Ari J. Kaufman

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Biography (Cont.)

 

After three long years of union theft and no time for proper education, I resigned, shocked by the lack of professionalism from my bitter colleagues. Tolerance toward reform, ambition or creativity was anathema. This truly irked me, and showed me that this profession did not seek folks like me who desired improvement and innovation, instead of the status quo that has made education the only area America lags behind the rest of the world---and where we truly need "change."

 

This unfortunate situation led to a premature resignation from the profession that was once my "calling," as they say. However, on the positive side, my observations gave me the opportunity to assist American education's gradual rise from the doldrums it now encompasses. 


Reclamation: Saving our schools starts from within was published in the spring of 2007, fewer than two years after I resigned from the educational world. As the book, as well as my writings and radio interviews often indicate, if these ideas are accepted and enacted in any form in the future, the hundreds of days I spent instructing and acting as a needed father figure to low-income students in urban Los Angeles will have been even better spent. 
 

As writing was always my primary love, I also began penning travel pieces in 2005, eventually authoring A Year in Americana in September 2006. This book presented its readers a look at various unique locales in our nation based upon my travels to all 48 contiguous states, soon after my relocation from Southern California. In September 2006, the San Diego Coast News published a feature about me and my travel writing. 

 

In my new life, I have combined my love of writing with my interest in America's unparalleled proud past, to serve as a Military Historian for the Indiana War Memorials Commission where I conduct research and writing. I also head up our public relations, giving tours to schoolchildren, seniors and veterans' groups three days per week at both historic properties. 

 

After presenting my work in educational reform, I was named an Associate Fellow at the Sagamore Institute in June 2007.


I still do freelance work on several fronts, and since 2006, I've covered events around the region as a contributor to the Jewish Post and Opinion. I am also a correspondent for Pajamas Media, Chair of the Indiana chapter of the RJC, and have had my writing published in the Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis Men's Magazine and Indianapolis Monthly Magazine. 


My editorials, mostly on educational reform, have been run in The Baltimore Sun, The Los Angeles Daily News and The Indianapolis Star. They have also seen extensive publication the past few years in The Orange County Register, where these pieces have spanned issues in politics, sports and sociology. Internet sites such as FrontPage Magazine, The American Thinker, The International Travel Writers Magazine, Midwest Sports Fans, Orange Caster Social Media, the old, new and newer American Daily, and other similar publications regularly post my work. 


A summary letter of explanation upon the transformation of my socio-political outlook from September of 2006 can be read here
 
Or, as Sir Winston Churchill, one of the greatest men to ever grace our earth, once opined brilliantly:
 
 
"A man who is not liberal at 20 has no heart. A man who is not conservative at 30 has no brain."