Wednesday 9/28/05

It ain't gonna happen. And if it does, we're in bigger trouble than we are now.

“I want to drive the private schools in East Nashville out of business,” board member Lisa Hunt said Tuesday night, explaining she wants there to be no reason families would not choose public schools. From the Nashville City Paper

This just isn't going to happen. As long as we have a population that is allowed to think differently about what should be the goal of education and how to get there we must have options and the public school system should not have as its goal driving private alternatives out of business. Maybe she meant this light heartedly, but to those who see the downside of our current government monopoly over our education system already, it just isn't funny.

Update: The Moore's on are this his view and her view.

Wiser decisions.

That same City Paper article mentions that, thankfully, the school board isn't going to automatically shut down smaller schools but that a variety of criteria will be used to determine which schools will close in their efforts to, finally, cut costs.

The board plans to audit which choice schools are an asset and which are unique in name only, indicating some smaller schools may be valued if they are shown to help in the district’s goals.

Every school should have to prove its worth. Not just the 'choice' ones.

Update: Larry Brinton points out some less than wise decisions regarding the central office restrooms and those playing fields.

Information is key.

The City Paper also reports this morning that the head of the school district's information technology department is leaving to work for Microsoft as a liaison state and local governments.

When [Richard] McKinney first assumed his post, Governing Magazine had graded Nashville’s IT department the worst in the country. But under McKinney, Metro’s network made great strides, and for the past two years, it has been ranked among the country’s top 10 by the Center for Digital Government, a national research institute.

Penny wise and pound foolish comes to mind. I'm thinking we ought to have let a couple of adminstrators go to pay to keep this guy on board. Communication is so important and IT can save us a good deal of time and provide us so much important information. I'm hoping he managed to train an awesome replacement or we're going to see more than just attendance being taken by pencil and paper again.

Beyond the core mission.

I'm of the mind that the core mission of public education is very narrow. You'll have a hard time convincing me that it includes indoctrination by the Southern Poverty Law Center via their video on civil rights. This video, we're told, equates the struggle by certain parties to have their form of mutual love accepted as on par with the struggle by people of color to obtain full personhood.

Susan Whitworth, the school system’s library services coordinator, then convened a committee, which voted to restrict the video to grades 5-12. Nashville City Paper

Ms Whitworth misses it and Councilwoman Brenda Tucker is right on target when she backs parents in their right to make these decisions about when and how to broach these issues. It's not the public school system's job to teach these things, it's not their job to decide what the appropriate age is to expose our children to these issues--it's the job of the child's parent(s). These are the sorts of things that will always keep private education in business. (See Lisa Hunt's comments at the top.)

Blue Ribbon Schools.

It's nice to see Memphis has at least one school on this list of newly awarded Blue Ribbon Schools.

The other Tennessee schools on the list are Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts, Delano Elementary School in Memphis, and Dyersburg High School. Via WATE

I predict a black market on Snickers and Chips Ahoy.

The guidelines approved earlier this year by the State Board of Education are considered some of the strictest of any state because they ban candy bars and soft drinks, limit portion sizes and restrict any foods high in fat, salt, sugar and caffeine. From the Tennessean.

Budding entrepreneurs are already working on their business plans.

What's the purpose of recess?

From Knoxville is more on the lawsuit about reading the Bible during recess.

There are other kids that are reading their 'American Girl Doll' magazines, yet others that are reading their 'Harry Potter' books. Luke wants to get in the corner of the playground and read his Bible."

Whitson and his parents filed a federal lawsuit -- Whitson v. Knox County Board of Education -- against the Knox County School District in June. They are seeking a preliminary injunction so the ten-year-old can read the Bible with classmates on the playground as the case progresses. From Agape Press.

If every child isn't prohibited from reading during this free time this isn't going to fly. Maybe they'd prefer the child read something from the American Library Association's Banned Book list instead? Curiously, The Bible isn't on that list. Hmmmm...