WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:04.360 I gotta hand it to the teachers' unions in California. 2 00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:11.720 They are a bold bunch. It's incredible, the the kutzpah, 3 00:00:11.800 --> 00:00:17.960 how do you pronounce that word, chutzpah? The kutzpa that 4 00:00:18.039 --> 00:00:22.800 these people have to produce such consistently terrible results year 5 00:00:22.839 --> 00:00:26.719 after year after year. As far as the actual job 6 00:00:27.160 --> 00:00:29.839 that the workers within the teachers union do, i e. 7 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:38.159 Teaching kids, where so many California public schools are failing, failing, failing, failing, 8 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:43.640 And yet what is the teachers union, individual local teachers unions, 9 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:49.000 statewide teachers associations. What do they do? More money, more jobs, 10 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:53.119 more power. And they are far and away the most 11 00:00:53.159 --> 00:00:58.000 powerful entity in Sacramento, the most powerful lobbying entity in 12 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:05.400 Sacramento are unions. And lest someone say, well, how could 13 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:09.280 you criticize teachers like that? That's so terrible of you, 14 00:01:09.400 --> 00:01:13.319 Oh my god. First of all, this is the teacher's 15 00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:17.760 union union entities I'm talking about whose job is not 16 00:01:18.359 --> 00:01:23.120 the heroic, noble mother Teresa esque work of educating kids. 17 00:01:23.920 --> 00:01:25.959 The job of a teachers union is to get more 18 00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:33.000 money for teachers, more jobs for teachers, better hours for teachers. 19 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:36.799 That's the job of a union make sure teachers don't 20 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:41.159 get fired. That's the job of a union. Its job 21 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:45.000 is not actually to educate kids. It is about having 22 00:01:46.040 --> 00:01:52.120 jobs for adults. If kids are educated, well, that is 23 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:55.359 a happy byproduct, but it is not necessarily the end 24 00:01:55.400 --> 00:01:59.040 goal of what the union wants. Secondly, if you're saying, 25 00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:03.120 how oh could you attack teachers like this, chehol that's 26 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:06.280 so these teachers do. That's the most difficult job in 27 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:12.919 the world. It ain't coal mining. Pretty sure, that's more difficult. 28 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:18.719 And Secondly, I am a firm believer in getting rid 29 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:26.479 of this sort of piety about any job. I say 30 00:02:26.520 --> 00:02:30.560 this about teachers, and this will tick off liberals. I'll 31 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:34.960 say this about nurses, and it'll tick off anyone. It's 32 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:37.280 a nurse, I guess. I'll say this about cops and 33 00:02:37.560 --> 00:02:43.000 soldiers and it'll tick off conservatives. I think any job 34 00:02:43.159 --> 00:02:47.080 has a range of people who do it. I think 35 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:50.759 any job has a couple of people who are really 36 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:54.520 excellent at their jobs, a couple of people who really 37 00:02:54.520 --> 00:02:59.120 really stink, and probably a large number of people in 38 00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:04.080 the middle who are okay to pretty good. Teachers are 39 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:08.000 no different. Okay, there's some teachers who are great, there's 40 00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:11.120 some teachers who stink, and there's a lot of teachers 41 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:14.919 in the middle, and obviously we would like to have 42 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:19.520 policies that increase whatever that standard is for, especially the 43 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:21.520 teachers in the middle. You're always gonna have bad teachers, 44 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:23.479 you always have some teachers that need to get fired. 45 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:27.360 You're always gonna have screw ups. But if you can 46 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:29.840 raise the standard for everyone in the middle, that would 47 00:03:29.879 --> 00:03:34.759 be good. What the Teachers' Union is concerned with, apparently, 48 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:38.400 is not increasing that standard for everyone in the middle, 49 00:03:38.840 --> 00:03:44.840 in fact, actively working to eliminate measures to raise the 50 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:47.560 standard for people in the middle, to increase the pool 51 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:50.360 of people able to become teachers. Maybe more people become teachers, 52 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:56.759 maybe more people get accepted more jobs. So this is 53 00:03:56.800 --> 00:04:02.199 an actual piece of legislation that was being debated in Sacramento, 54 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:06.800 and it's remarkable because it shows this is how bold 55 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:10.199 the teachers' unions have gotten in California that they were 56 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:13.159 able to present this with a straight face. It did 57 00:04:13.159 --> 00:04:17.000 get defeated ultimately, but this is how far they're trying 58 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:22.040 to push. Pressure from education advocates ends the effort to 59 00:04:22.360 --> 00:04:32.199 eliminate teacher assessments, a controversial bill that would have. This 60 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:37.480 is from the outlet ed sources in GVWARE. A controversial 61 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:43.079 bill that would have eliminated teaching performance assessments, the last 62 00:04:43.240 --> 00:04:47.759 licensure test California teacher candidates are required to take, has 63 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:53.079 been dramatically revised under pressure from education advocacy groups. Senate 64 00:04:53.079 --> 00:04:56.800 Bill one two sixty three, sponsored by the California Teachers Association, 65 00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:01.680 would have so California Teachers Sociation big consortium of all 66 00:05:01.720 --> 00:05:07.199 the different local school public school labor unions for teachers 67 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:11.240 throughout the state, one of the most powerful lobbying entities 68 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:15.399 in Sacramento. Senate Bill one two sixty three, sponsored by 69 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:19.240 the California Teachers Association, would have ended the requirement that 70 00:05:19.399 --> 00:05:24.759 teacher candidates take video clips of classroom instruction, submit lesson plans, 71 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:28.319 student work, and written reflections on their practice to prove 72 00:05:28.360 --> 00:05:34.160 they are prepared to become teachers. In mid June, the 73 00:05:34.199 --> 00:05:37.319 bill was amended to retain the teaching performance assessments, with 74 00:05:37.399 --> 00:05:40.279 a provision that the California Commission on Teacher credentially convene 75 00:05:40.360 --> 00:05:43.600 a working group of teachers, college education faculty, and performance 76 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:47.199 assessment experts to review the assessments and recommend changes The 77 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:52.560 revised bill, if passed, would require the commissions the Commission 78 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:55.839 to approve recommendations from the work Group by July first 79 00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:59.079 of twenty twenty five, and to implement them within three 80 00:05:59.160 --> 00:06:02.120 years from that date. The Commission would be required to 81 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:07.639 make annual reports to the legislature. Leslie Littman, CTA Vice president, 82 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:11.680 said that the amendments retaining the test were disappointing, but 83 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:13.600 that the creation of the work group is a positive 84 00:06:13.639 --> 00:06:16.879 step towards addressing the concerns that union members have had 85 00:06:17.319 --> 00:06:25.360 with the assessment. All right, so they get this bill passed, 86 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:32.639 but they don't eliminate the assessment part. This teacher assessment 87 00:06:32.680 --> 00:06:35.279 in which teachers in training have this final sort of 88 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:38.279 part of their examination where they take video of classroom instruction, 89 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:46.319 they provide their written course materials, reflections from students, et cetera. 90 00:06:47.879 --> 00:06:50.639 And it's the video thing I want to focus on. 91 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:57.000 All right, you have all these teachers complaining about this. 92 00:06:57.480 --> 00:07:00.360 Many here's the story. Many teachers say that the test 93 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:07.040 is a waste of time. The bill was originally introduced 94 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:09.759 by Senator Josh Newman, a Democrat from Fullerton, chair of 95 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:13.279 the Senate Education Committee, who said in April that eliminating 96 00:07:13.319 --> 00:07:17.920 the assessment would encourage more people to enter the teaching profession. Yeah, 97 00:07:17.920 --> 00:07:19.519 if you could get a job without having to take 98 00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:21.839 a bunch of tests and examinations and stuff and not 99 00:07:21.879 --> 00:07:23.480 have to prove that you actually learned anything, I'm sure 100 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:26.120 more people would want to apply. Oh, I have to 101 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:30.120 do work. Ooh, I have to get uncomfortable. Ooh, I 102 00:07:30.120 --> 00:07:33.480 don't want to do that. He also said that it 103 00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:37.720 duplicates other requirements teachers must fulfill to earn a credential. Okay, 104 00:07:37.959 --> 00:07:43.480 that's okay. Yeah, do the same thing repeatedly. See if 105 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:46.720 you can actually do it more than once. K through twelve. 106 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:49.800 Teachers who commented on ed source stories about the legislation 107 00:07:49.879 --> 00:07:53.279 were overwhelmingly critical of the assessment. Yeah, because people like 108 00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:58.319 to complain. You know what lawyers like to do about 109 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:00.000 the bargs. Nam, they like to complain about the bargs. 110 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:06.279 Is it a good thing. It's probably a good thing. 111 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:10.000 It's probably good to have a really hard barrier to 112 00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:13.319 entry before someone can become a lawyer. That requires a 113 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:16.360 lot of really hard studying. Is it the best test 114 00:08:16.439 --> 00:08:19.920 that's ever been devised by man? Is it the most 115 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:23.279 perfectly suited to no, but it shows a certain base 116 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:25.560 level of hard work, competence and the ability to jump 117 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:28.519 through a hoop that maybe you'd want out of a lawyer. 118 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:37.399 California teacher candidates must pass either the California Teaching Performance Assessment, 119 00:08:37.639 --> 00:08:42.720 the Educative Teaching Performance Assessment, or the Fresno Assessment of 120 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:46.440 School Teachers before they can earn a preliminary teaching credential. 121 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:48.679 The test costs three hundred dollars total one hundred and fifty 122 00:08:48.679 --> 00:08:52.799 dollars per cycle, according to Littmann. Now, other people say 123 00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:57.240 it's a valuable tool, but this is the level that 124 00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:03.039 the teachers' unions are getting to at first, blush. Does 125 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:07.759 anyone look at the state of how California teachers are doing, 126 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:14.000 the results we're getting out of our public schools and think, 127 00:09:14.360 --> 00:09:16.200 you know what, you know what we should really do. 128 00:09:16.519 --> 00:09:21.320 We should really water down the requirements for our teachers. 129 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:27.639 We don't need teachers to be this highly assessed. Just 130 00:09:27.720 --> 00:09:30.480 let them skate. We don't need to actually take video 131 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:35.000 of them actually doing their jobs and have that be 132 00:09:35.080 --> 00:09:39.080 part of our assessment of whether or not they should 133 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:41.120 be teachers. No, no, no, no, no no no. We should just 134 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:43.000 just trust them. Or just have them do a written 135 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:49.320 test or something for this job that's primarily about verbal communication. 136 00:09:51.960 --> 00:09:55.639 I mean, of course you're gonna want to have video assessment, 137 00:09:56.159 --> 00:10:00.960 either video assessment or in person assessments or something. Video 138 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:04.200 assessment seems to me like a great way to do it. 139 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:08.320 More on that later. But it's just the boldness of 140 00:10:08.360 --> 00:10:13.440 this that it just stuns me. The teachers unions have 141 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:16.240 so much power that they're basically like, yeah, we want 142 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:19.480 to just knock down we want the we want the 143 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:22.559 doors wide open, let anybody come in and become a 144 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:34.799 teacher who needs this test. So what's gonna happen. Well, 145 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:37.840 we're I wonder if it's just sort of like, well, 146 00:10:37.879 --> 00:10:41.759 we're not there yet. Enough people were able to look 147 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:44.799 at this and clearly like this is the remarkable thing 148 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:49.679 about this. Okay. Teachers unions by far the most powerful 149 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:56.399 lobbying entity in Sacramento, far and away. Sacramento dominated by 150 00:10:56.440 --> 00:11:01.200 the Democrats, like three quarters majority in both houses of 151 00:11:01.240 --> 00:11:05.120 the state legislatures. Democrats and teachers' unions in Sacramento are 152 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:10.679 like frickin' frack. They're joined at the hip. What one does, 153 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:15.159 what one thinks, the other things they finish each other's sentences. Okay, 154 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:21.559 there there's no division. There's no like Sacramento is run 155 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:28.679 by the teachers' unions, one of the most powerful constituencies 156 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:31.759 in the Democratic Party, which completely controls Sacramento. It's not 157 00:11:31.799 --> 00:11:34.200 like Republicans voting against this how much of a say. 158 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:38.879 The reason this thing went down is because Democrats looked 159 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:43.879 at it and went, Okay, this seems like a couple 160 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:45.960 of steps too far. I'm gonna have a hard time 161 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:49.879 explaining this to my voters why I voted actually to 162 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:58.559 water down the standards for teachers. And you would think 163 00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:02.080 there would be some level of like professional pride of like, no, 164 00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:06.159 we're not gonna lessen our standards for teachers, because again, 165 00:12:06.200 --> 00:12:10.720 that's not the job of a union. All right. When 166 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:14.679 you know, not that the ABA is any or state 167 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:17.440 bar associations or anything like that or anything. Not that 168 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:20.399 they're the greatest, most perfect entities on planet Earth. But 169 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:25.159 I think when the California Bar Association is looking at well, 170 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:30.039 how should we structure say the uh, you know, the 171 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:35.320 bar exam, I think they are able to credibly assess 172 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:42.159 that because I think associations of lawyers those aren't lawyers' unions, Okay, 173 00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:45.480 that their advocacy doesn't result in lawyers getting more and 174 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:49.639 more jobs. Lawyers aren't unionized, they're they're their own sort 175 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:53.399 of deal. They run their own law firms. And this 176 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:55.919 is just a professional association that does have an interest 177 00:12:55.960 --> 00:12:59.200 in maintaining a high standard for the bar. So when 178 00:12:59.240 --> 00:13:00.840 they look at the bar exam, I think they can 179 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:04.519 make reasonable judgments about like, Okay, well, the California Bar Exam, 180 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:11.039 for example, was getting extremely difficult, maybe too difficult, to 181 00:13:11.080 --> 00:13:13.639 the point where only forty percent of people were passing. 182 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:17.159 You had people from really good law schools failing it. Okay, well, 183 00:13:17.320 --> 00:13:20.360 are we making this punitively difficult versus okay, well, we 184 00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:24.440 want to maintain high standards, but we nonetheless, you know, 185 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:26.799 the point of this isn't to be punitively bad. It's 186 00:13:26.840 --> 00:13:29.799 just to demonstrate that you know this stuff. Let's compare 187 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:31.919 it against other states. What are we doing. I think 188 00:13:32.879 --> 00:13:35.440 the Bar Association is able to make more kind of 189 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:40.159 credible judgments because they don't have there There's nothing self 190 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:43.600 interested for lawyers about having more lawyers in the profession. 191 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:47.799 If anything, I would imagine the Bar Association has an 192 00:13:47.799 --> 00:13:55.120 interest in not flooding the market with lawyers. You would 193 00:13:55.159 --> 00:13:59.320 want there to be less competition. I mean, the fewer lawyers, 194 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:05.000 the more work for you, you know more, you know, 195 00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:12.320 less supply, equal demand, higher prices. But with the Teachers 196 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:17.519 Association that there's nothing. It's totally non credible. They want 197 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:20.279 this in order to allow for more people to be teachers, 198 00:14:20.279 --> 00:14:22.960 and they're talking openly in their advocacy about maybe this 199 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:26.720 would encourage more people to be teachers. Yeah, because you 200 00:14:26.759 --> 00:14:30.000 want more jobs, you want more power, you want more positions, 201 00:14:30.039 --> 00:14:33.559 you want to advocate for more and more and more 202 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:35.360 and more and more. Because that's how a labor union 203 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:39.679 gets powerful. More jobs, more pay, fewer hours, fewer standards. 204 00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:44.679 That's what the Teachers Union that, that's its end goal 205 00:14:44.759 --> 00:14:50.200 that it pursues. And that's why I think public sector 206 00:14:50.279 --> 00:14:52.960 unions are so stupid when when you have that in 207 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:56.159 the context of a private sector union, it has a 208 00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:02.720 natural force that a poses it. When you have a 209 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:05.960 private sector union, Okay, the employees at Ford Motor Company, 210 00:15:06.279 --> 00:15:10.360 they want more jobs, more money, better hours, et cetera 211 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:14.000 for themselves, and management wants more of the profits for itself, 212 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:16.399 and the two forces are in opposition. To each other, 213 00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:19.600 in tension with each other, to hopefully bring about some 214 00:15:19.720 --> 00:15:25.279 fair resolution. In the context of public sector unions, there's 215 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:27.639 nothing in opposition for them. It's a bunch of liberal 216 00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:32.240 politicians in Sacramento spending other people's money. And even that, 217 00:15:33.399 --> 00:15:38.840 even the lack of any material thing in opposition to 218 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:43.720 them resulted in this case in looks. Listen, we know 219 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:46.360 the Teachers' Union runs the show here in Sacramento. You 220 00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:51.759 can't just eliminate requirements for teachers like you can't dumb 221 00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:55.759 it down so much. When we return, I want to 222 00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:59.440 talk about this specific aspect of this bill, getting rid 223 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:04.000 of the video assessment. Why that is total bunk. Next 224 00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:10.159 on the John Girardi Show, talking about this bill that 225 00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:13.559 was actually well, this one portion of it that was 226 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:17.720 defeated in the state legislature, Senate Bill one two sixty three, 227 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:20.559 which was sponsored by the California Teachers Association, which would 228 00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:26.759 have eliminated the teacher one of the teacher credentialing assessments, 229 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:35.960 and the specific portion of this assessment was this requirement 230 00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:39.919 that teacher candidates take video clips of classroom instruction, submit 231 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:43.480 lesson plans, student work, and written reflections on their practice 232 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:47.159 to prove they are prepared to become teachers. Okay, so 233 00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:51.000 this bill originally was going to do that. The California 234 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:54.480 Teachers Association was pushing for this, which represents all the unions. 235 00:16:55.919 --> 00:16:59.120 They were pushing to get rid of this requirement for 236 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:02.320 someone to become a new teacher, including the video assessment. 237 00:17:02.759 --> 00:17:05.079 And this is the thing I want to talk about, 238 00:17:06.440 --> 00:17:12.720 all right. I have some experience with this. People hate 239 00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:18.079 watching themselves on video. They hate listening to themselves on audio. 240 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:23.799 And I remember this. In law school, I did a 241 00:17:23.799 --> 00:17:33.680 lot of different classes for trial advocacy and so basically 242 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:37.960 learning how to be an in the courtroom trial litigator. 243 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:43.359 And the lawyer. The professor who sort of taught those classes, 244 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:46.400 he taught a lot of these practicum classes and he 245 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:49.559 had this really great practice, this really great program he 246 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:52.680 had put together. He was sort of famous for it, 247 00:17:53.799 --> 00:17:59.480 and he insisted that everyone be video recorded doing all 248 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:02.240 the various different things they were doing, so he would 249 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:06.440 video record you. He also had like deposition practice classes 250 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:11.640 where you would practice giving a deposition or representing a 251 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:16.920 client during a deposition or whatever, so he would video 252 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:21.440 record us. And he would also he would video record 253 00:18:21.480 --> 00:18:25.480 us and make us watch ourselves doing whatever it was 254 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:29.880 we were doing. I remembered one time I did it, 255 00:18:30.440 --> 00:18:32.599 and I did the video recording of me giving an 256 00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:35.960 opening statement, and I was watching myself, and I was 257 00:18:36.039 --> 00:18:39.160 so embarrassed because I kept shifting from one foot to 258 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:41.039 the other, like I was rocking back and forth, back 259 00:18:41.079 --> 00:18:42.640 and forth, and I had no idea I was doing 260 00:18:42.680 --> 00:18:47.160 that while I was delivering this. People hate watching themselves, 261 00:18:49.480 --> 00:18:52.480 but it's a really useful tool. It lets you know, hey, 262 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:56.480 you're doing something weird. I'd say the best thing I 263 00:18:56.519 --> 00:18:58.599 ever did with radio to help me become a better 264 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:03.319 radio host, the best thing I do is listen to myself. 265 00:19:03.400 --> 00:19:06.079 I listened to myself on the podcast the first time 266 00:19:06.119 --> 00:19:08.559 I ever did any kind of podcast or radio thing. 267 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:11.160 It was a podcast thing I was doing with my 268 00:19:11.160 --> 00:19:13.960 buddy Jonathan Keller, and he asked me, hey, afterwards, can 269 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:16.880 you just take the audio file and edit out anytime 270 00:19:16.920 --> 00:19:20.000 any of us says the word uh or um? And 271 00:19:20.039 --> 00:19:23.920 it was me, Jonathan and some pastor. It's a pastor 272 00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:27.519 lots of experience with public speaking, never said um. Jonathan 273 00:19:27.640 --> 00:19:31.680 some experience with public speaking said um a few times. 274 00:19:32.359 --> 00:19:35.039 I at that time, with very little experience public speaking, 275 00:19:35.079 --> 00:19:38.839 I said uh or a billion times and I had 276 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:41.839 to edit out every single instance. And I'll never forget that. 277 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:46.519 It was such a formative thing for me to realize 278 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:49.720 this is actually how you talk, and you can't improve 279 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:52.920 unless you you know, you can't treat the illness and 280 00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:59.359 unless you diagnose what it is. So the idea that 281 00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:02.359 the teachers a association in this bill, and thank god 282 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:06.759 this got amended, how with a straight face are they 283 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:11.200 able to say, no, no, no, no, no, These teachers 284 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:16.200 don't need to submit video of how they're doing. They 285 00:20:16.200 --> 00:20:21.119 don't need to submit video of their classroom instruction as 286 00:20:21.160 --> 00:20:23.759 part of the assessment whether they should get a credential 287 00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:28.240 to be a teacher. No no, no, no, no, no no, 288 00:20:28.519 --> 00:20:33.240 you don't need to do that. I can understand the 289 00:20:33.319 --> 00:20:36.319 motive for why you wouldn't want to do that, because 290 00:20:36.359 --> 00:20:40.119 it stinks. It's painful. It's painful to listen to yourself. 291 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:43.839 It's painful to see yourself sometimes if you're screwing up, 292 00:20:45.960 --> 00:20:49.000 because often in public speaking you're doing stupid things without 293 00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:56.000 realizing it. How many of you can think of a 294 00:20:56.000 --> 00:21:02.039 pastor or something who was bad at sermonizing or being 295 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:07.200 a homilist whatever. It's probably because he's not painfully forcing 296 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:11.720 himself to watch and listen to his own stuff, and 297 00:21:11.759 --> 00:21:14.799 he doesn't realize all the things he keeps saying and 298 00:21:14.839 --> 00:21:18.720 saying and saying and saying, all the ticks he has, 299 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:24.880 all the annoying things he does. But I think this 300 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:28.640 is part of professional development. If you are in a 301 00:21:28.680 --> 00:21:32.079 position where you're public speaking, that's what teachers are. They're speaking. 302 00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:33.839 They're speaking in front of a group of thirty kids 303 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:38.240 every single day. So are you gonna do it well? 304 00:21:38.319 --> 00:21:40.079 Are you gonna make sure that these people are prepared 305 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:44.920 to do that? Or are we just gonna just leave 306 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:52.720 the doors wide open let anyone do this. I don't 307 00:21:52.759 --> 00:21:56.079 think the performance of California teachers has been so great 308 00:21:56.119 --> 00:21:58.279 that we should be looking for ways to make it 309 00:21:58.400 --> 00:22:01.440 easier for people to become teach. That seems to me, 310 00:22:01.559 --> 00:22:06.279 like you know, and again for people getting piously upset 311 00:22:06.359 --> 00:22:09.079 like I'm you know, tarnishing the reputation of mother Teresa 312 00:22:09.160 --> 00:22:12.799 or something over here. I think there are some teachers 313 00:22:12.839 --> 00:22:16.440 who are great. I think, though, like in any job, 314 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:19.279 there are some teachers who stink. And I think there 315 00:22:19.319 --> 00:22:21.400 are a lot of teachers in the middle. And you 316 00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:23.599 know who's probably nodding their head and agreeing with me 317 00:22:23.720 --> 00:22:26.039 right now, because every time I say this to a teacher, 318 00:22:26.039 --> 00:22:27.480 they nod their head and agree with me. Is a 319 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:35.640 bunch of teachers, Okay, a lot of teachers stink, a 320 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:39.119 lot of teachers are mediocre, and then there's a good 321 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:43.480 number of teachers who are good. And that's true of cops, 322 00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:45.920 it's true of lawyers, it's true of doctors, it's true 323 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:50.119 of nurses, it's true of guys in the military. Pretty 324 00:22:50.200 --> 00:22:52.880 much any job has people who are really really good, 325 00:22:53.160 --> 00:22:55.200 people who are really really stink, and a bunch of 326 00:22:55.240 --> 00:22:59.920 people in the middle. But to weaken the requirements for 327 00:23:00.039 --> 00:23:03.359 teachers is ridiculous. So thank god that portion of Senate 328 00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:05.680 Bill one two sixty three was taken out, though they 329 00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:08.319 are going to study the matter, which means CTA, the 330 00:23:08.319 --> 00:23:11.759 California Teachers Association, will keep pushing for that change at 331 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:16.559 some point down the road when we return. Some thoughts 332 00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:23.039 about Tim Walls reading the Bible and respect for newly 333 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:29.680 born disabled children next on The John Girardi Show. One 334 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:33.799 of my kind of chief building blocks of my prayer 335 00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:37.559 life is it's kind of like an adaptation of the 336 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:40.119 Book of Common Prayer. So the Book of Common Prayer 337 00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:46.279 is sort of the foundational prayer and liturgy textbook for 338 00:23:46.519 --> 00:23:51.599 Anglicans and Episcopalians and people in that universe. Now, pou 339 00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:54.079 Benedict the sixteenth one of the more significant things he 340 00:23:54.119 --> 00:23:58.559 did was he set up a structure to allow Anglicans 341 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:06.440 and Episcopalians to convert to Catholicism while retaining a lot 342 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:13.559 of their prayer traditions. Basically, a lot of Anglican prayer 343 00:24:13.640 --> 00:24:19.519 and practice has its roots in ancient more ancient Catholic stuff, 344 00:24:19.559 --> 00:24:22.319 and bo Benedict sort of recognized that there was much 345 00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:26.720 within the Anglican and Episcopal prayer traditions that was really good. 346 00:24:27.480 --> 00:24:32.720 So while you know, acknowledging that converting Anglicans and Episcopalians 347 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:37.960 would have to, you know, believe in points of Catholic dogma, 348 00:24:38.039 --> 00:24:41.039 it's not like they can become Catholic and who is 349 00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:44.720 this pope? Guy? We don't need a pope. Nonetheless, the 350 00:24:44.759 --> 00:24:50.240 traditions of how they pray Bo Bendict thought were beautiful 351 00:24:50.359 --> 00:24:56.000 and worthy things to be preserved. So one of the 352 00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:57.960 things that was brought over was sort of the tradition 353 00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:00.559 of daily prayer that was rooted in the Book of 354 00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:05.440 Common Prayer, and these Anglicans who became Catholic produced this 355 00:25:05.480 --> 00:25:10.920 book called Divine Worship the Daily Office, and that's been 356 00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:13.279 kind of my daily round of prayer. I sort of 357 00:25:13.319 --> 00:25:15.880 found it and it seems to sort of work well 358 00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:21.920 with my work and life schedule, and it's pretty cool. Basically, 359 00:25:21.960 --> 00:25:24.240 it involves praying all one hundred and fifty Psalms over 360 00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:27.240 the course of a month, and then you have a 361 00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:30.599 big read it. It's divided into basically morning prayer and 362 00:25:30.680 --> 00:25:34.480 evening prayer, so you read a chunk from the Psalms, 363 00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:40.400 an Old Testament reading, and a New Testament reading, along 364 00:25:40.440 --> 00:25:44.359 with two other sort of biblical or extra biblical canticles, 365 00:25:46.079 --> 00:25:49.200 and it sort of changes depending on the season. It 366 00:25:49.240 --> 00:25:54.240 reflects the liturgical calendar, the liturgical season that exists within 367 00:25:54.319 --> 00:25:57.279 the Catholic but also the Anglican and Lutheran and other 368 00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:05.319 traditions of you know, lent Easter time, after Pentecost, Advent, Christmas, 369 00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:09.799 et cetera. So pretty much every day I'm reading at 370 00:26:09.839 --> 00:26:13.480 morning prayer and at evening prayer two big chunks from 371 00:26:13.599 --> 00:26:16.119 the Old Testament, and over the course of the year 372 00:26:16.720 --> 00:26:19.799 you sort of wind up reading through You're not reading 373 00:26:19.799 --> 00:26:22.880 the entire Old Testament, but you're reading through, you know, 374 00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:25.880 selections of almost all of the books of the Old 375 00:26:25.960 --> 00:26:29.440 Testament over the course of a year. You also get 376 00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:32.279 two big chunks from the New Testament every day, and 377 00:26:32.359 --> 00:26:34.519 you do read I think about just about one hundred 378 00:26:34.519 --> 00:26:36.240 percent of the New Testament over the course of a year, 379 00:26:38.680 --> 00:26:45.880 and right now over the last since Pentecost. The selection 380 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:48.279 that I've been reading from the Old Testament that's been 381 00:26:48.279 --> 00:26:54.119 assigned is a lot of the history of the kingdom 382 00:26:54.279 --> 00:26:59.359 of sort of King Saul and then King David's kingdom 383 00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:04.319 King Solomon, and then the division of the two kingdoms 384 00:27:04.359 --> 00:27:09.240 of Israel into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah Israel 385 00:27:09.319 --> 00:27:14.799 in the north, Judah in the south, and a lot 386 00:27:14.839 --> 00:27:18.319 of this is this is all written out in First Samuel, 387 00:27:18.359 --> 00:27:22.519 Second Samuel, First Kings, Second Kings. And now we're sort 388 00:27:22.519 --> 00:27:26.319 of into the book the Prophet Jeremiah, and Jeremiah is 389 00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:31.680 at the time of the Babylonian captivity, where Jerusalem, the 390 00:27:31.720 --> 00:27:34.880 Kingdom of Judah, is taken over by the Chaldeans or 391 00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:42.680 the Babylonians, and the devastation that comes as a result. Now, 392 00:27:42.839 --> 00:27:48.440 the thing that you see throughout this history is the 393 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:52.440 way that the author, the divine author, but the divine 394 00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:56.640 author working through this human author of these books. They 395 00:27:56.640 --> 00:28:05.039 are basically judging these various of Judah and Israel on 396 00:28:05.119 --> 00:28:09.359 the basis of their fidelity to the Old Law, their 397 00:28:09.400 --> 00:28:16.720 fidelity to God, or their abandoning of God to allow 398 00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:23.640 or promote the worship of other gods. These other gods 399 00:28:24.400 --> 00:28:27.400 that were worshiped in the area of Palestine. And there 400 00:28:27.400 --> 00:28:29.559 were two that were sort of the most prominent. There 401 00:28:29.640 --> 00:28:33.960