He's here at home with is new family and the cats are a little on edge. And he's big. The great people at Carolina Great Pyrenees Rescue (http://carolinapyrrescue.com/) deemed him ready to go to a new permanent home. Finn's last heartworm treatment is in the past and while he is still rather underweight for a … Continue reading He’s Home – Finneas Luther Logan “Finn”
“Odd Fellows 151” and “The Right Child”
The first line from this news report should make the stomach of many a person churn. “The Odd Fellows, a national fraternal organization based in Winston-Salem, is facing criticism after refusing to give a prize to an autistic Oregon boy who won a competition.” It is from the headline story of the May 2nd edition … Continue reading “Odd Fellows 151” and “The Right Child”
Open Letter to NC Lawmakers Concerning HB13 and Funding the Arts & PE
Dear Senator Chad Barefoot, Senator Bill Rabon, and other lawmakers concerning the amended HB13 law, This week marks the beginning of Advanced Placement testing in schools around the country (and world), and while the validity of AP classes and testing results has become the subject of much debate, I have a multitude of students working … Continue reading Open Letter to NC Lawmakers Concerning HB13 and Funding the Arts & PE
Dear Fmr. Gov. McCrory, I Have an Idea for Your Next Job – Substitute Teaching
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
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
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
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
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
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”
