November 10, ed.

"The Same Thing Over and Over" Laments  that instead of tacking on new solutions to the same old structure like mayoral control, or charter schools, or merit pay, that the whole structure  is antiquated--which it surely is. However, precious little is mentioned  about how reinvent the structure or what it should like. It seems a lot of articles complain about the problems or the solutions without actually offering workable alternatives. That is one of the reasons things never seem to change much.

The "Friends to Teachers at The U.S. Department Of Education" article seemed more about creating PR and not "ruffling feathers" at the Dept. than the kind of insightful investigative reporting I would have liked.
I think it's great that a few teachers get to spend some time at the department but I would think that a whole lot more teachers should be consulted about policy before it is instituted. It's ridiculous that a bunch of non teaching bureaucrats should be making he decisions that effect education in this country.

Ed Week Nov. 3rd

"Obama Plays Cheerleader for STEM" This article focuses on the effort the President is making to keep eduction in the spotlight. It is easy with all the issues facing him, many with much more apparent urgency to push education into the background. It's nice to see Obama not doing that. Of course their are the cynics who say he's only doing it because it's a "soft" issue that can make him look good. I don't believe Obama is that kind of person. Everything he and his wife have said and done make it clear that education and young people in general are very important to them. I just hope that members of both parties wake up and start paying attention to the importance of education in this country. If we just spent 10 percent of the money and effort that we have wasted on stupid and unnecessary wars since World War II we would clearly have the best educational system in the world, with a literacy rate above 90 percent and a high school graduation rate of over 80 percent.

Ed Week Oct. 27 ed.

There was an interesting article on pg. 5 "Teacher Speech Rights on Curriculum Rejected" According to the article a teacher was fired because of some reading selections she made that were controversial. It is interesting that politics as in school boards still control much of what is taught in the classroom. Ironically, books seem to be the source of much of the controversy that develops. In a nation that is reading less and less and with many students who have trouble with reading it seems to me we should be encouraging reading books--even if we don't agree on the content. It's not like the problem has to do with pornography or books that promote hate and violence, as much as it is with what is politically popular in a particular community. Of course objecting to books like Siddhartha or Catcher in the Rye is just plain silly and ignorant; other books like Heather Has Two Mommies are a little more challenging. Books that involve subject matter on the cultural fringe should be included in curriculum--as long as they are age appropriate and serious discussion is encouraged. Unfortunately, many points of view are either suppressed or endorsed by the school system when they should be simply presented and discussed as point of view. This would encourage critical thinking.

"Small Victories, 20 Years Later" on pg. 18 really piqued my interest. It sound like and excellent book and I'm going to check it out at the library as result of reading this article. I like to hear about real people that are busily going about their business trying to do the best that they can. I think we spend way to much time hero worshipping a few super stars--when if fact it's the people in the trenches day in and day out that really deserve our admiration.

October 20, Issue

"Student-Tracking Devices Save Money, Raise Concerns"

I think its interesting that Texas is often the place where things are done that would absolutely not be allowed anywhere else. Any kind of tracking devices that are used on people, who have not been convicted of a crime, are clearly a violation of the right to privacy. If our schools are becoming so large or so lax that they can't keep track of their students by conventional means, that's a problem. One that should not be solved by depriving students of their civil liberties. Also, it is a symptom of a larger problem which is the depersonalization of the school experience. This article claims that the schools are saving attendance money by proving that students are on school grounds, even though they are marked absent by teachers for not being in class where they should be. The school doesn't seem at all concerned by the fact that the students aren't in class where they should be--as long as there somewhere on campus and the school can get money for them being there. That seems to be a violation of the spirit of the law that requires them to be in school getting an education for the school to receive federal funds. After all who knows what their doing when they are supposed to be in class. What a disgrace!

"Superman' and Solidarity" presents and interesting slant on the film and the reality of the options. I would find it hard to believe that anyone can question the quality of education being dispensed in our public schools.
It is also true that one of the problems may be the quality of some of the teachers in the system. But this is by no means the only reason our schools are in the shape their in. It's funny lately I've read some articles that suggest that class size makes no appreciable difference in how well students do in school. I guess you can come up with statistics that will support just about anything.
Personally, I think class size, the variety of demands on schools to be "everything to everyone", the desire that everyone should pass and be made to feel they have done well, are just some of the reasons that are to blame for our schools failures, of just a few bad teachers.