MENTAL FLAWS FLOSS

The Solution to the Educational Crisis

My name is Rene Iatba. I am a philosopher who uses art as a transcendental language to convey my theories. I have come to the conclusion that PHILOSOPHY and ART EDUCATION are the most important of all forms of education and therefore should be given the importance currently granted to academic studies. The development of our thinking and artistic abilities should parallel every aspect of our education from cradle to grave. My philosophical theory attests that Nature communicates with us in the form of inspiration and it is incumbent upon every one of us to learn how to translate Nature’s messages into a transcendental language. Art is that transcendental language, and drawing is its written form. Philosophy provides us with understanding, and art provides the basic means to convey our understanding. Art allows us to communicate with the illiterate, those who don’t understand our language and future generations.

MFF THE PERFECT FUNDRAISING TOOL

I have solved the education problem and how to finance it with the creation of an art object called MENTAL FLAWS FLOSS (MFF). I consider it to be a mental flaw to think that one could be born without creativity. The MFF sculptures help us floss this mental flaw. Anyone capable of tying their own shoes can create one of these sculptures. MFF are created with inexpensive commonly discarded items: string, wheat paste, newspapers and Styro-foam blocks found protecting computers during shipment. Any preconceived ideas that might be attached to works of art such as similitude, symmetry, proportions, etc., are flossed from the mind while creating an MFF. It forces the mind to go back to square one, clean the slate, and start anew. The MFF is a simple idea that clearly demonstrates that anyone is capable of creating a work of art. My solution to the educational and financial problem is based on the production and sale of the MFF. The MFF is the perfect fund raising tool. Like the art created by famous artists, all MFFs have a distinctive look, unique and similar at the same time. The only difference between them is that the MFF tells the beholder that the owner bestowed a generous grant to help alleviate the educational crisis, while works by famous artists do not.

THE MFF NEEDS LEGAL PROTECTION

During my tenure as a volunteer art teacher for reputable educational institutions, I discovered that not-for-profit organizations share a common flaw - the need to justify bigger grants every year. None of these institutions have programs to make themselves self-sufficient and eventually independent. By the time that a grant is funneled to institutions, a percentage, however small, will be diverted towards unintended purposes. It is more convenient for these institutions to show hardship every year, than to try to become independent. The need for bigger grants eventually transforms them into fund-raising organizations just to cover the costs of administration.

The MFF is based on the idea of rewarding philanthropists for their contribution to education, just like an Oscar rewards those who have accomplished something outstanding in the film industry. Once the concept and purpose behind the MFF is established by high-visibility philanthropists or people interested in solving the educational crisis we can dedicate our energy to develop the MFF unhindered by the fear of having to defend and protect the concept as an intellectual property. It would be a catastrophe if someone were to appropriate this idea and deny us the use of it. Or worse yet, that it would become public domain.

The control of the MFF production and sale needs to be legally protected. Those philanthropists or institutions that have demonstrated a commitment to solving the educational crisis are the only ones able to guarantee such legal protection. The creation of a MFF is so simple that anyone, with contacts in high places, could appropriate it for self-aggrandizing reasons. The concept needs a powerful and respectable foundation to protect and establish it as a fund-raising tool created specifically to help our educational problem.

The acceptance of a MFF, made public by a well-known philanthropist or educational institution, would legitimize, copyright the name “Mental Flaws Floss,” and register it as a trade mark. I am willing to sign any legal document stating that all proceeds or use of MFF be solely dedicated to further alleviate our educational crisis. I will produce and contribute as many MFF as are initially needed to help with the cost of lectures and training seminars.

In the September 29, 2003 issue of Newsweek it says that The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation bestowed $51 million to New York City public schools and that the aim is “to turn some of New York’s sprawling and often troubled high schools into smaller, theme based academies.” My proposal will turn ALL of them into theme-based academies, and not just in New York City but in the whole country. I am sure that you’ve heard the saying “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” The Newsweek article mentions that the Gates Foundation gift, which will be funneled through seven nonprofit groups, will create 200 more such schools. Nowhere in the article is mentioned a program that could make any of these seven nonprofit groups, or the 200 schools, self-sufficient and eventually independent of further grants from foundations.

I propose to teach the production of this distinctive form of art (MFF) to be sold exclusively through programs to be sponsored by corporations. This will, eventually, make the institutions self-sufficient and independent. In addition, paying students a minimum wage to learn how to create these sculptures will give them an incentive to participate in after-school programs and/or enroll in summer school.

In an article published in the New York Times, Sunday, February 27, 2005, it quotes Mr. Gates, speaking to the National Governors’ Association. “America’s high schools are obsolete” and are “ruining the lives of millions of Americans every year.” To address the problem, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said it would give $15 million to the National Governors’ Association, “to be disbursed to states that take significant steps to improve their high schools.” It pains me to know that the Foundation, after investing $733 million in more than 1,500 high schools, still the problem of education is in a dismal state of affairs as described by Mr. Gates at the National Governors’ Association.

“Adopting rigorous academic standards,” as suggested by Mr. Gates, is only part of the solution, given that not every student is capable of excelling in academic studies despite how hard they try. I was one of those students. Regardless of how hard I studied, I remained a C minus student. I loved school but felt as if there was something wrong with me. The only time I felt as if I belonged was when the school needed decorations, banners, back drops, costumes or props for their plays, and they would ask me to be the art director. It made me feel important.

The problem is how to finance an education while supporting oneself after graduating from high school without any viable skills. Mr. Gates said, “What we know about graduation rates, the people who graduate and the skills they have – it paints a very scary and almost shameful picture of the contrast between the idea of education as a great equalizer and the actual state of affairs.”

I am convinced, and all I’m asking is an opportunity to demonstrate, that the great equalizer is an education based in philosophy and art. Imagine a society where students, by the time they finish high school, understand what they read, know how to think conceptually, know how to read and write music, know how to express themselves through writing, drawing, know basic mathematics and know how to create an MFF to support themselves and further their education. I am the poster child for this proposal. I need the help of a philanthropist or a foundation to tighten the tourniquet and stop this money hemorrhage. I propose to teach children how to fish instead of giving them the fish.I am not asking to lower the standards of education to accommodate mediocrity. If anything, I am just providing an extra set of tools to help improve the existing educational crisis that throwing money at the problem has not been able to solve. What I propose is an art and philosophy program which would parallel the rigorous academic standards of education. All of this can be accomplished and funded by the sales of Mental Flaws Floss created by the students through after-school and summer school programs.

NO JUDGES, NO JURORS, NO PRIZES

I propose to make it mandatory for every school to teach their students how to create an MFF in after-school programs. The after-school programs will be financed by the sale of the many MFF through public auctions at art exhibits held on school grounds. These fund-raising functions will be sponsored by philanthropists, art collectors, foundations and corporations. Schools in need of money to finance other activities could use the combination of bake sales, cutting grass, washing cars, selling candy or raffle tickets from door to door to advertise the upcoming fund-raising art exhibition of MFF.

Once children learn how to make a MFF they can teach their parents, and while the children are at school, the homebound parents can create them for their children to decorate. This parent-child interaction will strengthen their bond and elevate the self-esteem of parents who might feel inadequate to help their children with their academic studies, financially, intellectually or otherwise. After graduating high school, students in need of tuition money to further their education or pay for student loans, can teach grade school students how to create MFFs and sell their own through their high school or alma mater. Their school in turn will auction these MFFs, pay the cost of the student’s tuition or loan and use the rest for the maintenance and improvement of the MFF program.

During the time I volunteered as an art teacher for various non-profit organizations, I conducted several experiments to find a way of keeping the attention of unruly teenagers. The answer was money - instant gratification. Offer money to a teenager and they won’t even ask what they have to do to get it. This is the advantage that the criminal element has over us. They provide kids with the opportunity to make lots of easy money. I implemented a summer program where kids got paid to come and learn how to manufacture MFFs to sell and this way fund the program. As they learned how to create a MFF I taught them manners, how to lose the fear of criticism, how to express themselves through art, the importance of freedom of expression, the folly of self-censorship, how to enrich their vocabulary, conceptual thinking, discipline, graphic design, philosophy, music, comedy, self-esteem, tolerance, anger management, and the destructive aspects of drug and alcohol abuse. Just about any subject that they brought into the room was discussed at length while they learned how to create these sculptures in a safe and friendly atmosphere. Since the creation of an MFF doesn’t require concentration or undivided attention, they can be made while interacting. Creating an MFF is a social activity that will spark the desire to remain in school, thus lowering the drop-out rate.

They were paid to come and learn to create something that could be sold and, at the same time, learn how to exchange ideas, social skills, how to lose the fear of communicating private feelings and frustrations. Sharing experiences revealed to them that their problems were not as unique as they thought. I was their moderator, not their teacher or their boss. I was neither an authority figure nor a disciplinarian. I was learning as much from them as they were learning from me. There were no tests, no judgments, no threats, no punishments; they were paid to learn. The only requirement to stay in the program was to finish a MFF without my assistance. After that, it was up to them to start a new one or quit the program; none of them quit. My program’s slogan was, “Better to pay for their education than to pay for their incarceration.”

This program was designed to provide a skill that is ignored by the current system of education. Every time that the government feels the need to balance the budget, the first casualties are the after-school programs and art education. This tragic mistake might just be why there are so many kids who lose interest in graduating. There is very little in our schools that are geared toward sustaining their attention long enough for them to graduate. There is only physical education and an academic curriculum. If neither one interests the student, the attention span is gone.

FEED YOURSELF

Should I had graduated from high school I still would not have had the necessary skills to get a job with which to support myself, much less pay for college tuition and what could I have chosen to learn? In today’s computerized age , an education reinforced with art and philosophy presents a much wider range of opportunities. My natural ability to create with whatever is available made it possible for me to learn English and support myself while I investigated what was it that I wanted to do in life. I became an illustrator, photographer, fashion designer, set designer, graphic artist, and art director for various publications and advertising agencies.

Mr. Gates is quoted in the New York Times article as saying that there were moral as well as economic reasons to upgrade high schools, which he portrayed as the crossroads where children’s’ paths diverge. “Some go on to lives of accomplishments and privilege, others to lives of frustration, joblessness and jail.” He added that states should publish detailed data showing the percentages of children who drop out of high school or go on to college, broken down by race and income. The data would expose “the injustice” of the current system. “In district after district wealthy white kids are taught Algebra II while low-income minority kids are taught to balance a checkbook.”

In conclusion, it is my experience that if we were to teach both the white wealthy kids and low-income minority kids Algebra II a disparity would still exist. We can not fault “the injustice” of the current system. There is no one to blame. The wealthy white kids, whether they learn algebra II or not, have their wealth to back them up and most likely they will go on to live a life of, maybe not accomplishment, but certainly of privilege. The low-income minority kids, even if they were to excel in Algebra II, still would have their environment, racism, and all forms of discrimination on top of their low-income status to fight against. If we add to this, the criminal element anxious to satisfy their instant gratification cravings, the end result is still a life of frustration, joblessness, untimely death and quite likely jail.

If we were to teach art education and philosophy in grade school, after-school programs and summer school, it would be a completely different story. While the “wealthy white kid” goes to summer camp, the “low-income minority kid” goes to summer school, spends time with their peers under supervision, getting paid to learn social graces while learning how to create a Mental Flaws Floss to sell and support the program. This idea beats getting a job flipping burgers, or doing nothing at home unsupervised, while fighting the criminal element in their neighborhood and the temptation of making easy money.

Paying for their education is better than paying for their incarceration. Getting paid minimum wage in a job that one might consider demeaning, is a deterrent to getting a job at all. Learning to create a MFF along side their peers and getting paid minimum wages while they do it, builds their self respect. Learning how to create a MFF is the equivalent of learning how to fish. I am able and willing to travel, and would be pleased to discuss this proposal at your earliest convenience.

NATURE’S EMBASSY/ SQUARE ONE
We are in desperate need of a place where the free exchange of ideas could take place without the fear of been labeled an undesirable by corporations, politicians or religious leaders. I envision a gigantic terrarium with a building inside in the shape of the number one in which to house every venue and instrument necessary to defend the rights of an individual to express their ideas. I have dedicated 35 years of my life to see that this becomes a reality; so that the second renaissance can happen. I have named this The “RENEISSANCE the advent of education”. We must go back to SQUARE ONE and give art education the importance we give to academic studies. We must remember that without art there would be no academic studies.