Is anyone else as curious as I am about the identity of the hard working cop that's been featured in the Tennessean's renewed coverage of the Marcia Trimble death? He's never identified. Who is he? Where is he? What's he been thinking all these years? Does he even know that his efforts, over the top at the time, have mattered? What about the rest of that investigating team?
30,000 people came to see Oprah this weekend. I can only shake my head in amazement. Frankly, I don't like the persona that is "O". When I've had a moment to cruise afternoon television and pause long enough to view her program, see her interviewed by Letterman or read her quotes in the press I've been struck by how above us all and disconnected from regular life she appears to be. Her life is not mine, likely not yours either. Her audience is embarrassingly cloying toward her. She holds the audience at arms length like a monarch and the peasants lap it up. Her disgust with less than luxury was clearly evident when faced with a night in the Wigwam Motel. She's generous with other people's money and uses her own to fund a school, not in any of her American backyards, but in Africa. Fisk University could have put half that amount to very good use. Even something as normal as marriage isn't suitable for her. She's just so special I feel downright sorry for her.
Last week Oprah revealed her list of favorite things. It's an annual episode I've seen parts of a couple of times and am regularly disgusted with for it's adoration of the giver that reaches god-like proportions. It's like rubber necking a car crash. Thankfully, I can only stomach a few minutes of that and I snap back to reality. This year's "Favorite Things" list includes Ugg boots (again), Planet Earth CD's, an HDTV refrigerator combo (do her viewers really need an excuse to live closer to the fridge?), her "Guide to Life", specialty soaps, and a presidential candidate named Barak H. Obama.
As usual, I find everything on her list less than useful for this family. No thanks, Oprah, we'll use Dove and Dial soap, keep our fridge in the kitchen and the TV in the living room, use the Bible as our guide to life and vote Republican.
But after Metro failed to meet No Child Left Behind requirements for four years in a row — one of the first two Tennessee districts to do so — state officials have a louder voice in how the district is run.
And its leaders are listening.
“Some things have come back to haunt us,” said District 7 board member Edward Kindall, who represents north Nashville. “I can’t totally blame Dr. Garcia or the administration. I think in some instances, we haven’t focused on the right thing.” Tennessean 2007-12-08
Board members want to take the state’s advice and hold off on Garcia’s new ideas until the district gets a handle on the basics. The attitude marks a significant shift in the dynamic between the board, the director and the state Department of Education.
Ya think? Here's some haunting information from the MNPS BOE minutes of November 14, 2006
Ms. Garrett made the motion that the Board affirm the Board’s action on October 18th amending Dr. Garcia’s existing contract to reflect the increase in his salary to $216,000. Ms. Johnson seconded. [VOTE: For-Unanimous (9-0).
Ms. Garret made the motion to renew Dr. Garcia’s contract by adding three years upon the conclusion of the current contract beginning July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2010, based on actions taken at the October 18th special Board meetings. Ms. Johnson seconded. [VOTE: For (5) – Mr. Glover, Ms. Garrett, Ms. Warden, Ms. Johnson, Mr. Fox. Opposed (2) – Mr. Kindall, Dr. Brannon Abstained (2) – Mr. Thompson, Ms. Porter.]
Ms. Garret asked that the minutes reflect the action taken by the Board on October 18th where the motion to extend the Director’s contract was passed with the following vote: For – (5) Fox, Johnson, Warden, Glover, Garrett; Opposed – (3) Kindall, Brannon, Thompson; Abstained – (1) Porter. The motion to increase Dr. Garcia’s salary to $216,000 was approved unanimously with all nine members voting.
Of the current BOE members Warden, Johnson, Glover and Fox voted to extend Garcia's contract another three years. Every last one of them voted to increase his wages. If a pay increase isn't a pat on the back for a job well done, I don't know what is. They can say they didn't vote to renew his contract but the fact remains, they all gave him more money.
“I think when it was revealed to the Board of Education that the district was under corrective action and that the superintendent had not been informing them of that fact, people started to reflect more on what was going on,” Huth said.
And part of the problem here is that the BOE spends a lot of time hearing from Dr. Garcia and his staff about their performance and doesn't have any system in place for hearing alternative views that could provide the much needed other side of the story as they evaluate his performance. When an outside group clearly showed the BOE that MNPS wasn't doing as well as they'd been told, or they believed, they chose to attack the messenger and not examine the message for the truth some are just now beginning to see.
From Left to Right:
Homeschoolers across the nation are celebrating with University of Florida fans over the awarding of this year's Heisman Trophy. Florida law mandates that homeschoolers must be allowed to participate in extracurricular sports. Obviously, Tim Tebow made good use of that opportunity.
Of his unique educational background, Tebow states, "I come from a large family (last of 5 children), and all my brothers and sisters were home schooled. My parents were tremendous role models throughout the process, and there were never discipline issues for us. By the time I came to the University of Florida, I felt I had great study habits and felt comfortable making the transition to classes. I think that being home schooled offered me an opportunity to also learn some life lessons, and those experiences help me while I'm on the field." USA DailyHomeschooler participation in extracurricular activities is allowed by Tennessee law but it's the TSSAA that keeps it from actually occurring. They finally slightly loosened their policy to allow individual sport participation but that's as far as it's gone. While everyone agrees that these activities are beneficial to young people and their parents have paid taxes into a system they otherwise don't utilize the power and control held by the TSSAA remains. It won't hold for long. At last count 25 states require these organizations to 'play well with others'. Nearby Alabama is working hard to be #26--they've even nicknamed their bill the Tim Tebow Bill.
Before heading off to church Sunday morning I read the shocking news that there had been a shooting at the YWAM campus in Colorado.
Later in the day the other shoe fell and the report was that another shooting had occurred in a nearby Colorado Springs church. Too close, too soon to be coincidental.
It could have been VA Tech all over again. It wasn't. I have a new appreciation for our own security staff.
Police arrived to find that the gunman had been killed by a member of the church's armed security staff, Myers said."There was a courageous staff member who probably saved many lives here today," Myers said.
(snip)
About 7,000 people were on the campus at the time of the shooting, Boyd said. Security at the church had been beefed up after the early morning shootings in Arvada, he said. Houston Chronicle
Principal Pay
The Center for American Progress released a report this week on reforming principal compensation, while the National Association of Secondary School Principals published guidelines for evaluating effective principals. Calls to create voluntary national certification for principals that first surfaced more than five years ago also are being renewed.
Such efforts are being driven in part by concerns that Congress will define a “highly qualified principal,” just as it has a “highly qualified teacher,” when it reauthorizes the No Child Left Behind Act. Education Week
and from the Center for American Progress synopsis (full report here):
...we have only a scattershot picture of issues such as the extent to which principal compensation is linked to specific principal credentials or characteristics, or covered by collective bargaining agreements; whether principals are financially rewarded for taking tough leadership assignments; and whether there is a link between their compensation and measures of their performance.Professional Teachers
State educational data may hold the secret for improving education in Tennessee. According to state research, teacher quality explains 68 percent of the variation in student performance. Good teachers, not greater per-pupil spending or palatial hi-tech school buildings, make the biggest difference in educating children.And a California teacher agrees:
(snip)
Teachers who are good at their jobs should be paid more than those who are not. It's that simple. State leaders should scrap the state's teacher tenure and pay systems and install a performance-based salary system - one that treats all teachers like the professionals they are. TCPR's Drew Johnson at Chattanoogan.com
When the CTA lady came to the union meeting to specifically alert new teachers to the dangers of proposed merit pay provisions, I shook my head in tight side-to-sides, because true systems of meritorious compensation are the future of the work we do. New hiring practices, the dissolution of tenure, authentic evaluations, performance based pay – this is what’s needed to get us off that ledge and quell the schizophrenia of being an ambitious and successful teacher in a public school.
If, like me you were unable to attend last evening's public meeting with the MNPS BOE at East Literature you're going to have to read the City Paper as the Tennessean has NO coverage this morning about this meeting. The CP gets kudos for turning the story around in time for a breakfast read but I'm growing tired of reading the phrase "some board members" which has become a stock phrase as of late. I'd like to know which board members. We've got elections coming up and voters need to know what these folks are saying in order to make informed decisions about who to keep on the board.
Quotes like this from the leader of the BOE come across as solid fence sitting in preparation for an August re-election campaign.Board chair Marsha Warden , said the debate is rife with “competing values.” On the one hand, research supports the academic value of diversity in classrooms, she says. But on the other, neighborhood schools — while they would likely reduce diversity — could improve parental involvement that Warden says is one of the strongest indicators of a child’s success.
The problem here is that those who must make a decision are afraid of making it. They fear 'segregation' more than they fear 'uneducated'. The uneducated don't vote or hold you accountable for ruining their lives. Instead of bowing to the diversity crowd let's figure out how to make these schools meet the needs of THEIR students. Yes it's not fair that some schools may need more money for special teachers/tutors, building maintenance and counseling that will help families help their children to be better students. But what's really not fair is promising parents and taxpayers that you'll educate students and not doing so.
I don't have time or the desire to watch the women on The View but I had to watch their interview with Ron Paul via a link from Lucianne.com to The Raw Story.
I had to laugh as the women made a big deal of him being an OB/GYN and then they're telling HIM what is and isn't legal regarding abortion. They really do think they know it all.
I disagree with Ron Paul that our country's recent concerns about illegal immigration are economically driven. It's nearly all about security in our terror driven world for me. That and the fact that these people are here illegally. Last Saturday at the Mayor's neighborhood meeting one woman got up concerned about how her neighbors aren't welcoming enough to immigrants. I don't recall which neighborhood she's in. I expect that if the legal immigrants would speak out a bit more about the line jumpers we would make great progress in making it clear that Nashville welcomes people from all people groups, when they are law abiding. It would also help if the new folks would make a sincere effort to become Nashvillians.
I don't lean libertarian enough to put Ron Paul at the top of my candidate list. But he gets credit for his appearance and managing to follow their nutty conversational thread well enough to get his views across.
I've not disappeared. It's just been a tremendously busy week or so with rehearsals for the Christmas program at church, decorating the church, the actual performance, a Christmas marketplace where one child a bit more than doubled the 'talents' she'd been given in Sunday School (Check Matthew 25:14) oh and overseeing the production of the products sold. Then throw in the Mayor's "Connecting with Communities" meeting and my mom starting the cataract surgery journey and I've never been so dependent upon my Outlook calendar. It's looks nearly as colorful as the lights on the tree that will eventually get put up. :-)
In the meantime I ran into a very helpful blog and I wanted to be sure to get the word out. I've been hanging around computers since punch cards so I'd consider myself fairly knowledgeable about the subject. However, things are expanding and changing at such a rate that I'm beginning to wonder what I'll do when the computer geek I birthed heads off in a couple of years. So, introducing:
ParentalTech.com (Seriously, bookmark this site, add it to your RSS feed--don't lose track of it.)
ParentalTech is blog about technology and kids, written for parents. Technology and internet culture are deeply ingrained into the lives of our children. This blog will help you keep up with them.You may disagree with his parenting comments or his opinion on ala carte cable but do yourself a favor and overlook that for the gems that will keep you up-to-date regarding computer and online issues in regard to your children. It's a pretty new blog so you're not far behind.
From Dr. Martin Kennedy's editorial in the 10/7/07 edition of the Tennessean:
Clergy have already called the outcomes for poor and minority students a scandal. Hopefully, we'll recognize the need to make the next step.When considering how best to improve educational outcomes, what we pay teachers is not nearly as important as how they are paid. In 19th century England, the treatment of prisoners became a matter of great concern. Too many were dying on voyages to penal labor camps. The clergy called it a scandal. Parliament questioned the morality of ship captains. Then came a small policy change. Instead of being compensated per trip for transporting prisoners, ship captains were to be paid according to how many live prisoners were delivered. Problem solved.
Teacher compensation should be driven more by merit, productivity, and less on the level of education and seniority.
The context for the quote below, which is just too good that I don't want it overlooked, is the TEA's (Tennessee Education Association) concern about the budget in Murfreesboro schools.
The Tennessee Education Association, an organization representing teachers, requested the audit to determine if the system was using the new money to replace local funds needed to pay for existing positions, said Graham Greeson, a TEA manager for its research division.
"You can't do that," said Greeson, a Murfreesboro resident. "As you look at the (school system's) accountability budget, there is a question as to whether they are funding new positions or funding positions they already had. We're not saying anything is wrong. We just don't know." Tennessean
The Tennessean provides us with a database of highly qualified teachers that may have been overlooked in the sidebar of their "Federal teacher quality measure doesn't tell all" article in Monday's paper. It still doesn't tell us WHO isn't highly qualified, or if your child is in their class, but it's a start.Teachers typically receive the designation by using college transcripts, test scores and career portfolios to demonstrate their expertise. Those who haven't passed a national teaching exam in the subjects they teach have to sign up for the test.
(snip)In Metro, Middle Tennessee's largest school district with close to 5,000 teachers last school year, 95.7 percent of core classes were taught by highly qualified teachers like Gilmore, according to state data. The number has been climbing over the years, with 65 percent of core subjects being taught by highly qualified teachers two years ago.
Educating children is the most important thing a city can do.The first statement was, and in some places still is, planted in the yards of hundreds of homes and intersections around Nashville when the begging for a sales tax increase (for the children) was being debated (it failed miserably). The later is a paraphrase of Metro Nashville Education Association President Erick Huth in this morning's Tennessean.
Teaching is as life saving as cardiovascular surgery.
Imagine going to a cardiovascular surgeon who became qualified to perform surgery by attending a six-week 'intensive institute.'it's an outrageous comparison. Does he actually speak for the majority of his union's members when he makes this comparison?
There are moments like this IPS (induced pluripotent stem cells) discovery today when my faith it in science is renewed.Researchers in Wisconsin and Japan have turned ordinary human skin cells into what are effectively embryonic stem cells without using embryos or women's eggs -- the two hitherto essential ingredients that have embroiled the medically promising field in a nearly decade-long political and ethical debate. Washington Post
(snip)
I would hope that everyone on all sides of this political hot potato can embrace this new technique.Another crucial vote of confidence came from James Battey, vice chairman of the National Institutes of Health's stem cell task force, which oversees decisions about funding stem cell research.
"I see no reason on Earth why this would not be eligible for federal funding," Battey said. "I think it's a wonderful new development."
"Apparently there are various ways to get to Rome," said Rudolf Jaenisch, a stem cell researcher at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass.What a great way to start Thanksgiving week.
In comments to Iowa teachers recently:[Hillary Rodham Clinton] supports implementing a school uniform policy so students, particularly girls, can focus on school and not peer pressure over what they wear. "Take that off the table and put the focus on school, not on what you're wearing," she said. Associated Press
Her views on teacher pay straddled the fence. Merit pay bad. Incentive pay good.
Merit pay for teachers "could be demeaning and discouraging, and who would decide" who would receive it, she said in a meeting with teachers at Cunningham Elementary. "It would open a whole lot of problems."vs.
Clinton said Monday she does support incentives for teachers who work in geographic areas and on subjects where there are shortages. And she has said she supports "schoolwide pay for performance programs because I think that the school has to be viewed as a whole unit with everybody working together."
AC at Volunteer Voters links to a short video of a woman asking John McCain about Hillary Clinton. "How do we beat the b****?" she asks. Apparently, this crossed the line for some. Because McCain responded that it was an excellent question it proves that he hates women. Please. The question is valid. It could have been worded more elegantly but this is politics. McCain doesn't have to own the words of everyone on the campaign trail that speaks. He doesn't have to correct them when they cross someone else's line. His initial response is to turn away (presumably to take a moment to gather his wits) and then responds "May I give the translation?" He knows it could have been worded better. It's after some crowd laughter (this very mixed group of men and women realize it's a dicey moment) , and a comment that most of the divorced men in America have made, before he says "That's an excellent question." He's not saying it was worded well. He's saying that the question about how to beat Clinton is excellent. Unfortunately, this clip doesn't really show him answering the question.
Is the B word going the way of the N word? Only certainly people can use it? Or are some going to insist we ban the use of the word in this fashion entirely? It seems to me some of the people howling the loudest about THIS use of the word haven't had a problem using it themselves when it suited their purposes.
The other story, and perhaps the more important one, here is that the questioner was a woman and she seems a bit pleased with herself at the asking. Clinton's problem is that there are lots of women out there who may not use that same rough language, but do agree she's not a nice person and she's got to be beaten. Clinton isn't getting the 'woman's vote' by default. She's going to have to earn it. Throwing down the feminist card isn't going to do it for me, or a lot of women I know. These are women who've had to earn their positions in the world, women who've made choices that the feminists don't approve of (despite being pro-choice), women who don't believe you have to be a woman in order to represent women well in our republican form of government, women who are legitimately concerned about the sort of world Clinton wants to create, women who've had to work around the radical feminist baggage that focuses on the use of a word vs. the world Clinton would create if given the power she wants.
Isn't this what the majority of Metro parents and taxpayers expected from MNPS all along?
Nashville’s public school district may soon consider adding principles of “fundamental schools” to its growing palette of educational options.OK, maybe the dress code thing isn't on everyone's wish list, but certainly we can all agree on back-to-basics, student personal responsibility and parents and teachers partnering in the child's education as what should be normal for MNPS, not just another option.
(snip)
According to Garcia’s letter, fundamental schools are defined as family oriented schools with an “updated” back-to-basics approach — this can include increased emphasis on student personal responsibility, more stringent dress codes, and close working relationships between parents and teachers. City Paper
As we become more and more dependent upon the Nanny State it's inevitable that someone has to push back and tell parents what THEIR job is.
This really is fundamental and it's a sad day when it's not obvious to mom that she should have/could have dunned MNPS about her daughter's home bound teacher. It's YOUR job parent, to make sure that your children get an education. It's time consuming. It's inconvenient. It's frustrating to beat all---but YOU brought them into the world you've got to ensure they get the skills they need to live well.[Referee J. Michael] O'Neil deals with a teenager who just had a baby. Her mom is by her side and the baby is strapped to her chest. She left school to have the child but was supposed to receive at-home services. According to mom, the teacher never showed up.
"That's your job, mom, you should have been on that," O'Neil says. "Pedro Garcia should have tripped over you every day until your child got the homebound teacher she needed.
"If she had cancer, you'd be breaking down the door at Vanderbilt," he says, now yelling. "This is cancer of the mind. She didn't get a homebound teacher and you didn't do anything about it." Tennessean
The 451 MNPS students who took the SAT and boosted the MNPS average higher certainly deserve some credit, but it's not them, it's MNPS that's getting the good press.
We're told in the headline (and that's all that most people will read) that the SAT scores 'jumped' above the national average but past SAT data isn't provided. We'll just have to take their word for it.
“That indicates that our top students can compete with top students anywhere,” [Paul] Changas [director of assessment and evaluation for the district] said. “Over the last five years, we’ve gone on the SAT from being below the state average to being above the state average. … Demographically, this group should be comparable to groups across the state.” City Paper 2007-11-12 "Metro’s high-achieving SAT-takers among the nation’s best, district says" (no link thanks to their new and improve "e-paper")
We are also fortunate to have a mayor who considers this issue a top priority. Karl Dean made the reduction of our dropout rate a pivotal issue in his campaign and continues to make the improvement of education an overall priority. (Sydney Rogers, Executive Director of Alignment Nashville) Tennessean
Frankly, I wouldn't expect much from any mayor at this early point in their tenure and so I'm surprised that Ms. Rogers considers this one of his top priorities. I don't doubt Mayor Dean sincerely wants to improve our public education system and has staff going through his options---but, ummm...other than going on a listening tour... how has our new mayor made improving education an overall priority? It would have been more helpful if Ms. Rogers had enumerated the ways in which Mayor Dean has proven this to her.
She also writes:These students need extra tutoring and help with things such as how to study for college entrance exams. They need access to computers, because their families generally cannot afford them at home. Many need to be taught English.
They don't need computers. They need classrooms with adequate electricity to handle computers first and clean water and air conditioning for those early August school days. They need reading teachers--through high school. They do need tutors and counselors and their families need the freedom to pick a program that works for their child regardless of the status of the school. They need ordinary voters and taxpayers to go to bat for them and demand that the system account for itself.
