Dear Former Gov. McCrory, I read without surprise in the past couple of months that you have had a little more than a hard time obtaining gainful, full-time employment since your last day as governor of our state. No doubt many potential employers in North Carolina are hesitant because of your role in passing and … Continue reading Dear Fmr. Gov. McCrory, I Have an Idea for Your Next Job – Substitute Teaching
Month: April 2017
My 21st “Enchantment Under the Sea” Dance – Prom 2017
That’s right. I am going to the prom. It’ my 21st. With a beautiful date who happens to be my wife. And I am not nervous. Done this before. I will look sharp and my wife will look stunning as she always does. Like these dapper looking kids here in an image from Back to … Continue reading My 21st “Enchantment Under the Sea” Dance – Prom 2017
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North Carolina’s Plagiarized Privatization of Public Schools – Or, How to be Unoriginal
North Carolina is literally practicing privatization plagiarism. That’s great for alliteration fans, but for public school advocates it’s harmful, hurtful, hateful, disabling, devitalizing, devaluing, and debilitating. And they’re not even being original because all of these supposed “re-forms” are nothing more than rehashed failed policies that profit a few and hurt the many. Last month, … Continue reading North Carolina’s Plagiarized Privatization of Public Schools – Or, How to be Unoriginal
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House Bill 800 – The Further Privatization of “Public” Charter Schools
Question: When does a supposedly “public” charter-school become a private entity? Answer: When it opens in North Carolina. For anyone who believes that public charter schools are actual public schools, there are a plethora of realities that contradict that idealistic view, at least here in the Old North State. Here, public tax payer money is … Continue reading House Bill 800 – The Further Privatization of “Public” Charter Schools
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Sen. Chad Barefoot’s Walking Contradiction on HB13
The term “walking contradiction” describes someone who says one thing and then acts in a contradictory fashion. Nowhere do we get a better example of the “walking contradiction” than with politicians who knowingly and blatantly make statements that contradict their own actions or professed value systems. In North Carolina, we have many of our own … Continue reading Sen. Chad Barefoot’s Walking Contradiction on HB13
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Stuart Egan: Betsy DeVos IS the Status Quo
Stuart Egan, a high school teacher in North Carolina, notes that Betsy DeVos relies on two rhetorical strategies: 1. Pleasant (and meaningless) platitudes; 2. A decided opposition to “the status quo.” She, who insisted at her Senate hearing on being called Mrs. DeVos wants to disrupt traditional public schools, not charters or religious schools.
She loves “great schools.”
She likes schools that “put children first.”
Platitudes.
Calls for disruption.
Who knew that conservatives believed in destroying traditional institutions?
Egan writes:
“Ironically, the conversation about changing the “status-quo” in public education has been fueled more by the business world and politicians who have been altering the terrain of public education with “reforms.”
“A Nation at Risk, No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, Every Student Succeeds Act, Common Core, SAT, ACT, standardized tests, achievement gap, graduation rates, merit pay, charter schools, parent triggers, vouchers, value added-measurements, virtual schools, Teach For…
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Betsy DeVos – Pleasant Platitudes and The “Status Quo Fallacy”
Betsy DeVos’s most recent op-ed may have been intended to smooth over some of the rough edges of her brief tenure as the most unqualified secretary of education ever, but it actually shows her reliance on two rather tiring strategies as it pertains to reforming public education: “pleasant platitudes” and the “status quo fallacy.” The … Continue reading Betsy DeVos – Pleasant Platitudes and The “Status Quo Fallacy”
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Phineas Luther Logan – Our Newest Addition to the Family
We are adopting a dog. We lost our beloved Boo Radley this past winter and have decided to adopt another dog, preferably one that was rescued, young, and chill enough to be around Malcolm but watch him as if he was a member of the pack. And we found ourselves this fine boy. "Jackson" as … Continue reading Phineas Luther Logan – Our Newest Addition to the Family
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Next Stop on the “Listening Tour” – NC State Superintendent Mark Johnson vs. The NC State Board of Education
It appears that there may be more bickering in the backrooms of Raleigh than many have been hearing in the other parts of North Carolina. At least that is what some people claim to be hearing on their own “listening tours.” Lynn Bonner’s recent April 13th report in the Raleigh News & Observer entitled “NC … Continue reading Next Stop on the “Listening Tour” – NC State Superintendent Mark Johnson vs. The NC State Board of Education
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Passing Off Politicized Propaganda as Pseudo-Academic Research – UnLOCKEing the John Locke Foundation
There are those who cherry-pick data points. Then there are those who cherry-pick the pits of cherry-picked data points and present that one small factoid as representative of the whole situation, and to do so willingly is nothing more than passing off politicized propaganda as pseudo-academic research. Consider Dr. Terry Stoops’s latest attempt to marry … Continue reading Passing Off Politicized Propaganda as Pseudo-Academic Research – UnLOCKEing the John Locke Foundation
caffeinated rage 