Education thread

[Vrede too]

Warrants issued for people who cheered at Senatobia (Mississippi) graduation

Ejection for breaking the rules, fine - if one accepts the premise that spontaneous outbursts of joy are a problem, that is - but criminal charges???!!!

Tell Superintendent Jay Foster: Drop the charges against the Walker family!

[O Really]

As much as I like to defend teachers, I gotta say, school administrators are largely incompetent idiots continually stepping on their own dicks and deserving no sympathy or support.

Here's another example... http://abcnews.go.com/US/colorado-lunch ... d=31497325

[O Really]

And yet another... http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/colora ... ar-BBkEEiS

[Vrede too]

... Here's another example... http://abcnews.go.com/US/colorado-lunch ... d=31497325

That one's a bit more nuanced. I'm more concerned with society putting Della Curry in that position than with what they did to her for committing civil disobedience.

[Vrede too]

And yet another... http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/colora ... ar-BBkEEiS

Leaving aside the gay sex issue that others will obsess about -

Evan Young gave his speech anyhow, and is nationally applauded.
Twin Peaks Charter Academy traded saving its few bigots a few minutes discomfort for months of hassle and ridicule, questions from a US Rep. and an internal review.

As much as I like to defend teachers, I gotta say, school administrators are largely incompetent idiots continually stepping on their own dicks and deserving no sympathy or support....

, at least in this instance.

That's the first I've heard of Emily Bruell and Roaring Fork HS's opposite choice.

[O Really]

Here's what drives me nutz - the Colorado issue exists only because of bad logistics. If they collected money or tickets or whatever at the first of the line, they could tell Timmy "I'm sorry, you don't have any money in your account, but here's a cheese sandwich" But they didn't do that. They had it at the end of the line, so they have to say "Sorry, Timmy - you don't have any money in your account so I'm going to take away your food, waste it by throwing it away, and embarrass you in front of your friends over something you didn't know about and didn't have any control over." Effin' eedjits.

[Vrede too]

I'd rather that the class distinctions were removed and every kid got fed equally in school, and that we figure out a way to make it happen. Within each school we don't segregate water, fire safety, educational opportunity, environmental controls and other necessities based on ability to pay.

[Vrede too]

Warrants issued for people who cheered at Senatobia (Mississippi) graduation

Ejection for breaking the rules, fine - if one accepts the premise that spontaneous outbursts of joy are a problem, that is - but criminal charges???!!!

Tell Superintendent Jay Foster: Drop the charges against the Walker family!

Disturbance charges dropped

[Boatrocker]

Warrants issued for people who cheered at Senatobia (Mississippi) graduation

Ejection for breaking the rules, fine - if one accepts the premise that spontaneous outbursts of joy are a problem, that is - but criminal charges???!!!

Tell Superintendent Jay Foster: Drop the charges against the Walker family!

Disturbance charges dropped

For all their inanity and crassness, social media and the wicked ol' interwebs have been wildly successful at bringing attention to willful stupidity and general assholery, both of which school administrators are almost universally guilty.

[rstrong]

For all their inanity and crassness, social media and the wicked ol' interwebs have been wildly successful at bringing attention to willful stupidity and general assholery, both of which school administrators are almost universally guilty.

Yup. Yet another story from last week's News of the Weird:

One might believe that a 6th-grader, suspended for a whole year after school officials found a "marijuana" leaf in his backpack, might be immediately un-suspended if authorities (after three field tests) found the leaf was neither marijuana nor anything else illegal. Not, however, at Bedford Middle School in Roanoke, Virginia, whose officials said they had acted on gossip that students called the leaf "marijuana," and therefore under the state schools' "look-alike-drug" policy, the 6th-grader was just as guilty as if the leaf were real. Formerly a high-achiever student, he has, since last September, suffered panic attacks and is under the care of a pediatric psychiatrist, and his parents filed a federal lawsuit in February. [Roanoke Times, 3-14-2015]

[Boatrocker]

I truly believe that school administration is a habitat for idiots.

[Mr.B]

Like, actually, it's so cool that he's right.

[Vrede too]

From Progress NC Action:

... The Republican-dominated State Senate passed a budget that would slash 8500 teaching assistant positions across our state. This cut would amount to the largest layoff in North Carolina's history in any industry - public or private.

It's insane. There are already 7,000 fewer TAs than in 2008....

TAs are under attack by this right-wing legislature, which is hell bent on cutting public education to pay for their tax cuts for corporations and people at the top. We can stop this, but we need your help.

Next week the politicians are going on vacation without passing a budget or letting TAs know if they will have jobs next fall. It's adding insult to injury. Instead of vacation, we’re going to work and gearing up for a fight....

:-0?> :cussing:

[Mr.B]

Our loss is other states' gains.

Like, actually, you know, these guys will be moving away to other states to get jobs that like, actually pay more.

[Seth Milner]

I couldn't believe what I was seeing! People being interviewed on the street didn't know what year the Declaration of Independence was signed, who the U.S. was declaring it's independence from, nor could most name a signer. One man (from N.C.) knew the answers.
Hard to fathom that something this important in our history is forgotten, or not learned; yet a relic flag can stir up so much hatred. At this point, I'm willing to bet that over half of those, Black and White, had to be told why they were demonstrating against the flying of the Confederate flag; just as the story below begins: "It’s easy to get caught up in the trappings . . . "

Independence Day Quiz: How Much Do You Know?

"It’s easy to get caught up in the trappings of the 4th of July holiday, especially if you’ve always called it that instead of “Independence Day.” But most people know the meaning of the day.
“I have a three-year-old who understands that it is the birthday party for the United States and she is very excited,” says Meredith Gvocdas of Columbia.

But some of the other details about the day may be a lot harder to recall from your elementary or middle school history classes.

What year did the colonies declare their independence? “Uhhhhh, I do not know sir. Sorry,” says Demetrius Sheppard of Columbia. He’s not alone. “Don’t remember,” says David Williams. “Oh, pfffft. Might as well go on. I have no idea,” says Serkan Freeman of Columbia.

Ken Salisbury answers that question quickly. “1776,” he said Friday at a Columbia fireworks stand.
The Continental Congress approved the final text of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, which is why we celebrate it as Independence Day. But the Congress actually adopted a resolution declaring independence on July 2nd. The Declaration of Independence wasn’t actually signed until August 2nd by most members of the Continental Congress.

From which country were we declaring our independence? “Ooooh, Jesus. Here? I don’t know,” answered Lecretia Hunter of Columbia. “The Brits,” answers Steve Acosta, from Gastonia, North Carolina, who had stopped in Columbia to buy fireworks.

Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? “Jefferson,” says Jim Hindersman of Columbia.

It was actually a five-man committee of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman. Jefferson did most of the writing. Even though Livingston contributed to writing the Declaration, he never signed it, saying he thought it was too soon to declare independence.

Can you name any of the signers of the Declaration of Independence? “No,” says Amanda Sparks of Columbia, laughing.

Meredith Gvocdas says, “How about John Hancock?” He’s probably the best known, for having signed his name above and larger than the other signers. You can see a complete list of signers here.

One interesting fact about the Declaration that’s pertinent to South Carolina is that the two youngest signers were both from the state. Thomas Lynch, Jr. and Edward Rutledge were both only 26 when they signed, while most of the other signers were in their 40s or 50s. Benjamin Franklin was the oldest signer at 70."
wspa.com

There's supposed to be a video linked to this story, but right now I'm having Internet connection issues and I can't get them to play. If you want to see it, go to wspa.com and click on the link Independence Day Quiz: How Much Do You Know?

[O Really]

Sad. But regarding your comparison to the "Confederate" flag issue, I saw a study that showed those who thought the flag was more a symbol of "southern heritage" than "racism" tended to be those who knew the least about the Civil War. In fact, many of those finding the flag to be non-racist couldn't identify who Sherman was, nor could name two Civil War battles. (Not even Gettysburg? Antietam? Shihloh? Vicksburg? seriously? Yes, seriously) Ignorance abounds. Nice to see the NC Republican legislature is trying to improve education in the state.

[O Really]

Here's Seth's link...http://www.wltx.com/story/life/2015/07/ ... /29681597/

[GoCubsGo]

From a country where only 50% of eligible voters can't take a couple of hours of their day every four years, but could tell you all about Miley, Kim or Caitlin?

Sad, but not at all surprising.

[Seth Milner]

Here's Seth's link...http://www.wltx.com/story/life/2015/07/ ... /29681597/

Thanks! It's the same video I saw on TV. Sad, isn't it?

[Seth Milner]

From a country where only 50% of eligible voters can't take a couple of hours of their day every four years, but could tell you all about Miley, Kim or Caitlin?

Sad, but not at all surprising.

Or how many gigs their IPhone is, and how many pixels the camera has . . . how many friends on facebook, etc.