You gotta kiss the fish. That’s how summer starts. With a kiss. That was the ritual of the boy and his grandfather. And then it was on to ponds and lakes and streams. A few hours here ... and a few more there. Almost always spur of the moment, grab-the-poles, hit-the-road decisions. Wedged in between … Continue reading Kiss The Fish
It's everywhere. No longer a one-off sort of story. Lots wonder ... What the hell has happened to their schools? And their children’s innocence? And their education? There’s rot leeching into your schools … helped along by social justice junkies who politicize classrooms … and dangle and yank your kids around. Bending their minds ... … Continue reading Social Justice Junk
We’re doing this all wrong. Some day .... somehow … education will discover a proper obsession. Until then … children will suffer these testing-despots … and too many adults will make believe it’s all okay. And it’s not. But let’s be certain about this … there are some things in life that just can't … Continue reading We’re Doing This All Wrong.
I’ve out-lived my father. Isn’t that the saddest achievement? My sons are wonderful men. But they missed out on him … and he missed out on them. Bad timing. He was gone before they had a memory-card. I know something for certain. A strange something. Had he lived for a few more decades … … Continue reading Silver Brushes and White Hair
I am such a sap for Aesop. He’s like wisdom in a can. Real simple. To the point. With a whiff of truth. His skinny books were all over my childhood … and all over my house. My first recollection is of “The Tortoise and the Hare” because … I think … it was actually … Continue reading I’m Such a Sap for Aesop
The United States of Rome. That sounds more like it. We were once a republic. The power was in our hands … and we elected folks to represent us. That doesn’t happen any more. Now we’re by-standers. Bit players. The audience. We think we’re in charge, but we’re not. It’s all about the few. … Continue reading The United States of Rome
The entire universe of education has been turned inside out over the last decade. Long-revered pedagogical precepts have been blue-penciled by classroom-allergic theorists now leveraged by profiteers who see public schools as the next sustainable profit-producing mother lode. And the political class … put into office by all of us … has mocked our vote … Continue reading A Grave New World
“Time, time, time ... see what's become of me …” I’m an old father now. Suddenly, it seems. My sons have sons. I own lots of memories. I polish the sweet ones and never dust the ones that hurt. I mind time now. I didn’t use to. In fact, like lots of you, I was reckless … Continue reading Mind Time
On September 2nd, Diane Ravitch lost her beans. And she's never found them again. She skidded off into a rabid rant about Trump supporters and some "grizzled old man" in "a beaten-up, dirty truck" who "must have gone to public schools" because he didn't "look like a graduate of Andover or Exeter." I'll let you … Continue reading Lost Beans
Missives Worth Reading 