Mine and Mind

There are about 1.5 million elementary school teachers and 1.1 million secondary school teachers in the United States, and the amount spent, by average, on home schooling per child in the United States is about $450. (Source: Charity Navigator.com)

- Between 8 and 15 million children nationwide are unsupervised at the end of each school day;

- An average deaf child isn’t introduced to English until age six, upon entering school.

- About 87% of Americans aged 18 to 24 have completed high school with a diploma or an alternative credential such as a General Education Development certificate;

-The school districts in the U.S. with the highest child poverty rates have $1,139 fewer state and local dollars to spend per student than the wealthiest districts; and

- When among 18 to 24-year-old Americans are given maps, 70 percent cannot find New Jersey and 11 percent cannot find the United States.

This country is in a sad state of affairs when it comes to the education of our youth and based on these statistics, it will take the political and philanthropic community to continue dialogue around educational, social, and humanitarian needs of disadvantaged children and families in the future to help resolve the problem.

Although public education has always played an important part in politics in this country, it has also been subject to continual political scrutiny.

Local politics and education are inseparable, as every city’s local school system is an organization with a political culture. Various groups from both within the system and outside the system compete for power. Typically there are very limited budgetary resources.

Yet our local school systems are devoted to children and tax dollars — two of our most important resources. Often times, limited resources cause varying degrees of funding ability for most local school systems, which in turn creates a lot of competition for existing resources.

Because of this, special interest groups compete, and funding priorities become the object of political debate – local, state and national.

Education is often a major part of both national political party platforms as well as local community discussions. The focus in the news surrounding our country’s recent elections.

But just in case we have forgotten, our country’s Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution delegated authority over education to the states. Each state varies from highly decentralized local education systems to more centralized state systems like Hawaii. However, the most recent trend has been movement toward increased state standards with new accountability systems.

Interest in Education at the Federal levwel has long been part of our culture, and in 2001, under direction of President Bush, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was renewed and renamed No Child Left Behind Act (2001). This was a critical step in bettering our country’s public education – the objective being – to increase the accountability of schools that needed improvement. The ACT also called for “highly qualified” teachers in every classroom.

Of all the localized special interest groups – from football supporters, planning and zoning committees, business, boards and various other local agencies, there is also the idea that diverse communities can become divided on school issues in areas of socio-economics.

Religion and political affiliation can also play a role in the politics of our local education, while public education advocates and privatization groups often differ on local policies.

Even community business groups can also be divided regarding the money required for facility improvement projects such as stadiums or school facilities. That is why effective local school leadership lies in balancing these diverse special interest groups.

The reality is that politics are part of every local school system. Local school leaders must learn to work within the unique political reality of their local system to accomplish the goals of an organization.

Ukrainians were to vote on January 17th 2010 for a new president. However the Ukrainian Parliament voted overwhelmingly on April 1st 2009, to keep the presidential elections on October 25 2009, three months ahead of the end of President Viktor Yushchenko’s first term of office.

Why did the parliament vote for this early election date? There are more than one answer to this. The front runners for president see a threat in a new rising candidate which will gain by more time, and they want to cut him short of this so he does not win to much votes. Another explanation is that the Ukrainian politicians up till now have not shown much strategic leadership and lack of crisis management, and this is not only limited to the top leaders in Ukraine, but the whole parliament.

Ukraine is in a need for a change in political leadership as the present leadership consisting of the president and prime minister does not provide the leadership Ukraine needs at this moment.

Ukraine present political crisis is a struggle between two heads of power and Ukraine’s future as a European Parliamentary Democracy. In addition there is an ambitious opposition with the party of regions leader, who will do his best to get into power, mostly because of personal ambitions. An opposition leader which has a scandal filled background in Ukrainian politics.

Razumkov Center performed a poll in the period from February 2th until March 5th 2009 revealed six potential presidential alternatives amongst the population, these were;
Viktor Yanukovych,

Yulia Tymoshenko,

Arseniy Yatseniuk,

Volodymyr Lytvyn,

Petro Symonenko, and

Viktor Yuschenko

Amongst these candidates there is only one real choice for a visionary leadership which will contribute to form the independent strong Ukraine which gives the population hopes for the future.

This candidate is the 34 year old economist and lawyer Arseniy Yatseniuk.

He is the candidate which has risen fastest in popularity in the last few months and gains terrain towards his opponents for every day towards the presidential election in January 2010. The other candidates have not demonstrated the ability to unite Ukraine either in power position, nor as opposition politicians. More of the same medicine will not work any longer for Ukraine. Like the international crisis, there is a need for new tools that will prevent Ukraine having the same problems over and over again.
ARSENIY YATSENIUK STANDS FOR BUILDING A NEW UNITED UKRAINE

Arseniy Yatseniuk can build a new sense of national unity that will bring relatively scandal free politics forward and he represent the next generation of a new post-partisan Ukrainian leadership.

He represents the transformational figure which emerges in the Ukrainian political landscape that captures the imagination and majority of Ukrainian voters towards the January 2010 national elections.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk is the one leader who is uniquely positioned to save Ukraine from itself. His meteoric rise is altering the political terrain of the upcoming elections in Ukraine.

Since Yatsenyuk has entered the race, he will have a challenging race towards presidency. But he can also campaign and spur optimism in Ukraine and bring hope back to the distressed population.

Ukraine is required to present balanced governmental budgets. The president must ensure that all politicians, regardless of fraction work together towards a common goal – saving Ukraine. In order to achieve this the new leader must be ready to take actions within the energy politics, especially Naftogas and its inability to present positive capital results as well as be able to open up its operations to be able to control its use of capital. Another issue the president needs to take care of is to handle the level of corruption in Ukraine.
Yushenko and Tymochenko have demonstrated lack of coherent leadership and ability to present a common political platform. They have therefore as I see it, disqualified themselves as candidates to be the needed future visionary political presidential leader of Ukraine.

The apparent lack of proper political craftsmanship in the formation of the Orange Coalition between Yushenko and Tymoshenko has lead to disagreement on virtually everything since they took the power in 2004.

The inability of the opposition leaders to present a real alternative to the present day leadership also disqualifies them from taking part in the new leadership of Ukraine. Today the major opposition party, party of regions is more occupied with criticize the existing government and president for not making a crisis plan and anti-crisis solutions, instead of cooperate with the leadership to create one.

BUILDING A UNITED UKRAINE WITH A VISIONARY MODERN LEADER

The new President to be elected in October 25th needs the trust by vast numbers of Ukrainians and not seen as part of the problem and not fatigued by a constant fighting within the political leader collegium’s of the President, Prime Minister and the chairman of Verkhovna Rada. The new Ukrainian leader must muster enough parliamentary seats and nationwide support to forge an effective coalition government and lead a genuine reform movement.
Yanukovych is facing a backlash in his party and polls for fumbling the last attempt to depose Timoshenko from the prime ministers office.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk can break out as a uniting force to save Ukraine.
The political fighting between Yushenko, Yanukovych and Tymoshenko demonstrate their inabilities in proper visionary political leadership on the cost of retaining personal powers.
Ukraine is sinking and Yatsenyuk’s poll numbers and popularity are rising.

As a former banker, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Speaker of the parliament, the 34 year-old Yatsenyuk is experienced and respected in Ukraine’s political arena. He is young, relatively scandal free and has the best chance to represent the next generation of a new post-partisan Ukrainian leadership.

Yatsenyuk represent the sober visionary leader who can impart a new sense of realism that implores Ukraine to clean up its own financial house.
He has charisma enough to inspire Ukrainians to take their destiny in their own hands and not look to Europe or Russia for salvation or blame them when things go wrong.
He must challenge the reign in Ukraine’s oligarchs who have ravaged the country in the same way that Russia’s oligarchs did during the transition from state ownership to free enterprise.
Yatsenyuk has the ability to craft a sensible forward-leaning Ukrainian energy policy that modernizes its infrastructure, energy policy reforms and restores its credibility in Europe.

Yatsenyuk articulate a vision that bridges the cultural and religious divide between Ukraine and Russian nationals.

He has demonstrated the capability to lead a parliament to get things done, and should therefore be able to govern a parliament with a significant numbers of members from the Tymoshenko Bloc and the Regions Party on his side.

The Ukrainian people are in a desperate search for new leadership as his political rival’s incessant infighting makes him a more attractive alternative.
POLITICAL STRATEGY – CHANGE UKRAINE THROUGH ITS CITIZENS

Yatsenyuk gives a clear and compelling vision of a new Ukraine, and a new theory of nation-building that departs with the failed attempts of the past.
Yatsenyuk has the ability to find alliances that will assist him in rise funding for his campaign for his newly formed party called Change Front Citizens Initiative.
Yatsenyuk will form a program for Ukraine’s resurrection.

His political strategy will be innovative, and be the consensus in the Ukrainian population as well as within the political circles. His party will present solutions that not only split the political difference between the major parties, but being radical pragmatists proposing solutions that benefit all Ukrainians struggling under severe economic conditions. He will not allow his party to become a soft centrist alternative which tries to be all things to all Ukrainians.
Yatsenyuk is seen as a political threat to established politicians like Yanukovych, and Tymoshenko, who have started attacking Yatsenyuk instead of ignoring him. This will provide an excellent development that provides him greater opportunities to highlight policy differences and new reforms, rather than engaging in personal smears.
Yatsenyuk can and will have to be tough in taking on his detractors; he cannot be equally as dirty.
Yatsenyuk stated recently: “I have ambitions as a politician – I want to change entire country and I do not want to change the National Bank”.
Yatsenyuk’s new organization the Change Front Citizens Initiative will build its own independent base of disaffected citizens and Ukraine’s youth that are anchored to his core vision. He will break off sections of Ukraine’s other major and minor parties on principle and policy to forge a winning coalition as the January 17 elections draw near.
Yatsenyuk’s path to victory will be the end of the political rancor between the Region’s Party and the Tymoshenko Bloc, and build a new sense of national unity.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk represents the change that will build the modern democratic Ukraine with the initiative of the Ukrainians themselves.

No matter where you live, politics probably plays a part in your day to day life. You might not immediately deal with political issues, but you can be sure that politics plays a part in what you do! Whether it is office politics deciding who gets that raise you’ve been hoping for; city politics determining where you are allowed to park downtown; county politics dictating your quarterly property tax or even nationwide politics deciding how your schools are funded, politics plays a part in your daily life.

It is important then that you understand what politics really is. Politics, at its core, is defined by Wikipedia as the process by which groups of people make decisions. At its core, politics sounds quite simple. What makes it complicated are the individuals involved in making the decisions. Because human beings are not perfect, the political system is never going to be perfect. This is something that most people don’t understand about politics. You can put all of the pomp and circumstance into politics that you want, in the end; it is more about human beings getting their way than about the process itself.

It has been said quite often that politics is a dirty business. In the United States Congress, for example, politics has taken on an air of hatred and manipulation. Many citizens of the United States feel that they are left out of the process of politics and that their elected representatives are more interested in scoring personal points than in working toward the betterment of their states and districts. In the last few decades special interest groups have taken on an entirely new role and lobbyists have become particularly vilified.

This disillusion toward politics is nothing new. Plato—the famous Greek philosopher—believed that all political systems were corrupt at their cores and that societies leaders should be chosen from an elite group of individuals who were began leadership training at birth. Aristotle argued that man is inherently political and that personal and political ethics are often the same thing.

One of the most famous political philosophers, Machiavelli advised that leaders of politics be brutal and manipulative and do whatever they could to retain their power. Machiavelli is studied today and his work is considered to be one of the leading authorities on how to behave in politics. Is it any wonder then, that the political systems of so many nations look corrupt?

The heart of politics is good: it is how laws are made and how individuals are judged by the societies that surround them. Without politics, nobody would know what was allowed and what was not allowed when they left the house. Unfortunately, many people view politics as a way to get ahead or to gain some sort of power over the people they live and work with. It is because of these “bad eggs” that politics has become regarded as an evil and ugly business.

For more information on politics, visit http://www.politicsmicroblog.com and http://www.englandmicroblog.com.

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