RIP Seth Tobias; Book Review: Reclamation, A.J. Kaufman

Seth Tobias passed away Monday night at the age of 44. Seth was a frequent guest host on CNBC Squawk Box and well known in Wall Street circles. I had the pleasure of hanging out a few times with Seth, who was close with a couple of close friends of mine. He was a fun person who got the most out of every day. What I learned from my limited time with Seth was to squeeze the most out of every single day, and to let the people you care most about know how much you care. He showed the people he loved how important they were to him. One story I wanted to share about the type of person Seth was. A few years back, his firm was involved in some sort of rogue trading in which his investors lost quite a bit of money (8 figures). When this happened, Seth proactively and voluntarily went into his own pocket so that these investors were made whole. That is something that was the right thing to do, but that many would not have done. It showed that he was a man of integrity. Rest in peace, Seth.

Ari (A.J.) Kaufman, who is a consistent contributor to this blog under the "Ari's Take" title, recently penned a book called "Reclamation: Saving our Schools Starts from Within." As someone who has gotten to know Ari over the past couple years, combined with the fact that I have a child who just started first grade in the public school system, I immediately purchased the book and gave it a read.

Overall, Kaufman does an admirable job at laying out the issues that he sees in our educational system, having spent two years as a teacher in the Los Angeles school system. Ari shows obvious passion as he discusses problems that can seemingly be fixed with a little bit of effort and common sense, but which are continually blocked by the Teacher's Union. The union, instead of working to provide the best environment and opportunity for our children to learn and grow and to develop a foundation from which they can turn into tomorrow's leaders, they blindly fight to perpetuate poor teaching habits and a system in which teachers are rewarded for mediocre (at best) performance. (Note: while Ari and I sometimes agree and often disagree on matters of politics, it is safe to say that we share the view that unions are an obsolete tool in today's society that only serves to protect the weak while creating tremendous inefficiencies).

Kaufman uses the pages to point out specific issues with corresponding solutions. He puts his money where his mouth is by starting with actual letters to various editors that were published during his teaching days that highlight these problems, then dissects the issue using examples and offers for the most part sensible solutions. For example, it is maddening to read about items such as merit pay, an idea that not only makes sense but is standard practice in corporate America, that cannot see the light of day because the union wants to protect its members.

There are two things about the book which frustrate me as a reader who agrees with the vast majority of what Mr. Kaufman argues in his book. First is the fact that while Kaufman attempts to speak Nationally and uses studies and other such data to make his points, his personal experiences, and therefore the crux of his theories, are from the Los Angeles school district, which is not similar in many ways to most other districts throughout the country. For example, if I felt that my children would be exposed to all the same issues that Kaufman outlines, they would be going to private school instead of Lower Merion School District. Second, I believe Ari makes many powerful arguments. But if that is the case, how can our country hope to solve these types of problems if a powerful union is facing opposition like Ari who leave when they do not believe they can defeat the status quo. Bottom line, we need people like Kaufman who have the common sense and passion to stay and fight the battles to drive slow but necessary change. My last point is not a criticism of Ari for changing career paths. It is simply an observation that he represents about the highest combination of ability and passion that I know in that arena, and if someone like him gave up after only a couple of years, is it unrealistic to expect change in our lifetimes? And if we cannot expect change, what does that signify about our direction as a global empire? These are the types of questions that reading this book inspires, and it is the type of debate that we do not do nearly enough, and we need to start before it gets too late.

As you have figured out, I recommend Mr. Kaufman's book. I think you should read it because it not only outlines many of the flaws in our educational system, but also lends itself to the important discussions that we need to have before these issues manifest themselves in a weaker country. If you are interested in order Ari's book, you can click here.