Montana really is different. It hides from the cities and offers up topographical majesty. 

My wife and I had the recent good fortune of residing for a few days on working ranches. Our work, play if you prefer, was walking on slippery rocks in spring creeks fly casting small insect imitations. We caught a few trout and hiked along several difficult trails as we sought that special view when the stream separates from the bottom, taking a rapid plunge to the next bottom. 

But while I didn’t put up hay or move cattle from one pasture to another, I asked questions and listened. Travel can help us leave our all-too-familiar world and see through the work and eyes of others. Little of the talk was about the looming election; we talked about the weather or fishing or thoughts on the virus or preparing for the winter ahead. And we visited about the distinctive flora and fauna of the Rocky Mountain region. 

Wildfires burned to the West, although the haze was slight—mountains mostly blocked airflow from the coastal States. And the kind of vitriol that has consumed cities to the West, especially Portland and Seattle, seemed alien to the Mountain West.

So what’s my point? Recent probabilities point to Joe Biden winning the popular vote; almost nobody disagrees. And while most predict he will win the Electoral College vote, yet the outcome is in question.

I will not be adding to Donald Trump’s vote, but I certainly do not favor the repeal of the Electoral College. The drumbeat for repeal has begun and will be deafening after the election. America needs the hard-earned wisdom of people who work the ranches and farms while measuring space in miles and acres. 

I have zigged and zagged across the topography of work. Always, when I look back, I see the wisdom gained from confronting the day-to-day obstacles of actually making things work. 

In Idaho and then Montana the harvest was everywhere and owners and workers were working as one. And where we were, when you bought a cappuccino it was sold by a local merchant, not Starbucks. In short, people investing their capital and energy to produce was as noticeable as the peaks of the Rockies. 

Those who made the rules for American governance fought through the challenges of distributing power—it is never easy. The aggressive fight for power and it is a never-ending battle. As I look back and forward, it seems to me that those who measure space in miles and acres have special insights that America needs. Their terrain and labor teach hard-earned lessons.

When 2020’s election is over, the calls to eliminate the Electoral College will grow louder and nowhere more than on the campuses of what we call higher education. Theorists will be sharpening their rhetoric, advocating what they will call pure democracy. One thing hard-earned lessons teach is that purity and politics occupy different houses. Me, I’m happy the Montanans of the world have a bit more influence. 

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al recently published Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. Illustration by Dave Granlund.

“While differing widely in the various little bits we know, in our infinite ignorance we are all equal.”― Karl R. Popper  

The setup is fairly simple. You are told by a job interviewer that a condition of getting a job you really want depends on getting the facts right on one of the issues of the day. Further, the context is today’s race for President of the United States. You are given 24 hours to sort out fact from fiction and explain yourself to the interviewer.

The question: what is your fact-based conclusion on how to best restore calm and order to American cities?

As you begin your research where do you go? Customarily, you read your local newspaper and check out several digital news feeds. Are those reliable sources, do their writers consider both history and current events? Remember, the job you want depends on the grader’s conclusions. 

Of course you have some opinion writers you follow. Are their opinions well-informed and also shaped by facts? They certainly assert facts; can you rely on them? And you have only 24 hours, or say 18, if you get your normal six hours of sleep.

Since you depend principally on advertising-supported news feeds and what your Twitter and Facebook friends are posting, can you start and stop there? Echoing: the job is dependent on getting the facts right. 

And then you pause—what does the interviewer think? He/she will determine whether you pass the test. Is the interviewer biased? Maybe you should spend the bulk of your time researching the interviewer but where to start? LinkedIn? Facebook? Twitter?

Today the nation, not a job interview, hangs on getting the facts and conclusions right. Presumably those voters who have not already decided their vote and are curious face just this kind of dilemma.  

Daily I look at a range of news sources. Mostly I know the predispositions of their reporters and pundits. And increasingly I find the presentation of “facts” enveloped in a pre-judged narrative. Narratives unfold predictably; it is hard to find unpredictability.

Yet, events are leading, not politicians. Trump and Biden are not in control. As a practical matter, if you are undecided, follow the action, not of politicians, but of the pandemic or “street protests.” If you are more ambitious, take a broader look at the candidate’s plans to match revenue and programmatic expenses or how he will orchestrate the problematic relationship with China.

Today and tomorrow’s opinion about the importance of the debates will not change. It is and will be said that the debates are crucial. That is probably true, but if you have no background on the issues and attendant facts, then the debates will probably turn on stage presence and verbal agility. 

The job seeker needs to go beyond facial expressions and the nation needs the swing voters to go beyond debate theatrics. But if the interview is up and up, then the prospective employee has the burden of proof. Are the “facts”, fact. And turning back to the Presidency, if a leader has the facts wrong, he will probably blow the conclusion.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al recently published Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

I was finally the husband
That most of the time I wasn’t
And I became a friend a friend would like to have
And all of a sudden going fishin’
Wasn’t such an imposition
And I went three times that year I lost my dad
I finally read the Good Book, and I
Took a good, long, hard look
At what I’d do if I could do it all again

Take a look. This is one verse of Tim McGraw’s, the country singer’s, Live Like You Were Dying, the song Governor Larry Hogan internalized as he fought cancer. And if you are young enough maybe this verse will light up your imagination:

I went skydiving
I went Rocky Mountain climbing
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fumanchu
And I loved deeper
And I spoke sweeter
And I gave forgiveness I’d been denyin

Okay, I know, it is time to move on, or maybe I should become a lyricist. In my dreams. 

Governor Hogan’s PAC, An America United, mailed around his autobiography Still Standing and I decided to read a chapter or two. Ordinarily I don’t read autobiographies, as the author can’t resist shaping words and phrases around self-imagination. But when I receive a gift, regardless of motive, I will at least try it. 

Larry Hogan’s version of his life is not entirely impartial, but he, with the help of Ellis Henican, has written a lively story about remarkable challenges and achievements. To begin, being elected Republican Governor of Maryland, a deep blue state, twice is quite extraordinary. 

And anybody (which means everybody over 50) with a medical issue or two will find the book invigorating and perhaps reassuring when reading about Governor Hogan’s cancer fight. His remarkable juggling act while undergoing aggressive cancer treatment is a testimony to advanced medicine fused with an irrepressible life force.

As is evident I went past my earlier intention, which was to read several chapters and put the book down. It is a good read and in our all too cynical approach to politics, a glimmer of light.

While reading Still Standing, I was talking to a young friend about the book. My friend is a Trump supporter and when I suggested Governor Hogan might, in his next political chapter, run for President my friend suggested he run as a Democrat. I pushed back.

Hogan, of course, has a history of disagreeing with the President and he recounts the episodes. While they add drama to the book, he does not use them as a weapon.  And that is the reason Republicans should be pleased that Governor Hogan might emerge as a choice post-Trump and there will be a post-Trump.

Governor Hogan seems preternaturally aggressive, while empathetic and agile. In short, he values accomplishment and recognizes a democracy requires building coalitions. Certainly Maryland politics has offered Hogan a laboratory where he has been forced to experiment on coalition building. 

Hogan has turned achieving success into an ideology. He fought cancer with a determination to do the job that was his life’s dream and unlikely achievement. And he governs more with joy than power. Power can be elusive when the General Assembly can override the governor’s veto.

And, while most politicians have scripts for dealing with so-called policy issues; Hogan seems to understand that just as his life was abruptly threatened, governments face the same challenge day-to-day. What is the playbook for dealing with a pandemic? A riot? There isn’t one. I suspect Hogan, for example, would not have anticipated quelling a riot while working with a hostile Mayor. Or, dealing with the South Korean government to get Covid-19 test kits when President Trump left that job to the States.

In the first five months of Governor Hogan’s newly minted leadership, he was confronted with the riots that followed Freddie Gray’s death and was told he had rapidly metastasizing cancer. He endured; he calls it Still Standing. Is there a coalition of voters who would like a leader who in Tim McGraw’s words would “live like you were dying”?  

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al recently published Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

“Rage”, Bob Woodward’s new book, compiled in part from 17 interviews with President Donald Trump, is scheduled for release on September 15 and 1.3 million copies are being printed according to CNN. Woodward has always understood market timing.

The book’s title comes from a quote during an interview Donald Trump did with Woodward in March 2016. “I bring rage out,” Trump told Woodward. “I do bring rage out. I always have. I don’t know if that’s an asset or a liability, but whatever it is, I do.” As to authenticity, Woodward is known for taping each interview.

I am sure Simon and Schuster, the book’s publisher, does not need my early commentary, but the title and the quote by the President about rage was more than I could resist. 

Enraging people is never a good idea. Rage, or what we often call anger, takes over and reason and humility recede or worse. Rage’s volatility almost assures countervailing use.  On a personal level I try to avoid angry people and when I get angry I look for an exit. 

The President uses rage as a tool—we don’t need Bob Woodward to confirm that fact. The President and those protesters who work to defund the police, for example, share this tactic. Or, the people who want no restraints on abortions. Or, the people who want no restraints on guns. They succeed in gaining attention and money by polarizing advocacy as they probe for emotional triggers.

I got an early lesson in polarization as a campaign manager. I was shown statistical profiles by fundraising companies that demonstrated the effectiveness of making people mad—they were more likely, I was told, “to reach for the checkbook.”

Single interest groups whether advocating for defunding the police or unlimited access to guns or abortions have highly targeted and limited objectives—most often raising money. Presumably Left, Right and Center would agree that the President of the United States of America should be aiming much higher.  

Too often in today’s politics cynicism prevails—mathematics leads. Strategists and their hard-eyed manipulators target micro-blocks of voters in States the candidate needs to achieve an electoral majority. In the case of Donald Trump, they begin their targeting with the Republican tribe and then move on to smaller cohorts like religious conservatives, or those who worship not God but guns or closed borders. And while Democrats use similar techniques, their nominee, Joe Biden, does not seem inclined to use rage as a tool.

Division by targeting often works in, say, Congressional districts; it is harder nationwide. Trump is finding out, for example, that people with a strong religious faith often are turned away by his temperament. 

While I can’t measure the frequency of this tactic generationally, it has certainly become more intensely used as media have fractured and social media analytics aid targeting.

Identity politics is not new, but today pollsters measure emotional trigger mechanisms at the micro level. In short, what provocation intensity does a candidate need to use to convert a voter to a single-issue voter? Keep in mind that the candidate is trying to move a voter from one that will give broad consideration to a candidate or set of issues to a narrow one, a single-issue voter. The madder the voters attitude toward guns, let’s say, the less he/she will care about budgets or taxes or temperament.

As I look forward, my optimism about American politics is not high. As democracy is manipulated and corrupted by these technology tools in the hands of the cynical, China-style authoritarianism is given an undeserved gift. We should all keep in mind the predicate to America’s collection of immigrants and their offspring: the United States of America. When United is not the goal, America is profoundly weakened. 

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al recently published Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

The stage was in the Avalon Theater. It was 2017 and the Saturday night of the Monty Alexander Jazz Festival. Rene Marie, a deeply soulful jazz vocalist, was the headliner. Rene, probably aware of the Avalon’s earlier racial divide when Black Americans were required to sit in the balcony, turned the pages back a few generations. She recalled musically the deep hurt and what the cause was about.

She sang a number first given voice by Billie Holiday. The title, Strange Fruit. The lyrics recalled a time when black corpses hung from Poplar trees. The last lynching in Maryland occurred in 1933 in Princess Anne. 

And now in 2020 the Talbot County Council revives that memory as they vote to continue to honor the Confederacy. I recall this history not to denigrate persons long dead (the Talbot boys) but to underscore the cause. It is not possible to circumvent the line around long forgotten remains and the still searing images of strange fruit. 

Boys, who go off to fight in wars, fight for some cause or another. Long after their names have disappeared from memories the cause for which they fought, good or bad, continues to evoke emotion and inform civilization. And in the case of slavery, disparage our history.

I once lived along that divide, in southern Missouri. It was my birth place. My father, as parents were holding their kids out of school because the schools were being desegregated, stated his principle plainly: “Son you will go to school”. His ancestors had fought for the Confederacy.

My mom, whose ancestors occupied a piece of ground thirty miles away, grew up as a Lincoln Republican. Her ancestors too fought in the Civil War, they fought to hold the union together and end slavery. Republican’s today should ask, “What would Lincoln do?” 

The larger truth is that the Talbot boys were sent off to war by plantation interests and their political lackeys. They were asked to fight for the continuing enslavement of human beings.  The cause, slavery, should not be allowed a place of importance on the backs of young soldiers.

But back to the Talbot County Council. Those who favor continued prominence for a symbol of the cause, slavery, often cast their arguments in terms of preserving history. That is of course their right. We should, however, hope that those who seek to serve the public trust want to improve their community—make history that future generations might value. If all they want to do is preserve a symbol of America’s darkest chapter they should be running for something else. 

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al recently published Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

Debating school openings has become freighted by politics—both Party and union politics. Too bad. A strong nation would push back hard against the politicization of public education and health. 

President Trump gets a large measure of the blame. He is looking for topical issues that provide wedge potential. Fear of the pandemic and his erratic leadership have provided a wedge issue to his opponents and he is using education to counter-attack. 

So several weeks ago in all available media he said schools should open this fall. He even threatened to deny aid to those that did not. Within the news cycle the teacher’s union took him on and well, you know the rest of the story.

Earlier this week I participated in a Zoom teaching lesson. The beneficiaries were young children who were struggling up the ladder of grade level reading. The lesson was one-on-one. The school room was often the living room couch and the students were almost all fidgety—unfocused.

The best session, and I watched five, was the one where the student’s mother could be heard in the background prompting her child. The student was a young girl and she had the benefit of READ Alliance’s proven instruction method that had been recast for the virtual medium. But the student’s greatest advantage came not from the screen, which was occupied by both a monitoring teacher and tutor, but from her mother’s active coaching.

The students I watched were struggling to begin with and the virtual format added to the struggles. I am not for a minute criticizing the effort, but if anybody believes that children, who are at a crucial moment of learning, can get what they need from the virtual world, think again.

High-achieving students receive rewards. They are chosen for honor societies, they get special recognition at events and when they graduate from High School they are rewarded with a mailbox full of college offers and often scholarships. 

We need to offer special back-to-school privileges to children that most need in-person instruction. It would be folly for me to suggest what the threshold for a back-to-school opportunity should be, but there are plenty of specialists to help define the conditions. I do think, however, it is safe to say that with a relatively small population of students, protection from the virus can be assured. 

Teachers are not dispensable. They are as essential as health care workers. Indeed, in some ways that is exactly what they are as they attend to the future health of children. 

Parents, at the most essential moments in their children’s lives, make decisions. Unfortunately America’s public schools have been losing students for years. Those parents who can afford it or who are able to borrow money often send their children to private schools. Many go to more affordable church schools. A growing number of parents prefer homeschooling.

Public school leadership must face the reality that many parents are choosing other options. And they must, in particular, not let down the parents and children who have no other options. Public health and well-educated students are indivisible.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al recently published Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

Social distancing, let me begin, not the familiar six feet apart, but the social distance between the Midwest and the Coasts and why that makes a difference.

Where I grew up, Donald Trump didn’t. Midwest ears are as attuned to his self-indulgent rhetoric as senior living centers are to heavy metal rock.

Where I grew up the news people probably paid some attention to the New York Times, but then put it aside. Then in my fifties I found myself living and working in New York City (NYC) and the Times was delivered to the back door of our apartment. I got a daily lesson in the socio-economic distance between the Times and Midwestern points of view. Their similarity: both used newsprint.

In NYC and the citadel of the West Coast culture, Los Angeles, venues were instructive. My wife and I went to the jazz clubs, but the venues of the future were elsewhere. Elsewhere was where you saw the future—where the latest fads in drugs and sex were on offer and display.  

In the Midwest you found out about the latest fads, well later. You were downstream, in what is increasingly a streaming world. The censors who used to pay some attention to content at NBC, CBS and ABC were out of work. Indeed, the Networks were rapidly giving way to Netflix and it’s late followers. The youthful vanguard was looking for splash—the venues and channels that were re-defining culture offered up sensations. 

But let me turn back to politics—the public expression of our views about the direction of our country. 

While few, if any, admired the man, well the man was at least “telling it like it is”. Or so many thought. Many felt so distanced from what Trump was attacking that they overlooked his social behavior. 

And, Hillary Clinton’s late career move was revealing. When she decided to run for office, she didn’t return to Arkansas where she had been First Lady for twelve years. Nope, she moved to New York—well to a suburb of the City. It is one of those bubble suburbs—a gated community without the guard stands.

I must admit to befuddlement. The 2016 election left me confused. I thought my Midwestern friends would reject Trump regardless of feeling some affinity for either his new Party and/or some of his positions. Of course, many did. Trump was not crowned; he eked out razor-thin wins in a handful of key States while losing the popular vote. 

Now, the Coastals have written him off. They sneer, “I told you so”. And in many respects they are right. Daily, regardless of the news source, we learn of another self-delusional tweet. But, elections in the United States offer up two people and we must choose.

Most of my friends believe the choice is clear and today’s polls bear that out. My earlier befuddlement causes me to be more cautious and occasionally the devil’s advocate.

I worry for America. We have not been at our best for some time. Yes, I can write about slices of Her dynamism and end the column on a positive note. But then I look at our choice in November.

Donald Trump has confirmed my earlier and oft expressed view. But, Joe Biden?

Monarchies have not infrequently been governed by a King or Queen that was, shall we say, beyond his or her freshness date or capacity. Is that America’s fate at this most challenging moment?

Vice President Biden, it is said, is on the threshold of making the most important decision of his candidacy—choosing a running mate. Succession is on almost everybody’s mind.

If the importance of his choice is true then it is important for the public to take measure not just of the choice but also of the process.  Joe Biden is a derivative candidate—he derives strength from others. His signature credential is not what he has done; it is his association with Barack Obama. His victory was earned not by his superior campaign but because he was anointed by the estimable Congressman, Jim Clyburn, from South Carolina. And he has chosen to stay home (mostly) and now some in the commentariat are suggesting that debates should be foregone. 

Biden has turned to identity politics for this “most important decision”. Appealing to the feminist wing of his Party, he pledged to select a woman as a running mate. Then rather quickly his most ardent supporters narrowed it to a “woman of color”.

Until quite recently I was not familiar with some of the women on what the scribes of today say is the list. These are women who should be considered, for sure.

But let me come back to the process, because if my Midwestern intuition is correct that is where Biden has taken a turn too far, for many. Why, they would ask, has the candidate pool been so affected by identity politics that “day one” readiness is a missing criterion?

Oh for that moment in history when both political parties were on the doorstep of Dwight Eisenhower. They were both looking for a leader. And do we need one now.

American politics must offer to all the opportunity to be President, that is for sure. Many believed that was confirmed when Barack Obama was elected. Indeed President Obama won in 2008 with 52.9% of the vote while President Trump was elected with 46.1% (prevailing in the Electoral College).

I hope, for my children and grandchildren’s sake that America will again overcome socio-economic and political distancing and seek out demonstrated leadership. I hope when that happens that both Parties will show up at the doorstep of a woman. 

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al recently published Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

The setting was a several centuries old Church yard on the southwestern edge of the Catskills. It was embedded with mankind’s lessons. I suspect there were peacemakers and hell-raisers resting side by side.

My wife and I were back in Church, well sort of. The Church itself was off to our right and unoccupied. The sun lit the socially distanced congregation; shade in the background provided more comfort.

I can say with absolute confidence that over the decades sermons have lamented division and reminded the congregants, “blessed are the peacemakers.” This Beatitude can be found in Matthew 5:9 and concludes: they are “the sons of God.” I am sure that this Beaverkill neighborhood had peacemakers — they worked at holding things together.

If you institutionalize the word peacemaker, the top of head impression should be Church. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, a peacemaker, fully recognizing sinful natures, preached for both justice and its companion, peace. An absence of justice, an absence of peace.

While we were in Church, Congressman John Lewis’s body was carried across Selma, Alabama’s Edmund Petty’s Bridge. Lewis, a protege of Dr. King and a peacemaker, had been beaten on that bridge during a peaceful march in 1965. This time Alabama State Troopers saluted. Peacemakers transform.

Dr. King, John Lewis and untold peacemakers did not yield as they fought for equality under the law. Their peaceful actions revealed the ugliness of myth and tribal violence. Their foresight and courage triggered rapid and profound changes toward a legal framework of equality.

Yet myths die hard. Prejudices tend to recede generationally. Equality is hard work — push is required, but ultimately peaceful pressure collects allies and progress is made.

We are all struggling in one way or another with virtual. We do it, but we know it is a thin veneer. I was reminded this last Sunday, in a sunlit cemetery, just how thin.

This summer and well into the fall should provide opportunity for peaceful and protected gatherings. The vast network of public parks should open up for the peacemakers. If assault shapes the news, progress will be the victim.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al recently published Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

Most politicians are specialists in concrete avoidance. They strive to sound like they know what they are talking about while using the language of avoidance.

Ever wonder how our public debt reached $26.5 trillion given that virtually no elected official will admit to preferring deficit spending? Yet real drama comes with an insistent reality; it carries demands and the coronavirus has and still presents plenty them.

The “let’s stop the spread of the virus” principles are well known. Masks, social distance, etc. are a never-ending refrain. And the science is quite clear. How many times have we watched hospital dramas and seen those attending a patient, in a surgical setting, not wearing masks? Didn’t we all grow up being told to wash our hands? Aren’t we all familiar with catching colds when around people who are sneezing and coughing? Do we need health care officials telling us what common sense is?

The answer should be no, but it’s not. Among us are people who want no impingement on their personal preference to be fools and we have politicians who do not want to write off the fool vote—thus concrete avoidance.

So we have the President and X number of Governors equivocating about the principles of stifling the virus. They are so accustomed to avoidance that even with real threats in the wings they can’t help themselves. But this time the feedback loop is fast, explicit and sometimes dramatic. 

It has resulted in the President and Florida’s Governor being mugged by reality. You will recall President Trump decided to move the Republican convention from North Carolina to Florida because the latter would provide him the dream sequence he desires: adoring fans shouting “four more years.” The Duval County (home of Jacksonville) Sheriff has told the media, “Where we are today is we can’t support this plan,” USA Today. Sheriffs can’t avoid accountability.

Returning to the basics; wearing masks means freedom. Spending time with careful people means freedom. Strict rules compliance on airplanes means freedom. Ultimately, the freedom to return to houses of worship, concert halls and the like. 

Maryland’s Governor took the lead for us. He faced the realities and bore the weight of accountability. There have been hot spots in Maryland, but there have also been areas where the virus footprint has been light.

Unfortunately, news that might offer hope for older people has been shadowed by the dramatic. News placement searches out drama and too often front pages have been turned into death notices. Older people are my peer group and I know of a number who won’t leave their houses.

Local public health officials, while insisting on safe practices, should also provide news that eases the mind. Inadvertently, causing older people to remain isolated is not good public health. 

On a personal level, my wife and I were enjoying a meal in an outdoor setting several weeks ago. Friends of ours, four widows to be specific, had ventured out. Well after their meal had been eaten they were still there—lingering, lightening the mind. 

Statistical profiles are mostly guided or completed by organizations that have a national or global mission. So we get a lot of big data points. But whether the big data point is international or local, death from Covid-19 is averaging less than 1%. Apparently the declining death rate is in part due to better case management and therapeutics like Remdesivir.  

And that brings me to the question of schools. Ancient history, I went to elementary school when the principal question was what children might catch or bring home. My elementary days preceded the polio vaccine (1960), the measles vaccine (1963), mumps (1967) and chicken pox (1981). Now the most frequently asked questions seem to revolve around what the children might bring to the school.

What we do know is that most children bring promise to school. But we also know that the promise of a maturing mind is momentary. Schools can be opened protectively—we can protect a child’s future while protecting children, parents and school teachers. And, we can do it today.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al recently published Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

 

“I know these kids basically more than they know themselves. I’ve walked the same streets, I’ve rode the same bikes on the streets they ride on, I went through the same emotions, the good, the bad, the adversity…..Everything they’re going through as kids I know and for me to be in a position where I have the resources, the finances, the people, the structure, and the city around me, why not?”   LeBron James, basketball player and educator

LeBron James considers the founding of the “I Promise “set of educational initiates in Akron, Ohio to be the most important professional accomplishment of his life. And he understands the importance of anticipation—on the basketball court his mind and talent are one step ahead. Is it possible to gain a step or two in education? We have tried but too often failed.

Today’s racial rhetoric is hot—understandably. What about tomorrow? Is it possible to confront successfully the most difficult challenge, the failure of education to meet both social and technology challenges?

In 1994 I began, barely, to understand the challenges confronting children born into challenging circumstances in New York City. It was the year my wife and I became mentors and I started down a path that led me to start READ Alliance in 2000.

My wife and I lived in Manhattan and on a street that was home to two private elementary and secondary schools. Both were first or second steps in gaining an elite education. I also spent time in the schools in Harlem and the Bronx where READ was most active.

My experiences were both rewarding and frustrating. The rewarding part featured measurable progress in educational attainment by kids that certainly didn’t enjoy the advantages I had growing up. My Mom, an English teacher, pushed hard against my resistance. 

The frustrations were caused by the static energy in the educational establishment—school choice, for example, was opposed by the teacher’s union. On the other side of the political spectrum, many conservatives attacked affirmative action as unconstitutional.

I should note that in politics, affirmative action recalls a famous political operative’s quip, “money is the mother milk of politics.” It is not hard to trace a large percentage of annual appropriations to powerful special interest groups and their money.  My view is simple: a healthy society designs and operates programs that give children economic opportunities. Large gaps in opportunity are both tragic and undermine our economic foundation, capitalism. 

I did have one fleeting experience with New York’s teacher’s union; it took place in Albany, the State’s capital. READ Alliance taught high school students to tutor young children who were reading below grade level. The Union attempted to block public funds to be used by READ, insisting that all teaching must be performed by certified teachers. Fortunately READ prevailed.

Joe Biden, recently, in speaking to a convention of the National Education Association (NEA) pledged fealty to their views. He went so far as noting his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, is a member of the association and will kick him out of bed if he doesn’t walk the NEA line. 

I love teachers, my Mom was one, but I also know that the NEA’s mission is to look out for teacher’s interests. Its members number 3.2 million. Unions exist to negotiate for better economic benefits and to preserve or enhance the operational satisfaction of its members. This is neither good nor bad, it is just fact.

But let me return to the central question. After Confederate icons have been purged and police reforms implemented, what’s next? How can enduring change, leading to a significant measure of equality, gain the upper-hand? If there is no Next in confronting the disparity of results in education and resulting job opportunities, persistence will prevail—the persistence of the status quo—an absence of dynamic energy.

Bill Gates has led the wealthy in trying to confront the challenges facing many youth in education. Recently he was chosen by Governor Andrew Cuomo to lead a New York initiative to reimagine education.  But, LeBron James has helped lead the insightful—he knows the territory. Recall his words: “I know these kids basically more than they know themselves.” 

Especially in this economic environment, with public revenues declining, America needs its wealthiest to step up.  I would simply suggest that Bill Gates and his peers turn to those who have faced the challenge.

I would also suggest that the political class go to Akron. That they size up the comprehensive approach being taken by I Promise—the blending of elementary, secondary and higher education. Models of progress are needed—without dynamic change little concrete progress will be made. 

Presidential candidates are more than ever declaring that on their first day in office, by Executive Order, they will do this or that. I get it—such a declaration is good campaigning. But what 2020’s winner should do on his first day is share the stage in Akron with LeBron James (or another similarly informed success model). Bring along the Vice-president, and give him/her real power to bring about change. 2024, the next election, will be too late for hundreds of thousands of kids whose most important development moment will have come and gone—that is a real emergency. 

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al recently published Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.