My First Thought About Missouri's New Social Media Law ...
Justin Bathon on Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 10:37AM was that I am really, really happy I am not teaching at Mizzou right now (which was under discussion at low-levels at one point). I'm serious. That was my first thought. Not only do I not want to deal with this in my job, but more importantly, I don't want my kids in those schools. My sister went to Mizzou. It's close to home for me. I am a Cardinals fan to the core. And, I like that university and always held it as a place I could see myself at for the long-term. But, my first thought in seeing that new law ... glad I'm not at Mizzou.
These kinds of decisions have real-life consequences, beyond even the present-day high-school classroom. This kind of stuff sends a message of who you are and who you want to be as a state. How can you be serious about trying to build a high-tech sector in Saint Louis when your leaders make statements like this one? How can you be serious about trying to keep your best and brightest in-state, when you are sending messages that you are going to restrict how the best and brightest talk to one another?
Ultimately, these types of decisions, time and time and time again, are why Saint Louis is not Chicago (it should be, if you didn't know, but instead now-a-days I see it more frequently compared to Detroit). This is why the Washington University grads want to go live in New York or Chicago or California. Ultimately, this is why places lose in the global competition. South Korea is putting technology as fast as possible into student's hands ... Missouri is taking it away. So, why do economic numbers surprise us again?
And, circling back, because I've kept my eye on them, I know that Mizzou's education leadership program has lost a lot of really good, young faculty members over the last few years. I can't help but think these types of things are related.
Reader Comments (1)
I normally look to maintain a serious tone when I post here. But, I can't help myself this time.
I think the state motto is being changed to Missouri the "Show Me Your Papers State"