FAKE EDUCATION NEWS Louisville, KY Just off the grounds of Fairdale High School in Louisville, KY a makeshift banner has been hung in honor of 11th grade English teacher Jason Cooley. The banner reads simply: “Thank You”. Flowers are strewn about, below and around the banner. An enormous heart has been constructed out of what appears to be PowerPoint handouts. A small group of teachers sits to one side in a circle with candles alight. They are singing. Mr. Cooley, 29, has been arrested and charged Read more [...]
Archive for December 2010 | Monthly archive page
Just a quick note to wish all of you all the best during the season of Christmakwanzikah. Enjoy your break. I know you have earned it. I just finished grading a bunch of papers and I am ready to party a little bit. I’ve got family in town. My brother-in-law is into making up his own cocktails. Cheers to that. We are cooking up a turkey tonight (for some reason). Tomorrow, Christmas Eve, will be a traditional multi-course Polish meal (no meat, fish only) and opening of the presents. That night, Read more [...]
Here is what bugs me about education reform. It is arrogant, ahistorical, and willfully dishonest. Arrogant: Bill Gates, Michelle Rhee, and any number of millionaires, billionaires, short-time former-teacher-reformers and really just about anybody at all now feels free to opine about what is wrong with American education and how to fix it. (Surprise! Turns out the problem is teachers in districts where hardly anybody knows who their dad is. Just by chance.) The arrogance of the movement is that Read more [...]
FAKE EDUCATION NEWS –Kansas City, KS In a bold move sure to spark debate in political and education circles, Karen Herbst, principal of J.C. Harmon High School in Kansas City, KS, is making a most unusual request. Principal Herbst has asked the Kansas State Commissioner of Education, Dr. Diane DeBacker, to replace the entire student body at J.C. Harmon High School with students from another high school where test scores are higher. In a letter to the Commissioner, Principal Herbst writes: Standardized Read more [...]
Dear Mr. Teachbad, How do I make my students, on average 6 grade levels below standard, become on average 3 grade levels below standard, in one school year? I am being told this is my SMART goal (achievable being the operative word) so I am sure it can be easily done, but nobody seems to be able to tell me how. It must be common knowledge because they all insist this is my goal, even though I tried to explain that I was supposed to set my own SMART goal. Plus my district says they are data driven, Read more [...]
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