Last Post. Starting Ladder Business!

How tall is that wall going to be anyway? Details here.

Missions of the 21st Century

The events of the last 24 hours truly sadden all those connected with public education. Weston HS Principal John Klang was truly a hero. He, along with ESP Dave Thompson, prevented the injury and possible deaths of who know how many people when they disarmed the 15 year old gunman. Words cannot express the sadness that I feel even typing these words. One story is here.

Most public schools are safe places for students and staff but these events are not isolated. To say so is dismissive and overly optimistic that such an event will not occur in another district. The truth is that staff in schools across the country prevent hundreds if not thousands of potential violent episodes each and every day. Students are, after all is said and done, reflective of society. For those righties....It's Society not the public school system...STUPID!

Private schools can pick and choose their clientele. Public schools cannot. The goal of the public schools is to teach everyone regardless of handicap. Although public schools do not explicitly teach religion, the golden rule is reinforced countless times throughout each school day. In addition to teaching "basics" we have over the last 40 years taken over the jobs of parents who in many cases are struggling just to pay the bills. Not an easy task but one educators have accepted as reality.

When comparing the goals of the public schools to that of private schools, which sounds more like the missionary work? I rest my case.

Our schools are full of people like John Klang and Dave Thompson. This takes nothing away from what these men did this week. It merely acknowledges what we all know would be the case in all public schools. Heroism doesn't only happen when someone brings a weapon. It occurs each and every day in our public schools!

Maybe now is time for you to contact that favorite teacher or staff and thank them today!

E-mail Forces Foley Resignation?

Honestly, a casual reader of the Milwaukee J-S would get the impression from the
headline that the crusader against child porn resigned because of an electronic mix up.

Not being a casual reader of the news, I have to say the transcript of the email that Representative Foley (R-Florida) is some of the most disgusting sick stuff that I have ever read in my not so sheltered life. If you can stomach it you too can read the e-mailshere. The J-S printed mild versions of the emails in question.

These are the people who the extreme right elects because of their principles and values. Pardon me while I go puke!

National Priorities Project Tallies Bush's War Cost

Check out this site! When I did, Bush's folly could have funded over 15 million 4 year college scholarships,or 5.5 million new teachers, or 2.8 million housing units or provided health insurence for over 190 million kids.
The craziness continues.

Bad Dems?

While headline writers at the Journal-Sentinel think that the story is that the Dems are trying to "undermine Republicans", they minimize the National Intelligence Estimate report that our country's actions in Iraq have made the world a less safe place.

Were the Democrats bringing this to the attention to the sleeping media that as often as not is hesitant to report real news? Absolutely. To somehow attribute this predictable but damning report as a political attack is a dishonest way to deflect the Bush Bullies' decision realities. I recall very clearly that many had predicted the exact same thing that this report details five years ago.
This country's media monopoly is incredibly biased, lazy and despicable. Unfortunately, it is the only one we have with the exception of the increasingly important blogs.

NCLB Questions With Surprise Ending!

Marion Brady has spent 75 years in education one way or the other. She has some questions for the Aspen Institute, an organization soliciting electronic feedback about the NCLB Act. Mr. Brady suspects that this information gathering is a prelude to a recommendation that the 50 state versions of NCLB be changed to one national version.
These are Marion's questions via Daily Kos.

Question: Management experts say poor institutional performance almost always indicates a "system" problem. NCLB doesn't blame poor performance on the system but on teachers and kids. Are the experts wrong?

Question: NCLB demands "standards and accountability" for school subjects. Wouldn't it make more sense to key standards and accountability to ends rather than means, to kids' ability to fuse and actually use what they've learned?

Question: Some researchers say that pre-natal and early childhood care, environmental contamination, parental attitudes, family income, language facility and many other factors affect student performance. In well-run NCLB schools, are these irrelevant?

Question: NCLB relies on market forces to shape schools up. Does this mean that learning is unnatural and won't happen unless teachers and kids are threatened or bribed?

Question: NCLB is rapidly pushing "frills" out of the curriculum. Has research now established that art, music, physical activity and so on have nothing to do with scientific and mathematical reasoning ability?

Question: Nationwide, hundreds of thousands of kids are being held back because of poor reading and math skills. Is the ability to interpret symbols the only way the young learn, and therefore sufficient reason to flunk them?

Question: NCLB's avowed aim is to "close the achievement gap." The tools for measuring that gap are tests of symbol-manipulation skills. Don't these skills track relative wealth and privilege, therefore tending to maintain the gap? And aren't the tests incorrectly but nevertheless widely seen as indicators of intelligence, bringing into play gap-perpetuating self-fulfilling prophecies?

Question: NCLB goes a long way toward cutting local educators and school board members out of the decision-making loop. Does the history of top-down, centralized control suggest this change strategy works well?

Question: Education is supposed to teach kids to think for themselves, not just recall what they've been ordered to remember. Are the centerpieces of NCLB (corporately produced, machine-scored tests) able to judge the relative quality of complex thought processes? If so, why aren't they already doing that?

Question: NCLB assumes the "core" curriculum (the mainstay of present schooling) is as appropriate today as it was when it was adopted in 1892. Is it?

Question: If there are problems with the traditional, same-thing-for-everybody curriculum, don't "raising the bar" and "rigor" just make them worse?

Question: Will manipulating the curriculum to "maintain America's competitive position in world trade" be more likely to ensure America's future well-being than helping kids love learning because it lets them pursue their interests and talents wherever they lead?

Question: Frantic to avoid the test-triggered "failing" label, most schools use myriad strategies to "game" the system. For example, knowing the worst kids will never make the cut on high-stakes tests, and the best will do so without help, the "marginal middle" gets most of the attention. Is it possible to track and counter all the ingenious strategies emerging in response to naive policies?

Question: Many educators (maybe most) now assume that NCLB is a clever strategy less concerned with closing the achievement gap than with undermining confidence in public education and laying the groundwork for privatizing the institution. Are they wrong? And if they are, how can their cynicism be countered and morale restored?

Many agree that the push to federalize education is on. Rod Paige and Bill Bennett state their case for education change in this recent Washington Post article.

You can add your comments to the Aspen Report here. As an added bonus GUESS WHO THE CHAIRMAN IS? Find out by clicking on the Aspen Report. SURPRISE!!! Isn't that reassuring?

Walmart Alternative to Wisconsin?

If you have been avoiding Walmart as many of us do this development this is going to come as good news.According to the Wisconsin State Journal Costco is planning a store in Middleton and Grafton. This is important because Costco is the anti-Walmart. Costco wages average $17 per hour plus a full health and benefit package. Some employees are union members.This company creates the jobs that guarantee a living wage and generate an expansion of the tax base. Additionally, unlike Walmart, we do not end up paying for the health insurance of its employees.I'm looking forward to supporting this great company!

The Real Green Economic and Tax Plan

I wasn't able to watch the debate between Governor Doyle and Representative Green on Friday so my comments are based upon things that I have read elsewhere.

From what I've read and to put it simply, U.S. Rep Green is concerned about expanding the manufacturing base and wants to freeze or cut taxes. Governor Doyle wants to expand the high tech jobs and make strategic decisions about where a limited amount of tax money needs to go.
Green's ideas seem deeply rooted to the economies of the past. As we are repeatedly reminded, we live in a global economy. Low tech manufacturing jobs are going or have already gone to other countries never to return. To encourage the return of these manufacturing jobs with corporate welfare (Bribing) keeps these companies in Wisconsin only as long as the next time another state offers an even more enticing package of corpowelfare benefits. This cycle does not build a sustainable healthy economy. It also does not expand the tax base or continue the services Wisconsinites have come to expect. Stubbornly clinging to these notions would be disastrous for Wisconsin.

Governor Doyle has the right idea concerning growing Wisconsin's economy. As is always the case, education is the answer to the problem. A highly educated workforce attracts higher end companies which increase the wages of workers far beyond those working in the manufacturing sector. These highly paid workers also contribute more in taxes than line workers thus there is more money available for tax provided services.
Although the some editorials and blogs blew off Governor Doyle's Wisconsin Covenant proposal earlier this week, his eye is on the goal of creating a highly educated workforce that will allow Wisconsin to thrive. To guarantee that every 8th grade student who maintains a B average, is a good citizen and takes the right preparatory classes while in high school admission to a Wisconsin college is exactly the commitment the state needs to make to the future.

Representative Green's tax freeze promise is much more draconian than the ill fated TABOR bills of the do nothing Wisconsin legislature. Any covenant that adults may feel toward providing for the future of Wisconsin students would be destroyed by its devastating effect upon the public education system.

I suppose that Green's plan would provide the low wage, uneducated workforce companies have been looking for in other countries. Perhaps that is the the Republican idea in the first place. Imagine running for office on that. God help our children and grand children should they succeed!

Detroit Teachers Tentative Agreement

The Detroit Free News is reporting that the School District and the Detroit Federation of Teachers has reached a tentative contract.

"The package is not everything we hoped it would be, but we believe it's enough for our teachers to get back to work," Garrison said.
The 3-year deal that's on the table would mean the union's 7,000 teachers would give up concessions the first year, get a 1% raise the second year and a 2.5% raise the third year. The concessions are tied to fringe benefits and health care benefits and call for more union members to pay a portion of their premiums.
Coleman said the district didn't get all it asked of the teachers, either. The concessions will amount to roughly $64 million in savings for the district. But it is short of the $88 million Coleman said the state's largest school system needed to balance its $1.36 billion budget.
We didn't get everything we needed, but it was important to get the children back in school, he said.

I like to see what is going on in other states when I think things are bad in Wisconsin. On the surface it doesn't seem that the teachers got too much but I've been around long enough to know that what gets reported is not always the whole story. At any rate, I'm certain everyone is relieved and ready to go back to work!

Post Primary Regrets

Upon reflection I have a couple of regrets regarding the primary elections. I had to vote against two very good people, Peg Lautenschlager and Walt Christensen (37 AD).

The Democratic AG race for me was a tough call. I believe that Peg has done a good job for Wisconsin. I also believe that had she won, she would have been subjected to a mud slinging campaign of epic proportions. I really did not want to watch such a campaign unfold as the last six years of Karl Rove in DC has left me very concerned about our country. My choice, therefore, was for another good person, Kathleen Falk. I am certain my vote was the correct one. Having met both these fine people, I came away from listening to Falk with the feeling that I wouldn't want to meet this "woman in an alley". She is one tough cookie and I am sure that she is up to the campaign as well as the job as Attorney General. I didn't think that Peg was up for what would have been awaiting her.

Similarly, Walt Christensen is a great guy. He is a great town supervisor and works very hard for his constituents. He is a very active member of the local Democratic Party. Andy Jorgensen and Walt agreed on about every issue so it came down to personalities. Walt seems by nature to be a quiet, reflective person. Jorgensen is more gregarious and outgoing. The professorial Walt did not seem comfortable among large groups of people while Andy seemed to relish the opportunity. People are much more easily drawn to Jorgensen who is a great speaker and a trained radio personality. In the end, I felt that Jorgensen had the best chance to capture the 37th AD for the Democrats. If this happens it would be the first Dem representing the district in at least the 26 years that I have lived here. I had to go with who I felt could win.

Upon even further reflection, I am proud that the Democrats had great candidates statewide. The state and the Dems are in better shape today because of these fine people. I'm glad to have met all of them. We all owe them a heartfelt thank you.

Man Marries Goat (And You Think You Had A Bad Day)

Here's something that you don't see every day! A man was caught having sex with a goat in Sudan and the local council of elders punished him by making him pay a dowry and marry the goat.
Wonder what the marriage amendment folks would think about this? Could this be the next crusade to save marriages? I'm pretty liberal but this is a bit too much! It is worth a head scratch though!
BBC article is here!

No News Here, Bush Lied

Now I'm no great fan of Saddam Hussein but he did tell the truth to the UN and the US regarding having no WMD as well as there being no connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda. So if Saddam told the truth, who lied? If GWB did not lie, what does that say about his "intelligence". So why did we go to Iraq?
I don't know, I'm just asking....

The response from the Bush administration was that there is no new ground covered here. That's for sure!

NYT Article here.

School has started!

Postings, as mentioned earlier, are likely to be sporatic as the job of teaching today's youth is totally absorbing. I do enjoy writing these posts but do not want to be a slave to the blog at the expense of the other areas of my very full life. A real change for me came when I was guest posting at folkbum. I really tried to do a good job but in the process felt a self imposed pressure to post at least once a day. At a certain point this became more stressful than fun. Red flag!! It is my hope that with a more relaxed appoach toward Grumbleberries that the fun will return. Thanks for reading!