Geogia Schools Are The Best Schools, Says Bush Administration

It looks like Georgia is one school that doesn't want the NCLB law to be kuput.

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings made an appearance at the Georgia Schools of Excellence in Student Achievement Banquet in Atlanta on Friday to congragulate the 83 of Georgia's most formiable schools for accomplishing a great feat-living up to the standards of the NCLB Act.

A Department of Education press release said that Spellings was estatic about the achievement the schools have made-Ten of them are in the state's top 10 percent as measured by student achievement in reading/language arts and math, ten others have demonstrated the greatest gains in those subjects over the past three years, and the rest have were honored as Title I Distinguished Schools, Title I public and public charter schools that have met or exceeded Georgia's adequate yearly progress goals for three or more years running, or that have made the greatest gains in closing their achievement gaps, said the press release. Spellings believe that NCLB had something to do with Georgia's success.

Read one comment made by Spellings about NCLB (found in the press release) and how it has made America a better place:

"The No Child Left Behind Act has indeed changed the education landscape in this country. It has taught us all a new equation: high standards plus accountability plus resources equal results. While a few try to undermine the law in the courts and elsewhere, every one of you in this room has chosen to make it work."

You know those one-line quotes that film critics make about a movie in an advertisement for that same movie ("the feel good movie of the year," "you won't believe your eyes," "spellbinding," etc.). Is it just me, or do the comments made by Spellings and other governmenty officals from their press releases sound like exactly like them.

Try reading of few of these press releases and judge for yourself.

A Moment With Margaret Spellings

Some of you might not recognize the woman in the picture above, but I'm sure that many of you, especially those you lovely, lovely people who read my blogs, have heard of heard of her. She is Margaret Spellings, the U.S. Secretary of Education and the woman leading the charge in a fight against the NCLB rebellion.

The New York Times offers everyone an opprotunity to get to know Spellings with its 2-page report. Read about her roots-she was an earth mother/Republican back when she was an education lobbyist in Austin, Texas. Learn about her reputation as a fearless woman who isn't afraid to get rough when it comes to an important issue-a Washington lobbyist who has know her since joined the Bush Administration, said, "Margaret Spellings terrifies me."

The National Education Association and the states involved in the NCLB lawsuit may be in for a major fight.

Hip Hop Artist Offers "Pimp Juice" Scholarship for Teens

Once upon a time, when a person thinks of the word "pimp," that person sees a greasy, disgusting creep smacking around one of his "ladies of the night." Now, thanks the hip hop artists like Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, and Nelly, who came about with a song and called "Pimp Juice," a few years back, being a pimp is now a wonderful thing. I'm still trying to figure out how pimps are considered to be positive.

Pimps are so positive that last year Nelly has created the P.I.M.P Juice scholarship according to a Chicago Tribune column. P.I.M.P, by the way, stands for "positive, intellectual, motivated person."

Call me uptight, but there's something slightly wrong about a student writing an essay explaining why he (or she) is the best pimp ever.

I completely agree with the column's author, columist Dawn Turner Trice, when she said, "Let's forget, for a moment, the word's incarnation as an adjective and even a verb. Let's go back to its definition as a noun. A pimp is a sleazy subhuman who exploits people, primarily women and girls, to enhance his own ego and coffers. He's an abusive predator. You can't refashion such a misogynistic word and give it respectability."


For those of you who want to learn more about the P.I.M.P Scholarship Foundation anyway, click here, yo.

No News Yesterday

I wasn't able to do a post yesterday, but I stay tuned, 'cause two posts are on the way now!

CNN Money Offers 4 Steps To More Pleasant College Search

May is almost here and you know what that means. That's right, it won't be long until our nation's high school seniors our nation's high school graduates. Well, at least most of them will. For those of you parents who are still having trouble trying to find the right college for your kid-turned-adult, throw away your heart medicine and take a glance at CNN Money's latest web article, which offers four tips on how to deal with the college selection process. There's even a top ten lists of the nation's most hard-to-get-into schools for your amusement.

Here's the cliff's notes version of the four steps that will make your college search easier:

1. Start early, but not too early
2. Identify your ideal
3. Look beyond the price tag
4. Before you decide, see for yourself

For more details, read the article.

Also....

Want a peek at the annual tuition cost of the college/university of your dreams?

CNN's college finder will sniff out the information you desire.

TV-Turnoff Week Has Begun

What on earth is TV-Turnoff Week? It's a little difficult to define, but I'll try anyway.

TV-Turnoff Week is a week when people turn off their TVs (Boy, that was hard). CNN.com said that this week, from April 25 to May 1, about 8 million people decide to drop their remotes and step away from the TV. The event, which has existed for 11 years, was created to persuade others to stop watching so much television.

This special week might be something America needs. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey show that third-graders through 12th-graders devoted, on average, nearly six and a half hours per day to TV and videos, music, video games and computers.

Take a peek at the Turn-off TV Week website.

Students Can Earn Cash, Prizes For Informing Schools About Dangerous Behavior

Because school shootings such as the Red Lake massacre, schools have created programs to reduce the risk of school violence by offering cash and other prizes to students with information on of any dangerous (or potentially dangerous) activity that is found within the school.

These "snitch programs," as the critics call it, urge kids to report classmates who carry guns, drugs or alcohol, commit vandalism or otherwise break school rules, said CNN.com. Prizes include pizza, lovely parking spots, and, of course, cold hard cash. This month, for example, Houston County, Georgia, has began offering rewards of up to $100 for reporting relatively minor crimes-vandalism or theft-and $500 for information about a crime, or plans for a crime, involving a gun.

Those against the programs argue that they are a "knee-jerk reaction" to past school shootings and can create a massive environment of distrust among students.

However County superintendent James Kinchen said:

"For kids of that age, it's hard for them to tell on their peers. This gives them an opportunity to step up if they know something that will help us make an arrest."

Old Dogs Can Learn New Languages, Says Washington Post

Who is the Language Master? Children or Adults.

Valerie Strauss is done with her piece on learning a different languages. With help from those who answered the Washington Post reporter's ad in the education section of the Post's website, Strauss reported that one can never be to old to soar beyond the English language. Her article said that, when it comes to adopting a second language, adults are about as capable as children.

Hopefully, one of YOU can find your names inside the two-page article.

Florida Police Handcuffs, Arrests 5-year-old Girl

According to ZeroIntelligence.net, it all began in Florida at Fairmount Park Elementary School where little boy and girls were counting jelly beans for a math exercise. One of the kids, a little girl, was acting goofy with her jelly beans, so her teacher decided to take away her candy. Suddenly, the girl threw a major tantrum. Soon the cops arrive to handcuff her using cable ties-regular handcuffs were too big for her-and took her to jail for battery.

Appearently, the 5-year-old, 40 pound child was TOO POWERFUL for the teacher, the rest of the school's staff, and even the policemen, who had to tie up her hands and handcuff her ankles in order to arrest her.

Isn't America wonderful?

High School Student May Face Expulson For Speaking to Media About Racist Activity Within School

A William Blount High School student was supended and may soon be expelled for speaking to the press about the racial tension that lurks through the halls of the high school, said ZeroIntelligence.net.

Bridget O'Neill, a junior at the school-located in Tennessee-has to deal with an expulsion hearing this Thursday because she told the media that she has seen one of her classmates make a racial sign. Why? Well, the school says that she was "disrupting the classroom and providing false information about the sign."

Here's what went down when the student was told by Principal Christy Martin about her suspension:

"She was screaming at her she was stupid," says Bridget's mother, Diane O'Neill. "They threatened to expel her for the rest of the year because she wouldn't give the name. Then she threatened to call the police. And she was like, 'why?' She said, 'Well, I'm going to have you arrested for standing in the way of justice.'"

Nothing Today

I couldn't find anything interesting today, Moon Man fans, but I'll be back tomorrow with some good stuff!

Legal Documents Reveal Complaints Made By People Filing NCLB Suit

I guess the New York Times are trying out the Smoking Gun method of journalism-adding court documents to one's news article to enhance one's crediblity. In addition to reporting the lawsuit against President Bush's NCLB Act, it also features documents that display the complaints made by the one's filling the lawsuit, National Education Assoication and several states.

Feel free to take a look, but make sure your computer has Adobe Reader.

[Note: The Times wasn't the only news group reporting the lawsuit.]

Parents Take On School Districts For Their Disabled Children's Education

Families accross the country are dealing with the same (or at least similar) situation as Richard Ellenbogen and Dr. Debra Weissman (shown above), who have paid tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees seeking to force their district help pay for private school for their son, one of about 5.7 million children in our country qualifying for special education.

Funding for special edcuation is becoming a hot topic in several areas in the United States. The New York Times said that cities such as Hamilton County, Tenn., and Westport, Conn. are forking over millions of dollars to make sure that their disabled children does not lose their right to have a good education.


Take a look at this chart below to see serious the issue is in the state of Connecticut alone (Warning: The chart is a little big):

Schools Adopt Breathalyzer Policy

The nice-looking man in the glasses is holding one of the most fiendish foes of a party animal.

Now students, especially those who like to party, have another reason to hate school. Apperently, school staff members are fed up with school dances and football games being filled with drunks, so more schools are now using breathalyzers for school functions in order to crack down on students who are under the influnce.

Students consider the breathalyzers to be an invasion of privacy. Do you agree?

First, read this USA Today article to find out more. Then, go back to Moon Man a post a comment or two.

Insightful Quotes Will Hopefully Save Moon Man's Tail

Blogger.com- the website responsible for Moon Man's birth-must've been a little under the weather yesterday (April 21), because I was not able to do a post. To make up for it, I found a few interesting quotes for you all to munch on.

Enjoy, people, enjoy!

The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn."

- T.H. White, "The Once and Future King"

There is nothing training cannot do. Nothing is above its reach. It can turn bad morals to good; it can destroy bad principles and recreate good ones; it can lift men to angelship.

<>

<>- Mark Twain

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There are two types of education... One should teach us how to make a living, And the other how to live.

--John Adams

Poverty, race, ethnicity and immigration status are not in themselves determinative of student achievement. Demography is not destiny. The amount of melanin in a student's skin, the home country of her antecedents, the amount of money in the family bank account, are not the inexorable determinants of academic success. The evidence introduced at trial demonstrates that these negative life experiences can be overcome by public schools with sufficient resources well deployed. It is the clear policy of the state, as formulated by the Regents and S.E.D. [State Education Department], that all children can attain the substantive knowledge and master the skills expected of high school graduates. The court finds that the city's at-risk children are capable of seizing the opportunity for a sound basic education if they are given sufficient resources.

--Justice Leland DeGrasse Supreme Court of the State of New York

You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.

- Galileo

If you can read this, thank a teacher.

-Anonymous teacher

Columbia Journalism Review Reveals What's Really Going On With Our Schools

Dig deep into the world of education with the Columbia Journalism Review article, "How Are the Kids?" The article deals with the shady activities hidden within the walls of most schools, the media's efforts to uncover these issues, and....

you guessed it! The NCLB Act!

Here's a piece of what you'll find in the article:

If No Child Left Behind raised the stakes for school districts, it also raised the stakes for those who cover them. The education story became a national political story (read: more important) the day the bill passed, and its initial handler was the Washington press corps. The coverage underscored the benefits of the unusual Democratic-Republican alliance that helped push the bill into being. It heralded the importance of imposing high standards and requiring full disclosure for schools that can no longer hide the failure of their most vulnerable students. And it forecast four years of welcome attention to the public schools. In other words, the news was good. But Washington reporters did little to shed light on the 1,000-page measure’s finer points, at least initially, preferring instead to parse its political implications.

Now that the law’s full effects are settling into elementary and middle school classroom reality, more critics are speaking out against it, and talking to reporters. The Department of Education was so concerned about the growing bipartisan wave of criticism that it paid $700,000 to a public relations firm to promote No Child and rank individual reporters’ coverage of it. Then, in January, USA Today broke the story that the department had paid Armstrong Williams, a conservative black pundit and radio host, $240,000 to shill for the Bush administration’s main education initiative.

National Eduation Association Urges Everyone to Sign Petition Ordering Congress to Fund America's Schools

Check out the NEA's website (which also includes a report on the NCLB lawsuits) to sign a petition they created to make sure that our government doesn't flake on their promise to provide the money our schools need to education our nation's children.

Plus, the NEA urges us all to contact our Senators, our Representatives, and even George W. himself and urge them to:

• Fully fund the Act before punishing cash-strapped school districts that don't meet all of the rules and regulations of the new law.
• Alter the one-size-fits all testing requirements so schools and children aren't judged on a single test score alone.
• Ensure that the teacher quality definition will not force qualified teachers from the classroom, while also closing loopholes that exempt charter schools and supplemental service providers from some of the requirements.
• Ensure that paraprofessionals receive the time and help they need to meet the NCLB requirements.

More NCLB Lawsuits Heading In Bush's Direction

It looks like the Bush Administration better have their attorneys on speed dial, because Connecticut isn't the only state who's gunning for them. School districts in Michigan, Vermont and Bush's beloved home, Texas, have banded together with the National Education Association (NEA) to cause major (legal) damage to Bush, his associates, and his very popular NCLB Act.

A Washington Post article said that the army of disgruntled school districts and NEA's 2.7 million members accused the administration of going against the constitution by forcing them to live up to very high standards without coughing up the billions of dollars in extra expenses needed to do so. These expensive, the Post said, include "the costs of adding testing, getting children up to grade level in reading and math, and ensuring teachers are highly qualified. "


How does Bush feel about all of this?

On Wednesday, at a White House ceremony honoring the teacher of the year the president said, "I love the spirit of the No Child Left Behind Act. I suspect the teachers love the spirit of challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations."

Senior Year Slump May Be Extinct Soon

I haven't heard the term "senioritis" since my senior year of high school. If I remember correctly, "senioritis" is when a senior experiences the case of the "I have nothing to do but wait for graduation" blues. I remember suffering from a mild case of this disease myself. I was nearly done with all of Morgan Park High's requirements and I felt a little bit bored and frustrated with pretty much every single @#$!@%& thing about my school (no offense, Morgan Park).

Future seniors, however, might not have that problem. USA Today said that U.S. governors plan to terminate "senioritis" with ideas such as early graduation and "dual enrollment," which allows students to earn high school and college credit. These programs may lead to fewer construction costs for new schools, cheaper tuition costs for students who are entering college, and more available spots on college campuses.

Read the USA Today's "We need cure for 'senioritis,' governors say" article and a related article, "With 'senioritis' the diagnosis, the search for a cure is on" to find out more.

NCLB Rebellion Rages On

It turns out that the Department of Education's NCLB makeover (read the post below for details) is not good enough of for several states. USAToday.com reports that several states, including Texas, President Bush's homestate, and Utah, the state that gave Bush his biggest win during last year's election are still protesting the NCLB Act.

Texas' beef with the law is that the new version of the NCLB Act, which promises a slight increase of the percentage of students that will be exempted from the grade-level tests, really stinks. The new percentage-3%, according to USA Today (and 2%, according the Department of Education's press release)- isn't good enough for Texas legislators. They want 9% of their students to be exempted from the tests, which made the Department of Education very angry. Feeling that the state's demand is way too much, the department threatens to cut some of Texas' federal funds.

In Utah, state legislators plan to pass a bill that allow the state to be immune to Bush's efforts, which may put $120 million it receives in federal education aid in jeopardy.

Department of Education Has Pow Wow With America's Principals Over No Child Left Behind Act

[Note: From now on, the No Child Left Behind Act will be referred to NCLB]

In a U.S. Department of Education press release, the department reports the results of the meeting between them and the National Association of Elementary School Principals. A new and improved (sort of) NCLB was the center of discussion.

During the meeting, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings addressed on of the main changes of the NCLB-offering tests that are suitable for students with persistent academic disabilities:

"This new approach recognizes that not all children have the same needs. New scientific research has shown that some students with persistent academic disabilities can make substantial progress toward grade-level achievement given the right instruction and assessments along with more time.... Of course, we must be careful to balance this new flexibility with safeguards to ensure that all of our students, including those with disabilities, receive the best education possible. That's why we'll continue to ensure these students count in accountability decisions."

The change will mean that $14 million will be spent for these student.

Seventh-grade Student Talks About Gun, Gets Suspended

Appearently, a student can just say the word "gun" and be suspended because of it.

On April 15, ZeroIntelligence.net reported that A seventh-grade student has been baned from Pottstown Middle School in Pennsylvania because a teacher overheard the student say something about an AK-47 while having a conversation with other students. The teacher thought that the student said he is going to bring an AK-47 to school and bust a cap in everyone's butts. However, according to seven of the student's classmates, who were involved in the conversation, the student actually said, "If there were no rules, I could bring in an AK-47 for self-defense."

In addition to the suspension, the student has to be searched each morning upon coming to school and upon leaving from now on. Also, the student's parents agreed to make sure the student seeks counseling.

Washington Education Reporter Seeks People For Interviews Involving Learning Foreign Languages

Once again, Washington Post Education Reporter Valerie Strauss is doing another report and she needs your help!!!

Please, please read:

Washington Post education writer Valerie Strauss is seeking to interview people of all ages who have tried to learn a foreign language, and have either encountered great success or great trouble. Please contact her at straussv@washpost.com and provide a phone number.

Washington Post readers can find this ad in the reporters query portion of the education section of their website.

Teacher Resigned After Committing Racist (And Stupid) Act

Georgia teacher Greg Dougherty must've thought that wearing "an exaggerated, Afro-style wig with brownish makeup covering his face and arms" at a Central High School basketball game was a good idea at the time. But now he's having second thoughts.

CNN.com reported that Dougherty apologized and resigned from his teaching position after getting busted for wearing blackface to the game on March 25 (that's two days after may birthday, which really sucks).

[Note: The article added that, in 1999 Dougherty was accused of making sexually inappropriate remarks to female students.]

Principals Create Free Education Hotline For Parents

ATTENTION ALL PARENTS!!!

Is your child's future important to you?

Do have plenty of serious questions involving your child's education?

Has there ever been moments in your live when you thought to yourself "I NEED A PRINICPAL"?

Fear not, folks, because the Washington Post have brought a Education Hotline to my attention. The National Association of Elementary School Principals and the Members of the National Association of School Psychologists are working together to create the FREE hotline and answer any education question you can muster up.

Call 1-800-944-1601. Their lines are open 1-7 p.m. EDT Sunday, 7 a.m.-7 p.m. EDT Monday and 7 a.m.-1 p.m. EDT Tuesday.

107 Students Dominate The New SATs

Austin Weiss, a 16-year-old junior at Palm Desert High School in California, is one person who isn't having any trouble figuring out how he did on the new SATs (see post below). Out of the hundreds of thousands of students that took the new SATs, he is one of the 107 students who scored a flawless 2400. Yes sir, CNN.com said that he achieved "triple perfection"-800 points each in the test's three sections: math, critical reading, and writing.

Here's his picture:




Read the CNN article to find out more about Weiss and several other of the students who mastered the test.

New SAT Scoring System Leads to Frustration Among Students, Parents, and Colleges

This week, the 300, 000 students who suffered through the new SATs on March 12 are now recieving their scores. How did they do? No one knows, yet. The Washington Post says that everyone is scratching their heads trying to decode the scores of our nation's students. Remember that the new SATs have a new scoring system were the 2400 is considered perfect (in the old test, a 1600 was the perfect score). This new system is causing much confusion the those who are used to the old system.

Even colleges like Georgetown University and the University of Virginia aren't 100 percent sure how to deal with the entire test, though they still plan to use portions of the new SAT in the admissions process.

In response to the confusion, the College Board, which administers the test, advised students, parents, and everyone else who is a bit peeved by the scoring system to avoid comparing most of the new SAT to the old SAT. In addtion, the Board said that, it will take at least a year before they will have a large enough sample to provide average scores and percentile information for everyone.

Elementary and Secondary Education Act Became Stronger Than Ever After 40 Years

President Lyndon B. Johnson with his childhood teacher Kate Deadrich Loney in the signing of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

How would Lyndon B. Johnson, the man who helped turned the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) 0f 1965 into a law during his presidential term, react to the No Child Left Behind Act? In honor of the ESEA's 40th anniversery (I assume), Education Week's website features an article about how Johnson's law became as colossal as it is today.


Enjoy this brief timeline which shows how the ESEA evolve over the years:

1965: President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, ushering in a major expansion of the federal role in schools. The centerpiece of the new law is the Title I program for disadvantaged students.

1968: Congress expands the ESEA with new programs and titles, including programs for migrant children, neglected or delinquent children, and the Bilingual Education Act.

1970: In response to widespread reports of misused federal funds, the law is changed to clamp down on how Title I aid is spent. The legislation, signed by President Richard M. Nixon, adds demands that the federal aid “supplement, not supplant” money spent by states and localities, and that Title I schools receive state and local aid “comparable” to that received by other schools in the state.

1978: In a reauthorization signed by President Jimmy Carter, Title I aid for the first time can be spent “schoolwide” if at least 75 percent of children in the school are eligible for the aid.

1981: President Ronald Reagan pushes hard for a rewrite of the law consolidating many programs into a block grant, though the reauthorization main-tains Title I—renamed Chapter 1—as a separate program. It also reduces regulatory and paperwork requirements for states and districts. This reauthorization ushered in a period of depressed spending under the federal law.

1985: The Supreme Court, on a 5-4 vote in Aguilar v. Felton, rules that the practice of sending public school teachers into religious schools violates the First Amendment’s ban on government establishment of religion. As a result, students from religious schools must travel to mobile vans, public schools, or other neutral sites to receive Title I services.

1988: The law takes important steps toward the kind of student testing and accountability later expanded upon. Districts must annually assess, based on standardized-test scores, the effectiveness of Chapter 1 programs in schools. Program improvement plans are required for each school that does not make substantial progress toward raising student achievement.

1994: President Bill Clinton signs the Improving America’s Schools Act, a reauthorization of the ESEA that requires states to develop standards and aligned assessments for all students. Districts also must identify schools not making “adequate yearly progress” and take steps to improve them, though the law is far less strict than the 2001 version in defining AYP and applying consequences to schools that don’t make it.

1997: The Supreme Court, on a 5-4 vote in Agostini v. Felton, overturns its 1985 ruling by deciding that the U.S. Constitution does not prohibit school districts from sending teachers into religious schools to provide Title I ser-vices to needy students.

2002: President George W. Bush signs the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which expands the ESEA’s testing requirements and introduces an aggres-sive federal role in holding states and school districts accountable for showing improved student performance. It also requires all public school classrooms to have “highly qualified” teachers.

New Experiment Lands Teachers From Well-To-Do Schools to The Roughest Schools In The Area

Come one and all and listen to the story of Kennetha Jones, a Miami teacher who quit her job at a well-to-do school to teach at one of the roughest elementary schools in the county-Lakeview Elementary School. Her career move was a part of an experiment to transfer several educators from rich schools to 39 very troubled schools, labeled the "School Improvement Zone" by the superintendent of schools in Miami and Dado county, Dr. Rudy Crew.

A New York Times article reveals the challenges she faced and where the idea for the program came from (the Times said the program originated in New York) .

Our Education Has Two Faces

Check out this cartoon I found at the NoChildLeft.com (Click on the cartoon for a brief explanation of what to cartoon is about).




For more "No Child Left Behind Stinks" cartoons, visit the website's cartoon section.

Oh, And By The Way...

I know I promised to give everyone an article on Sunday, April 10, but things have been a little flaky lately. My Bad!

Potty Mouths are Taking Over Our Schools

Those of you wonderful, wonderful MOON MAN fans who decided to participate in Washington Post education reporter Valerie Strauss's report (read "Washington Post Reporter Seeking Students, Teacher to Chat About Naughty Words in Schools") can finally view her article NOW!

Did your opinion make the cut?

Also, because I love you all so much, I'm going to give you four of the TEN TIPS TO TAME YOUR TOUNGE (also featured in the article):

1. Recognize that swearing does damage.

2. Start by eliminating casual swearing. Pretend that your grandmother or your young daughter is always next to you.

3. Think positively.

4. Practice being patient. When you are stuck in line or in traffic, ask yourself if a few more minutes matter.

Parents Have Become Bigger Jerks, Says Teachers

Well, the nation's teachers didn't exactly called today's parents jerks, but some of the parents mentioned in a recent USA Today article definitely earned their place in the obnoxious creep hall of fame. (One parent in Philadelphia mother repeatedly slapped a teacher in the face because she was forced to get a late slip for her daughter.)

Parents have become more pushy, aggessive, and violent then they used to be, according to several educators. Why? Lisa Jacobson, chief executive of the tutoring and test preparation business Inspirica, said, "[Teachers] feel like the parents come in as CEOs and order them around." Today parents are doing everything from going to the teachers and strongly urging them to change their child's grades to shooting a high school football coach because he, or she doesn't like the coach's football program.

There's No Post Today

I repeat, there's no post today.

But there will DEFINITELY be one or two or three posts tomorrow.

Florida Teacher Arrested for Drinking Alcohol, Smoking Weed With Students

If you like my "Hypocracy Stinks" post, then you'll adore the Washington Post article I have found today.

In Venice, Fla., police have arrested Michael B. Ziemian, a 34-year-old Venice High School teacher, for allegedly luring a few Venice High girls into his crib and attempted to feed them vodka-and-tonics and offer them marijuana. The article said that he even showed them his killer batch of marijuana plants in his garage.

Ziemian was freed from prision after paying a $40,000 fine, but he and another teacher in the district-his wife-are on administrative leave.

Sorry, no pictures this time. (Again, read "Hypocracy Stinks" to see what I mean.)

Conneticut Prepares Lawsuit Against No Child Left Behind

I had no idea that a state can sue the Government for anything, let alone one of it's law. That's extremely cool (I hope this is a start of a trend).

An article from ABC New's website, abcnews.go.com, reported Conneticut is destined to be the first state to get of it's butt and challenge Bush's No Child Left Behind Act in a federal courtroom. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said that the state is suing the government for illegally and unconstitutionally forcing states to spend more than the government provides for test development and school reform programs.

In a U.S. Department of Education press release , the department's acting director of public affairs, DJ Nordquist, made a response to the lawsuit. Here's a small sample of what he said:

This is a sad day for students of Connecticut. Connecticut has received over $750 million in No Child Left Behind federal funds since the law was signed. Instead of addressing the issue at hand, the state has chosen to attack a law that is designed to assist the students most in need—and those whom these funds directly help.

Do you think that Connecticut has a shot at winning the suit?

Government Creates New and Improved No Child Left Behind Act

You guys have heard about the No Child Left Behind Act, right? Sure you have. We ALL have. Its that education law created by the Bush Administration that is making high schools across the nation miserable (read Should "No Child Left Behind" Law be left behind?, Several States are Terrified Thanks to No Child Left Behind Act, and Government Responds to States' Problems With No Child Left Behind Act to refresh your memory).

This have become so bad that the state of Connecticut a started a federal lawsuit against the act (more on that in my next post).

In a CNN.com article, the government plans to add more flexablity to the Act to cut schools some slack. Of course there's a catch:"Only states that can prove progress or a strong commitment to improve will be seriously considered for that flexibility," says the government.

Read the article to find out more.

Latest Education Statistics True or False

For every 100 students who enter ninth grade:

• 67 will graduate from high school.

• 38 will enter college.

• 26 will remain in college beyond freshman year.

• 18 will earn an associate's or bachelor's degree.

This info came from the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems in Denver, Colorado and has appeared in several newspapers, but is this information correct.

Find out in this Washington Post article.

Red Ink is Evil, Parents Say

The following post will be mostly red in protest to the following:

CNN.com's latest article reports that Daniels Farm Elementary School in Trumbull, Connecticut, has banned the use of red ink for grading schoolwork after recieving grief from parents who consider red ink to be "stressful."

And guess what else...

The hottest new color that is being used by many of America's teachers is PURPLE.

Should red ink be banned? Of course not! Red ink isn't scary. In fact, red ink is...red ink. Okay, so the sight of red ink on a paper can be a little irritating for a student to see, but keeping red ink away from test papers one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. In fact, I believe that a little stress on a student and even a parent is a good thing. The undeniable power of red motivates student to wake up and pay attention to their progress in schools. This is yet another example of how ignorant most parents are these days.

Seventeen Students Expelled for Watching A Fight

Yes, you heard right!

While browsing through Zero Intelligence (remember that website I told you all about?), I discovered an April 1 post saying that 17 students from Adams City High School in Colorado faced expulsion for watching a fight that occurred off campus. Zero Intelligence said that, thanks to a state law stating "behavior on or off school property which is detrimental to the welfare or safety or morals of other pupils or of school personnel," EVERY SINGLE STUDENT near the scene, including those who were only observing the fight, recieved the same punishment-expulsion for an entire year-as the people who were fighting.

Cindi Seidel, assistant superintendent of Adams County School District 14, was the one who sent the letters informing the parents of the 17 kids about the expulsion. Later on, she claimed that charging the innocent bystanders was an "error." [Note: Make sure you read the funny comment made by the writer of the post, Jim Peacock, in response to Seidel's mistake.]


Take a look at this picture of three of the very ticked-off students who were punished-Santos Garcia, Luis Hernandez and Elio Flores: (The people in the background are some of the students parents.)



This picture is from the Denver Post website, where the story was originally from.

Washington Post Reporter Seeking Students, Teacher to Chat About Naughty Words in Schools

People curse too %*&@ much. It would be very nice to go through one day without hearing a curse word or two or tweleve, but we all know that such a day will never come (at least not in our lifetime). Unfortunately, the art of profanity is one of the "skills" I've learned in grammar school.

Some say that profanity in school has become even more common in schools today. Those of you who agree might want to read the following from the Washington Post's website:

Washington Post education reporter Valerie Strauss is seeking to interview students and teachers about profanity in schools and the penalties given to students for using it. Please contact her at straussv@washpost.com and provide a phone number.

No Post Today, Folks!

Come Back Tomorrow for some Moon Man action!