I Agree: School Went Over The Line On This One

There's nothing wrong with the mere mention of religious views in school, but even I think the school crossed a line in this case:

A North Carolina school has apologized after a teacher complained about a religious message found inside an Operation Christmas Child project.

“Our intent was not to offend anyone,” said Ira Trollinger, superintendent of McDowell County Schools in Marion, NC.

Trollinger said students at Glenwood Elementary School were preparing shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child, part of a community service project.

Operation Christmas Child is sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse, an organization run by Franklin Graham. They expect to send more than 8 million shoe box gifts to underprivileged children in 100 countries. Around 60,000 churches and 60,000 community groups in the United States are participating.

As part of the project, the school children received a questionnaire that asked students to fill in the blank: “I love Jesus because ______.”

A part time tutor at the school complained about the questionnaire arguing that it crossed the line and may have violated the First Amendment rights of students.

Trollinger told Fox News & Commentary that no children complained and no parents complained – just the part time tutor.

It doesn't matter who complained, it's still inappropriate.

Global Warming Religion

I've often called it the Church of Global Warming, and this Wall Street Journal article is pretty amazing.

Consider the case of global warming, another system of doomsaying prophecy and faith in things unseen.

As with religion, it is presided over by a caste of spectacularly unattractive people pretending to an obscure form of knowledge that promises to make the seas retreat and the winds abate. As with religion, it comes with an elaborate list of virtues, vices and indulgences. As with religion, its claims are often non-falsifiable, hence the convenience of the term "climate change" when thermometers don't oblige the expected trend lines. As with religion, it is harsh toward skeptics, heretics and other "deniers." And as with religion, it is susceptible to the earthly temptations of money, power, politics, arrogance and deceit...

Oh, you definitely want to read more.

This Isn't Tyranny.

It's at most an uncomfortable nuisance:

As education scandals go, the news that students at some of the best high schools on Long Island paid others to take their College Board tests seems mild. The Long Island scandal pales behind the sex scandal at Penn State.

Yet the fears driving the Long Island scandal come with much broader educational implications than those affecting Penn State. The cheating scandal reflects the tyranny that standardized testing has come to exercise over higher education in America.

Geez. There's no tyranny at all here. What rights are being trampled? If you want to get into a "good" school, learn a lot. Then you, too, can do well on the SAT and not have to cheat.

Why some people can't see that amazes me. The author of that piece is a professor; maybe we should talk about the "tyranny of essays" that causes students to plagiarize.

Again, geez.

"Not Sufficiently Deferential"

If there was a rule against using your phone during this speech, bust her for that. But just saying something negative about the governor? Quit trying to impose thoughts on kids.

A few days ago, her high school class made a trip to Topeka, Kansas, where Governor Sam Brownback gave a speech to several high school classes. During the course of the trip, Ms. Sullivan sent out the following tweet: “Just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot.”

Ms. Sullivan didn’t actually make any critical comments in person, but the tweet, sent out to a following of about 60 people (though it’s over 800 now), somehow caught the eye of the Governor’s Director of Communication, Sherriene Jones-Sontag, during her daily monitoring of social media mentions of Governor Brownback. Shocked – shocked! – that a teenager’s tweet about a politician was “disrespectful,” she complained to the high school. “It’s also important for students to recognize the power of social media, how lasting it is. It is on the Internet,” she said.

The High School, in turn, apparently even more shocked about how kids these days don’t respect their elected leaders, scolded Ms. Sullivan and forced her to write a letter of apology to the Governor’s office. Sullivan wrote the letter – because she didn’t want a disciplinary action on her transcripts and have it affect her ability to go to college. But she is rightfully unapologetic in real life.

Obviously I'm against this compulsion on the part of the school, and some might wonder how I balance this with my agreement on the Bong Hits 4 Jesus case the Supreme Court decided a few years ago. The BH4J case involved public behavior, this case involves speech. Schools can proscribe behavior, but the bar for proscribing speech should be higher.

Update, 11/29/11: At least they figured it out:

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback apologized Monday for what he called his staff's "overreaction" to a disparaging tweet directed at him by a high school senior during a state Capitol visit.

Can't Live Without The Kiddie Porn

This sicko is so far gone that he couldn't wait until he was behind closed doors to check out his kiddie porn. No, he had to watch it while seated on an aircraft:

A university professor pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges that he viewed child pornography on his laptop during a flight from Salt Lake City to Boston...

Smith was sitting in first class when a passenger seated behind him saw the images and became concerned. The passenger took a cellphone picture of what Smith was doing, then alerted a flight attendant. The passenger also emailed a relative about the situation and asked that person to contact police, and the person did, Prosecutor Erik Bennett said.

Bennett said that Smith tried to erase pictures of what appeared to be pre-teen girls engaged in sexual acts after a flight attendant told him to turn off his computer.

The recently divorced Smith was met at the gate by state police, who asked for and were granted permission to view the contents of the laptop. Investigators allege they found several images of nude or nearly nude children, including girls apparently as young as 6 years old.

As I've said so many times, it's always a cop, a teacher, or a preacher. (At least, they're the ones that make the news.) And yes, I guess it's important to point out that his conduct is still only "alleged".

Recovery Update

A few days ago marked 7 months since my injury. My son remarked recently how far I've come, but I still judge success, or the lack thereof, by what I still cannot do. That doesn't mean I don't recognize, and am not thankful for,the progress I've made so far, it's just that such a view doesn't motivate me to move ahead. It doesn't matter how far you've driven down the field, what matters is crossing the goal line into the end zone.

I'm getting a little better at stairs and at leg lifts. When I started doing leg lifts at the gym a couple months ago I struggled to lift 10 lbs with the bad leg, yet for the last week or so I've been able to do 20 lb fairly well. Yes, I recognize that 20 lbs is next to nothing, and the fact that it's taken a couple months to get to that level is somewhat pathetic, but I recognize the improvement. What I'm really looking for is to be able to walk down stairs like a "normal" person, able to lower my body down each stair without falling the last few inches from lack of strength.

Kneeling is still difficult, as there remains a noticeable amount of scar tissue under the skin. One goal was to be able to kneel and get presents from under the Christmas tree, and with less than a month to go I wonder if I'll reach that goal. At least at school I can squat down at a student's desk to offer assistance, although the strength to stand up from that position still isn't up to 100%.

When school started 3 months ago it seemed like such a long walk from my classroom to the office, but nowadays the distance isn't an issue. I do pay attention to the clocks a little more now, though, because if I'm late I can't just run across campus. A couple days a week I take a lap around campus with a couple other teachers on our prep period; I find that the break clears my mind and helps me focus on work when I get back.

Now, for the first time in over a week, I need to go to bed because I have to get up for work tomorrow. I look forward to that walk during 4th period....

Agency Fee Rebate

Yesterday I received my agency fee rebate from the California Teachers Association (CTA). I receive this because in California, a "fair share" state, I'm required by law to pay dues to the CTA even though I'm not a member. Each year we "objectors" and the CTA have to jump through hoops, and we get refunded to us money the teachers unions--NEA, CTA, and local--admit to not spending on activities related to union organizing. The amounts are determined by an "impartial" auditor that's chosen and paid for by the CTA.

Last year I paid over $1,000 in union dues. Over $1,000. Refunded to me was $358.20. Here's the exact wording of the letter accompanying my check:

As noted in our prior letter, the rebate percentages are:
NEA-56%
CTA-28.6%
LOCAL-28.6%

Look how much money these organizations are spending on activities not directly related to organizing employees! And remember, this is what their paid auditor says isn't chargeable, imagine what a truly impartial auditor would find!

What are these other, non-chargeable activities? Political donations and lobbying, to start.

The Utopia That Is California

It doesn't get any clearer than this:

California’s budget is in its usual multi-billion dollar deficit condition, so one could be forgiven for believing that the problem is too few taxes. Fortunately, Richard Rider spells out in depressing detail just how overburdened the California taxpayer is:

* California has the 3rd highest state income tax rate in the nation.

* California has the highest state sales tax rate in the nation.

* California has the 2nd highest corporate income tax rate west of the Mississippi and 8th highest overall.

* California has the 4th highest capital gains tax rate.

* California has the 2nd highest gas tax and the highest diesel tax.

* California property taxes per owner-occupied home are the 10th highest in the nation.

If the solution to the state’s problems were higher taxes, we’d be living in Shangri-La already.

This Is Better Than Anything Else They're Doing :-)

Maybe I've been a bit hard on (snicker snicker) these Occupy (insert city here) protesters. I've suggested they "get a job", and a couple have done just that! See, I support capitalism, and while some will decry this particular exercise of that economic philosophy, I think making a legal buck is better than banging (snicker snicker) a drum complaining that "the man" has got you down (snicker snicker):

An adult film company is capitalizing on the heat of the U.S. anti-establishment protests by using a tent in the middle of the "Occupy Oakland" encampment as the setting for a new gay porn flick.

Billed by The New York Observer as a "homoerotic caper through the tents of Oakland's Occupation," Dirty Boy Video's "Occupy My Throat" is likely to have been inspired by Brandon Watts, an original member of the Wall Street occupation who lost his virginity in Zuccotti Park before being arrested after a gruesome standoff with the police. Dirty Boy Video president Andy Fair reportedly contacted the 20-year-old Watts, whose experience was apparently noted in a New York Times magazine feature, and offered the protester cash for the chance to tape his next experience.

Did The UC Davis Protesters Deserve To Get Pepper-sprayed?

Let's listen to this little vixen explain how they provoked the police:

So, she complains that university "riot police" are on "her campus"--clearly she wishes they weren't--admits that she and her compatriots surrounded the officers and told them that if they wanted to leave they'd have to go through the students, and then she's surprised that the officers responded?

I'll grant that the officers did not appear to be under imminent threat; on the other hand, they shouldn't have to wait until they're in jeopardy before they act. I also grant those who have police power given to them in our society must be held to very high standards of conduct, as they have the power to take away that which is fundamental to our ethos as a people--freedom.

Did the officers respond appropriately? If you tease the nice dog enough, should you really be surprised when it nips at you?

Initially I was against this police behavior. Now I'm not so sure.

Update, 12/4/11: It's always nice when a fellow blogger links :) Coach also adds information from former students of his at Davis.

Why I'm Not Interested In Discourse With The Occupy Crowd

Some of the things they say are correct, but to engage them on even these topics is a mistake. Don't get sucked in:

A smaller group of conservatives, however, believes the occupiers are onto something. The banks do have too much power. Wages have been stagnant. The problem, these conservatives say, is that Occupy Wall Street doesn’t really know what to do about any of the problems it laments. So this smaller group of conservatives, along with the majority of liberals, is more than happy to supply the occupiers with an economic agenda.

But they might as well be talking to rocks. Both left and right have made the error of thinking that the forces behind Occupy Wall Street are interested in democratic politics and problem solving. The left mistakenly believes that the tendency of these protests to end in violence, dissolute behavior, and the melting away of the activists is an aberration, while the right mistakenly brushes off the whole thing as a combination of Boomer nostalgia for the New Left and Millennial grousing at the lousy job market. The truth is that the violence is not an aberration and Occupy Wall Street should not be laughed away. What we are seeing here is the latest iteration of an old political program that has been given new strength by the failures of the global economy and the power of postmodern technology.

I'm not so sure I agree with this next paragraph, at least the part about the unions:

To be sure, there are plenty of people flocking to the tents who are everyday Democrats and independents concerned about joblessness and the gap between rich and poor. The unions backing the occupiers fall into this group. But the concerns of labor intersect only tangentially with those of Occupy Wall Street’s theorists and prime movers. The occupiers have a lot more in common with the now-decades-old antiglobalization movement. They are linked much more closely to the “hacktivist” agents of chaos at WikiLeaks and Anonymous.

I definitely agree with this last part:

When the police officers and sanitation workers reclaimed Zuccotti Park, Occupy Wall Street’s supporters cried, “You can’t evict an idea whose time has come.” Whether the sympathizers or the critics really understand the idea and the method of the movement is a good question. The idea is utopian socialism. The method is revolutionary anarchism.

This is why I don't engage them.

If you agree with one or two points they make, fine. Their methods are not going to resolve their issues; I hope we're not to the point where mob rule influences sober government. Act like adults, and take your issues to the government that's hired for such purposes. If you think the government is unresponsive or a lost cause, surely you can do better than to bang a drum in a park.

The linked article goes on to discuss utopian socialism, and I highly recommend you read the whole thing.

Update, 12/3/11: The Occupy movement continues to be revealed as the bowel movement it really is:

A few weeks ago in Denver I had the opportunity for some up close and personal time with the Occupy movement, and what I saw was about what you would expect. These are marginal and marginally intelligent people who have grown up conditioned by public educators and the welfare state to believe that they’re something special and entitled to the good life just because they’re special and entitled to the good life. And they’ve also been brainwashed to believe that if America doesn’t acknowledge their specialness and if, indeed, they’re not enjoying the good life, the problem must be a corrupt America.

Occupy is all about greed, self-actualization, and narcissism. The fastest and easiest way to feel superior is to assume the role of a victim … because a victim is always superior to his or her oppressors.

Occupy is also an army the left and Alinksy-style community organizers like Barack Obama have been breeding for decades. The formula is simple: feed enough self-esteem to those who don’t deserve it and you create an entire generation of entitled crybabies desperate to direct the frustration of their unfulfilled lives at whomever.

Yeah, what he said.

California Keeps Bending Over For Obama and Education Secretary Duncan...

...and it keeps getting the shaft:

In another cockfight between California and Washington over education, the U.S. Department of Education has rejected California’s application – and only California’s application – in the third round of Race to the Top. The denial exasperated the seven California school districts that led the state’s effort and were counting on $49 million earmarked for California as critical to do the work they had committed to do.

In a statement Wednesday, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson and State Board of Education President Michael Kirst each criticized the federal government’s inflexibility in not accepting what they described as California’s “innovative” approach of giving control of the reforms to local school districts. Seven unified districts, including Los Angeles, Frenso, and Long Beach, formed a coalition known as CORE, the California Office to Reform Education, to compete for round three and work together on the reform.

Torlakson also said the federal government failed to scale back its expectations for Race to the Top reforms during this fiscal crisis. “I had hoped the federal Administration would be mindful of the financial emergency facing California’s schools and the severe constraints it has placed on state resources,” he said. (In the third round of RTTT, the federal government slashed the available funding from $3.4 billion to $200 million. For California, that reduced the potential award from as much as $700 million to $50 million.)

The federal government saw things differently. In a statement congratulating the other seven states in line for the money, federal officials said California “submitted an incomplete application.”

This state gave, and will give again, 55 electoral votes to Obama. I'm sure some people think that's enough for us to get the money, but it clearly isn't. Then we chucked our world-class math standards for watered-down national "common core" standards. We've moved towards evaluating teachers based on student performance. And we don't even get any more education money for doing this.

Those of you who thought NCLB was the problem, how do you respond to this disaster?

Update, 11/26/11: Ouch.

When does a four-page cover sheet cost $49 million? When it's part of California's application for the latest round of federal school improvement funding.

Had they signed the cover sheet, state officials would have been endorsing the establishment of statewide teacher evaluation methods – a commitment they would not make.

Federal education officials announced that the state's bid for Race to the Top funds was denied earlier this week because its application was deemed by the U.S. Department of Education to be incomplete.

You Don't Have To Go To College...

...to learn what you could learn at UC Davis. All you have to do is watch and learn from the news:

A woman shot pepper spray to keep shoppers from merchandise she wanted during a Black Friday sale, and 20 people suffered minor injuries, authorities said.

The incident occurred shortly after 10:20 p.m. Thursday in a crowded Los Angeles-area Walmart as shoppers hungry for deals were let inside the store.

The Best Part of Thanksgiving

A few dozen gathered at my mother's place, including the two newest members of the clan, as two of my cousins have newborns. I gave one cousin and his wife a break for awhile:

Snackies, Coda

Remember this idiot, the professor who walked out of class because his students didn't bring him snackies? Well, the university has made a decision regarding his conduct:

Students of Sacramento State professor George Parrott won't have to supply snacks anymore in order to be taught psychology.

The Bee's report on Parrott walking out of his Psychology 101 lab class before a midterm review two weeks ago because of the lack of snacks made headlines across the country.

Since then, members of the psychology department at California State University, Sacramento, met and decided it was unacceptable for the professor to have left the class, said Kim Nava, university spokesperson.

"He's been told by the dean not to repeat the behavior," she said.

This is an appropriate response, but I hope they were a little more, uh, direct in their closed-door discussions with him.

Climategate #2?

It's looking possible....

Update, 11/26/11: More here:

*5,000 leaked emails reveal scientists deleted evidence that cast doubt on claims climate change was man-made
*Experts were under orders from US and UK officials to come up with a 'strong message'
*Critics claim: 'The stink of intellectual corruption is overpowering'
*Scientist asks, 'What if they find that climate change is a natural fluctuation? They'll kill us all'

Update #2, 11/28/11: Facts are such stubborn little critters:

The worst hurricanes were in 1926, the second-worst in 1900. The world's top hurricane experts say that there is no evidence that global warming affects storms. There is no such thing as a man-made hurricane. Storm cycles and long patterns of bad weather are entirely natural. Yet this good news is suppressed by our politicized media. We hear only one side.

More and more scientists are revolting against the global warming consensus enforced by government funding, the academic establishment, and media misrepresentation. They are saying that solar cycles and the complex systems of cloud formation have much more influence on our climate, and account for historical periods of warming and cooling much more accurately that a straight line graph of industrialization, CO2, and rising temperatures. They also point out that the rising temperatures that set off the global warming panic ended in 1998.

Khan Academy Success?

One report says so:

Last month we profiled the Khan Academy, a database of free videos that make learning subjects like math fun. Well, these videos are now being piloted in a school in California. Two grade five and seven classes in the district of Los Altos have chosen to heavily supplement their current methods with the Khan Academy. Their test run has so far yielded nothing short of colossal success, with both students and teachers alike more engaged and fulfilled.

I Didn't Know The President of the NEA Is A Former Math Teacher

Learned something new:

One reform idea floated by Republicans and others involves changing the definition of “effective teachers,” loosening restrictions on who can instruct in the classroom. Some argue that an experienced mathematician, for example, shouldn’t have to obtain a separate degree to become a teacher.

Mr. Van Roekel dismissed that idea as irresponsible.

The power of the teachers unions, many reformers argue, is the single biggest reason major changes have come so slowly to the U.S. education system.

Mr. Van Roekel strongly disagrees.

“I take it as a personal insult when people believe that anyone with a degree in math can do what I do in the classroom,” he said, referencing his 23-year career as a math teacher.

On the other hand, I haven't met too many teachers who thought their credentialing program was very useful. Teacher preparation needs to be completely revamped, getting rid of a lot of the political (8 zillion courses in "multicultural education", for example, as if no one's ever worked with people unlike themselves before) and focusing more on the practical. While I'll agree with Van Roekel that a good mathematician doesn't a priori make a good math teacher, neither does someone make a good teacher just because he/she has completed a credentialing program.

The Economist Is Three Weeks Behind Me

Almost 3 weeks ago I wrote the following:

If you drive a high-mpg vehicle, you don't get dinged with high gas taxes. However, if everybody drove high-mpg vehicles, we'd use less gas--which means the states and feds would get less gas tax revenue. Problem is, the roads would still need maintenance, so the taxes would have to be increased!

If everyone does it, there's no economic benefit to conservation.

Maybe someone at The Economist reads this blog :-) because here's what they reported in last week's edition:

And just as cars are growing more fuel-efficient, Americans are driving less. In 2010 they drove just under three trillion miles—less than they did in 2006. While better fuel-efficiency is good news for Americans’ wallets and less driving good for the country’s air, for its highways and mass-transit systems, it is something of a disaster.

That is because federal funds, mostly derived from fuel-tax revenue, account for 22% of all highway funding and 17% of mass-transit funding nationally (with the rest coming from state and local governments)...

But as that trend has slowed, the HTF (Highway Trust Fund, which is funded by federal gas tax monies) has suffered: monies paid into the HTF fell by around one-seventh from 2007 to 2010. From 2005 to 2009 every state received more from the fund than they paid in. Between 2008 and 2010 Congress transferred $34.5 billion in general revenues into the HTF—the first time it had ever received such an infusion. Earlier this year the Congressional Budget Office forecast that the HTF will be unable to fund highway maintenance by 2013.

So, what's the fair (don't you love that word??), or reasonable, or practical, way to fund highway maintenance?

Another Blow For "Equality" Mislands, Strikes Common Sense Instead

Joanne has the story: Boys are competing — and winning — on girls’ swim teams in Massachusetts, reports the New York Times...State law requires equal access to athletic opportunities and some schools have cut boys’ swim teams.