First School System Loses Accreditation Since 1969
All is DEFINITELY not well in Georgia education
Back at the beginning of April, and then again in May, I told you about the threat of de-accreditation that Clayton County, Georgia Public Schools faced.
Well, the first deadline passed and the county got a new Superintendent of Education (one of the prerequisites for continuing accreditation). But the problems with the Board of Education continued (basically they were terrible at their jobs and completely unqualified), but they refused to resign.
Well, the day of reckoning has come and SACS (Southern Accreditation of Colleges and Schools) has revoked the Clayton County School System’s accreditation. CC’s schools have the dubious distinction of being the first in forty years to lose such.
What does this mean to students? Well, for one thing, this makes seniors ineligible for scholarships, and even admission to some colleges and universities.
SACS has given CCSS until September 2009 to straighten things out, according to their guidelines. If Clayton County is successful, the accreditation will be retroactive to 2008, and students who graduated in the meantime, will regain eligibility.
The furor over the de-accreditation has really turned nasty, with allegations of racism, cronyism, and blame being dished-out to everyone, including the Governor of the state.
However, this mess in Clayton County may just be the tip of the iceburg. Georgia schools overall rank 47th in the country. Will there be more loss of accreditation, or will Georgia schools get turned around?
BTW, the schools in my state rank even lower than Georgia, which is one of the reasons I’m so adament about effective education reform.
Yes, there are severe education problems in Georgia, and elsewhere. How much longer are parents and taxpayers going to tolerate it?
Why hasn’t anyone implemented The Kingsland Plan? It’s a PROVEN, WORKABLE Plan and even addresses the issue of a qualified Board of Education!
All of the reviews we’ve had from readers of Set Our Teachers FREE! A Plan to Save Public Education and The Kingsland Plan have all called the plan “full of common sense” and “workable”.
It’s time to WAKE UP, be realistic and implement practical, workable change.
C’mon folks. Let’s get together and take action.
Brennan
How to Get Rid of a Troublesome Teen
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Teenagers Can Be A Real Handful!
- Is your teenager giving you problems?
- Do you find yourself arguing constantly about clothes? curfew? anything?
- Does your teen grumble about chores?
- Are they constantly badgering you for a car, or to drive?
- Is this beginning to look like another school year from Hades?
- Finally, are you just plain tired of being the parent of a teenager?
Well, I may have found the solution to your problems!
All you have to do is move to NEBRASKA! That’s right, NEBRASKA!
Broadly-Expanded SAFE HAVEN Law
Seems it took a little while for Nebraska to pass a SAFE HAVEN law protecting unwanted infants. In fact, Nebraska was the very last state to adopt the law. However, when they finally did it, they did it up in a BIG WAY!
Nebraska’s new SAFE HAVEN law actually goes farther than the laws as enacted in other states. Instead of just allowing parents to abandon unwanted babies at hospitals with no questions asked, it actually goes beyond infants and potentially permits the abandonment of anyone under 19.
While lawmakers may not have intended it, the month-old law allows for the real possibility that frustrated parents of adolescents could actually drop off misbehaving teens.
However, Nebraska lawmakers sincerely wanted to extend the protection to all minors, which in Nebraska is age 19.
Senator Tom White was quoted as saying,
“All children deserve our protection. If we save one child from being abused, it’s well, well worth it.”
Why SAFE HAVEN?
In other states, SAFE HAVEN has been enacted to focus on preventing the abandonment of newborns, so that babies can be left in safekeeping, without prosecution to the abandoning parent. The idea is to prevent babies being dumped and left to die, or outright killed. SAFE HAVEN laws were designed to protect newborns.
What Nebraska has done, which is a BIG THING, is extend that protection to any unwanted or at-risk minor.
ON A VERY SERIOUS NOTE: It is important to remember that SAFE HAVEN laws do not protect the parent, or caregiver, from prosecution, if abuse has occurred. Thank goodness!
Thus far, according to reports, no children in Nebraska have been dropped off under the new law.
A Great-Grandmother’s Point of View
Just a bit of advice from a happy great-grandmother:
All the battles with your teenagers are so WORTH IT!
If you hang in there and keep loving them, no matter how awful or rebellious they seem – or how much they tell you they hate you, eventually they get past this stage.
When they grow up and realize the heck they put you through, they’ll be real sorry!
Ah! Revenge is sweet! Heh! Heh! Heh!
Best of all, they become wonderful people who will become your best friends.
And they sometimes give you grandchildren. And that’s the best reward of all!
Brennan
Pistol-Packin’ School Marms?
Teachers With Guns! Here to Stay?
History was made in Harrold, Texas on the first day of the new 2008-2009 school year.
For the first time anywhere in the USA, teachers are legally authorized to carry concealed weapons INTO school and the story is making the national news.
Needless to say, there are very vocal supporters and opponents of this latest step towards preventing school violence, as seen first at Columbine and repeated too many times across the entire nation.
Parents are either in favor, or extremely opposed, to the idea of teachers carrying weapons.
One parent was reported as saying that teachers are trained to educate, not carry guns.
As a card-carrying concealed weapons person myself, I know that you have to undergo stringent testing to receive a permit. But I also know that shooting a target is not the same thing as shooting a person.
Students seemed curious as to who was “carrying heat”, but most said they didn’t feel threatened by the fact.
The idea is to try to prevent further Columbine/Virginia Tech massacres by having a responsible person on site to react if someone starts shooting. The hope is that not knowing whether an armed person is close at hand or not, might give pause to shooters attacking a school (at least in Harrold, Texas).
With violence on the rise against students and teachers,
“Harrold Superintendent David Thweatt said the board approved the policy in an October open meeting that had been publicized. He said the decision was made after nearly two years of researching the best school security options at the school, just off a busy highway and 30 minutes away from the sheriff’s office.”
“When you outlaw guns in a certain area, the only people who follow that are law-abiding citizens, and everybody else ignores it.”
One teacher interviewed expressed ambivalence towards the idea and stated,
“If this stays in effect, it will only last until a student gets shot. Especially with attacks on teachers by students.”
According to the article, teachers received additional training in crisis management and hostage negotiations.
How do you feel about teachers carrying concealed weapons in schools?
Are you for it or against it?
For the full story, Click Here!
Til next time,
Brennan
Are Schools Beating Students? Another Gitmo?
Baltimore Art Teacher Beaten By Student
While Class Cheered Attacker On!
I read an interesting article by Michelle Malkin on Townhall.com this morning.
The article reports on a document released by the ACLU and Human Rights Watch that claims American schools are “torture chambers”, where unruly students are brutalized. The report claims that students who misbehave are being “humiliated” and “beaten”.
Who’s Beating Whom?
The document particularly singles-out schools in the south, where paddling or knuckle-rapping is apparently still allowed in some areas.
Well, I can tell you that the South Carolina schools my poor husband taught in did NOT allow touching a student in any way, shape or form, including disciplining for bad behavior.
Many times when I went to the school to take Don out to lunch, I waited in the hall for his class to finish. I cannot begin to tell you the obscene comments that were made to me, or that I overheard students saying to each other.
And no one ever did anything about it.
Oh, yes, there was a police officer patrolling the halls, but kids aren’t stupid. I never saw a group of boys backing a girl up against the wall, or touching her inappropriately, when the policeman was standing there, but I certainly saw it on other occasions. And reporting the fact to the office had ABSOLUTELY NO EFFECT!
What Our Research and Experience Revealed
As Don continued his research for his book “Set Our Teachers FREE! A Plan to Save Public Education”, he discovered incidents of student violence are widespread across the entire country.
Teachers are taking the blame for the deteriorating standards in our schools, but their hands are tied when they try to teach.
In classroom after classroom across the nation, disruptive students prevent the teacher from being able to educate the students who DO want to study.
In fact, across the country, teachers are being threatened in their classrooms by those same unruly students who KNOW there will be no consequences for their actions.
The sad thing is that teacher time must be spent dealing with bad behaviors, instead of working and encouraging students who WANT to learn. In our own state, a teacher was accused of racism and terminated for reporting a rape threat. Fortunately, she sued the system and won!
Get The ACLU Out Of Our Schools!
Reading the comments posted on the Malkin article, I was not surprised to see that people are sharply divided on this topic.
But whether you are for or against discipline, or corporal punishment, in our schools, it is imperative that we stop the ACLU from getting a stronger foothold into education.
To say that paddling an unruly student is the equivalent of torture “in Guantanemo Bay” is ludicrous! As almost any teacher can tell you, out-of-control students are damaging education and ruining it for students who WANT to learn.
As the Union representative (for the Baltimore teacher who was beaten by her student while the class cheered the attacker on) stated:
“The inmates are running the asylum.”
It’s time for change! We need The Kingsland Plan.
Brennan
Recession Hits Education HARD!
School Is More Expensive This Year!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution posted an article about high gasoline prices and signs of recession impacting the 2008-2009 school year.
The start of the new school year is usually a time of mixed pleasures and woes for students. While they hate to see summer end, new clothes and supplies have traditionally been some compensation to youngsters preparing to return to academia.
This year, while parents are struggling to fit rising gas prices into the family budget, lots of families are have to ‘make do’, rather than making over their student’s wardrobe.
And if you think it’s expensive to fill the family gas tank, just think how much it costs to fill-up that big ole’ school bus.
Since the money for school transportation has to come from somewhere, many schools are raising fees everywhere possible to offset the expense.
Lunch prices are rising and programs are being cut, all in the name of budgets.
One of the cutbacks mentioned in the article is that there will be fewer pick-up and drop-off points for students who ride the bus. Ah, darn!
Seems the days of the bus idling at the curb in front of every student’s house (and blocking traffic), while the student saunters leisurely to the curb, will become a thing of the past.
Instead, students will have to leave their houses in the morning in time to WALK to a centralized pick-up point, just like we had to do in the old days.
Then, after school, they will have to walk home from that centralized drop-off point.
While I certainly don’t relish the idea of a full-blown recession, this one cost-saving change is something I can really endorse.
I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve been stuck, on my way to or from work, behind a school bus with a single student dawdling to or from, while a line of vehicles waited, burning up gas and patience.
I don’t know how bus pickups ever evolved to the point of stopping and waiting at each student’s house, but I for one am glad to see it come to a halt.
In the old days, when I had to walk backwards through the snow with only one shoe to get to school (in Southern California), a student would not have DREAMED of making the bus wait for them. Seriously, if we weren’t at the Bus Stop, the bus left without us.
Facing a parent and telling them you had missed the bus was a VERY UNPLEASANT experience, since it meant the parent had to drive the student to school. The alternative, if you missed the bus enough, was a visit from the truant officer.
Do they even have truant officers anymore?
Well, the earth is no longer flat and the earth now revolves around the sun (instead of vice-versa) but, because of the economy, at least one old-timey routine looks like it will return.
School curb service just may be a thing of the past.
Brennan
Using Technology to Help Students!
Alice for Fun Learning!
Teaching Students to Program With Stories
Alice is a 3D virtual worlds programming environment that makes it easy to create animations for either story telling or interactive games. Students can learn the intricacies of programming through enjoyable activities.
Available for free download on the internet (provided by Carnegie Mellon), Alice has been used with 4th-6th grade youngsters on up to high school students.
Teachers can use Alice to integrate computer science with any other discipline.
Alice can be used in two ways:
- At the lower level students can learn enough Alice to build interactive worlds to integrate it into course modules
- At a higher level, Alice is a complete course on learning programming. In any current module in which a student creates a poster or presentation, the student now can build an interactive story or game as the presentation.
The wonderful thing about Alice is that students, yes, even middle school girls, can learn computer programming through storytelling.
What a breakthrough!
Inspired Teaching Made Into Fun
MYST is another technologically-advanced program for involving and engrossing students to achieve peak levels of performance.
These videos are about an award-winning teacher in the U.K. and the techniques he uses to motivate and inspire his students. As Clive McGonigal (the friend who told me about Tim Ryland) mentioned in his email to me. . .
“How many classes of kids do you know that moan when the lesson’s over?”
Enjoy the videos and take a look at the website. See what can be accomplished when teachers are allowed to use their creativity.
What a fellow teacher says about the effectiveness of this technique.
For years, Don Kingsland, author of “Set Our Teachers FREE! A Plan to Save Public Education” and “The Kingsland Plan” utilized creative techniques to help his students far surpass expectations. The newest generation of creative teachers is exemplified by Tim Ryans.
Our students are bright and they deserve the best education we can give them. Schools must be revamped to allow excellent teachers to provide innovative learning environments for those students, at all ages.
Take a look at Tim’s website Tim Rylands website and his blog Tim Ryland’s blog to learn more about the results of education done creatively.
Just think, the POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!
Until next time!
Brennan
California Education: Schools Devote May 22 to the Gay Lifestyle?
Harvey Milk
Do you know who Harvey Milk was? If you live in California and you don’t know who he was, you will soon find out.
According to the wording of Bill AB 2567:
“He was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in a major city of the United States. He was assassinated in 1978 at San Francisco’s City Hall by a political rival. Perhaps more than any other modern figure, Harvey Milk’s life and political career embody the rise of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights movement in California, across the nation, and throughout the world.”
According to a local news report:
“Today (August 7th), the California Assembly passed AB 2567 on a 43 to 26 vote, Democrats for, Republicans against. Earlier this week, AB 2567 passed the California State Senate on a 22-13 vote, Democrats for, Republicans against. AB 2567 now goes to Governor Schwarzenegger, whose position is unknown.”
Per Randy Thomasson, President of Campaign for Children and Families (CCF), a leading California organization allegedly protecting parents’ rights and children’s innocence:
“If signed into law, AB 2567 will mean an official day commemorating homosexuality, bisexuality, and transsexuality in California government schools. This will harm children as young as kindergarten. Every May 22, AB 2567 will positively portray to children homosexual experimentation, homosexual ‘marriages,’ sex-change operations, and anything else that’s ‘in the closet.’ “
The transcript of the AB 2567 continues:
“(y) Harvey Milk’s life and social contributions have left an indelible mark on the history of our nation and hold a special meaning for the people of California.
SEC. 2. Section 37222 of the Education Code is amended to read:
37222. (a) The following days in each year are designated and set apart as days having special significance:
(1) The second Wednesday in May as the Day of the Teacher.
(2) April 21 of each year as John Muir Day.
(3) April 6 of each year as California Poppy Day.
(4) May 22 of each year as Harvey Milk Day.
(b) On each of the days designated in subdivision (a), all public schools and educational institutions are encouraged to observe those days and to conduct suitable commemorative exercises as follows:
(1) On the Day of the Teacher, exercises commemorating and directing attention to teachers and the teaching profession.
(2) On John Muir Day, exercises stressing the importance that an ecologically sound natural environment plays in the quality of life for all of us, and emphasizing John Muir’s significant contributions to the fostering of that awareness and the indelible mark he left on the State of California.
(3) On California Poppy Day, exercises honoring the California Poppy, including instruction about native plants, particularly the California Poppy, and the economic and aesthetic value of wildflowers; promoting responsible behavior toward our natural resources and a spirit of protection toward them; and emphasizing the value of natural resources and conservation of natural resources.
(4) On Harvey Milk Day, exercises remembering the life of Harvey Milk and recognizing his accomplishments as well as the contributions he made to this state.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that the exercises encouraged in this section be integrated into the regular school program, and be conducted by the school or institution within the amount otherwise budgeted for educational programs. [Emphasis added.]“
This bill is a perfect example of how legislation gets passed by combining innocuous, and even worthy, ideas with those that are detrimental to the populous. (I’ll let you decide which items I’m referring to.)
We must remember, though the article states Governor Swartzenegger’s position is unknown, the following California legal precedents should be kept in mind:
- Governor Arnie signed SB 777 into law.
- Homosexual marriages were recently legalized in the state.
- It was recently decided that to legally Homeschool (the choice of most conservative Christian families in California), a parent must have a teaching certificate (NOT required elsewhere in the nation).
I may take lots of criticism for saying so, but I am SO GLAD all my grandchildren are out of California schools.
Where is education going? We already know:
- Almost 70% of America’s eighth-graders do not read at grade level.
- Our 15-year-olds rank 25th in math and 21st in science in global competition.
- Graduation rates have dropped to ONLY 25% in some of our larger urban cities.
Where are the priorities for straightening out our schools?
Disgusted!
Brennan
PLEASE NOTE: In an addendum to the above post: On August 9th, in a unanimous decision, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District ruled that “California statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education.” This is a victory for those who want to homeschool their child/children in California.
Vision of a Vodka World
Advertising Alcoholic Beverages is Deadly!
I have been watching the progress (or lack thereof) in the stated mission of EDin08.com because I am so vitally interested in improving our schools.
With millions and millions of dollars behind them, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others, EDin08 has a stated goal to make education an important issue in the upcoming Presidential election.
Kinda vague, huh?
Though EDin08 has been publicly functioning since last year, (Did I mention they have MILLIONS of DOLLARS behind them?) it’s only in the last week or so that either the Republican or Democratic nominee has focused much attention on the subject.
I probably harbor a grudge since my husband and I got a politely worded “Thanks, but no thanks. Please don’t bother us anymore.” form letter from the foundation, when I tried to approach them last year about The Kingsland Plan and joining their efforts.
I know we’re “small potatoes” to people with the kind of money and fame that EDin08 and their backers have – but – unlike them, we have a plan that could WORK!
I tried very heartily to embrace their vision initially, but kept getting discouraged with the counter-productive techniques they employed.
They DID produce some excellent public service spots, and a movie, about what is happening in our schools. In fact, I have three of the ads posted in my left sidebar, to share with my readers.
However, an early spokesperson for EDin08 was Kanye West.
Lotsa money was spent last year to put videos of Kanye West, touting the importance of education, on YouTube. To all appearances, the response was counter-productive.
I could be wrong, but if you look at and count the hundreds of derisive and vulgar comments posted by viewers – the target audience – you might agree those videos backfired.
Where is Kanye West NOW?
Kanye West now has a new gig/video on YouTube.com and across the internet.
ABSOLUT vodka is now the money-behind-the-scenes for our fearless former-education-spokesperson.
The newest video is entitled “Watch Kanye West’s vision of an ABSOLUT World”.
Wanna know what the vision is? Well, O.K.
A bunch of party animals, including an unattractive loser-type, are in a nightclub, surrounded by sexily-dressed, inebriated women who are gyrating frantically in dance and adoration. The video shows us that each party animal/loser/pretender got this female attention by taking two Alka-Seltzer-type tablets in water and being magically transformed into cool, hip Kanye West.
The tablets are cleverly packaged in condom look-alike foil packets with Kanye West’s name on them.
This marketing approach by ABSOLUT is something every parent should be aware of. Teens, and pre-teens, are very susceptible to advertising messages and this one is a doozy!
Every ad clearly states “Enjoy with Absolut Responsibility” and then reveals “40% Alcohol by Volume”. Totally worthy and up-front, right?
But if you check the advertising message further, there are statements that should give any parent concern.
“In an ABSOLUT world, reality is only a starting point.”
And the message that really got me up on my soapbox:
“It’s not about right or wrong,
It’s about what if and why not?”
Where Have All The Role Models Gone?
From what I can see, it seems that the almighty dollar is where all those role models have gone.
I have no problem with someone making a good living, even a magnificent living, by sharing their talents and becoming popular. But whether it’s sports figures, movie stars, music icons, and even politicians, it seems that sending a positive message is no longer important to public figures – the very people who used to be our heroes.
In fact, most of them become angry and hostile at any suggestion that they should even TRY to be positive role models.
Talk To Your Teen!
Parents need to counteract this type of advertising.
The Number One cause of teen death is automobile accidents! And, far too often, drinking is the cause!
As long as youngsters try to model after those they perceive as famous and successful, parents must be on guard against the kind of advertising campaigns being waged by ABSOLUT vodka, and others.
I may be getting old, but my memory is excellent! Teens have always tried behaviors they perceive as “grown up”, long before they ever have a chance to become an adult.
Instead of letting this ad campaign sway your child to copy Kanye West, make this a teachable opportunity to share what the phrase “selling out” means.
Brennan
