Idiot Principal

Don't you just love stories like this one?  *sigh*

A controversial Coney Island principal has pulled the plug on patriotism.
Her refusal to let students sing “God Bless the USA” at their graduation has sparked fireworks at a school filled with proud immigrants.

Greta Hawkins, principal of PS 90, the Edna Cohen School, won’t allow kindergartners to belt out the beloved Lee Greenwood ballad, also known as “Proud to be an American,” at their moving-up ceremony...

She told the teachers to drop the song from the program.

“We don’t want to offend other cultures,” they quoted her as explaining...

Department of Education spokeswoman Jessica Scaperotti gave The Post an explanation staffers said they never heard — that Hawkins found the lyrics “too grown up” for 5-year-olds...

Scaperotti said the department supports the principal’s decision. “The lyrics are not age-appropriate,” she said.

But Justin Bieber’s flirty song about teen romance, “Baby,” was deemed a fine selection for the show. Hawkins had no problem with 5-year-olds singing lines such as, “Are we an item? Girl, quit playing.”

The other songs: “We’re All Together Again,” popular at Scout campfires; “The World is a Rainbow,” which celebrates diversity; “Shake Your Sillies Out” by Raffi; and “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from “Toy Story.”

Scaperotti noted PS 90 kids recite the Pledge of Allegiance and sing “America the Beautiful” each morning. Insiders say Hawkins tried to end that tradition a couple years ago but staff objected.

The principal, a Jehovah’s Witness, does not recite the pledge because her religion forbids followers to salute any nation’s flag. Staffers gripe she doesn’t stand in respect during the school-wide ritual.

The entire education field gets a black eye when idiots like this make the news.

A Compendium of "Opposition to Obama = Racism" Comments

I think this pitcher is pretty much empty by now, but that doesn't mean that people won't keep trying to pour out that last remaining drop.

Senior Pranks

These are pranks?  "Pranks" is not just another word for "vandalism", they have two very different meanings, and while those meanings may overlap in some instances, I don't see that they do in either of these two cases:

Seniors in C.K. McClatchy High School's class of 2012 tried to leave their mark on the school with peanut butter, spray paint, toilet paper and eggs, but their "senior prank" efforts turned dangerous and dozens of them have been banned from graduation ceremonies Friday.

About 30 students sprayed profane graffiti, wrapped toilet paper, pitched eggs and smeared peanut butter throughout the Land Park school's campus overnight Sunday as part of a senior prank. The extensive nature of the hijinks led to one student with a peanut allergy being sent to a doctor and others not being able to attend school.  link

or

Authorities say it may have been intended as a prank but it wasn't funny when vandals chopped down a 70-foot pine tree at a northern Los Angeles County high school.

The Santa Clarita Signal ( http://bit.ly/KXlvuQ) says surveillance video recorded three people in hoodies and caps using chainsaws to attack the tree on the Canyon High School campus before dawn last Friday.

The vandals spent three hours cutting down the tree, which was planted at the Canyon Country school 40 years ago. link

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/07/4545767/calif-school-vandals-cut-down.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/07/4544370/mcclatchy-high-prank-turns-dangerous.html#storylink=cpy

It Looks Like A Nice Day, But

The sun's out, there's a good breeze, and the memorial service for my friend's son is in a couple hours at a park by the river.

Update:  it was a nice service, held at Ancil Hoffman park.  People showed up in everything from shorts and a t-shirt to jackets and ties, and there were people representing so many "circles" of the young man's life.  Oh, it was hard to hear the remembrances while thinking about the guy I knew, and seeing the anguished looks on the faces of his mother and father, but there, under the shade of the oaks, we gathered, ate, drank, hugged, cried, shared, supported, and cared for the one who is gone and for the ones he left behind.

H is for Hypocrisy

You've gotta love our friends on the left. Remember all that "new civility", where martial metaphors and any references to violence were to be off-limits in politics?

“Kill Scott Walker”: Angry libs flood Twitter with death threats after Wisconsin recall defeat

More such tweets here with a dollop of kumbayyah here.

And do the complaints about "too much money in politics" ring hollow yet?

After their crushing defeat in Wisconsin the coordinated reaction from the White House and their media mouthpieces was sniveling about too much money in politics while ignoring the millions they spent themselves in a futile effort to oust Scott Walker. They’re going to have a tough time keeping a straight face as their party’s leader, fresh off a dozen fundraisers since last Friday, heads to California yet again for another five shakedowns.

*sigh*

Teachers Making Teachers Look Bad

Teachers, are you proud of how these fellow teachers come across in this video? I mean, honestly, do you feel "oppressed"?

Dining With The Devil

Each year for the past few years, I've offered to meet my seniors at a local Mongolian Barbecue restaurant as a kind of farewell dinner. The mnemonic for this year's dinner was "six six at six", for 6/6 at 6pm (hence the title of this post).

Last night my student teacher, her husband and baby girl, and maybe 2 dozen students showed up. We kind of overwhelmed the small restaurant, but everyone took it in stride. We weren't noisy or bossy or obnoxious, so I don't think they minded the business on a Wednesday night!

But what a treat it was! It's hard to be a teacher and not develop some affection for many of your students, so it's nice to be able to spend some time with them in a social environment. I made it around to all the tables to socialize for a bit--because, after all, that was the main idea--and we all had a great time.

One student brought me one of those notes we teachers live for. I considered scanning it and putting it on here to show you an example of one of the decent kids I get to teach, but instead I just put it in my rainy day folder--where I keep things to remind me of why I do this job, to be referenced when I'm ready to quit.

I'm off downtown in a few minutes for graduation, where I'll see many of them for the last time. It's a great time of year to be a teacher!

Waste of Government Money

I'm sure the school district isn't spending its own money on this, but it's still taxpayer money:

FREE Lunch for All Kids

All children 18 years and younger are welcome.

NO enrollment, NO paperwork, NO income qualifications

Just come to San Juan Central and enjoy a FREE and nutritious meal.

 

San Juan Central

3700 Garfield Avenue

Carmichael, CA 95608

 

June 12 – August 2, 2012

Monday – Thursday (except July 4th)

This Is Not How To Properly Deal With The Issue

I wrote just a few days ago about lousy decorum at high school graduations, but this is absolutely the wrong way to deal with it:

When Anthony walked across the stage at his high school graduation, his family made some noise.
"It was my dream to graduate," he said.

 "I'm very proud of my son," Traci Cornist said.

 Apparently, so were a lot of others.

"Teachers, other students and other family members who weren't with us were also cheering for him also. He's well known," Traci said.

The excitement proved too much for the administration.

Instead of a diploma, Anthony got a letter from the principal, Marlon Styles, Jr.

 "I will be holding your diploma in the main office," the letter said, "due to the excessive cheering your guests displayed during the roll call."

"I did nothing wrong except walk across the stage," Anthony said.

The school demands 20 hours of community service before he can graduate.

He's right.  His family should have been escorted from the ceremony.

It's one thing to be proud of your kid, quite another to be an ass about it.  Of course, the school officials are being asses, too.  Is there anyone in this story who is not an ass?

Hat tip to reader MikeAT.

A Glaring Example of the Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations

From Joanne's blog:

A straight A student in Los Angeles schools, Andrea Lopez went to a SAT prep workshop and realized she was way behind students from other high schools. Will my best be good enough? she asks in LA Youth. She couldn’t do a single math problem. Other students knew vocabulary that she’d never learned, such as “spurious” and “cogent.” After years of being the best student in class, she felt stupid.

What can you say but, "wow"?

What Will Be The #1 Excuse?

o far CNN, Fox, and NBC are all calling the Wisconsin election for Republican Scott Walker, making him the first US governor (out of 3 attempts) to survive a recall election.

The left will sure as crap start making excuses tomorrow--Citizens United, voter suppression or intimidation, the recession, tampering with ballots, anything to explain why their guy lost.  It's not that they'll ignore their own voter suppression or intimidation, tampering with ballots, and fraudulent votes, rather they'll project their own crimes onto Republicans.  They'll squeal to high heaven and try to figure out why their guy lost.

Let me make it easy for them:  he lost because Walker was not only the better candidate, but because he's a good governor.  Since all the ballots haven't been counted yet we don't know the exact spread, but Walker was projected to win by the same 5-6 point margin, over the same opposing candidate, as he did when elected a year and a half ago.

My school's very own Che Guevara challenged me today about votes, about unions, etc.  He tried to convince me that because unions did good a hundred years ago that I should vote for them today; what he failed to point out, if he even knew it at all, was that major labor leaders during that grand union era--and let's not leave out President FDR (see below)--was against public sector collective bargaining.

Unions are enraged. They've been calling such increases (requiring public workers to pay 5.8% of their salaries towards retirement and pay 1/8 of their health care expenses) unspeakable since Walker was elected handily in November. Then, Feb. 10, Walker went further. He'd allow public-sector unions to negotiate only pay, not benefits, mainly because he wants HSA-style health plans and 401(k)-style retirements for state workers, and unions would fight that, tooth and ragged red claw.

So unions erupted. Teachers faked illness in such numbers as to close school districts for days. Mobs beat on the doors of legislative chambers. And in some heavenly Hyde Park, the great liberal god of the 1930s is saying he saw it all along.

Roosevelt's reign certainly was the bright dawn of modern unionism. The legal and administrative paths that led to 35% of the nation's workforce eventually unionizing by a mid-1950s peak were laid by Roosevelt.

But only for the private sector. Roosevelt openly opposed bargaining rights for government unions.

"The process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service," Roosevelt wrote in 1937 to the National Federation of Federal Employees. Yes, public workers may demand fair treatment, wrote Roosevelt. But, he wrote, "I want to emphasize my conviction that militant tactics have no place" in the public sector. "A strike of public employees manifests nothing less than an intent on their part to prevent or obstruct the operations of Government."

So what has Wisconsin, the "cradle of progressivism", taught us?  That even with all the shenanigans the left has pulled--Democratic legislators' leaving the state, days of teacher protests whilst lying about being sick, a union-funded and -inspired recall election of a state supreme court judge, and now a union-funded and -inspired recall election of a governor--the people trust the Republican governor more than they trust the public sector unions.

Heckuva job, unions.  Why would anyone want to join you with a record like that?

The wind's blowing into the sea lanes, friends.  Let's make sure our sails are up.

Update:  it will also be interesting to see if San Diego, with a Republican mayor, and San Jose, with a Democratic mayor, vote to curb retirement benefits for city workers:

The ballot measures differ on specifics. San Diego’s Proposition B imposes a six-year freeze on pay levels used to determine pension benefits unless a two-thirds majority of the City Council votes to override it. It also puts new hires, except for police officers, into 401(k)-style plans.

More than 100,000 residents signed petitions to put the San Diego measure on the ballot.

Under San Jose’s Measure B, current workers would have to pay up to 16 percent of their salaries to keep their retirement plan or accept more modest benefits. New hires would get less generous benefits.

Mayor Chuck Reed, a Democrat, joined an 8-3 City Council majority to put the measure on the ballot.

Are either of those so draconian?  No, I don't want to pay more out of my pocket, either, but that isn't really the issue, is it?

Update #2:  Ann Althouse points out:

Look at the blue-red balance on the map for last year’s state supreme court battle. Now look at tonight’s map.

Update #3, June 6, 2012:  San Diego passed its measure by over 66%, and San Jose passed its by over 69%.  Scott Walker's Wisconsin margin was 6.9 points, greater than that with which he was elected only a year and a half ago.

Public employee unions had better get with the program.

Update #4, 6/6/12: Hitler finds out that Walker won the recall:

The movie is called Downfall. You probably haven't heard of it, but you've seen zillions of these spoofs.

Darkness in the Light

Today started out as a great day.  Our seniors took their last final exams and are now in the process of checking out, with graduation just 2 days away.  School ends for everyone else next Monday (don't ask) and for teachers next Tuesday.  The weather was beautiful.

At lunch we got word that the son of one of our teachers died this morning.  It was a freak accident, nothing that could be planned for.  I knew him, he'd gone to trivia night a few times.  Very nice kid.  College graduate.  Got a good job relatively recently and was finally starting that climb that so many of us remember from our 20's.  An only child for both of his parents.

I'm sending his dad, my colleague, a card, but it feels like such a hollow gesture.

Potentially Fired For Not Following A Stupid Policy

A Canadian teacher could conceivably be fired for not following his school district's stupid "no zero" policy:

Lynden Dorval, 61, has been a teacher for 35 years. He’d be in the class room today at Ross Sheppard High School except he’s been suspended.

That drastic action was taken because Dorval refused to go along with a misguided scheme cooked up by educational theorists and school administrators.

Under this scheme, it’s no longer possible for high school teachers at Ross Sheppard and numerous other Edmonton schools to give a student a mark of zero on an assignment or test, even if the student fails to hand in the assignment or write the test. Instead, students are given a final mark based on the work they do complete.

This policy has been in place at Edmonton junior high schools for decades, Dorval says, but it is now working its way into local high schools.

It is, absolutely, without a doubt, a stupid policy.  On the other hand, it's a policy and he must comply.

The article's author lists two links at the bottom of his article, one link for those who support the no-zero policy and one for those who don't.  I'll be honest, I don't find the supporters' arguments convincing.  They talk about "accountability" for the kids, but I don't see where the accountability is.

I emailed the following to the author:

It's a stupid policy. On the other hand, he's not an independent contractor, he's a govt employee. He needs to follow directions.

I understand the idea that you never want kids to think they can't pass, that they're "out of the game". My way of doing that is to tell them that even if they don't score the minimum overall to pass the course (60%), I'll give them a passing grade if they score 70% or above on the final exam.

Three more of my Algebra 1 students passed today than otherwise would have because of that policy.

He replied:

I like your idea. It gives kids incentive, but puts onus on them to work hard. Cheers,

There are good ways and bad ways to keep kids "in the game", and a no-zero policy is one of the bad ways.

Hat tip to reader Mark Perry.

Why We Must Cut Entitlement Spending

Ignoring these numbers doesn't make them go away:

Consider America's fiscal situation, which is dire anyway you cut it. Federal spending on the poor has grown enormously, as Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution told the House Budget Committee in April. The ten largest "means tested" programs (Medicaid, food stamps, earned-income tax credits, etc.) spent $4,300 per poor person in 1980 (in constant 2011 dollars), and $13,000 in 2011. That's a three-fold increase in real, per capita terms. Add in the $209 billion spent by federal programs too "small" to make the Top Ten, and total poverty spending reached $835 billion last year, or $17,380 for each American living below the poverty line. Spending on entitlement programs that aren't means tested was even larger: Social Security cost $731 billion and Medicare $486 billion. And in a dozen years, the number of Medicare and Social Security recipients will have risen by 50%. In 2011 the federal government spent $3.6 trillion, of which it borrowed $1.3 trillion, or more than a third. The Obama Administration expects to borrow a slightly larger amount in 2012. As a result, the gross federal debt stood at $14.8 trillion in 2011, 98.7% of GDP, and will surpass 100% of GDP each year through 2017. "Simply put," writes the steely-eyed Yuval Levin, "we cannot afford to preserve our welfare state in anything like its present form."

Taxing the rich isn't going to make these numbers go away, either.

Typical Liberals--Unabashed and Brazen

Look what the Democrats are doing:

Last night, I posted about a mailing I received from the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund, showing my name and address and the names and addresses of a dozen of my neighbors and whether we'd voted in the last 2 elections. The letter says that "we're taking a new approach... seeing this mailing to you and your neighbors to publicize who does and does not vote." We're told this is a matter of "public record" and that "After the June 5th election" — the recall — "public records will tell everybody who voted and who didn't." I found that quite disgusting...

A group of “researchers” using a Harvard University return address (108 Littauer Center – I checked and Harvard has that center.) is sending out campaign contribution information showing one Republican donor (me) and multiple (blinded) Democratic donors.  This reeks of intimidation tactics, i.e. “we have your name, etc and we will spotlight you”.  They claim this is information from “my neighborhood” – I know I live in a very Republican neighborhood so these names could be pulled from anywhere, e.g. the big UVA Democrat areas several miles from here.

This is disgusting.

A couple of valid points from the comments:

This bothers conservatives much more for the same reason we generally don't display political bumper stickers. We all know that many liberals are emotional basket cases that will key your car, or flatten your tires for daring to express a contrary opinion in their world.

Consequently telling a bunch of them in your neighborhood that you support Republicans is de facto a threat. Use of this tactic is an admission that what I just said is true: liberals are often scary and violent.

To use such a tactic does not make much sense for Republicans. You can't threaten people that conservatives will physically harm you or your property for being a liberal. It just isn't true enough to be scary.

I think this tactic is a damning admission.

and

 "So liberals are confirmed psychopaths."

Whoever sent these flyers out thinks enough of them are so that it will scare people into submission. Otherwise there is no point.

I agree with their self-diagnosis. 

and best of all

"They are apparently studying how public disclosure is going to supress contributions. Interesting thesis"

Certainly it is.

Maybe the next study approved can be a study of the impact of secret filming of gay college students. 

Oh, that would be wrong.

Teacher of the Year

I've said it 8 zillion times:  it's always a cop, a teacher, or a preacher.  That's why it makes news in the first place:

 A Texas middle school band director accused of texting sexually explicit messages to a 15-year-old student was named teacher of the year at his school a few days earlier, according to NBCDFW.com.

Hat tip to reader MikeAT.

Slapping a Student

I can understand it if a teacher loses their cool.  I don't excuse it, but I understand it. But to do something like this, premeditated?  Are you kidding me?

The family of a California high school student has failed to see the funny side of a teacher imitating a scene from the hit comedy "Bridesmaids" and allegedly trying to slap some sense into the girl.

Dionne Evans, a ninth grade student at Malibu High School, alleges that when she forgot to bring her homework to class on May 22 she was called to the front of the room and the unnamed teacher asked, "Did you see 'Bridesmaids'?"

The teacher then allegedly slapped the girl's face up to six times, TMZ.com reported.
It is believed the teacher was referring to a scene in the 2011 movie where one woman literally tries to slap some sense into another.

Evans' family have filed a complaint with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. A spokesperson for the sheriff's Special Victims Unit confirmed to the Santa Monica Daily Press that they are investigating the incident.

The teacher has since written an apology to Evans but her family have hired an attorney and are reportedly considering a civil lawsuit against the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.

Someone in this story needs some sense slapped into her, and it's probably not the kid.

The School Insurance Authority must love stories like this one.

Why I Don't Like High School Graduation Ceremonies

Every other year at my school we have to work at graduation.  I could easily whittle the list of responsibilities down such that we'd only need to work every third year, but that's something I can deal with another time.

I never work in the ceremony itself--I'd die.  We hold our graduations in Memorial Auditorium downtown, and I always get one of the jobs in the basement.  I work before and after the ceremony.  Before the ceremony, I'm getting the kids lined up, taking their pictures with their friends, making sure they're properly dressed, providing them with information, making sure they have their name cards for the reader to read as they walk across the stage--things like that.  The atmosphere is electric, it's like pre-game activities for the Super Bowl.  After the ceremony I'm also downstairs, handing out diplomas and saying final good-byes.  It's like being with the winning team after the Super Bowl.  I get the best of everything.  I'm actually looking forward to working our graduation this year.

Last night I attended my nephew's graduation, and all the things I hate about graduation ceremonies were on display.

His was held outside, on what appeared to be his Taj Mahal-of-a-school's soccer field.  The temperature was in the high 90s, and the bugs were having a field day.  Ugh.  I was thankful that shortly before starting, someone got on the speakers and said that they'll let us know when the kids were to start marching in, but that they wouldn't start the processional until all umbrellas (used as sun shields) were put away so everyone could see.  To my pleasant surprise, at the appointed time everyone put away their umbrellas.

That's where my glee ended.  Because as soon as the kids started walking down the center aisle to their seats up front, everyone stood up so they could see.  Of course, once everyone's standing, the view is no better than it is when everyone's sitting--in fact it's worse, because at least when everyone's sitting even the people in the distance can see the kids, who are standing/walking, over the heads of the seated crowd.  But once a few people stood up because seeing their kid is the most important thing on the planet, others had to, and then more, and pretty soon only the people lining the aisle could see.  Ugh.

Women, this one goes out special to you.  You know that high-pitched screaming thing you do?  It's like an icepick through my temples.  Do you not know how loud you are, how high-pitched that yell is, how little anyone around you wants to hear that?  Ugh.

And for all you people who bring air horns and vuvuzelas and such--yes, I know you want to cheer for your kid, and you want your kid to hear you cheer for him or her.  What you clearly don't consider, though, is that the kids are going across the stage at a rate of 10 per minute, one every 6 seconds.  While you're having a great old time, not only are the people next to you covering their ears to lessen the 120 db horns you're blowing, but the family of the child whose name is announced immediately after your kid's cannot hear their kid's name being announced because you're too busy acting low-class and selfishly trying to hog some limelight.  Ugh.

I'm not trying to be an old fuddy-duddy here, but I have to ask--when did graduation ceremonies become like English soccer matches?  When did "pomp and circumstance" give way to screaming and airhorns?  When did people stop demonstrating common courtesy to those around them?  I'm not asking for dourness or total solemnity here, but I am asking for people to be courteous to the couple thousand other people in attendance. Could you not simply clap for your kid when his/her name is called?  Do you really need to scream for several seconds, block other people's views with your signs--or my personal favorite, try to run up and hug your kid as they come off the stage, even though you've been asked not to because it gums up the works?  (OK, that last one didn't happen last night, but I've seen it before.)

My advice, suggestion and prayer:  act dignified during the ceremony, and have as much fun as you want to afterwards.

And that's just the adults.  Now it's on to the valedictorian speeches.

I joked with my sister before the ceremony started that I never work in the graduation ceremonies in part because I can't stand valedictorian speeches.  If I never again hear "Remember when we were freshman, and the school seemed so big, and then we were sophomores and juniors, and now we're seniors and we rule the school" one more time it will be too soon.  And how many valedictorians does one school need?  My school had one, and one salutatorian, but now schools have lots--my nephew's school had 6, although only 2 gave speeches.  Anyway, when the first one spoke and started with the "remember when we were freshmen" routine, my sister looked over at me and laughed.  She knew it was killing me!  Ugh.

As I listened to the first valedictorian I texted one of my friends with whom I graduated almost 30 years ago, told him about it, and asked, was my speech as vapid?  His response:  I don't remember it, I was probably thinking about getting laid.  Reading that text was for me the most enjoyable part of the graduation exercise except for watching my nephew walk across the stage!

So I survived the ceremony last night, my nephew will soon be off to a Southern California UC campus, and the world will continue turning. No ugh for that, I guess.

Showing Class at the Last Rally

Today was the last rally of the school year and I saw something that showed a lot of class.  The senior class acknowledged a couple of teachers as well as one of our custodians.  When the custodian's name was called, the gym roared--you'd have thought the roof was going to come down.  And it was sincere, too, as everyone loves Henry.  He seemed overwhelmed by it all, almost not knowing what to say.

For me, that was the best part of the rally.  Nicely done.

West Point at the National Archives

This is a lot of information.