Extra Credit Reading: Thursday, December 21, 2006

And then there was the case of the five-year-old kindergarten student who stands accused of sexually harassment. (Considering that the incident happened near Babylon on the Potomac Washington, DC, it might be argued that the kid is simply getting an early start...)

First, we covered the story of the British elementary school that's spreading the spurious rumor that Santa doesn't exist, and now we have the New York school bus company that informed 65-year-old driver-and-Santa-lookalike Kenneth Mott that the wearing of Santa hats was forbidden after one parent complained about the seasonal headgear. But once the word started to get out, things changed with amzaing speed! (Seems like there's more than the usual number of Grinches running amok this year.)

It's great to see a school community come together in order to cheer on a middle school teacher who is involved in the fight of her life.

We have to confess that we've got a "thing" for penguins. So when a children's story book based on two real-life male penguins raising an egg was banned a few weeks ago by a North Carolina school system, it attracted our interest. Well..... it seems as though certain supposedly gay penguins will have the last word... for now.

If many school districts think that they're having trouble recruiting talented science and math teachers now, just wait until the "teacher accountability" provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act become fully operative in 2014. That's when the real fun begins... -------------------------------See our latest EduPosts here and yesterday's Extra Credit Reading there.