Monday's Extra Credit Reading

Our Knucklehead of the Day Award goes to the Florida middle school teacher who strutted about his campus with a toy gun stuck down the back of his pants. He was then suspended from his post. (If this guy ultimately self-terminates his job over this, he'll certainly qualify for our Darwin Award in Education.)

Even though he dresses like one of those fictional James Bond villains, the very real North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il now has The Bomb. (I wonder if anyone in the now-embarrassed Bush Administration will be "held accountable" for this debacle? Prediction: No high-level official will lose his or her job sinecure over this one. It seems as though "accountability" is a concept that the Administration applies only to teachers and principals...)

The long-running teachers strike in the Mexican state of Oaxaca has turned increasingly bloody, with one teacher being "hacked to death" for opposing the walk-out.

Heh. Who would have thought that so many recent American High School graduates would have so much trouble with both their writing abilities and their work ethics? (Cause and effect? Or vice versa?)

In the American territory of Guam, students' standardized test scores are being held hostage by The Testing Company until someone pays the Company a ransom its money.

Around our junior high school, we have more than our share of "Trekkies" among both students and staff. (Signs announcing "Trekkies Tolerated" have repeatedly appeared in our teachers' lounge.) The ultimate auction for Star Trek memorabilia netted millions, with one model of the starship Enterprise selling for an astounding $576,000!

Did you hear the one about the illegal immigrants who are suing Wendy's restaurants because they were fired due to their illegal status?

Joanne Jacobs has the skinny on the laughably-easy competency test that teachers in California must pass before obtaining their credentials. And yes, many would-be teachers do fail. I personally know one teacher who failed the math portion (written at 8th-grade level) five times before passing. She now teachers 4th grade. ---------------------------See our latest EduPosts here and yesterday's Extra Credit Reading there.