Philippine Basic Education

"Putting one's money where one's mouth is" is an old saying that prescribes us not to just talk about problems, but actually do something about it. This instruction may be useful in making someone honor their commitment but an additional exercise that may be enlightening is to look at where one puts his or her money. After all, where we spend money speaks volume with regard to what we deem worthy. The budget of a government reflects its values. The Philippines relies on the community during a week in May to prepare classrooms for the school opening in June. It is called "Brigada Eskwela". For the Department of Education, "Brigada Eskwela" brings together the community to help prepare classrooms. For the Alliance of Concerned Teachers, "Brigada Eskwela" is a “mere band-aid solution” to the “convulsions” of the country’s educational system. Basic education in the Philippines sits on the shoulders of the national government, but "Briga…

Karen Keys' Gamarra captured last night the largest number of votes, endorsing her for one of the "at-large" seats in the Fairfax County School Board. Gamarra has been with the school board for one and a half years and yet, has initiated and supported the following:
Presented a motion to amend the opioid curriculum to make sure our students understand the dangers of casual drug use of any kind including the use of marijuana, new levels of potency and its impact on addiction leading to opioid use.Sponsored a budget amendment to provide more behavior intervention teachers to improve the experience of our special education studentsSponsored a budget amendment to reduce discipline referrals and increase restorative efforts.Sponsored a budget amendment to maintain Title I funding for our high poverty schools.Sponsored a motion to address disparities in advanced academics by increasing access for all students (study in progress).Focused on anti-bullying efforts and greater unde…

Decade after decade, it is the same story. It is true that segregation is no longer dictated by law, but it is now indirectly enforced by housing prices, school programs, and zoning policies. We have candidates for school boards who appear to be championing equity in our schools. The sad bottom line, however, is that things have hardly changed. In "Who Gets Served in Gifted Education? Demographic Representation and a Call for Action", it is clear that the under-representation of low-income children, English language learners, students with disabilities, Blacks, and Hispanics in advanced academic programs persists.


And the state of Virginia is no exception:


In Virginia, Asian American children are seven times more likely to be identified as gifted or advanced than a child considered either as an English language learner or as a child with learning disabilities. It is also guaranteed that this disparity really draws a line based on family income.

The stubbornness stems not fro…

It is easy to claim that gifts and favors decide which candidate will win in an election in the Philippines. This is actually very simplistic. Using policies and performance as guides in fact do not offer a clearer way for voters to decide. In so many ways, in a developing country where there are so many needs unmet, prioritization becomes an overwhelming task. A flyer intended to inform voters in a municipality in Ilocos back in 2016 illustrates this challenge:


One candidate, Cornelio Carta,, Jr., favors health, education, agricultural assistance, peace amd security, and community events while the other candidate, Riolita Balbalan, focuses more on helping the needy, water and sanitation, roads, and community facilities. Balbalan won the election in 2016. Recently, Carta run again for mayor but lost again while Balbalan won as vice mayor. Given the wide range of responsibilities shouldered by a local government, it is not easy to pick and choose. One can only guess that a voter will p…

During election day, Filipinos have the opportunity to visit public schools because voting precincts are located inside classrooms. It is therefore highly likely that Filipino voters are aware of the conditions of public schools in the Philippines. And some are a bit surprised to see two different classrooms. In the photographs below, Senator Bam Aquino (left) and Bongbong Marcos (right) vote in an elementary classroom in Tarlac and in Ilocos Norte, respectively. Some people could see a difference between the two classrooms.



Here is the current president, also voting in an elementary school in Davao City.



So Filipinos had a chance to see their schools. Public school teachers serve as election officials in the Philippines so Filipinos not only have seen the classrooms but also the people who take care of our young. We entrust to these teachers the future of our children and yes, we also entrust to these teachers our votes. The question remains however, whether we actually see.

Since education assumes a very important place in a society, it is without doubt dependent on politics. Today is the first day of early voting for endorsing candidates to the school board in Fairfax county by the Democratic party. And in the Philippines, on Monday, the people will elect both national and local leaders. A high school classmate of mine is running for membership in the local council of the city of Manila and in one of my posts, he wrote, "Ibulid mo sa kahirapan ang tao, pakainin mo ng limos, pabobohin mo, paasahin mo, itolerate mo ang mga mali, magbebenta ng boto yan, palaging aasa sa politiko, at tuwing eleksiyon dahil gutom, ibebenta ang boto. Walang matinong politiko ang maiboboto." (Throw the people into poverty, feed them with alms, make them ignorant, give them false hopes, do not correct their wrong ways, then they will sell their votes, they will always rely on politicians and on every election because they are starving, they will sell their votes. Thus…