The $100,000 Per Year Teacher And Middletown, California

From Education Gadfly:

Over the past half-century, the number of pupils in U.S. schools grew by about 50 percent while the number of teachers nearly tripled. Spending per student rose threefold, too. If the teaching force had simply kept pace with enrollments, school budgets had risen as they did, and nothing else changed, today's average teacher would earn nearly $100,000, plus generous benefits. We'd have a radically different view of the job and it would attract different sorts of people.

Yes, classes would be larger, about what they were when I was in school. True, there'd be fewer specialists and supervisors. And we wouldn't have as many instructors for youngsters with "special needs." But teachers would earn twice what they do today (less than $50,000, on average) and talented college graduates would vie for the relatively few openings in those ranks.

I would like to know just exactly where these smaller classes are? Here in Middletown, California, just about every single junior and senior high classroom is stuffed to capacity, with 35-38 students per class being the norm. So we don't have an overabundance of teachers down here along the Mexican border.

What we do have here in Middletown, California is an overabundance of redundant bureaucracies, with identical sinecures jobs being done at the federal, state, county and district levels...

And of course, all of these "positions" pay more than classroom teaching, at least here in California.

And none of these "staff" positions use anything like a fair instrument (say an examination) for qualifying job applicants. As with most aspects of the EduCracy, it's not what you know, it's who you know.

As for Gadfly's observation that paying teachers higher salaries would attract more highly qualified applicants, we are not so sure about that one. The same excuse was used to raise congressional salaries, and you see where that got us...

As for Middletown, we haven't had any type of pay increase in three years, even though our test scores keep going up.

Tipped by: Polski3 -------------------------For the latest edition of The Carnival Of Education, click here.

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We Like This Idea: But Will The Kids Eat It Up?

Recently, we took a look at student lunches from different parts of the world. Then, we profiled how one Utah school district had developed the novel idea of using a student focus-group to sample proposed lunchtime entrees.

Now we have learned from The Boston Globe that a charter school in Marblehead, Massachusetts, is serving French Food to students:

With its fresh vegetables, fish, whole grains, and olive oil, the Mediterranean diet is the ''gold standard for healthy eating," says Bill Idell, a former chef and director of nutrition services at the Marblehead Community Charter Public School.

Idell has brought this credo to the lunch table and the classroom. Using a short-term grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Healthy Choices initiative and donations from local companies (Iggy's Bread of the World in Cambridge donates their breads), Idell is introducing the food of Provence to middle school students. The ingredients that characterize this cuisine of southern France exemplify the Mediterranean diet and are already familiar to most students, many of whom learn French in the classroom as well.

The special cuisine is served once per month, costs the regular price of $2.50, and surprisingly, has proven to be popular with students. The menu one day was: white bean soup, goat cheese croutons on mesclun greens, couscous salad, ratatouille, and other regional dishes. We are just a little curious what the kids would think about eating a little escargot.

And just remember...no matter what happens in this crazy, mixed-up world, we'll always have Paris... -------------------------For the latest edition of The Carnival Of Education, click here.

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California Special-Education Teacher Forced To Close Petting Zoo

After a run-in with local animal-control offercers, a Thousand Oaks special-education teacher has shut down a petting zoo that she maintained in her school:

Gail Armey, 56, a teacher at Conejo Elementary School, closed the zoo Wednesday and gave the animals away, saying that a recent investigation by officers from the Agoura Animal Shelter had caused her unbearable stress.

"I can't take the harassment," said Armey, beginning to cry. "The only way I could get them off my back is to give the animals away."

Armey had collected quite a menagerie in her 35 years of teaching. A fenced concrete area next to her classroom was home to about 20 ducks, two goats, two chickens, and numerous rabbits and rats.

But, like most stories, this one has another side. And not surprisingly, it's very different than that of Ms. Armey:

Officials at the Agoura animal shelter, which is contracted to provide services in Thousand Oaks, told a different story.

"Quite frankly, I'm not even sure what she is talking about," said Gail Wiley, shelter manager. "This is not a vendetta and we don't want an adversarial relationship."

"We are trying to make things better for the animals," she said.

Wiley said the investigation began about three weeks ago, when she received a complaint of unsanitary conditions at the zoo. An officer visited the facility March 9, noting animal cages without catch trays for feces and urine, large amounts of feces in cages and on the ground, dirty water buckets, and food left out that could attract rodents, Wiley said.

No one can doubt the therapeutic effect that petting animals has on some children with learning disabilities, but in light of what has been happening in petting zoos down in Florida lately, we aren't surprised that the authorities took this action. Read the whole story here.(Reg. Req'd)-------------------------For the latest edition of The Carnival Of Education, click here.

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The Carnival Of Education: Week 8

Welcome to the eighth edition of The Carnival Of Education. What we have done is assemble a variety of interesting and informative posts from around the EduSphere (and one or two from the Larger 'Sphere) that have been submitted by various authors and readers. We think that they represent a wide spectrum of topics, political/educational viewpoints, and writing styles.

A very special thank you goes to Jenny D for hosting the carnival last week. Her outstanding work has set a new standard for the Carnival that we here at the 'Wonks will strive to attain. (I think that the operative word is strive, not attain...)

The secret for success of any Carnival is publicity. We are deeply grateful to all those sites that have helped publicize this effort.

An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the ninth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, April 5, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get our easy-to-follow entry guidelines here.

And now...let's take a stroll down the carnival midway...

As host of last week's Carnival, Jenny D's place is the first exhibit on the midway. This week, she offers us a sneak peak at her dissertation. What on earth are grad students doing these days? Maybe thinking about fourth graders...maybe wondering how to serve them so well...that middle and high school teachers are happy as clams.

Rights of passage for high school sophomores are the subject of discussion over at What It's Like On The Inside. See how the kids reacted when they were shown the wonderfully vintage 1950s science film (Directed by Frank Capra!) Hemo The Magnificent in "glorious 16mm." (Hey, Ms. Science Teacher...What's a projector?)

Each year in Texas, students in grades 4, 7, 10, and 11 write an essay component as part of their annually mandated tests. Precinct 333 is telling us that in some of these essays students write about being depressed, hurt, or wanting to die. The state refers to these as "outcry" essays, and they can be an important signifier of kids in need of help.

Moebius Stripper (Google Moebius Strip--you'll learn something) at Tall dark & mysterious teaches intro-to-college-math. The Stripper has developed a pre-calculus bingo game that may be used for assigning scores to the predictably bad tests results of her students. Moebius is now sponsoring a contest, "Pre-Calculus Bingo: the multiplayer edition." Here is a chance to participate in a new paradigm-setting method for assigning test scores.

What does a busy New York Science teacher do when she completes work on the annual Science Expo? Ms. Frizzle rehabilitates herself by getting some work done and asking for feedback from her staff and students. Some of the responses are surprisingly positive and candid, though one young man did not mince words.

When Chris Correa was very young, he learned how to make a "wonderletter" for multiple choice quizzes. (A wonderletter is, "A symbol so poorly drawn that it could be seen as an a, c, or d.") Chris demonstrates how some basic assumptions that many of us have regarding tests could be less than sound.

An economist nowadays, Katie writes A Constrained Vision. While she was a college student, she taught undergraduates and tutored high school kids. While teaching, she developed an excellent device for checking student understanding while working one-on-one. All of us who teach should take a look at this post.

Who would have thought that an overlooked provision of the No Child Left Behind Act would result in the outsourcing of tutoring jobs to India? Interested Participant tells us exactly how this unfortunate circumstance occurred, and what U.S. teachers unions are doing in order to reverse this trend.

This week, The Super's Blog examines Indiana's Constitution and what it has to say about the state's obligation to provide a Common Education and tuition free schools. Then, as usual, The Super takes a satirical turn and puts forth a proposed constitutional amendment that more closely resembles the state's current stance on public schools. (Don't miss a chance to take a look at the EduSphere's best satirist; the Super is always a great read.)

Joe Gandelman's site, The Moderate Voice, has a comprehensive take on that New York teacher who paid a developmentally-challenged man $2.00 to take a teacher's certification test on his behalf. See who answered the door when a newspaper reporter went to the crooked teacher's house to ask a few questions...

The Blueberry Story has been a common topic of discussion recently among sites in the EduSphere. In fact, it is on the cusp of becoming the EduSphere's first meme. Dave Shearon gives us his thoughts about those Elusive Blueberries. Personally, every time I read the story, I come away with a different interpretation... but then again, I'm still trying to figure out exactly what is the sound of one hand clapping.

Over at Pratie Place, they discuss a variety of education-related issues. If you have ever sat through one of those endless powerpoint presentations, you will appreciate Melinama's insights concerning the current fad of having kids (especially those that can't read English) prepare their own slide shows.

Girlontheescape, who writes Se Hace Caminar Al Andar, wished to post a comment regarding powerpoint over at Pratie Place, but the commenting system was down. So she has made her comment here.

Mrs. R teaches students with emotional disabilities. Writing from her site, Mentor Matters, Mrs. R is concerned about the fact that the No Child Left Behind Act also applies to her students, who are already at least 2-3 years behind their peers. Her's is a call from the classroom that really should be heard.

Darren, over at Right on the Left Coast, wants to see a lot more openness and democracy from the teachers unions, to which he must pay fees. Recently, Darren received a union magazine that calls for the membership to oppose Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's initiative that would force unions to get permission from their members before using funds for political purposes.

At Wizbang! Jay has the story of what happened when 15-20 high school students showed up drunk to their school's Luau dance in Belmont, Massachusetts. Here's a hint: it's often associated with a type of fishing... only this time it involved lots of ambulances.

Would you believe a lady that homeschools six children? Somehow, Spunkyhomeschool finds enough time to write an interesting and informative site. This week, she tells us about a young man that had planned to kill his mother and several classmates at a school that is only about one hour away from Spunky's home.

A brand new site, A Difference, is written by a math teacher. This week, Mr. Kuropatwa, briefly examines some basic blogging vocabulary. As a bonus, we are pleased that Mr. Kuropatwa has a classroom blog for his students, which is called Pre-Cal 40S . Take a look at it here. We wish the class many happy hits! (We can only wish *sigh* that EdWonk's school district allowed student/class blogs.)

Only about 25% of high school seniors are proficient in their knowledge of civics. Mark Lerner urges the value of Civics education with this great quote from Thomas Jefferson,

"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion."

Joe Thomas is an articulate and well-reasoned opponent of school vouchers. His site, Shutupandteach, is calling out Goldwater Institute C.E.O. Darcy Olsen and ex-Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Keegan for their pro-voucher stances. Joe urges that greater effort be put into funding Arizona's public schools instead.

In Denver, Colorado, contract negotiations between teachers and Denver Public Schools are at an impasse. Last Thursday, about 1000 Denver, Colorado school teachers picketed the administration building demanding higher pay and "respect." Jerry Moore, who writes My Short Pencil, doesn't think much of the shenanigans after taking a look at the teachers' pay scale.

What do practicing classroom teachers think about the various merit pay schemes that are out there? Polski3 is an open-minded advocate for the classroom teacher. This week, his View From Here has some thoughts about the merit of merit pay for teachers.

Technology will increasingly become a part of our everyday classroom environments. Teach42 is a site that specializes in these issues, with an especial emphasis on the new technique of "pod-casting." Steve speculates on the possibility of using headphones with students that are suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder. (You may need to scroll-down after arriving at the site.)

If you are a teacher that works in Hawaii, you had better not be overweight. There is a plan afoot to take "appropriate measures" Number 2 Pencil has the details.

Students that are able to critically view both sides of a given problem are what's on the mind of Joseph, over at No Left Turns. To illustrate his point, he effectively uses the controversy surrounding Intelligent Design vs. Evolution. (Warning: the post is about education, not I.D.)

Alexander Russo's This Week In Education takes a break from exposing dysfunctional bureaucracies and illiterate kids. This week, he examines that commercial from Century 21 Realty that features and (obviously) pregnant woman chasing a school bus while hollering questions at the kids about the neighborhood. (Have you ever noticed that the "typical" houses that are in these commercials tend to be the type that *real* people can't afford?)

Did you know that March is Homeschooler Burnout Month? At Ed Dickerson's Homeschool Essentials, each post in March addresses some aspect of Homeschool Burnout. (After clicking the link, scroll all the way down, and then begin reading up.) We are very intrigued...

And now, a few that are the Editor's Choice:

One would think that the New York City Department of Education would have a basic grasp of spelling and punctuation. Joanne Jacobs demonstrates that this is not the case. Shockingly, the errors are found on an official test preparation booklet issued by The Department of Education.

Mr. Babylon teaches in New York City's Bronx. For the first time in one and a half years, Mr. B was tardy getting to school. The "adventures" that he had to go through in order to do his job reminds me of this movie.

A schoolyard blog is written by a classroom teacher. In this post, a schoolyard gives us some straight talk about the type of things that we teachers should to be discussing among themselves, including the need to be honest with students and their parents.

The hipteacher is an engaging and authentic voice from the classroom. Her classroom has days that are good, and days that are not so good. Take a look at one that she calls, "the flow."

Finally, here at The Education Wonks, we offer this post that attempts to explain what we are trying to accomplish and why.

Carnival Archives
The first edition can be seen here, the second here, the third, here, the fourth, here, and the fifth, here, the sixth, here, and the seventh, over there. To get to EdWonk's main page, (with a variety of education-related posts) please click here.

An Elementary School Without Grade-Level Classes?

An elementary school located in Michigan's Carman-Ainsworth School District, is thinking about doing away with traditional grade-level classes:

Carman Park Elementary School may soon be a grade-free school.

Students would learn based on ability level, regardless of age. If a fourth-grader is ready for algebra, he or she would be grouped with children of varying ages studying algebra.

Teachers would no longer teach the same lesson to 25 students. Instead, educators would visit groups of five to seven students for instruction.

The concept - called nongraded or multi-age education - isn't new, but it's unusual for a school district to eliminate grades. Carman Park would be the first public school in Genesee County to do so, and the concept may spread to all schools in Carman-Ainsworth.

Superintendent of schools, Dan Behm, had been considering discarding grade-level classes since he began his tenure four years ago:

"Right now, we have a mass production system of education," Behm said. "We need a system that individualizes and is customizable."

It is said that great rewards involve great risk, and Superintendent Behm is certainly risking his good will with parents should this idea backfire...

The earliest it would be in place is 2006-07, and Carman Park teachers and administrators could end up not recommending nongraded education.Behm, however, said he is convinced it's a solid approach, and some experts agreed.

The Superintendent has some definite ideas concerning the teacher's role in this new-approach-to-an-old-idea:

"The teacher should be a guide, rather than a transmitter of knowledge," Behm said. "Kids don't need to have someone drill them on the capitals of the 50 states. That's an obsolete use of time."

I like the idea of being a "guide." It has a nice ring to it. But as an actively serving California classroom teacher, I haven't heard the word guide used to describe classroom teaching duties since sometime in the late '90s when "Whole Language" was being touted as the panacea for what ailed American public education. Now-a-days, our superintendent styles principals and above as "professional educators" and classroom teachers as "service providers."

Other Voices: Jenny D asks an excellent question .
-------------------------An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the eighth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tonight, March 29, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get additional details about The Carnival here, and the latest edition there.

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This Really Angers Me: The State Of Florida Loses Track Of 1800 Sex Offenders

John Couey, A Face Of Evil
In today's Miami Herald, they are reporting that the state of Florida lost track of 1800 sex offenders in the month before the abduction and murder of Jessica Lunsford:

One month before a registered sexual offender allegedly kidnapped, raped and murdered 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, Florida law enforcement agencies had lost track of at least 1,800 other sexual offenders statewide, according to a review of Florida's Sexual Offender/Predator Registry.

John Evander Couey, the man who would confess to killing Jessica, was not even listed as one of them because no one knew he wasn't living at his reported address and was staying near the Lunsfords.

The fact that Couey wasn't marked as missing raises questions not only about how aggressively the state tracks offenders known to be on the lam, but how many others have absconded and aren't noticed at all.

Couey was supposed to be living more than five miles from the Lunsford residence in Homosassa. Officials at the Citrus County Sheriff's Office said they discovered he was staying less than a block from the Lunsford's in his half-sister's mobile home -- only after they began interviewing sex offenders as part of their investigation into Jessica's disappearance.

Police found Jessica's body buried nearby after a three-week search.But breakdowns in the system conjure up memories of other heinous crimes committed by sexual offenders who were supposed to be closely monitored.

Howard Steven Ault was a registered sexual offender on probation when the father of an 11-year-old girl in Lauderdale Lakes reported Ault tried to sexually assault her on New Year's Eve, 1995.

He wasn't arrested in that case until November 1996 -- and only after police brought him in to answer questions in yet another case: two missing sisters, age 7 and 11.

While in custody, he confessed to strangling the two sisters and hiding their bodies in the attic of his Fort Lauderdale apartment. Ault, 38, has been on Florida's Death Row since 2000.

The first duty of any modern and democratic society is the defense of its most vulnerable members. And that especially means children. Every time one of these horrendous crimes occurs, we hear countless recriminations about how the system "failed" to protect the victims. Sometimes (but not always) a new law, (such as Megan's Law) is passed to plug a loophole.

The big problem is that the laws that are already on the books are not being enforced. A variety of excuses are offered for this lack of enforcement, the most common being that agencies charged with protecting children are "underfunded."

Politics needs to be set aside, and agencies that are designated with keeping an eye on these miscreants need to receive all the funding necessary in order to do their jobs.

As for the John E. Couey, the confessed killer of Jessica Lunsford, if we assume that he is sentenced to death for his crime, he will likely die of old age long before his date with the executioner. This is because of the practically endless appeals process that postpones the executions of such monsters as Couey for up to 20 years.

And nothing ever seems to actually change.

More talk is cheap. It's high time that something was done to protect our children from these predators. -------------------------An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the eighth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tonight, March 29, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get additional details about The Carnival here, and the latest edition there.

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Delaware's Law Of Good Intentions

Parents are always interested in having smaller class sizes for their children. Teachers are almost always interested in teaching smaller class sizes. So far, so good.....

Seven years ago, the folks in Delaware voted on smaller class sizes. The way the law was supposed to work was that the maximum class size in grades kindergarten through three was to be set at 22 students. Supposedly, the 22 student limit would apply to instruction in the core academic subjects of English, mathematics, science, and social studies.

There was just one little problem:

That same law gives local school boards an out, allowing districts to waive the class-size requirement without facing a penalty as long as they hold a public hearing.

Requesting a waiver has become a yearly routine in most districts - even as the Legislature is considering expanding the law to include more grade levels.

"Nobody wants to see 30 kids in a classroom," Christina School Board member Connie Merlet said at that district's class-size waiver hearing in September. "We get criticized every year for doing it, but we're forced into it by the existing state law."

Timothy Boulden, a former state representative who sponsored the class-size law, said progress has been made since its passage in 1998. He believes classes are smaller today than before the cap, although no data exists on the average class size before the requirement.

Districts plead that the reason they can't comply with the law is due to insufficient funding by the state government for the paying of teacher salaries and the construction of classroom space.

In our opinion, the most asisnine thing about this whole episode is how the state is considering the expansion of this already dysfunctional law to include more grade-levels.

We guess that we can refer to this sort of non-enforceable-make-believe-feel-good regulation as the "Law of Good Intentions."
-------------------------An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the eighth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tonight, March 29, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get additional details about The Carnival here, and the latest edition there.

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From The Department Of The Weird: How Did This Happen?

What would you do if your 11-year-old daughter came home from playing and told you that there was a skeleton in the chimney of a nearby building? Would you believe her?

That's exactly what happened when little Nelly Melgoza went out to play one afternoon last Thursday:

Having just peered down a chimney stack while fetching a soccer ball that she had tossed onto the roof of an abandoned halfway house in South Los Angeles, Nelly Melgoza ran to her father breathless, saying she had seen a human skull.

The security guard didn't believe his 11-year-old daughter at first.

As Thursday night wore on, Nelly continued to insist that she had seen human remains.

"I know I seen a skull," she told her father, Jose Melgoza.So the next day, they went back on the roof and Melgoza shined a flashlight down the smokestack. "You could see the top of the head. It was tilted so I could see the eye sockets and the nose."

The discovery at 89th and Main streets marked the beginning of a mystery that police are just now beginning to unravel.

Forensic anthropologists were working Monday in an attempt to identify the body, which appeared to be that of a male African American teenager who stood 5 feet to 5 feet, 3 inches tall. The body had been there for about two years, coroners said, which coincides with when the halfway house for drug addicts and ex-prisoners was closed.

At first, the authorities were puzzled as to the cause of death, thinking that possibly the remains were those of a murder victim. Police investigators now think that the youngster's death was accidental. They hypothesize that the teen had climbed-up into the chimney and gotten stuck there, and had likely died of dehydration. As of now, the police do not have an explanation as to possible reasons why the teenager was climbing inside the chimney. -------------------------An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the eighth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tonight, March 29, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get additional details about The Carnival here, and the latest edition there.

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Carnival Entries Due No Later Then Tonight

Entries for the 8th Edition of The Carnival Of Education are due TONIGHT. We should receive them no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) 7:00 PM (Eastern). Please send all submissions to owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. Get additional details about The Carnival here, and the latest edition of The Carnival there.

The next Carnival's Midway will open here at the 'Wonks tomorrow morning.

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The Watchers Council Has Spoken!

Each and every week, Watcher of Weasels sponsors a contest to see what are the most link-worthy posts from the conservative side of the 'Sphere. The winning entries are determined by a jury of 12 writers (and The Watcher) known as "The Watchers Council."

The Council has met and voted on this week's submitted posts. As a proud member of The Watcher's Council, we here at The Education Wonks salute all the nominees that received votes this week!

Council Entries:

Alpha Patriot took top honors this week with Iraqi Bravery.

Non-Council Entries:

Democracy In Iraq garnered first place with 2 Years. -------------------------An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the eighth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tonight, March 29, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get additional details about The Carnival here, and the latest edition there.

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Caught In A Bureaucratic Trap: What Happens When Kids Can't Take Standardized Tests?

Why... the school gets punished by Washington EduCrats because of its non-compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act, that's what happens. The school is punished even though the all children it serves are unable to take the test.

The 186 students that attend class at Jackson, Michigan's Torrent Center all have severe learning disabilities. Many of these students display symptoms of autism.

According to NCLB, 99% of students in any given school must take the same standardized tests that are given to students throughout the same state. None of the students at Torrent Center are capable of taking Michigan's standardized tests, which are called the Michigan Educational Assessment Program. (MEAP) The No Child Left Behind Act makes no provision for the exemption of students with severe learning disabilities from testing:

The Torrant Center's boosters were furious this year with word that the school was judged inadequate by federal standards.

"You can always make programs better," said Richard Rendell, the county Intermediate School District's special-education director. "The problem with No Child Left Behind is that it has adopted a one-size-fits-all approach."

David Plank, co-director of the Education Policy Institute at Michigan State University, said the federal law has good intentions, in trying to ensure that schools don't shaft the tough-luck students. But it doesn't address schools like Torrant or, as he put it, "the law is a blunt instrument."

Interestingly, most of the parents of the children that attend Torrent are pleased with its educational program. (As a classroom teacher myself, I can affirm that the parents of children with disabilities do not hesitate to let a school know when they are not satisfied.)

The kids attending Torrent do get tested, but with alternative assessment instruments that are especially constructed for measuring achievement by children with severe learning disabilities.

That aspect of NCLB that punishes schools similar to Torrent Center for their inability to give a totally inappropriate assessment device to students is clearly in need of change. Labeling a school like Torrent Center as "inadequate" simply because its students can not take the same standardized tests as mainstream students is simply wrong.
-------------------------An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the eighth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, March 29, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get additional details about The Carnival here, and the latest edition there.

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Young Heroes: Kids Save Life Of Bus Driver

One day last month, Illinois school bus driver Phyllis Stoklosa, age 61, was picking up students on her way to Romeoville High School her rounds when she suffered a heart attack. Two teenagers, Bethany Benigno and Chris Kowal, had the presence of mind to summon help by using a cellphone to call 911. After making the call, they ran to get help.

The teens were honored the other day by Romeoville Village Board with a plaque and a round of applause. Each student also received a gift of $100 cash from the bus drivers union. According to Mayor Fred Dewald Jr., the teens' decisive action saved the stricken driver's life.

In a situation that would cause many adults to "freeze up," these young people took action. We are delighted that the Village Board honored Benigno and Kowal and hope that these students go on to complete their high school education with "flying colors."
-------------------------An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the eighth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, March 29, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get additional details about The Carnival here, and the latest edition there.

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Bureaucratic Inefficiency Is Putting Kids At Risk In Illinois

In Illinois, it is state law that schools be notified when they enroll a juvenile sex offender. The Chicago Tribune is reporting that a dangerous combination of bureaucratic inefficiency and the deliberate ignoring of the law by some police agencies are combining to put students at risk:

Some principals were not told that young sex offenders had enrolled in their schools, because the state system designed to notify them is mired in confusion, according to a Tribune investigation.

While the list of Illinois' adult sex offenders is accessible to anyone on the Internet, a similar registry of about 1,100 juveniles who have committed sex crimes is largely kept secret.

State law says school officials are supposed to be told by sheriff's police when a juvenile sex offender is enrolled, but not all sheriff's police read the law that way, and some decline to divulge the names.

Some local police departments won't tell principals the names of sex offenders in their schools even when they ask. State law permits police departments to share the information with schools.

It was by chance that an East Peoria woman discovered that a boy who was found guilty of molesting her 7-year-old son was in the same physical education class as her teenage son.

The 16-year-old was registered as a sex offender with the Illinois State Police. But because of the disarray surrounding the juvenile sex offender registry, the information didn't get to the school until the mother informed officials herself.

"I'm just one person in Peoria," the mother said. "If mine fell through, how many other kids are out there that these schools don't know about?"

The notification law was passed in the 1990s. Read the whole informative (and frightening) article by clicking here.

Update: Joanne Jacobs has some thoughts.
-------------------------An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the eighth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, March 29, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get additional details about The Carnival here, and the latest edition there.

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Which Fork Should I Use, Ma'am?

This is something that we like. Teenagers in Fresno, California are signing up to study, of all things, table manners and other etiquette:

Sitting at an elegant dining table at a country club, 17-year-old Katie Allen can't decide what to do with the long green bean poised on her fork. The answer comes from the head of the table.

"The faux pas would be to eat it like that," etiquette expert Joy Weaver said.
So Katie and six others — mostly teens — learn the proper thing to do is cut the green bean into smaller portions, eating one bite at a time.

Their etiquette primer covered a variety of lessons: that bread should be eaten by tearing off bites and the proper distance one should be from the table — a hand's width.

The cost of learning one's manners doesn't come cheap. Parents pay $175 per student for a two-hour session that includes up to nine students. Please read the whole thing here. -------------------------An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the eighth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, March 29, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get additional details about The Carnival here, and the latest edition there.

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Abracadabra....A Red Apple Salute For Tom Verner

What does a college professor do after he's put in his 25 years? Well, he takes a leave of absence and then goes on a magical mystery tour:

Tom Verner taught psychology full-time at a small Vermont college, doing magic gigs on the side. Then one day everything changed. While in Europe to attend a conference, he stopped at a Kosovo refugee camp and performed.

The children were awed, and so was Verner. He couldn't get them out of his mind. So in 2002, he took a leave of absence from Burlington College and founded Magicians Without Borders (www.magicianswithoutborders.org).

Since then, he and his wife, Janet Fredericks, have entertained orphans and refugees in at least 11 countries, and he teaches parttime at Burlington.

After their trips abroad, they visit middle schools around the Northeast to show photos of their work and talk about the refugees. Now 59, Verner is planning a trip in late spring to the tsunami-stricken regions of Burma, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

Educators by their very nature tend to be nurturing people. Obviously, Professor Verner and his wife hope to spend their golden years serving others as well. We offer our Red Apple Salute to Tom Verner and all the other retired and semi-retired educators that somehow find the time and energy to continue helping children at a time when others think or retirement . -------------------------An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the eighth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, March 29, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get additional details about The Carnival here, and the latest edition there.

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Discrimination At Harvard University: Where Is The ACLU?

Who doesn't like Cap'n Crunch? The Cap'n has been a favorite around the Wonks morning breakfast table for years. Well... it seems that the Cap'n, Tony the Tiger, and Lucky Leprechaun are no longer welcome at the breakfast table in hallowed old Harvard's dining halls:

Angry cereal fans are lashing out after Harvard University cleared its dining halls this school year of brand-name cereals, such as Fruit Loops and Cap'n Crunch, and swapped them for less expensive, apparently healthier options like Tootie Fruities and Colossal Crunch.''

I was shocked to see they had done this to our cereals," said Harvard senior Cameron Moccari, who last week launched the group ''Harvard Students for the Reimplementation of Brand-Named Cereals" on Thefacebook.com, a popular website that allows students to meet new friends or form study groups. ''They replaced all of the familiar cereals with ones that have weird names and don't taste good."

The disgruntled cereal fans at Harvard have no organized protest plans -- yet -- besides submitting negative feedback cards emblazoned with the message: ''Bring Back Brand-Named Cereals." They say they were not responsible for a December break-in at a residential dining hall that left $1,000 in damages and cereal strewn across the floor.

The annual cost of Harvard's 3 meals-per-day plan is $4,286. In order to economize, there have been several unpopular cutbacks in the quality of meal services lately. One recent money-saving measure was the elimination, in 2002, of Harvard's annual clambake, which featured a lobster for every undergraduate.

On the other hand, students at state schools such as Framingham State College and the University of Massachusetts at Boston still get their Cheerios and Corn Pops.

So.... the question that must be asked is this: If leprechauns, tigers, and pirate ship captains are tolerated at state schools but are excluded from Harvard, why isn't the ACLU doing anything about this egregious instance of discrimination? -------------------------An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the eighth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, March 29, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get additional details about The Carnival here, and the latest edition there.

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Some Want Teachers To Pack Heat

As a southern Californian, I spend quite a bit of time in my car. Last evening, I was listening to a Los Angeles talk radio station while doing some errands for the WifeWonk. The host of the show was Wayne Resnick, who is billed as:

The smartest, hippest, most cherished weekend host in the history of Los Angeles Radio. Every Saturday at 7pm, Wayne Resnick takes a chainsaw to the top issues of the day, carving away the fat and gristle to get to the truth underneath.

I don't know about being "hip," but Resnick definitely was running his chainsaw last evening because what Resnick was saying caught my immediate attention. In light of the recent violence at the Red Lake Indian Reservation, Resnick was actually advocating the arming of classroom teachers.

And no, he wasn't putting on schtick. This man was being serious. He actually spent the better part of an hour expounding his belief that teachers need to be trained in the use of firearms in order to defend themselves and their students from the "street thugs" that the schools are forced to enroll.

Incredibly, most of the callers were being supportive of the idea.

Using Google, I decided to look into this notion a little further. Sure enough, I wasn't disappointed: the Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that Sandra Froman of the National Rifle Association is advocating:

All options should be considered to prevent rampages like the Minnesota school shooting that took 10 lives - including making guns available to teachers, a top National Rifle Association leader said Friday.

''I'm not saying that that means every teacher should have a gun or not, but what I am saying is we need to look at all the options at what will truly protect the students,'' the NRA's first vice president, Sandra Froman, told The Associated Press.

If the teachers at our junior high school were ever given firearms, I would be more afraid of the teachers shooting themselves or each other than some intruder...
-------------------------An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the eighth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, March 29, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get additional details about The Carnival here.

For the latest edition of The Carnival Of Education, (published 3/23, at Jenny D's) please click here.

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College Notes: Happy Hour At Drink U

The students of Maine's Colby College have something to look forward to (registration requ'd) when they show-up for dinner at the school's dining hall:

Josh Kahn swirls the ruby-red wine in his glass, puts it up to his nose and breathes in deeply. He watches how the 2002 Fairview shiraz from South Africa clings to the inside of the glass and then takes a sip.

This is not a tasting at a wine shop. This is Colby College, a private liberal arts school where students 21 and older get together on Friday nights in a school cafeteria to learn about and drink beer and wine.

The get-togethers are intended to teach students how to imbibe well and in moderation. The emphasis is on savoring not swilling.

Seated next to Kahn on a recent night was Maureen Sherry of Massachusetts, who was drinking a sauvignon blanc. The gatherings on the 1,800-student campus have taught her to not be intimidated by wine.

"I always thought I hated wine, but now I realize that what I hated were the $3 bottles of wine I bought at the grocery store," she said.

The annual "Comprehensive Fee" for attending Colby College is $41,200. The website did not disclose whether or not the "Comprehensive Fee" included aspirins and other hangover treatments. -------------------------An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the eighth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, March 29, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get additional details about The Carnival here.

For the latest edition of The Carnival Of Education, (published 3/23, at Jenny D's) please click here.

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Political Correctism Run Amok Files: BC Is No Longer PC

From our political correctism run amok files we offer yet another entry:

In a growing number of schools, educators are changing B.C. -- which stands for Before Christ -- to B.C.E. for Before Common Era. A.D. (anno Domini, Latin for year of the Lord) is becoming C.E., for Common Era. Some historians and college instructors started using the new forms in the 1980s and now it's found in some school texts.

"I think it's pretty common now," said Professor Gary B. Nash of the University of California and Los Angeles and director of the National Center for History in Schools. "Once you take a global approach, it makes sense not to make a dating system applicable only to a relative few."

Nash said in recent years most major textbook companies have adopted the new terms, which were first used by academics in the early 1990s. He said the new terms are part of the national world history standards.

Who would have thought that even the way we write our dates would be subject to scrutiny and revision by the PC Police? Or maybe this is simply another case of an insistence to change the traditional because it is the traditional.

Perhaps we should put a stop to all the bickering and simply give the PC folks what they really want. We could use some other earth-shattering historically significant event as a reference point. Many of the PC crowd would probably be delighted to use this event as the start-point for the reckoning of time. Years could be written as BWS and AWS. -------------------------An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the eighth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, March 29, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get additional details about The Carnival here.

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Notice To Hawaii Teachers: No Obesity, Please

The Aloha State has always been noted for doing things a little bit differently. Perhaps this is so because of the combination of the agreeable weather, the relaxed lifestyle, and the friendly people that call this island paradise home. Here is just one more example:

A state lawmaker has suggested Hawaii's public schoolteachers be forced to weigh in as part of the fight against obesity in students. A resolution in the state house would create an obesity database among teachers. State Rep. Rida Cabanilla introduced a resolution requesting the Board of Education establish an obesity database among public schoolteachers.

This smacks of Big Brother watching us. Only now he will also be taking notes:

"You cannot keep a kid to a certain standard that you yourself is not willing to keep," Cabanilla said. The resolution calls for all public schoolteachers to weigh in every six months. The measure calls for the education and health departments to formulate an obesity standard and appropriate measures for teachers who cannot meet the standard.

Here is an idea: Let's apply Cabanilla's reasoning to politicians. A blue-ribbon panel of citizens could develop a standard for an acceptable number of lies that a politician is permitted to tell in a six month period. Then we'll evaluate each politician by the number of lies that he or she utters over the specified amount of time.

If a politician tells more lies than is acceptable under the Professional Politicians Standard for Lying and Distortions of the Truth, (PPSLDT) an "appropriate measure" could then be applied to him or her for the purpose of modifying this undesirable behavior. A number of effective measures are available, including electric shock therapy.

Actually, Cabanilla would rather bring her scales and calipers into the home of each family that has school-age children:

"As a matter of fact, we should start at home, but since the Legislature has no way to regulate homes, we can at least start in school," Cabanilla said. "And teachers have a lot of impact to these students."

Not surprisingly, the teachers union (and we suspect almost everyone else) is against the notion. Roger Takabayashi, President of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, said, "I think it's quite offensive. I don't think it will lead us anywhere. It's not going to benefit the children necessarily."

We here at the 'Wonks couldn't agree more.

Via: Education Intelligence Agency

Update: Number 2 Pencil weighs in on the controversy. -------------------------An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the eighth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, March 29, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get additional details about The Carnival here.

For the latest edition of The Carnival Of Education, (published 3/23, at Jenny D's) please click here.

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Is It Educational Micromanagement Or Something Else?

The National School Boards Association has its very own weblog called "BoardBuzz." Friday's (March 25) posting is telling us that the Georgia state school board is giving serious consideration to mandating that all students wishing to join any sort of high school club will need to have a signed parent permission slip.

The 'Buzz doesn't have a problem with the slips per se. What the NSBA doesn't like is the fact that the mandate is coming from the state bureaucracy, thus usurping (once again) a prerogative that had traditionally belonged to locally elected governing boards.

This issue has even drawn the attention of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, whose coverage can be viewed here. The A.J.C.'s take on the matter is that the policy is being implemented as a method of applying pressure on students that wish to join gay-oriented clubs, even though the proposed policy doesn't single-out any specific type of club.

Not surprisingly, teachers and principals are resentful about all the additional record-keeping and potential public-relations difficulties.

The proposal is scheduled for a vote in April. -------------------------An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the eighth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, March 29, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get additional details about The Carnival here.

For the latest edition of The Carnival Of Education, (published 3/23, at Jenny D's) please click here.

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How Can We Put A Stop To This?

Nicole Barnhart, age 35 has been arrested on charges of felony sexual assault for having sexual relations with one of her 16-year-old male students. Barnhart was employed as a social studies teacher at Ponderosa High School, which is near Denver, Colorado.

Ms. Barnhart has admitted the affair. As with many other recent cases of female teachers that have had illegal relations with their students, Barnhart is married and has two children.

She has been freed on a relatively modest $10,000 bond. (Now if this had been a male teacher that had been accused of child rape, we wonder if the bond would have been this small.)

According to the source, the victim is in counseling.

Barnhart first got into trouble last year when she was removed from her position as cheerleader coach after parents had expressed concern over an incident where Barnhart had participated in a game of truth or dare with a group of girls that were in her home.

Note: Barnhart said that the black-eye visible in the booking photo above was due to injuries that she suffered in an automobile accident.
-------------------------An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the eighth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, March 29, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get additional details about The Carnival here.

For the latest edition of The Carnival Of Education, (published 3/23, at Jenny D's) please click here.

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Welcoming A New Addition To The EduSphere

Here at The Education Wonks, we are constantly on the look-out for sites that present a variety of political and educational viewpoints regarding The World Of Education. Our aim is to present those that represent the complete spectrum of educational thought and discourse. And what we have discovered is that it's a very diverse world indeed.

Today, we are pleased to be adding Education Intelligence Agency to the EduSphere. This site, written by Mike A, specializes in the investigation and analysis of education-related matters. Among the site's resources are its weekly email communiqué, as well as investigative services that are offered to individual clients.

E.I.A. first came to our attention here when they broke the story about a likely increase of $180 in annual dues by the California Teachers Association. This story hit home with us, as we are forced to pay dues to this organization.

As with all other dues increases by CTA, the rank-and-file membership will not be allowed to vote on the dues increase.
-------------------------An Invitation: All writers and readers of education-related posts are invited to contribute to the eighth edition of The Carnival of Education. Please send your submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive your contributions no later than 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, March 29, 2005. The Carnival midway will open here at the 'Wonks Wednesday morning. Get additional details about The Carnival here.

For the latest edition of The Carnival Of Education, (published 3/23, at Jenny D's) please click here.

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