The heat is on the Heat

The Miami Heat showed last night why they may have a lot more difficulty getting through the Eastern Conference playoffs and to the finals than their record would indicate.

The team led the Knicks last night for most of the game — but surrendered two significant Knicks runs that ultimately doomed the Heat and the Heats’ big guns came up small when they needed to come up huge.

Lebron James and Dwayne Wade looked flustered and Chris Bosh disappeared for long stretches. There were lazy passes and an inability to contain Carmelo Anthony when Anthony wanted it.

What seemed obvious, as the game clocked ticked down to zero was that the Knicks wanted it more, from Anthony’s decision to cover James down the stretch to Amar’e’s huge block on James to Chauncey Billups once again living up to his nickname.

What was striking was the Knicks’ defense when it mattered. A team that no one will confuse with the Willis/Clyde or Ewing/Oakley Knicks, Stat and Melo made it clear last night that they were ready to put in the effort on the defensive end, and the role players — Bill Walker, Shawn Williams, Rony Turiaf — played their roles well.

The Knicks are not going far in the playoffs this year — though I do think they match up well with their likely first-round opponents Chicago or Miami.

But I have my doubts as to whether the Heat can go far, as well. The Celtics play devastating defense, as does Dwight Howard and Orlando. And the Heat just don’t close out games or win close games (5-11 in games decided by 5 or less) or consistently beat good teams (under .500 against teams above .500).

None of this is meant to indicate that the Heat are a bad team. These numbers are going to change and the Heat will move to the top of the heap. It’s just that, this year, the Heat have a lot of work to do.

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Charter dissent

There appears to be some dissent from charter mania, and not just in the suburban districts.

Droves of parents and community members at tonight’s Newark school board meeting expressed vociferous outrage about a plan to close and consolidate failing Newark schools in an effort to clear space for charter schools.

The meeting became so raucous and hostile at moments that Advisory Board President Shavar Jeffries threatened to remove audience members or stop the meeting. About 300 people attended the meeting at the 15th Avenue School, one of the facilities slated for consolidation.

Everyone wants parental involvement. Well, here it is.

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  • Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. It can be ordered here.
  • Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.
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A small, but important step toward equality

President Obama is finally doing the right thing on the Defense of Marriage Act, at least in part

After two-plus years of allowing his administration to defend the indefensible anti-civil rights law, he has ordered it to back away from its constitutional defense of Section 3 of the statute, “which limits the definition of marriage to opposite-sex partners, precludes spouses in same-sex marriages from receiving certain federal benefits to which spouses in traditional marriages are entitled.”

While the president and Attorney General Eric Holder, who announced the decision, did not go so far as to call for DOMA’s full repeal or say that the administration would remove itself from all challenges,

Holder noted that Obama had “concluded that given a number of factors, including a documented history of discrimination, classifications based on sexual orientation should be subject to a more heightened standard of scrutiny.”

It is an issue of discrimination for the administration, which means that the debate has been altered. The administration very specifically backed away from conservative attempts to define this as a debate about traditional marriage. I wish he would have gone farther — to declare without reservation that DOMA should be repealed — but Obama’s decision is an important step forward for gay rights. 

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  • Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. It can be ordered here.
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After picking schools’ pockets, governor gives districts some cheese

I’m wondering whether the governor has strained himself patting himself on the back for all the good work he’s doing on education aid and reform.

Here is the press release he issued today to announce local school aid figures:

Further demonstrating his firm commitment to strengthening and reforming education in New Jersey, Governor Christie is providing an additional $250 million for New Jersey schools in his fiscal year 2012 budget. Aid figures released today by the Department of Education show an increase for every school district in the state. In addition, public charter schools will receive $4.6 million in additional funds – an increase of over 50 percent — another indication of the Christie Administration’s commitment to expanding high-quality public charter schools for New Jersey children.

“Last year, our state faced severe fiscal challenges, and we had to make some very difficult choices. Reductions to education funding were among the most agonizing of those choices,” Governor Chris Christie said. “Because of the foundation we set in last year’s budget, and our responsible management of the state’s finances, New Jersey is on firmer footing and we are able to put more funding into classrooms throughout New Jersey.”

That’s a lot praise for himself for a paltry increase of $250 million. Yes, paltry — he cut more than $1.1 billion last year and the $250 million he’s increasing aid this year does not even come close to fully funding the state’s education formula.

But that’s not a surprise. The governor’s education priorities have never included the public schools, which he views as broken.

“(M)ore money on its own will not fix our education system. We must continue to vigorously pursue education reforms to fundamentally change public education, focused on achieving results for children, rewarding excellence in the classroom and demanding accountability throughout the system.”

His reforms? A “challenge (to) the status quo” that “move(s) toward a system that demands accountability, rewards highly effective teachers, utilizes performance measures and ensures each and every child receives the quality education they deserve.”

In English: testing, charters, vouchers and the breaking of the teachers union. The goal has nothing to do with improving the state’s schools and everything to do with longstanding conservative ideology. And that is jut not good for the students of the state.

  • Send me an e-mail.
  • Read poetry at The Subterranean.
  • Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. It can be ordered here.
  • Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.
    Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.