teach at a public school and can go to a charter or a private school where their skills are more highly valued.  Not to mention, if public schools paid based on performance (also known as merit pay) they would be more competitive in acquiring top quality teachers against their private and charter compatriots.  The minority bad teachers on the other hand have incentive to try harder whether they have tenure or not because they will be getting less money and they want the maximum their pay check can offer.

 So how can we measure performance?:  It can be measured through teacher evaluation, very detailed teacher evaluations with strict guidelines so as to prevent the teacher from manipulating student performance to make them look better than they really are.  This manipulation of student grades to alter performance records will be the primary source of corruption within this system.  However, with careful oversight, and I mean real oversight, fraud can be prevented.

 Incentives:  So with the best teachers being paid the maximum and the worst being paid the minimum schools will get better due to teachers being paid exactly what they deserve.  Bad teachers will either get batter or be forced out due to lower pay.  The best teachers will be rewarded and will innovate to try and keep performance high.  There are obstacles however.  One obstacle is union contracts.  While unions unto themselves are good, when they protect workers they can sometimes hurt like in the case of teachers.  Teachers are forbidden from working longer hours in some cases because they may be paid based on the number of hours they work.  The contract tries to keep every ones pay equal and or prevent overwork.  However, it limits the time a teacher can spend with a student out of school.  Therefore the contract is in this case too limiting.  The other obstacle is the opinion that those who work for the government should not be paid based on performance because they are considered public servants or that they should have equal pay to prevent corruption.

 Conclusion:  Quite frankly I do not consider public school teachers a part of government.  Teachers are individuals with a specialty who are hired by the government to perform a service.  Essentially they are private contractors being paid to teach people who cannot afford a private and expensive education.  They are not public servants, but public heroes aiding their students to carve a path for their own future.  Therefore, a great teacher should be paid more because that teacher is successful in educating their students.

Issue 97 Charters, Community Education and Innovation June 12, 2013

 One of the best things to happen to education is Charter Schools.  They receive a minimal amount of money from the parents of students, as they are State supported and are run autonomously by their owners.  Essentially, it takes the affordability of a public school and combines it with the creativity and adaptability of a private school.  These schools live and die through their students.  If they can’t attract enough students, they lose money and may as a result shut down.  This means that if they want a parent to send their child to a charter, the charter school has to innovate and improve upon itself to be worth the cost.  It is meant to appeal to parents who have lost faith in the public education system, but do not have the ability to send their child to a private school.

 Here are the benefits:  For one all students are treated the same with the same high standards.  Another benefit is that teachers in charter schools can work longer hours and more days as opposed to their public school counterparts who are limited by stricter contracts.  One of the best features of charters is that the teacher’s contract has a fire at will clause.  While this may sound terrible to some, it is actually keeping teachers in line as they are hired and fired based on performance.  This also means no seniority and so it does not matter how long a teacher has been teaching if the school is forced to fire someone only the best performers are kept not those who have been there the longest.  The reasoning behind this is would you send your child to a bad doctor, so why send them to a bad teacher.  Quality is measured by standardized tests and performance evaluations to ensure quality and ensure fair and equitable treatment.

Freedom:  Charters allow their teachers to choose and/or develop new methods of teaching which is retained as long as it works, again keeping with being competitive.  Classes are not designed to let kids skim by, students receive homework per subject and gym classes are not about playing games, but actual physical fitness.  Discipline is also innovative in some charters with Saturday schooling, pushups in the hallway or even placing a misbehaving sixth grader sit in front of an eighth grade class in the case of Dr. Ben Chaves’ charter in Oakland California.  Of course expulsion rules and rules on religion remain the same as those in public schools as per State requirements.

 Critics: Two arguments exist against charter schools.  The first is that people feel that charters are stealing students from public schools.  However, this is school choice 101.  This creates smaller classrooms in the public schools which mean more attention to the remaining students.  Also, this means that the money that was going to educate that student in the public school can be reallocated to other areas of the school that need it.  It could also mean a small budget cut as those funds being collected to educate a child no longer in the system are not required anymore, so it could mean a bit of tax relief in education taxes.  The other argument against charter’s, and also against the elimination of tenure, is that rather than create a charter we should improve teachers abilities by training them giving them a second or even a third chance.  People do worry about a teacher’s lively hood if they get fired and want to help prevent that.  However, the question must be asked, whose kids will be sacrificed to bring the subpar teacher back up to par?  Are you going to let your kid be taught by a bad teacher, setting your child back, so that bad teacher can get batter at teaching?  How many bright futures must be sacrificed?  An education system is not about improving bad teachers or protecting the livelihood of a teacher.  It is about the future of Americas children, giving them knowledge that they can use to succeed in life.

 More Innovation:  Other innovations in education due impart to the creation of charter schools have occurred.  One such innovation is active listening where students show they are listening by using various hand gestures to show they understand, have a question or are confused.  It is designed to keep the children engaged while allowing the teacher to better monitor how much their students understand.  Disposable teaching methods have also been created such as songs to help instill the basics of a subject like geography or math.  Another innovation is teachers having earpieces where the principle is at the back of the classroom giving advice and pointing out students who are not engaged allowing the teacher to adapt the lesson on the fly.  Some charters even pay their students to tutor other students which provide a financial incentive for the student to listen and provides backup to teachers for students who need a little more TLC.

The ideas keep coming:    Another innovation, as shown on John Stossel’s show Stupid in America which aired September 17^th on Fox news, was Khan Academy.org which provides online tutoring and lectures.  Teachers will assign a lecture which averages 15 minuets to the students for homework or in class where they learn through an interactive program.  The program tracks the progress of each individual student and shows indicators to the teacher where a student is having trouble.  From that point the teacher goes to that student’s aid and once resolved moves to the next student having trouble.  It allows for students to go at their own pace which allow those students who want to, to move ahead while the others can take their time.

            Similar to Khan Academy.org is the concept of individualized education through online schooling such as through the group k12.  Enforced by parents, students enter a virtual classroom with an actual teacher on the other end.  They can actually see each other via web camera.  It allows students to learn at their own pace while the teacher aids them when and where they need help.  It is also flexible as a student will have to go on at specific times, but allows them more time for social activities like sports.  All the while, standardized State exams are used to measure performance.

Alternative ideas:  Ever hear of Community Education Resource Network?  It uses volunteer teachers to teach students at just $30 a month, and if a parent cannot pay, the parents themselves volunteer time to make up the costs.  In general, they use old textbooks to educate students.  Some might be saying old text books, but in truth those old textbooks are not always outdated.  The newer textbooks may just have a format change or politicians ordering the books to be more feminist, or accommodating to a specific ethnic group.  So in no way are the textbooks outdated as they contain all the useful information as their later edition counterparts.

Conclusion: These innovations are all well and good, but are met with resistance.  This resistance sometimes comes from departments of education who will reject charter school applications but are under no obligation in instances to explain the reasoning for the rejection.  It could be something as trivial as a paperwork error.  To solve this monopoly on approving charters and their innovative framework, we should allow universities and private schools to sponsor their own charter schools.  As both universities and private schools already have the proper documentation to teach students a charter can piggy back on that and end the board of educations monopoly on approving the creation of charter schools.  Of course these charters will be given the same resources they need from their sponsors as now their sponsors reputation is on the line.  Who wouldn’t want their child to go to a charter sponsored by Princeton or Harvard?

            Education is going through a revolution that is making it cheaper, more effective and more accessible to everyone.  It is true that the foundation of every State is the education of its youth, but it is also true that failing schools equal failing neighborhoods.  Now with schools competing and resistance to change faltering, the future looks bright for America’s future, the children who replace us. 

Issue 96 Vouchers June 11, 2013

            School vouchers are another answer to school choice.  It is a lump sum of money given to parents of children who qualify for the purpose of educating their child.  The money may be used to go toward a charter school, a private school or even a public school to offset the schools cost.  Because the cost is offset by the voucher, it allows for parents a wider variety of options when choosing a school creating school choice.

 Who's in charge?:   Who should implement a voucher program?  The States, like that of New York or Texas, that’s who.  They have a vested interest in the education of students for a good education means a better workforce which means both higher property values and it attracts bigger better businesses.  The Federal government is far too big and clunky, not to mention too far away to implement a proper program.  As such, the Federal government is only capable of a one size fits all program resulting in some people getting money when they don’t really need it or not getting enough.  States can implement a voucher program through the county governments to allow for a more customized approach. This program of course will have to be implemented by the States education board or similar body.

Make it fair:   Vouchers should be distributed based exclusively on income and the costs of the area in which the applicant lives.  This is achieved by means testing at the county level of government to ensure parents get the maximum amount they need as the county governments knows the costs for its citizens to live under its leadership.  The parents who would get the voucher will generally be citizens who meet the poverty line in the county they live in and thus keep voucher distribution fair.

Competition:   Schools that loose students due to parental choice will be forced to compete for students because they want that voucher money too.  Therefore they will try to make themselves more attractive to parents resulting in children getting a better education from public schools who reform to meet the new threat of losing students to other schools.

 Fears:   Vouchers have been criticized because it will cause public schools populations to decrease.  Thus, only the undesirables, the disabled who cannot be accommodated and the poor will be left in the public school.  Fewer students mean more attention by teachers towards the remaining students.  Going from 30 to 25 students in a classroom means a teacher has five less students to worry about.  Smaller class sizes means more attention to students who need it and results in they student getting a better education. 

 The second critic to vouchers is that the school will loose money.  Well yea, with one less student to teach means the money going towards educating that student becomes unnecessary.  So what tax payer would mind a budget cut which reduces the economic burden on parents and the community at large?  This is a tax relief that may even allow more students to be able to go to a private or a charter school.  This is not a bad thing unless you believe that lost money could have been better spent on the other students.  But the problem with that argument is that both private and charter schools both educate their students with less money, usually with equal or better results.  Money has not, nor will it ever be the solution to educations problems.  School choice is.

 Conclusion:  Vouchers look to fund students, not schools.  By funding students, you give the parents options to send their children to better schools.  At the same time, it forces schools who are failing to innovate to get those students back and thus get the money in the voucher.  This means school choice leads to better schools.

Issue 95 Make the Schools Compete June 10,2013

                                       

            Is it possible to make public schools compete against themselves?  Yes, it is very possible if done correctly.  I believe it can be done by eliminating school districts and ensuring your tax dollars go only to the school your child is attending.  Eliminating school districts can lead toward a more competitive public school system and can be done in the following method.  First, make it so that children within a certain radius around a particular school have priority so that if they cannot get into a school of their choice they will still be able to attend a school.  This is the safety net.  Those students who wish to go to a different school will have to apply in a similar fashion to if they applied to a charter or a private school.  Those who meet the requirements will then be chosen by lottery based on the number of available openings in the school.  This allows for parents to get their children out of bad public schools in their area to a school with a better learning environment and give peace of mind to parents that their child is in a better, and some times safer, situation. 

 This may affect travel to school:  A parent may be asking themselves, how do I get my child to a school that is further away?  It works the same way when a parent sends their child to a charter or private school out of their area; they arrange transportation or drop them off themselves.  It is up to the parent to decide if distance is a consideration in applying to a school further away.

Where did the school board go?:  Then there is the question of what will happen to school boards, and other administrative bodies that run the school districts.  Simply put, they will disappear.  They will no longer be required as the principle and the school staff will gain autonomy over how best to educate their students.  This allows for a more focused education program specific to those particular schools students.  If a parent thinks that the program the school created is garbage then they have direct contact with the principle to advocate for change without the bureaucratic globally gook or they can seek out a different school for their child to attend.  Notice with this option, parents can not only choose from private and charter schools, but from other public schools as well.  More choice for parents in investing in their child’s future is always a good thing.

            Of course oversight will still be required to prevent corruption.  Well Dr. Ben Chaves has the suggestion to create a single school board at the State level.  In the governance roll, the board can provide oversight to ensure there is no discrimination, no theft of funds and no abuses of power.  Best of all the board should be an elected body making them responsible to parents and you thus make them the police of the schools.

 To whom does the money go?:   The second part of making a public school compete is parents only pay taxes to the school their child is attending.  What do I mean by this?  Well, let’s take two schools, Baldwin Senior High School and Freeport High School.  Under the current system if a student in the town of Baldwin is sent to Freeport High School due to proximity, the parent does not pay education taxes to Freeport’s schools as they are forced to pay education taxes to Baldwin schools because they live in Baldwin and not Freeport.  Obviously, under a system without school districts it would be essential for parents to be paying taxes exclusively to where their children go to school and also vote on that schools budget exclusively.  This provides fairness because students should not be a tax burden if they come from a different town as the town should not have to pay extra for an extra student.  Nor should a parent be forced to support a school that their child does not attend.  These parents because their tax dollars are going to a different school have the right to vote in that schools elections giving them the incentive to vote no to the new school budget to reduce their own tax burden while their child is taken care of in a different school. 

 More competition:  Let’s take competition a step further and say if your child is not attending a public school, you pay no school taxes and give up your right to vote in school elections for you are no longer affected when it comes to taxation and the welfare of your child.  Why should senior citizens pay taxes towards education if they don’t have a student enrolled in the school?  Why should parents struggling to pay for an education system when their children are now off to college?  If you have no children, why should you have to pay education taxes and vote in school elections?  Why should a parent sending their child to a private school have to pay for their child seduction twice?  Would in not make charter and private schools more affordable if a parent only had to pay for the education of their child and not a public school they choose not to have their child attend?  A parent should only have to pay for their child and theirs alone.

 Fears in this model:   Some are probably fearful that this will regulate the poor to be educated in public schools.  Well I am not going to say that it is not a possibility.  With those who can afford private and charter schools and those transferring to possibly other public schools, this leaves a select group left over.  Namely those students who could not go to a different school due to finances, behavior problems, a disability that could not be handled at a different school and parental choice.  Some may think concentrating these remaining students in a single place is a bad thing.  Well it is not as it turns public schools into specialists at educating the impoverished, those with behavior problems to enable them to function well in society, and having an environment catered to the needs of what students remain.  Looks wise, it seems terrible, but education wise it allows public schools to customize their programs to meet student’s needs with more dedicated resources.  Thus, these students will benefit from the specialized and catered environment they are given.  

 Minimizing concerns:  If there is a concern about cost then that can be minimized by a voucher system which also enhances school choice.  If only the tax portion is changed I believe that the voucher will cost significantly more and more which will result in more having to be issued.  If just the districts are change, then costs will drop as a large portion of the education bureaucracy will have been eliminated.  In that scenario vouchers will have less of a roll for it will make public schools cheaper regulating vouchers to only the needy and those who want to send their children to a charter or a private school.  If both come true, then schools will become cheaper, the tax burden will be reduced, and fairness and competition will be brought to the system.  Vouchers in that instance become a form of welfare for the poor exclusively.  Though I do not think anyone would be opposed to having donations to schools being written off as charity on their taxes.

Conclusion:   Together we can make public schools compete.  We can do this by making them beg you the parents to put your child in their school for they want your money.  This gives them incentives to create the best programs possible to attract you the parent into sending your child to be educated by them for the price you deem fit.  This is the reason district lines in my suggestion are erased so as to provide schools with the autonomy needed to create the best school programs and the best education possible.  Without school boards and the rest of the education bureaucracy, save the centralized board at the State level, innovation is free to flourish without bureaucratic red tape getting in the way.  Culminated together, parents and students get school choice and those who have no children or their children no longer use the public system will have tax relief and not corrupt the system with their vote during school elections.  With innovation allowed to enter the system, and maximum parental choice applied Americas education system will become the best in the world.

Issue 94 Reform, Reform, Reform! (Education) June 7, 2013

               Have you ever heard of a man by the name of Doctor Ben Chaves?  He runs a charter school in Oakland California, successfully taking a once failing school and turning it completely around creating the American Indian Model of education.  For the following ideas, I take them from Dr. Chaves.

Part 1:   The first idea (not really an idea for Dr. Chaves is already doing it) is self contained classes.  It mimics the arrangement in elementary schools with one teacher teaching all subjects to a group of students, but at the secondary level of education level.  This allows a teacher to spend more quality time with students to have a relationship and allows the teachers to recognize a student’s potential and intelligence.  There is no ability for a student to cut class for there is no class change between classes, save not coming to school and running out during bathroom trips.  Also, you increase the time spent in the classroom by not having to transition from class to class.

Part 2:  Dr. Chaves also employs a looping system, where a teacher will follow their students at teach them at the next grade level as well (P.E. has a separate teacher though).  An example of this would be students being taught by the same teacher from grade 6 through 8.  The purpose is to create a stable and secure learning environment and even a kind of family like relationship.

            Under Dr. Chaves’ model, students only rotate out for P.E. allowing teachers to prepare for the next lesson or other work.  School runs from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm except on Fridays when school lets out at 12:40 pm which removes lunch and P.E. from the schedule that day.  The early release is designed to allow for special appointments and what ever personal matters to be addressed. 

Part 3:   A student would receive one hour of detention after school if they are late to school, miss school work, break school rules and misbehave in general.  If two detentions are given in a single week, the student will receive Saturday school from 8:30 to 1:00 pm.  Also, under the American Indian Model, a school has only one secretary, one administrator, 3 sixth grade teachers, 3 seventh grade teachers, 2 eighth grade teachers, 1 P.E. teacher, and one resource teacher who works’ about 75% of the time.  Obviously the number of teachers will vary based on the number of students, but you get the concept that it eliminates most of the bureaucratic structure as teachers fill in the rolls of guidance councilor and other roles.  At the same time other positions are no longer required due to the nature of the system.  A school uniform is also used in Dr. Chaves’ model.  The most controversial aspect of the model is that Chaves pays his students for perfect attendance with sixth grades getting $50, seventh graders $75 and eighth graders $100 with exceptions due to funerals, hospital or being sick.

Part 4:   Dr. Chaves has some simple suggestions to improve education.  One is to not fund or start programs, or hire people if at any time the money supporting that program may disappear.  He is specifically talking about government grants to schools.  The second suggestion is to make education competitive to attract the best teachers, a.k.a. pay more (contracts under the American Indian Model are yearly).  Third, never hire a person based on race or ethnicity (some believe they will be role models because they share the same skin color) for this is racist.  People who are smart, hard working, and reliable who want their students to achieve are good role models (Dr. Chaves is Native American by the way).  Fourth, instill a golden rule, “If you act like a winner, you’ll be treated like a winner.  If you act like a fool, you’ll be treated like a fool” (142 Chaves).  Example, if a kid says I want to play for the New York Nicks you tell them you want to own and run the team.  Instill the mindset of a winner.  Fifth, deter crime and bad behavior by encouraging students to stop and look at who is watching.  It embarrasses them from bad behavior.

 Part 5:  Dr. Chaves’ final suggestion would be the creation of a single public school board modeled on the one that oversees the University of California’s school system.  It consists of a single board of twenty-six regents that would oversee the organization and governance of all public schools across the State.  Dr. Chaves believes that a single governing board for k-12 public schools “there would be less nepotism and local politics bogging down the school system” (21 Chaves).  He also suggests that elections to this school board should occur at the same time as a Presidential and Gubernatorial election to ensure large turnouts.

Conclusion:    I like Dr. Chaves’ suggestions and practices.  They seek to rid the system of unnecessary bureaucracy, streamline the system and create a stable environment for learning.  If you want to learn more, read Dr. Ben Chaves’ book Crazy like a Fox.  It is time to make education competitive again.

Issue 93 Halt Immigration?! June 6,2013

With the recent attacks on Boston a new call has gone out to better monitor people coming in and going out of the United States. While the issue of screening immigrants for the possibility that they are terrorists falls to both our intelligence agencies and the U.S. State department, we are lacking an effective means of tracking people already in the United States. Sure we know who is coming in, but we in the U.S. have no method of monitoring those who leave. As such there are about 2,000 people alone from middle eastern countries whom we lost track of. Am I saying that these people are likely to be terrorists? No I am not, but the fact is the Boston terrorists, as well as many other terrorists who have attacked the U.S. as well as other countries have entered legally. As disturbing as that sounds, it is more disturbing that the U.S. loses track of these guest immigrants who must leave when their time is up. As such, a suggestion from the more liberal arm of American politics (Bob Beckel, a Democratic strategist who has served as advisor the Presidents and presidential candidates alike), halt immigration from countries where the potential threats are coming from until we can locate those we have lost track from those countries.

The Good: The good part about all this is that we find these people who have fallen into the cracks of America's population. We have no idea what has happened to them and thus the State department can't help them if say they are being extorted or if some other harm has befallen them. But the most likely scenario is that they forgot to renew their visas to stay. Hopefully we will not find anyone who has been radicalized or is trying to radicalize others. This search to locate these people is not meant to be a witch hunt but a way to secure our borders (peace of mind) and insure that these 2,000 plus people are OK.

The Bad: The one bad part about this is that it is discriminatory. America's State department will be targeting people from specific countries that are categorically Muslim. Thoughts and ideas dating back to internment camps during World War II for the Japanese and Germans come to mind. But the goal is not to intern any of these individuals. The goal is to locate them, and if needed to send them back home. Sure some may be allowed to renew their visas as well, but this is entirely designed to see what happened to these individuals. To make it look less discriminatory, other groups either may be included or they can hop from one group to the next to track people whom they lost track of. This will primarily be showmanship to divert any accusations of racism.

Conclusion: It is sensible to halt immigration from countries for a period of time so as to get a better handle on who is here in the U.S. and who have simply gone home. Remember this idea is meant to be a temporary measure for approximately 2 years at which time people from those countries will then be allowed to visit once again. In those 2 years, hopefully, they will have found all the missing people that they lost track of. In addition, in that time a new tracking system that uses biometrics technology will be installed. Plus the system will track people who are both coming into the U.S. and will also monitor who leaves as well. So at all times we know if and when you have come in and left. Other measures will be added to track employment and education to better follow if you are meeting visa requirements to stay in the U.S. So basically "Big Brother" will be watching, but this may well aid in showing that you are a person of good standing if say you eventually want to become a U.S. citizen. Also, it may well show the skeptics and "true" racists that they have nothing to fear from the larger Muslim community and that the Muslim community out numbers the terrorists (hopefully giving them greater courage in discouraging and counteracting the radical Jihadists hiding amongst them). So I really do not mind this kind of solution to a problem, my only change would to totally halt all immigration and just focus on finding everyone who we have lost track of. Let’s face it; undocumented people are in effect breaking the law. So let’s find them, all of them, and judge their situations each as individuals so that we do the right thing.