Some of the schools he claims to have started don’t exist; others stand empty or house spinach. Some of the schools that do exist claim they haven’t received a penny of funding in years.

Mortenson billed his charity in one year for almost $2 million in travel and book tour/advertising expenses, even though the charity receives no royalties from his works. Some of those fees consisted of private jet flights. Pennies for schools but private jets for authors. More money was spent on domestic “outreach” expenses–i.e. book tours than on building and operating schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

If allegations are to be believed, his premise for deciding to open schools in Afghanistan is completely fabricated. I.e., he never stumbled into a small village after failing to climb K2, was never nursed back to health by the villagers, never vowed to return to fulfill his promise to a young girl that he would build her village a school.

In full disclosure, I started reading Three Cups of Tea years ago and could not get into it at all, so I read only one chapter. I never read his second book, either. As a result, all the parts of his books that are being targeted as lies are unfamiliar to me. Apparently Mortenson describes being kidnapped by the Taliban, but upon further investigation 60 Minutes reveals that the people wielding AK-47s next to him in a published photo were his unofficial body guards, not his kidnappers, according to one of the so-called kidnappers.

Maybe Mortenson should team up with James Frey (author of A Million Little Pieces, also discovered to be a grossly exaggerated memoir) so that the two liars can shed some light on what motivates a person to lie and then publish lies and then promote those lies over and over to the public and then deny the lies when the truth rears its ugly little fact-finding head.

What is incredible about this is that no one blew the whistle for years! How is it that his books and charity could become such a widespread sensation with no accountability? What does that say about the information that travels between Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the United States?

During one period I was a P.E. assistant. The P.E. teacher was absent and had left for his substitute the plans to let the students shoot baskets in the gym. That sounded pretty simple until I realized upon entering that there were about 60 students in the P.E. class. I dodged flying basketballs and volleyballs–I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so many unspectacular teenage athletes in one place before–to walk over to the substitute P.E. teacher to see what I could do to help. Basketballs and volleyballs zoomed across the gym with no aim or order and their loud crashes made the gym reverberate like a war zone.

Many students were launching shots from half court, which means that other students were dodging their airballs. Some students were kicking volleyballs so that they ricocheted off the walls and flew every which way. Now, it’s important that I say two things here: 1. I was just supposed to be the assistant; since the P.E. substitute didn’t see any problem with the situation, I didn’t want to infringe on her authority. 2. I’ve often been the stern substitute teacher at this school of no discipline and no structure, and I’ve found that I need to choose my battles carefully because the students–who are used to behaving disrespectfully and doing very little work–don’t respond well to authority, and when I’ve called in the administration for back-up after asserting my authority, I’ve usually received very little help.

So, there I was biting my tongue and finding every opportunity to leave the gym (even though it was raining) by delivering the attendance to the office, etc. I was practically getting whiplash from trying to steer clear of so many flying balls, and I was trying to stay as calm as possible in the face of such awful noise and disorder.

Man, I hate chaotic situations. And I especially hate chaotic situations in schools. After working at American Indian Public Charter School and American Indian Public High School and seeing how students can thrive academically and get in great shape when there is structure, discipline, academic rigor, and a no-nonsense approach to P.E., I have a hard time tolerating schools that don’t provide that environment.

From what I could gather, the plan to shoot baskets was a common one for the P.E. teacher. He obviously doesn’t share my same aversions to noise and chaos, but I couldn’t help but think out of the blue: Would this ever be acceptable behavior in China? I had a vision of students lined up in straight lines doing exercises in place, like jumping jacks, push ups, stretches, martial arts, etc. I had another vision of students jogging–without cutting corners–around the gym and running sprints. (Like at AIPCS.)

I was an award-winning basketball player in high school, and I could not stand this sight of so many out of control, out of shape, horrible little basketball players spazzing around. I wanted to line them up and get them working out and following instructions, but with 60 students, 100 balls, 0 whistles, and no authority I figured it was best to let the impulse pass.

It was also baffling to me that the students could gleefully participate in the chaos. It was as if their tolerance for loud noise and craziness had gotten so high that they didn’t even realize how chaotic their environment was. Needless to say, the remainder of my day as a substitute in the classroom was frustrating. Though I could control the noise level and disorder better in a classroom, I still ran into what I always run into at this low-performing middle school: The students are used to acting like fools and having no consequences for their actions, so when I am strict with them I receive a lot of attitude, back talk, power struggles–just overall defiance.

It’s not their fault per se–it’s the lack of structure, discipline, and academic rigor that surrounds them day in and day out. They’re not given a sound educational environment, so they don’t even know what it would mean to behave properly within one.

1. Put the interests of students before the interests of adults.

2. Focus on academics.

3. Focus on classroom management and discipline.

4. Have high expectations.

5. Teach students to think think think.

6. Work with the money you have instead of worrying about the money you think you deserve.

‘Tis a work in progress. If anyone feels like adding to the list or debating its contents, I’m all ears.

At the elementary school, they use what is called a “Dual Language Immersion Program.” It’s not exactly “dual”, however, when you consider that the vast majority of the school day is spent learning Spanish and academic subjects in Spanish.

For example, kindergarten students will spend about 90% of the school day using Spanish for their academic subjects and 10% of the school day using English. In 1st grade the ratio of Spanish to English becomes about 80/20; 2nd grade is 70/30; 3rd grade is 60/40; 4th grade is 50/50. It’s unclear what will happen in 5th grade as the program has not yet been implemented at that grade level.

To be completely honest, I find this model ridiculous. Why would you take such young students–students who have the opportunity and advantage of learning English from the get-go–and train them in Spanish instead of English? It does not make any sense to me. Advocates in the school district claim that it takes many years to become fluent in English, so this instructional model makes for a smoother transition. I think when you are five years old you can soak up English like a sponge, so spending 90% of the school day in Spanish is counterproductive.

Parents in the district choose whether they want their child in the “English Only” program or the “Dual Language” program. What truly baffles me is when white parents put their children in the “Dual Language” program here. I know they are hoping that their kids will be fluent in two languages, which is a great ambition, but I think the method is unsound and so the result is that their kids end up inadequate in both languages. Think about it: If your primary language is English and you are spending 90% of the school day learning Spanish in kindergarten, when will you learn English phonics, math vocabulary in English, writing in English?

I think this is also a case of what happens when educators have “great ideas” and use parents and students as guinea pigs. Parents generally have a lot of faith in educators so when the dual language program is excitedly presented to them by a teacher or administrator, they tend to go along with it and decide to give it a try. Years later when their child’s understanding of English is far below grade level, they may or may not realize their optimism was misguided.