The Talent Show

http://www.thetalentshow.org has been my fav pol blog through the election. The thoughts expressed in this posting "Another Depressing Election Day" mirror my own so well I don't have anything to say.

Sanctions

In Utah school districts, there are several schools that did not meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals. Sanctions have been imposed on these schools. This is WRONG. A sanction is defined as: A penalty, specified or in the form of moral pressure, that acts to ensure compliance or conformity. or A coercive measure adopted usually by several nations acting together against a nation violating international law. That is the legacy of No Child Left Behind. Instead of funding the NCLB that Bush blathers on about, he coerces the schools that don't meet the unrealistic guidelines. If you don't think that the NCLB requirements are unrealistic, put yourself in this scenario:

Kim from Korea has come to live with you for two years as part of an exchange program forced on you by the American government. If you complain about the exchange program, you are anti-American. Kim has some minor learning disabilities and speaks no English. No one in your family speaks Korean, but there is a translator available twice a week. The American government has promised you $300 a month toward her care, but has asked you to make sure she receives an education while in America. It is November 2nd.

By January 1, after not receiving any funds for two months, you get word that the funding will not be forthcoming, ever. Additionally, you are required to make sure that Kim is up to grade level by the end of the year or you will fined $1000. Just to make sure you feel properly intimidated, we will call that thousand dollar fine a sanction, a coercive measure to ensure conformity.

So, exhausted from listening to political rants and ravings, it seems I still have energy to voice my own.

This is what I think is reasonable: 1)Support teachers with supplies and materials, aides, and facilities to do their jobs. 2)Limit class sizes so that teachers can create curriculum that meets individual student needs. 3)Reduce testing so that teachers can be teachers instead of test facilitators. 4)Test this model in a wide demographic of schools and adapt to area needs. 5)Wait for results and see if the theory works before implementing nation-wide.

Which brings me to nation-wide education reform. Why do we allow nation-wide school reform if we won't tolerate nation-wide health reform? Any marketer will tell you that targeting an audience gives the most effective results. The political campaigns know this, so why is our faulty education reform a suppressing blanket?

My Three Votes

No. I only voted once. But according to my brother-in-law (who can't really be used as a barometer for truth as he listens to far too much talk radio) because of the number of registered voters as a percent of the population that is eligible to vote and the percent of registered voters that actually cast a ballot, your single vote carries the weight of three votes.

Back from Columbia

Columbia, MO, that is. On the way from Columbia to St. Louis there was an exit to go to Mexico. Mexico, MO of course. I did't take any pictures because there was nothing to photograph. Now, if I had gone past Hickman High School, home of the Kewpies, I would have taken a picture. But I didn't, so all you have is a link to the high school where you can learn why Hickman's school cheer starts out "Strawberry Shortcake, Gooseberry Pie. V - I - C - T - O - R - Y !"

I did get to go to a Waffle House, my favorite chain diner, and have a grand slam breakfast complete with raisin toast, a waffle, eggs, sausage, and grits.