Moonhowlings

A person near and dear to my heart just told his mother that he couldn’t read cursive when asked who his birthday card was from.  Was this a 6 year old?  No.  It was a 12 year old.  Why can’t a 12 year old read cursive?

When I was little my parents used to speak French to each other when they didn’t want me to hear them.  I stupidly took Spanish in school.  But I digress…..

Can parents now just write something in cursive to be secretive around their kids?  Why isn’t cursive being taught in school?  I want to be old fashioned for just a minute.  Texting is an invention of the Devil.  It is making morons out of society.  It has destroyed grammar and spelling even worse than CB radios.  Perfectly educated people now write in ignorantese.

Learning to write cursive develops a child’s cognitive ability and helps him or her with spacial relationships.   Expect more kids to fail geometry.  That branch of mathematics definitely relies on finely tuned spacial relationships.  Writing cursive also develops fine muscle control.

Reading and writing cursive is a skill.  There are too many of us around who still communicate in cursive to let it go the way of the dodo bird.  How will people sign their names?  Will they print their name on a check?   It’s one of those things people should be able to do just because….

Do local schools no longer teach cursive?  Do teachers text their students?  Keyboarding is not longer taught either.  I think I see illiteracy coming…it is right around the corner.  Schools!  Rethink this one!

Signed, Moon-howler

Mike Rice should have been fired the moment his abusive behavior was discovered. Let’s not stop there. The athletic director and the president of the university need to go also. They were aware that Rice treated his players like this. For that matter, it is their business to know how he treated his players.

Mike Rice hurled racial slurs, homophobic slurs, hit players, pushed them and threw basketballs at their legs and groin. He was verbally and emotionally abusive. Who on earth thinks this behavior is acceptable? It is unacceptable behavior for any coach at any level of competition.
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Even though Easter has past, I still hear the echoes of Cheap! Cheap! Cheap! resonating across Prince William County.  No, that isn’t the sound of baby chicks.  It’s the sound made by the Board of County Supervisors.

Note a few facts:

Per Classroom indicators show that Prince William County has the highest teacher:student ratio in the DC metro area:

Upon further inspection, we see that Prince William county also spends very little per student compared to many of its neighboring jurisdictions.

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Washington Post:

The book Laura Murphy wants removed from Fairfax County classrooms is considered a modern American classic. It is a Pulitzer Prize winner and a masterpiece of fiction whose author’s 1993 Nobel Prize in literature citation said that she, “in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.”

But Toni Morrison’s “Beloved,” Murphy said, depicts scenes of bestiality, gang rape and an infant’s gruesome murder, content she believes could be too intense for teenage readers.

“It’s not about the author or the awards,” said Murphy, a mother of four whose eldest son had nightmares after reading “Beloved” for his senior-year Advanced Placement English class. “It’s about the content.”

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Governor McDonald has targetted 2 critical areas for huge cash infusions:  VRS and higher education.  The governor plans to pump over 2.2 Billion into the state pension plan.  He also intends to spend over $200 million over the next two years in higher education.  Both areas are quickly approaching critical mass of not being able to do what they are intended to do.

According to hamptonroads.com:

Gov. Bob McDonnell’s announcements this week that he intends to pour $2.2 billion into the state pension system and boost spending for higher education by $200 million over the next two years are remarkable in two respects.

First, each implicitly acknowledges what nearly everyone in Virginia has long known but pretended isn’t true: The state’s failure to keep up with its obligations has reached a tipping point.

That much has been clear on any number of issues, perhaps none more than on transportation, which McDonnell has begun addressing through debt and public-private partnerships that ensure costly tolls on primary routes in South Hampton Roads.

But a study released earlier this week by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission underscored the bleak future of the Virginia Retirement System and the thousands of state workers counting on it.

The report explained the pension system’s condition as a consequence of multiple factors: the state’s pattern of contributing less each year than recommended, the economic downturn, increasing numbers of retirees and fewer workers taking their place. Analysts have calculated VRS is underfunded by nearly $20 billion.

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Senior Zack Kopplin, age 17, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is leading the charge against a law that allows creationism to have equal time with evolution in Louisiana high schools.  Kopplin attends Baton Rouge Magnet High School,  and has been leading a campaign against the state’s Science Education Act since last summer.  He has organized students, faculties, clergy, and business leaders to support the repeal of the law and has the support of at least 40 Nobel laureates.

According to Washington Post:

The single most important reason why I took on this repeal was jobs,” Kopplin told me. “This law makes it harder for Louisiana students to get cutting-edge science-based jobs after we graduate, because companies like Baton Rouge’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center are not going to trust our science education with this law on the books.”

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On Thursday, members of the Senate Education and Health committee voted to report SB 967: Family Life Education Standards of Learning by a vote of 11-4. This was a huge victory but the first step of many to getting this common-sense legislation signed into law.

On Monday, the entire Senate will vote on this legislation.

Family life education. Requires each school division to implement the standards of learning for the family life education program promulgated by the Board of Education, or a family life education program consistent with the guidelines developed by the Board, which shall have the goals of reducing the incidence of pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease, and substance abuse among teenagers. Any curricula or materials used must be evidence-based and supported by peer reviewed medical research.

As I understand it, this legislation would do away with schools being coerced into using bogus materials that present voodoo pseudo science as medical evidence. I once sat through several classes of abstinence education.  It was foolish and the kids all laughed at it.  There were virginity pledges, rings, and other gimmicks that really didn’t address sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, and the responsibilities involved in becoming sexually active at an early age.  Those types of ‘classes’ are better for church groups and within the family.  They are not appropriate for public education.  This bill protects our children from pseudo science being presented as fact.

Please write to your state senator and encourage him or her to support SB 967.  Accurate information never hurt anyone.

Senator Colgan’s email:

district29@senate.virginia.gov

The other day, I got an email from Delegate Jackson Miller, trumpeting all the work he is doing to stop illegal immigration.  I expected to read that he had taken up personal vigil down on the border considering all the fanfare.  Such was not the case.  In part, his email stated:

During the 2011 Virginia General Assembly Session, we will be debating many issues that are important to the Commonwealth, but one issue of particular significance to me is illegal immigration.  As a former police officer with almost two decades of experience, I have seen firsthand the effect that illegal immigration can have on a community.  As your Delegate, I am working hard to find solutions to the many issues and challenges that illegal immigration has presented in our communities and in our Commonwealth.  

 Recently, I appeared on Fox News Channel’s morning program, Fox & Friends, to defend a bill on which I am a co-patron.  This bill, HB1465,   (click for full text)  stipulates that illegal aliens will not be eligible for admission to Virginia’s colleges and universities.  Higher education is a privilege, not a right, and placement in Virginia’s colleges and universities has become increasingly difficult for legal residents of our state to obtain.  This bill will require that all prospective students submit appropriate documentation showing proof of citizenship or a student visa for eligibility for enrollment. 

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The Prince William County School Board has passed a resolution asking the BOCS for permission to apply for federal Education Jobs Fund  money to hire teachers in the current school year.  The county school system ended up with an additional 807 students for the current school year which made the current teacher shortage even more severe.  The cost for this many students is just under $8.7 million, or just under $11,000 per pupil. 

According to News and Messenger:

Prince William County Public Schools has been allocated about $17 million through the Federal Education Jobs Fund Program, but the school division can’t use that money unless the county approves it.

The School Board voted 7 to 1 Wednesday to ask the Board of County Supervisors to allocate $5.8 million of the federal money to the school division in the current school year to help pay the costs for the additional students who enrolled. The other $2.9 million needed would come from state funding.

Neabsco District representative Lisa Bell cast the dissenting vote.

The School Board’s resolution also proposes discussing what to do with the remaining $11.2 million in federal money during its budget process for fiscal 2012.

In August, the Board of County Supervisors passed a resolution stating that they would not address the federal education jobs fund money until the fiscal 2012 budget process.

The School Board is hoping they will change their mind.

One has to question Ms. Bell.  What plan does she have to pay for educating over 800 more students?  Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see what the current BOCS does in response to the School Board resolution.   Last August the BOCS got hysterical because they thought Superintendent Walts was issuing contracts to teachers without permission from them to take stimulus money.  They called an emergency meeting even though Corey Stewart, Maureen Caddigan and John Jenkins were out of town. 

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Anything to get re-elected

Many years ago, in Prince William County, there was a gang on either the BOCS or the appointed school board who were not-so-affectionately named the 4 horsemen. They were seen as enemies of the school system. It seems that the 4 horsemen have been reincarnated, after several decades, on our board of supervisors. I am trying to remember . Why they were named that?   Was it a nice way of speaking of the educational Apocalypse on the horizon or was it short for horse body parts? Perhaps those  readers  who have been around PWC for a while will remember.

But I digress….

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With the BOCS sniffing around for money, it might be important to consider the letter Robley Jones, legislative Laison for VEA (Virginia Education Association) sent out this morning regarding  the Education Jobs Fund:

(and it did say Dear Moon-howler:)  

The manner in which the health of the state budget is presented can be most confusing. Trumpets ring as we declare a surplus; but the fact is that for the first time in 50 years, General Fund revenues have declined for two years in a row. The surplus just means that revenues exceeded projections, and a loss was projected.

You will also hear glowing words about the additional $18 million in funding for our schools from sales tax revenues. Sounds good, but sales tax revenues supplant required state and local spending. This $18 million does not add an additional penny for our schools.

But, enough ranting — I have two important things to call your attention to.

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An employee at a Norfolk, Virginia elementary school is on administrative leave for handing out fetal dolls on the campus. The principal of Oak Wood Elementary has also been placed on administrative leave. It is unclear what the principal’s role in this matter was. According to the Richmond Times Dispatch:

The investigation began after The Virginian-Pilot inquired this week about reports that the dolls had been distributed to students at Oakwood.

School board member Kirk Houston Sr. called the fetus dolls a “pro-life” tool. He said distributing them to students was inappropriate and unacceptable.

The Washington Post reports:

The Virginian-Pilot reports that the dolls, which were distributed to students at Oakwood Elementary School in Norfolk over weeks or months, are not authorized instructional materials.

The dolls, in pink and brown and about 4 inches long, came with a “pro-life” message and information on fetal growth, the paper reports.

School officials have begun an investigation. The employee who distributed the dolls has not been identified

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What would possess a person to do something this foolish? Talk about a captive audience and also an audience that is a little young to have anti abortion rhetoric pushed on them.  Fetus dolls just should not be part of a public school setting.

[fetus doll picture from the AP]

Quoted from Huffingtonpost.com:

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said school officials “should keep politics out” of curriculum debates.

“We do a disservice to children when we shield them from the truth, just because some people think it is painful or doesn’t fit with their particular views,” Duncan said in a statement. “Parents should be very wary of politicians designing curriculum.”

Most of us agree with Secretary Duncan. And this statement works both ways, whether it is from the Democrats, the Republicans, or whatever else is deemed politically correct at the time. Social Studies seems to get the brunt of being tossed around political alley and this time, Texas has really re-invented history.

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Its Not on the Test

Last night all but one of the PWC School Board members voted to approve a plan to bring pay-for-performance to the county via a federal grant entitled Teacher Incentive Fund. 31 schools are eligible. The objective is to attract and retain good teachers to under-performing schools. Otherwise known as merit pay, teachers, teachers’ organizations, and teachers’ unions nation wide have been opposed to bringing in this time of evaluation process.

Pay-for-performance requires superior evaluators and has been known to cut down on sharing and collegiality in places where it has been attempted. Research is scarce showing that students learn more or better when their teachers are evaluated under a merit pay system.

According to insidenova.com: (full story at insidenova)

If awarded, the federal grant money would go to teachers and administrators at eligible schools that score well on a county-created 100-point scoring system. That system is made up of student performance, student behavior, instructional leadership, climate and instructional delivery performance.

Under these five categories are several subcategories. For example, student performance has seven subcategories which add up to 25 points on the 100-point scale.

There are 31 eligible schools in the county. Eligibility is determined by the percentage of economically disadvantaged student population at those particular schools.
The money would likely be handed out in a tiered system in which principals, Standards of Learning teachers, special education teachers and English for speakers of other languages teachers would receive the largest share. Depending on how much money the division receives, the awards would likely range from $2,000 to $10,000 per teacher or administrator, said Pedersen.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out. Those who work in ineligible schools will be out of luck and won’t get this opportunity. Of course, those are the teachers and principals who are dealing with less needy students. I wonder how many teachers will be willing to share with someone down the hall if they are being evaluated via pay-for-performance.

As long as there NCLB continues, the playing field will never be level. NCLB assumes that all kids at the same grade level can learn the same amount of material in the same amount of time. Starting off with a false premise leads to false conclusions.

It really doesn’t get much dumber.  I know teachers are encouraged to be creative, but common sense needs to prevail.  This dude is lucky if he just gets fired.  He should expect the feds at his door:

From the Daily Caller:

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A Jefferson County geometry teacher was placed on paid administrative leave Tuesday after being accused of using a hypothetical assassination plot on President Barack Obama as a way to teach geometric angles.

School Superintendent Phil Hammonds said Corner High School teacher Gregory Harrison could face possible termination.

Hammonds earlier said the teacher remained at work and there were no plans to fire him. But in announcing that the teacher was being placed on leave, the superintendent said his office had been flooded with calls from people around the nation, mainly upset that further action hadn’t been taken against the teacher.

Roy Sexton, special agent in charge of Birmingham’s Secret Service office, said his agency spoke with the teacher after being told about his comment, but no charges were filed and the investigation was closed.

“We did not find a credible threat,” Sexton said.

Hammonds said he will talk to teachers and students before recommending to the school board what action, if any, might be appropriate. It was not immediately known how long the teacher may be on leave.

Hammonds said the school system in Alabama’s most populous county was embarrassed by what Harrison said.

“There is nothing that can be said to rationalize what he said. We take this very seriously. There is no place in our society for a person to make these comments,” Hammonds said.

Attempts to reach Harrison for comment were not immediately successful. Calls to Hammonds were referred to the school system’s attorney, Burgin Kent, who did not immediately return a call for comment.

Joseph Brown, a senior in the geometry class, told The Birmingham News that the teacher “was talking about angles and said, ‘If you’re in this building, you would need to take this angle to shoot the president.’

Read about the teacher who brought in Michael Moore’s Sicko to be analyzed as the exam.  When a student objected, the teacher called her a ‘tea-bagger.’ 

Read about this incident in the Daily Caller. Click here for the story.