I believe in Barack Obama and his message of change, his message of unity, his message of hope. I have been following Obama since he announced his candidacy. There is something in his message that is different and refreshing, and I like it. Tomorrow, I will be voting in the Illinois Primary Election. I know where my vote is going. Do you?
Tag Archive for 'Politics'
I took the Select a Candidate survey published by Minnesota Public Radio after seeing Scott’s post about it. The results were about what I expected. Here are my top 3, not surprisingly:
Continue reading ‘MPR’s Select a Candidate’U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman ordered the Illinois State Board of Education to not enforce the recently amended Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act that I posted about earlier. Township High School District 214 is the only district under a preliminary injunction prohibiting it from implementing the mandatory moment of silence at the start of the school day. From the article:
So for the moment some 860 Illinois districts can essentially do as they wish under the current law, lawyers in the case said.
"District 214 is the only school district in the state that has clear instructions," an attorney for the district, Brian McCarthy said. As for the rest of the districts in the state, "who knows what they’ll be doing tomorrow morning."
It will be interesting to see how this plays out in District 211. As I have stated earlier, I am not a fan of the recent amendment for multiple reasons. Besides the ambiguity of the act itself, there are better things to spend time and money implementing than a moment of silence that takes away from the already limited class time.
It appears that Dr. James Watson (half of the famed Watson and Crick pair) and his politically incorrect comments have finally caught up to him. Dr. Watson has been known to make stirring racial comments in the past. In fact, Dr. Watson made such comments during his one week visit to IWU, my alma mater, in September 2000. At the time, I thought to myself that he is free to voice his opinion. However, I found it unprofessional that he used that particular pulpit to push this agenda.
Continue reading ‘Dr. Watson’s comments catch up to him’I’m not sure where the members of the Illinois General Assembly have their heads, but it’s certainly not in the classroom. Why else would the General Assembly pass SB1463, a bill making a brief period of silence at the start of the school day mandatory instead of optional, and then override the veto by Gov. Rod Blagojevich? I’m not generally a fan of Blagojevich, but I think he had it correct when he vetoed the bill. The Chicago Tribune article reports that Blagojevich "had said he believes in the ‘power of prayer’ but worried the law could erode the barrier between church and state."
Continue reading ‘Silence is golden’David Dunn is the Chief of Staff to US Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. This pair is partially responsible for the No Child Left Behind Act, legislation that is interesting at the very least. Dunn was at Motorola’s Schaumburg headquarters last Friday to talk to teachers from across the country about NCLB. I’m not sure that anyone from a local school district was invited, and you’ll see why.
The Daily Herald published a Q&A with Dunn and Staff Writer Erin Holmes. I am finding it difficult to get past this question and Dunn’s answer to it:
Q: In Schaumburg, where we’re sitting, the two nearest high school districts and several elementary districts have opted out of taking Title I funds, which bind them to the federal [NCLB] ramifications, simply because they can afford to. Frankly, they don’t get a lot of Title I money. Do you believe that kind of thing curbs the effect of NCLB, in districts that can afford to not take the money?
A: We certainly find that disappointing. [But] we’re not seeing it. It happens that we’re in Schaumburg, and there are a couple high schools that have done it here. It’s not prevalent across the country. In New England, there are a few schools that have elected to do the same.
Frankly, we think it’s disappointing. Not just because of the money. But the key thing is, in doing so, these schools are - I don’t know if it’s rejection - but they’re not accepting the goal that the president and the Congress have laid out. And that’s what’s truly disappointing.
They’re not accepting the goal of 100 proficiency. They’re in effect saying, "We’re willing to leave children behind." That’s what disappointing.
Holmes follows up Dunn’s answer with this:
Q: I’m sure they would argue that they’re not, and their biggest defense is that they’re still held to the state’s own set of [NCLB] ramifications.
A: Fine, don’t take the money. But accept the challenge. Accept the expectation. It seems to me they’re saying they’re not willing to do that by not taking the money.
I’m not familiar with the specifics; I don’t want to comment specifically on what’s happening in the high schools here, but in general, it’s disappointing.
I am not writing this on behalf of the school district, nor am I writing this as an official representative of the school district. I am writing this as a graduate of one of the high schools in District 211, and as a citizen and taxpayer of Schaumburg. I find Dunn’s answers to be insulting. I am especially peeved by his view that districts like District 211 are failing their students simply by not accepting the federal funds, a sweeping generalization he makes while simultaneously admitting to not knowing the specifics of our situation.
How does one even jump to that conclusion? Dunn does not base his view on fact, just rhetoric. Our school district is working very hard to ensure that every student leaves with a solid foundation upon which to build their knowledge and skills. We promote life-long learning at all levels of education, not simply at the college-bound level. We have implemented programs to assist students who are failing to meet educational standards. There are a number of other ways in which we support our students, and I believe not accepting Title I funds is one of those ways.
While I agree with Dunn that NCLB is not a perfect law, and that there has yet to be a perfect one on the books, I wish Dunn and those like him could see that there is a reason that there hasn’t been a perfect law: the education of our youth is a complex matter that cannot be solved by underfunded legislation. How would you improve education in the US?
Here is a tongue in cheek letter to President Bush that suggests a way to help in Iraq. I won’t spoil it any more than the title does, so go ahead and read it over at McSweeney’s Internet Tendency (no apparent relation to David McSweeney, the ultra-conservative that ran against Melissa Bean last year).
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