Summer.  A break from teaching.  Routines and schedules cast aside.  The greatest blessing and sometimes curse for families. There is a reason that neither myself or my wife are stay at home parents.  We wouldn’t be very good at it.  But for six or seven weeks each summer we handle it pretty well.  Usually.  During our week of vacation my ...

Do educational leaders know what's happening?In recent months many of ''them'' (influential figures affecting education) have become very vocal about the problems with NCLB as the looming 100% pass rate timeline approaches.  Compelled to do so out of fear that their school or division will be labeled as failing.  They've snapped up Race to the ...

''Beggars can't be choosy.'' Whether it is a moral truism or not, it certainly plays out as a practical truth. Who are you, the recipient, to judge what I, the giver, have so generously given to you.  This is why we scrutinize the items of the customer in front of us when we see them pay with food stamps.  If they're using my dime to feed their ...

K12 Inc., the country's largest provider of online k-12 education has come under fire from several sources recently for it's attempts to turn a profit by drawing students away from traditional public education classrooms.  Just last week, the New York Times ran an article subtitled Online Schools Score Better on Wall Street than in the Classroom.  ...

In 1989 President George H. W. Bush brought together the nation's governors in my hometown for a summit on education.  I was just starting as a high school sophomore and skipped school that day with my father in the hope I'd see the President speak at UVA's University Hall.  I ended up back at school a short time later after being denied entry.  ...

Can anyone oppose what's ''good for kids?''While perusing the Interweb the other day, wading past the funny cat videos, I stumbled onto an interesting article dealing with the word ''reform''.  Reform Is Not a Dirty Word:  The real meaning of school reform by Kayla McGannon.  This commentary posted by the Interim Executive Director of Stand for ...

Once upon a time before NCLB, I actually taught government. Then I was told I didn't.  Just that simple(in a related twist Turner was told he did).  The details of why are sealed among the corners of my mind but I was  reassigned and not because of anything I did.  It was a result of NCLB language.   As a younger teacher it takes time to build a ...

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