Hmmm ... So, Roseanne gets cancelled for foul stuff ... but not unlike the foul stuff mumbled by Maher and Kimmel and Colbert and Behar and Goldberg ... All. The. Time. But somehow ... some way ... their shows survive to say such things over and over and over again. Hmmm again ... But here's … Continue reading Selective Outrage … Raising the Barr
Month: May 2018
Once I Was
ONCE I WAS by Tim Buckley Once I was a soldier And I fought on foreign sands for you Once I was a hunter And I brought home fresh meat for you Once I was a lover And I searched behind your eyes for you And soon there'll be another To tell you I was … Continue reading Once I Was
The War Mother
Night Noise "Ave Maria, Gratia Plena, Dominus Tecum." Mothers don't pray like the rest of us. I learned that long ago. As a boy. Have a brother at war and you'll learn lots of secrets about your Mother. She seemed the same lady … but she wasn't. Everybody went about growing up. The house kept … Continue reading The War Mother
Leave ‘Em Alone
“Genius is childhood recalled at will.” Charles Baudelaire Know why geniuses are so rare? Because the art of reliving … of remembering … of recollecting ... is lost. Maybe not forever. But it's surely rare. Too many people have no rearview mirrors. No chronicle. The here and now is all that matters. This moment. The right-now-moment. … Continue reading Leave ‘Em Alone
The Agog Mob and Why Elections Matter
For those who don't yet feel rescued by last year's election ... here's a sobering x-ray of our diseased self. This speaks to our current embarrassment as a nation ... and as a scary squint into our tomorrow ... and the likelihood that this nation might not survive an outbreak of poison ivy ... or … Continue reading The Agog Mob and Why Elections Matter
Tell Me No Lies
The great philosopher Elvis Presley once said ... "Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away." The King would probably see lots of suspicious lies in this education madness ... and be all shook up over the lack of truth. Okay! ... no more campy … Continue reading Tell Me No Lies
Lady Madonna
I could never get enough of my mother … because the line was too long. I was the fifth of six sons. Denis in the middle. My situation wasn’t any more desperate than anyone else in the tribe … we were all mother-deprived. But it wasn’t her fault. The poor lady was run-ragged searching … Continue reading Lady Madonna
Want to Stop Fed Ed? Here’s how!
“Powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people” – Tenth Amendment
WHY STOP FED ED?
IT IS COSTLY AND INEFFECTIVE
FED ED oversees about $285 billion taxpayer dollars, funds 9% of K-12 education and controls 100% of the program. Costs have risen over 400% since 1979 while scores have stayed close to flat. Also, every program that the Fed supports in each state has to have a duplicate person in the state Dept. of Ed to administer – excessive duplication of costs. With trillions of dollars wasted on federal education in the last 35 years there is nothing to show but stagnant test scores and declining student academic achievement.
IT IS UNJUST AND UNETHICAL
First rule of education should be like that for medical profession: Do No Harm. Because of Common Core State Standards, we regularly see K-8 grade students in tears of frustration over unreasonable levels of homework and obtuse methods for learning basic math and other concepts. And…
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Gates & Zuckerberg Partner-What Could Go Wrong?
BIG PHILANTHROPIES EXPLORE NEW INVESTMENTS IN THE SCIENCE OF LEARNING: The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation signaled interest this week in funding research to improve student outcomes in writing, math and executive function. Through a request for information PostedTuesday, the philanthropies are seeking "promising ideas" on the way students learn … Continue reading Gates & Zuckerberg Partner-What Could Go Wrong?
The End of Wisdom
"After 32 years ... I couldn't take it any more. I vowed to fight CC ... It was killing me to do the ridiculous and stupid things that the supervisor and principal thought were necessary. They were able to brainwash the young teachers... [and] if teachers talked negatively about CC, they could be easily replaced. … Continue reading The End of Wisdom
Missives Worth Reading 