Speed Gibson

I've been to many a State Fair, but this might have been the biggest turnout I've ever seen. It's either a green shoot or a last meal, but trying to get from point A to point B through these crowds was like working your way through lap traffic at Bristol.

Personally, I did very well on the calorie front, skipping the min-dougnuts and chocolate chip cookies.

Education Minnesota President Tom Dooher, responded to an editorial by D.J. Tice on how difficult it is to fire public employees. The particular case in question is of course the two Anoka-Hennepin teachers who didn't even come close to getting fired for harassing a student about being gay.

The law is clear that it is up to school district administrators to determine what, if any, discipline should be pursued based on the facts of a particular case. Districts have never been reluctant to fire teachers for misconduct.

That last sentence is false, given the Anoka-Hennepin case. More important to me, though, is that Dooher only addresses misconduct. What about incompetence?

[We represent] our members when they are accused of misconduct and [ensure] that they are treated fairly and receive due process. Sometimes a resolution is worked out under which the member resigns. These cases, conducted out of the glare of publicity, show that the system works.

The cases we don't hear about prove the system works? Sometimes, like in Anoka-Hennepin, a resolution is worked out that shows that the system doesn't work.

Mr. Dooher avoids the fact that the parents with childen in this District clearly want these teachers fired, and with good reason. They don't trust them. They also don't trust the system will keep them from being some sort of repeat offender. And there is nothing they can do about it short of leaving the District.

But as usual in the "Schools First!" (and students second) world of Education Minnesota, every avenue of "justice" for the teacher must be pursued in support of its rank and file before the more than reasonable concerns of its taxpaying parents.

The State Fair has begun, and The Patriot (WWTC 1280 AM) offers the only improvement in programming. The David Strom show and the Northern Alliance Radio Network (NARN) are live and pulling extra shifts. They have their fun but don't forget to take care of business, too. Other shows like Joe Soucheray get so caught up in the Fair that they become unlistenable, like listening to play by play of your neighbor's garage sale.

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Even national shows seem to let up on the gas in late August, resting up until after Labor Day. I turn more to Old Time Radio and Live 365 music, but there is still a vacuum of seriousness. August in general might be one of my least favorite months, behind only the long winter stretch of January and February. But my favorite month is September.

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I had high hopes for Patrick Reusse's new morning gig on KSTP 1500 AM, but after a few snappy interviews, it has resumed the standard radio consultant course. Happy talk, traffic, headlines, weather, sports, traffic, stupid bank robber stories, weather, traffic, zzzzz. No serious story goes without a grunt or quip from Reusse.

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I find myself listening to MPR more often, to avoid the hourly dead zone of commercial radio, that news and commercial phalanx at the top of the hour, sometimes approaching 10 minutes. It's so somber and condescending, especially now with the passing of Edward Kennedy. The only hints of glee that leaks through is when they get to run sneering stories about Michele Bachmann. And it's still "Some Things Considered" not "All Things Considered." But like the Minneapolis Star Tribune, forewarned is forearmed, and the real news discernible.

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I am so sick of those "are you mired in credit card debt?" commercials!

THEORY:

The Anoka-Hennepin Schools have unveiled a new computer web service to "make it easier for Anoka-Hennepin educators and students to get together."

Patrick Plant, district chief technology and information officer, said the new computer Web service can allow groups to get in touch via e-mail, Internet, cell phone, regular phone, or television monitor. That, Plant said, will make it much easier for teachers in far-flung schools to hold conferences, for Superintendent Dennis Carlson to deliver important messages to the entire district and field questions from anyone who's plugged in, and for students in an entire school to invite an author or scientist more than 1,000 miles away into their classrooms.

PRACTICE:

An online commenter self-identified as "From a Former Student (2009 Grad)" is not impressed.

Great, they got this new system... but if it's anything like the numerous other computer systems they've had... it'll be down the whole time. Anoka-Hennepin 11 was ALWAYS plagued with computers that were crashing, systems that were always down, Attendance systems that weren't reliable to take attendance on. AH Connect, which is like someone said, an online gradebook.. that no teachers really even update. Sorry, but I'm skeptical about how this will help my old district. I will guess is that the Tech people who aren't really tech people will be fighting to keep this thing running and just like the many other new ideas that have come into the district in the past couple years, it'll be proven more of a headache than an assistance. And I hope for my younger sister and brother, and everyone else who is going to AH #11 that I am dead wrong.

Private industry typically tracks the reliability and availability of its systems. I wonder if District 11 does and if so, are these statistics publicly available?

I serve on my City's Financial Commission, appointed, unpaid volunteers who assist with the annual budget cycle. We've had a couple of meetings already on the 2010 budget and levy. As I think I've written before, I think we've done an above average job dealing with the changing economic landscape, including Local Government Aid (LGA) cuts and unallotments.

But as far as the Governor is concerned, we're just like the rest of those supposedly profligate cites that would overtax you without mercy were it not for his levy limits. In our case, those limits would be crippling except that there are a number of loopholes that will allow us to set a realistic budget. We could even tax a little more, though we won't. So, for this year at least, the levy limit really has no effect on restraining spending. All it does is make us file a little more paperwork with the State.

These levy limits should be abolished, for a number of reasons, starting with the empirical fact that they don't seem to work. Most important, however, is that the priority is wrong.

The first tax dollars we spend should go to the services most important to us. Living without police and fire, on an unpaved street with an outhouse and no running water isn't very appealing to me. County, State, and Federal programs would have to wait until these basic services are provided - by my local government. The idea of arbitrarily limiting our ability to pay for those services for purely political purposes is absurd.

If anything, it is the Legislature that needs to have its spending limited, not the reverse.

I could point to a number of distractions, but I made the bad decisions in most of these cases. But unlike a couple in a similar state I know, I still went to the Weight Watchers meeting. Actually, it had to be a later meeting in another location, but I went, and found I had gained 5 pounds.

So, that makes it 2nd down and 20, but with a new resolve to get that back this week, then the first down.

Fall is typically prime time for weight loss programs like Weight Watchers. Unfortunately, that includes the "eat all you want, no exercise" scams, too. You know, the ones that boost your metabolic rate to make you burn fat for no reason.

If you're thinking about losing some weight this season, remember what Dr. Walter E. Williams says: mother nature (as in our bodies) is a ruthless accountant. There literally is no free lunch. You won't lose weight if you eat more than you burn.

Last October, I posted the closing speech from a radio play by a man who found himself no longer a free man. His words are worth repeating, so well performed by Raymond Massey:

"All my life I lived with freedom. Jean, we didn't know it was freedom, did we? Living in our house, a good life, our neighbors, not hating anybody. And driving in the country with the kids wherever we wanted to go and feeling sure of the future for the kids because whatever was wrong here we ourselves could fix with work and with our votes and with what we knew was right in our hearts. I never said, 'this was freedom.' But it was.

"It was. When they talked to me about losing it, I said 'Don't be fools. No one will take it from us.' I thought freedom was like the air, always with me as long as I lived. I thought I didn't have to do anything about it. Jean, I was wrong. I've got the words now to say it. What I had wasn't a gift. It was a victory, and I can't live without it.

"Do you hear me out there? I won't live without it. To say what I think is right. To do what I think is right. That's the only life I want. It is life. I'll live for it! I'll fight for it! This precious freedom!"

Those words hit harder than ever these days, what with a fool in the White House and hundreds more in Congress, put there by millions of other fools.

What troubles me most is that if these fools proscribe a life without flavor in the name of their imagined high ideals. We'll all be plugged into the Matrix, many of us thinking we're alive, laying out Light Rail runs for example, but in reality accomplishing nothing.

Cars will just be transportation, limited to approved routes and miles per year. Spacious suburban living will implode into urban warehousing, except for those in charge of course, who will also decide how much heath care you're entitled to. No more salt on your food, no bacon on your cheeseburger, maybe no cheeseburger in fact. Education will become so generally unaffordable that the only choice left will be a sterile, politically correct, values-free government education. Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, well we just don't need their kind anymore.

The basis of all of this? "I know better," will say our leaders, only they don't. They have only to postulate an electric car that goes at least 500 kilometers (we're in the global economy now) on a 2 hour charge, and somehow, someone will invent it, and without expecting to be a millionaire in return. Realty - truth itself - are distractions, something we have get past, in a bi-partisan fashion of course.

But as Gustave Flaubert wrote in Madame Bovary, "To declare that men have absolute power over truth is blasphemy, and the last delusion. Truth lives forever, men do not."

For those of us who think life is worth living, life full of the flavor we thought would last forever like air, the elections of 2010 will tell if there's going to be anything like America once was.

A St. Clould Elementary school will have a new principal this fall, and thank goodness. Here's my paraphrase of this Minneapolis Star Tribune account of what happened.

A St. Cloud elementary school principal called in sick the Friday before he was to begin a week-long February vacation to Acapulco, Mexico. Prior to that he called in sick the Friday before starting a week-long Thanksgiving leave. And, an investigation found that he had filed for extra pay for weekend work for time when security records showed he had not been at the school as claimed.

The School Board dismissed him March, then put him on paid leave pending arbitration that today agreed with the School District. He did not dispute the charges, only the dismissal as excessive, proposing a ten day suspension without pay – and a second chance.

As I read this, several facets of this story really bothered me, but I'll focus on just two.

First off, every employer of my 40 years in the workplace has never tolerated theft, the consequence being immediate termination, and where warranted, criminal and/or civil legal action. I have seen this enforced at every level, including mahogany row, for amounts great and small. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. The sick days we can talk about, but once it was discovered that this principal had falsified his payroll, that should have been the end of his employment in this District.

Apparently his contract let him file for arbitration. And why not collect a check for another four months? He might have won, given how the rules often seem so different in the public sector.

But the real crime here is the notion that a school principal can take vacations during the school year. He already gets many more weeks off than the vast majority of the taxpayers that pay his salary and he needs two more? Presumably approved by his supervisor? Something is rotten in the District of St. Cloud.

I can’t recall any of my teachers being away for a vacation, including my college professors. I can’t recall that any of my children’s teachers took any such time off. Sick, sure. Family emergency, it happens. On vacation, never. And shouldn’t the bar be even higher for the principal, who should lead by example?

If I were a principal, I wouldn’t hesitate to tell this peer how he had made us all look bad. I would be unhappy how slowly the system reacted to his specific offenses. But I would be most upset at the thought that I could ask for and get time off for a frivolous trip to Mexico when I had much of the summer off, two weeks of Christmas vacation and another week of Easter vacation Spring Break coming up, not to mention all those other extra holidays.

A Woodbury retail center project has gone bust. Yes, in Woodbury, the east metro's answer to Eden Prairie. A commenter on the Star Tribune site says there is a Trader Joe's there. And yet the loss appears to run seven figures.

This is a sobering reality that the City of New Hope should consider in its effort to revitalize its 42nd & Winnetka area. This includes acquiring the Robbinsdale School District property there, its headquarters (ESC) and bus garage, to make room for a new Target store on that corner.

Until the economy improves, the City should put this on hold. And regardless, the School District should put this at arms length by insisting on a cash offer instead of "build to suit" relocation deals. Too much can go wrong as this Woodbury case illustrates.

The School District should also remember that it serves six other cities that have four other Target locations, two within the District boundaries. "Being a good neighbor" can quickly become an appearance of favoritism or impropriety. Such a transaction has to be handled cleanly, which means cash up front.

It was fourth and five at Weight Watchers tonight, which meant I had to lose 2.4 pounds. Alas, I only lost 0.6 lbs, but at least it's a loss. In fact, this is the lightest I've been since late April.

This was a weird period, with my interrupted medication driving my weight up several pounds temporarily. This has me thinking my target goal is too low, since the BMI charts are based on non-medicated averages. In the spirit of the great number Four, for whom the rules are different, that's what I did. Not by much, but enough to declare a first down on this technicality, even if I only lost 3.2 of the 5.0 pounds.

So, first and ten!

Whatever the situation was in the Louisiana public school system before Hurricane Katrina, the situation afterward was so dire that the Louisiana Recovery School District was established to "provide the supports and interventions necessary to put academically struggling schools on a path toward success." It manages dozens of schools, mostly in the New Orleans - Baton Rouge area. Like a struggling business that finds both the creativity and the courage to rework what is now exposed as unworkable, this District has made a bold move. Their principals now have the power to hire and fire their teachers. (Hat tip to District 279 United.)

In past school years, Banneker Principal Cheryllyn Branche occasionally let openings at her school sit unfilled instead of giving them to teachers sent over by the district's central office.

"I would rather let the positions sit vacant than take someone who I knew was ill-prepared, " Branche said.

This past year, however, there was less danger that she would get saddled with an unwanted teacher. For the first time since the Recovery School District opened in New Orleans post-Katrina, Branche felt she had full say over whom she hired.

I have read articles that identify the school principal position as the key employee around which a successful school system is built, public or private. That means giving them autonomy, some authority to go with those important responsibilities. Besides staff, this might mean setting hours, focusing on certain programs, and directly handling community relations.

Think of a restaurant chain like Perkins or Applebee's. They share a common format and purpose. Their menus are developed centrally. And yet they vary noticeably in quality from location to location. I submit that 80% of the time, the reason why one location is better than another is because one location has a better general manager than another. I submit the same is true of principals, and given more local authority, we would see even more differences.

In District 281, for example, part of the local concern over the closing of Pilgrim Lane Elementary was the community's high regard for Principal Randy Moberg. For those whose students will now be attending nearby Zachary Lane Elementary, it is no doubt comforting that Moberg is moving there as well.

So why not build around principals like Moberg? If he can get results you like with the staff assigned largely by union seniority rules, imagine what he could do if he were allowed to do the hiring, particularly if he is free to hire from outside or even rookies fresh out of college? And if you were a teacher, wouldn't you like to work for a proven leader?

The new system has caused some principals to be deluged with applications. Branche said at least 80 people applied for three openings at Banneker, with far more qualified applicants than she could hire.

At Hope Academy, a new alternative middle school, Principal Sean Goodwin said he sifted through more than 300 resumes and interviewed more than 100 candidates in person to hire 15 teachers, two assistant teachers and an administrative team.

So why not here? Why not let the public schools do what the charter and private schools can do? Why not assemble better teams from a larger talent pool?

To be sure, there would have to be some guidance given new principals, even those new to a district or a significantly different demographic. But in three years, yes, let them start making their own decisions.

If you're thinking of running for the District 281 School Board, you have about two weeks starting next Tuesday, August 25 to file. Four of the seven positions are up this year.

Among those four is Jonas Beugen, who announced tonight that he will not be seeking re-election. Beugen was appointed about a year ago to finish the term of Paul Magnuson who resigned when he moved out of the District. I very much agree with the Board and Superintendent in commending his service.

The other three incumbents are Directors Patsy Green, Linda Johnson, and Tom Walsh. Walsh is currently the School Board Chair, Johnson the Vice Chair.

My wife and I went to the one night only showing of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" at the Heights Theatre. We got there a little early and good thing, the theater being nearly sold out. We preceded this with a visit to the Sonic Drive-in just up the road, making it even more of a fifties night.

This is one of the classic Science Fiction movies of that period, certainly one of the best with an above average cast including Patricia Neal. Only an actress of her caliber could deliver the famous "Gort - Klaatu barada nikto" line with a straight face, let alone genuine fear as she did.

The Heights is a wonderful destination here in the north Metro, and I call your attention to the upcoming September 10 "Hi Kids" retrospective of all those local TV shows we grew up with as kids. I remember John Gallos as Commodore Cappy battling Vivian Vulture long before he became Clancy the Cop.

And don't forget the wonderful organ music before the show, a full Wurlizter driven by a 25 hp blower. And the price is right, too!

"Is human history all wrong and Barack Obama right?" asked Mark Levin on Friday's broadcast. It's really come down to that, hasn't it? Continuing to quote Levin:

"Because for Obama to be right, and for his Party now in the hands of the radical Left to be right, the Founders had to be wrong.

"For Obama to be right, the Declaration [of Independence] has to be wrong.

"For Obama to be right, the Constitution [of the United States] has to be wrong.

"For Obama to be right, Locke, Aristotle, Montesquieu, Cicero, Burke, the Founding Fathers all had to be wrong."

New District 281 Superintendent Aldo Sicoli has made a welcome change, finally streamlining the tree-killing School Board meeting agendas. Typically, these ran 10-20 pages mostly because of the endless embedded minutia. The flow was also awkward, not seemingly concerned with conducting an efficient, effective, and informative meeting.

You may remember my 2008 series "Meetings, Bloody Meetings" in which I illustrated what Sicoli has now largely done. The Agenda for August 17th runs just 2 pages and is clearly better organized.

I tried more than once to push for this obvious, easy reform but neither the Board nor Superintendent Mack showed any interest. In fact, I was told that much of that minutia like personnel changes was legally required, which is apparently not so given how many other districts seem to do without it just fine. But now, it's where it belongs, as attachments, which can then be part of the minutes as well.

The Consent Agenda has been moved to the end, and hopefully will truly be enacted in one motion without discussing it up to four times as was the case under the old agenda design.

Another change I like is combining "Business" and "Administrative Matters" as a single "Operations" category. It wasn't always clear where some items truly belonged.

I could nitpick a couple of minor points, but I'm 95% pleased with this for now, more than close enough. What a pity I won't be able to be there for the debut Monday night.

As you may know, Speed Gibson is a sole proprietorship. You may also know that while I dabble in K-12 education issues frequently, I really haven't taken on higher education much other than to suggest that some spending restraint might be in order at both the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State College and University (MnSCU) system.

I recently received a submission regarding MnSCU from a concerned non-blogger whose name you may recognize. It seems there are union troubles at this level, too.

So here is the first guest post ever here, ever so slightly edited for clarity.

Will Pawlenty Address Forced Unionism?
By Kathy Uradnik
Who needs card check when you’ve got MnSCU, which already allows its labor unions to run all over it? The Inter Faculty Organization (IFO), which represents faculty in the seven MnSCU universities, doesn’t need public balloting to gain members. With MnSCU’s blessing, it already forces state employees to join the union in order to participate fully in their jobs.

Insiders have known for years that the MnSCU / IFO labor agreement grants the IFO the power to appoint faculty members to all university and system-wide search, service, and governance committees. The IFO, of course, appoints only its own members; non-union employees need not apply. In doing so the union ensures that its members receive the tangible and intangible benefits of committee service, including the ability to participate in university and MnSCU decision making, to network with administrators and trustees, to be promoted to management positions, and to earn extra salary and other forms of compensation. Many faculty members on the MnSCU campuses report that they belong to the union only so that they can participate on these committees, which undertake everything from strategic planning to hiring to distributing public funds in the form of faculty research and development grants.

The IFO itself receives a significant benefit from this arrangement: namely, the additional dues paid to it by full union members. These dues are legally unrestricted funds that typically become—surprise!—campaign contributions, the vast majority of which the union gives to Minnesota Democrats.

Right-thinking faculty have been quietly fighting MnSCU’s support of this illegal arrangement for years. Recently they engaged Governor Pawlenty, but will he take up the fight? It’s not just a matter of campaign contributions to his rival party; there’s a much greater principle at stake. All public employees must be treated equally under Minnesota law. The Legislature made union membership in this state optional, after all, and discrimination against employees on the basis of their union or non-union status is prohibited. Will MnSCU continue to illegally bifurcate its public employees into “haves” and “have nots” under Pawlenty’s watch? How will the Governor’s supporters and contributors view his inaction in the face of such blatant discrimination? Stay tuned.

THE GEOGRAPHY OF A WOMAN

Between 18 and 22, a woman is like Africa, half discovered, half wild, fertile and naturally beautiful!

Between 23 and 30, a woman is like Europe, well developed and open to trade, especially for someone of real value.

Between 31 and 35, a woman is like Spain, very hot, relaxed and convinced of her own beauty.

Between 36 and 40, a woman is like Greece, gently aging but still a warm and desirable place to visit.

Between 41 and 50, a woman is like Great Britain, with a glorious and all conquering past.

Between 51 and 60, a woman is like Israel, been through war, doesn't make the same mistakes twice, takes care of business.

Between 61 and 70, a woman is like Canada, self-preserving, but open to meeting new people.

After 70, she becomes Tibet, wildly beautiful, with a mysterious past and the wisdom of the ages, an adventurous spirit with a thirst for spiritual knowledge.

THE GEOGRAPHY OF A MAN

Between 1 and 80, a man is like Iran, ruled by nuts.

I wanted to take August off from politics, but this item from Politics in Minnesota really galls me. DFL State Senator Linda Berglin is now telling our health care providers to come up with at least $ 400 million to pay for her party's latest excursion into socialized medicine. That would be GAMC - General Assistance Medical Care - that Governor Pawlenty unallotted to balance the State budget.

Berglin correctly senses that votes will not be there in the 2010 Legislative session to raise taxes. Where oh where to get the money for this vital program only recently created? How did we get by without it, by the way?

Does Berglin re-prioritize the DFL spending? If people are going to be dying in the streets, there must be something else they could give up. How about unloading the St. Paul campus at the U, for example, something even the U doesn't know what to do with?

No, the lack of revenue is not her problem, it's ours, more specifically, the sick among us. Where does she think the health care providers get their money? Get sick, you pay Linda. Want to keep from getting sick by getting your scheduled exams and immunizations? You pay Linda. Even the money does magically appear from process improvements, since when is the DFL entitled to the proceeds? Why can't the providers re-invest it and/or help stablize health care costs for all, instead of only looking after what figures to be a solid DFL demographic?

This whole way of thinking by Senator Berglin in particular and her party in general just astounds me.

This will be the final installment on the 2009 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) test scores. (Previously: Reaction Response Reassessment) Last time, I suggested that these scores should be primarily used to evaluate teachers, not the students. The question is can you get a good education at these schools? If a third can and do, then isn't the problem with the other two thirds more likely closer to home, as in parents?

Many schools do cook their books a little, isolating problem and high needs students in auxiliary programs like "alternative" learning centers. But generally, all students are counted, motivated or not. If half come up short on the NCLB targets, it seems to me that half the students failed. Remember, NCLB slices and dices every which demographic, so I'm not picking on, say, Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students for example. NCLB compares apples to apples.

Getting back to teachers, we know personally that a few of those who taught us were great, most were average, and some we just put up with. But I bet we can all remember a teacher or two we think the school would have done well to replace. I remember three. And to be fair, I had three great ones, too.

A principal with good supervisory skills can likely rate the staff for you, but NCLB testing can put some objectivity around it. We know who the bad teachers are. We know they should go. We know who the great teachers are. We know we should build on their strength.

Why don't we? Teachers unions, like Education Minnesota.

I have a certifiably liberal friend who served one term on a metro area school board a few years ago. She's very committed to the public school concept. And while she wishes it weren't so, she readily admits that the number one problem the schools face is the teacher's union. They have it good and nobody's going to mess with it.

Particularly frustrating for my friend was that you can't reward a promsing teacher when you find one. It's steps and lanes no matter your results, and even that game is rigged in favor of the veterans over the new hires. I'll extrapolate to point out how this can be a serious problem for contracting districts. Seniority rules, not the total commitment to quality that would retain the best teachers regardless. For you class size fans out there, recognize that blindly retaining by seniority raises the average pay, which ultimately means fewer teachers can be retained. Readers in St. Louis Park will be very familiar with this.

At the moment, this means that while NCLB and other data might clearly point to a weak teacher, next to nothing can be done about it. In Minnesota, just 0.13% of tenured (post-probationary period) teachers are fired. It's just too difficult thanks to the unions, who apparently are not embarrassed to have these bad teachers in their ranks. And they won't acknowledge the great ones either, as in merit pay.

There are some green shoots, like the concession Superintendent Bill Green extracted to give his principals more control of hiring decisions. But until the Legislature (including some GOP members) gets tough with these unions, demanding that the kids come first, nothing much will come of this year's NCLB reports and the schools' responses.

I previously posted on the 2009 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) results and the apparently unaccountable responses to come. As I said, the intentions are good and pure, but nobody is likely betting their job or elected office on their success.

If you don't have to, why would you? Nothing to date seems to be working. There are green shoots of research here and there, like the Project STAR" class-size reduction experiment. But like STAR, we seem to continually find that these local, specific successes have proven hard to replicate in general use. There is a general futility to it all. And as the teachers correctly point out, if the parent doesn't care, the student doesn't have to, either.

If this problem is unsolvable, why even try? Are we even addressing the right problem? I don't think so. We're not even measuring the right outcomes.

As I've said here more than once, Minneapolis North High School has an Honor Roll. Yes, I know it is now transitioning to a specialty program. Substitute Patrick Henry if you like. My point is that you can get an education there if you want one. If anything, results-starved schools will more than accommodate motivated students, particularly if you're in one of those low-scoring demographics in the NCLB reports.

What we really need to measure is can you get a good education at these schools? If you can, what's the problem? (Other than cost and the politically correct curriculum, of course.) This casts the problem in an entirely different light, looking for roadblocks. It might be environmental, like an unsafe setting, lack of overall discipline, lack of facilities like computers, unworkable hours, or long bus rides.

But it also could be bad teachers. Suppose we have a Mr. Jones who teaches 8th grade geography. And suppose we find that the students who are succeeding in other subjects are struggling in Jones's classes? One year, happenstance. Two years? Maybe a transfer to another school will clarify the problem. Three years? Gone. If otherwise proven students are not succeeding in your class, we need to move on.

Conversely, what if we found Ms. Smith was getting disproportionally superior results? Wouldn't we want to build around her? If her current average class size is 25, maybe we should give her a raise and an educational assistant to raise that class size significantly.

What's wrong with that? Aw come on, you know. Next post.

It's Wednesday, weigh in day, and as expected, the resumption of my medication brought my weight way back down again. So now I have a very doable 2.4 pounds left to make what I hope is the toughest fourth down I will face.

I will obviously be reordering my prescriptions more promptly from now on. It does beg the question whether I should factor the diuretic's effect in picking a target weight. At least I have some idea what that effect is now.

In my previous post, I reviewed the new No Child Left Behild (NCLB) test scores that show that nearly half of our schools come up short of NCLB targets in one or more demographics. And assuming its consequences (closed schools, student relocation, etc.) are eased by Congress this year, it's just interesting reading - unless we in Minnesota choose to act on it.

Actually, the Districts are responding. I heard some in my own District already, new programs that focus on some of these shortcomings. In fact, these were developed and unveiled months ago, partly in response to its Strategic Plan, but also no doubt expecting further bad testing news.

As I sat there listening to this, I wondered: "What happened to the previous response and/or plan?" And if this current plan fails to show any progress, what then? Another response? Yes, another response. That's the cycle: Results, Response, Repeat. The Walter Mitty in me pictured someone asking me, "What do you think, Speed?" My response: "Who gets fired if this doesn't work?"

That may sound harsh, but the realities of an undereducated child are pretty harsh, too. As always, the people involved are well-educated and well-meaning, but that's not enough to not demand a stated measurable goal, time line, evaluation, and consequences - good and bad. "We think this will work" is not enough in business. It should not be enough in K-12 education, either.

But with that all said, I must step back a square in my next post to ask: just what is the problem to be solved?

The Minnesota Department of Education released its 2009 test scores, the ones required by No Child Left Behind (NCLB). First off, if it were up to me, I'd abolish NCLB and all the rest of the Federal education programs enacted the past 50 years. Besides not being among the enumerated power granted by the U.S. Constitution, they simply don't work as national test scores indicate.

NCLB in particular doesn't really promote specific solutions. It measures results and punishes failure to meet increasingly higher standards, closing bad schools and/or providing more options for students. Or so its proponents claim. Trouble is, these measurements are cut so many ways that almost no district can hope to get a 100% passing score. Or so its detractors claim.

The report for 2009 looks pretty gruesome, with nearly half of our schools coming up short. Some came off last year's list, but over 100 others were added this year. That's not unexpected given that NCLB is still raising the bar year over year. I therefore don't think this report, even the scores in and around my district are all that worrisome.

What statewide, detailed testing does allow us to do, however, is rank the districts, grading on the curve as we used to say. Using the language and logic of the Left, if a District scores in the bottom 20 percent for a given demographic, that's a disparate outcome that justifies a response, usually in the form of more money to that already poorly performing district. It would be interesting to see what would happen if the districts in the top 20% got that extra money, a real investment in education.

Unfortunately, the Districts having signed on to NCLB for the "free" money are now stuck with some of its consequences, and even Alice Seagren, Minnesota's Education Commissioner, wants these eased. She doesn't want out, as a few have suggested. With NCLB up for renewal in this high point of Democratic party rule in Washington, this will no doubt happen, leaving us with just the test scores to consider.

Qwest is getting out of the cell phone business, who we were using. So, we made the switch to Verizon last night, new phones for all!

This is cell phone #4 for me, finally a real upgrade, after #2 and #3 turned out to be net downgrades. I finally decided to get a flip phone, tired of my previous non-flippers deciding to dial 911 by themselves in my shirt pocket.

I also got a full keyboard and today sent my first text message. But that said, I still think the people who design these things probably buy pull tabs and pump quarters into claw machines.

The Metro Transit web site has a trip planner which I frequently use. It's not perfect, having a bias toward always dragging you downtown, but useful for most trips. A new little blurb now appears on the results page, that I'm reducing my carbon footprint by 3.5 lbs. of carbon dioxide by taking transit.

Before you applaud my selfless sacrifice, note that this is about 2 days of breathing, maybe not even that in my case. Big whoop. If I drive and carry one passenger who would otherwise take transit, it swings the other way, saving 0.3 lbs, about 4.0 lbs for a three person carpool.

So, my wife and I will be driving to the Mall of America tonight. Besides, the Hiawatha Line is not running this weekend for construction. We'll be doing right by the planet.

One of the great life lessons you learn early on in elementary school is that a few can spoil things for the many. Somebody talks back to the coach and the whole team does extra laps. Your whole class misses recess, waiting for a slacker or two to finish some task. It seems so unfair at the time, but it's real life.

So now, sure enough, complimentary Wi-Fi is under attack from squatters. The linked article describes how some coffee shops are attracting people who buy a little, sit a lot, for hours doing whatever on their laptops, which also need power for such extended stays.

I've done a little of this at a local bar and grill. I monopolize a table for 2-3 hours, and get a lot of work done away from the phones etc. But I'm also mindful of how busy the place is, ready to pack up long before seating becomes at all tight. I also run a tab, typically about $20-25. It's part of the experience. It helps keep them open for your next visit.

Caribou Coffee has free Wi-Fi, and I've done an hour there a couple of times waiting for a bus. But again, I make sure I'm not in the way. And if Caribou changes the policy, either charging money or covering the outlets, I will understand. McDonalds is like that even now, and maybe this is why.

I was raised to think about the owners. If we stop at a convenience store just for a bathroom stop, I buy a bottle of pop, something, to repay the owner for the favor. Freeloading never really pays in the long run.

The world of newspaper publishing is changing, OK, shrinking. The Red Wing [MN] Republican Eagle is responding by dropping from five to two print editions a week next month. The good news is that those editions will be larger, with time to give these Wednesday and Saturday editions more depth.

Also, Publisher Steve Messick on MPR today said that these editions will largely be devoid of national coverage. His readers long ago switched to the electronic media for those stories. The printed editions will of course dovetail with the paper's online edition, each with some exclusive content.

I read a couple of small town daily papers in Iowa this past weekend, and there wasn't much in either, done in 1-2 minutes each. This would have been much better, even if printed a day or two earlier.

I wish them well on what seems to be a good plan, one our metro dailies should give more thought. Opportunity one would be to consolidate the Friday and Saturday papers into a "weekend" edition, especially since they start selling the Sunday edition Saturday afternoon.

What did Lloyd Bridges always say in Airplane!? Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking, drinking, ...

The Iowa reunion, one I'd never been to before, turned out to be a double header, Saturday night and Sunday noon. Still, I thought I showed some restraint, passing on the ribs and fried chicken. Work was unusually busy, with a late problem that kept me from my normal weekly meeting time.

I would have gained a little I suppose, given what the office scale said on Monday. Trouble was, I also managed to run out of my prescription on for a diuretic I take for my blood pressure. I was shocked to see what happens without it for just 3-4 days, and made sure to get the refill last night.

But the damage was done when I went to Weight Watchers confession at 10 am today, up 12 pounds! It's mostly that water I put back on, a big penalty for being careless. Since it's my fault, and in weight loss it always is, there is a loss of down as well. This makes it 3rd and 28 by my system.

The drugs are again flowing through my veins, so next week should be a corresponding big loss. Looks like I'll need all four downs this series, but I'm not at all discouraged. Lesson(s) learned.

Some Twin Cities public school districts will be getting some help this coming year from Teach For America (TFA), a non-profit organization that recruits recent college graduates to teach for two years in (here we go again) low-income area schools. From the TFA web site:

Teach For America aims to end educational inequity—the reality that in our country, where a child is born determines his or her educational outcomes and life prospects. We are working with a great sense of urgency to build the movement to eliminate educational inequity by enlisting our nation's most promising future leaders in the effort. Our vision is that one day, all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education.

The unions are upset, seeing jobs their members should hold because after all, they're not licensed! FYI, participants do get a 5 week boot camp before entering their first classroom.

You know, I should be applauding this concept. It injects some needed fresh viewpoints into the ivory castle. It challenges the questionable concept of teacher licensing, at least as practiced here in Minnesota. It wouldn't appear to be all that costly as government programs go. It might actually do some good.

But I'm yawning. I don't see how this helps. I resent the classist premise that low incomes lead to low results. And I'm slightly swayed by the unions' position on this one. If it's just 2 years and out, why bend the system only to bend it back? Visiting professorships are accepted practice at the college level, and I still marvel at how much I learned in two quarters from a practicing electronics engineer on loan to the University of Minnesota. But I don't think it translates to the "happy children" model of today's K-12 system.

The goal is admirable, but unachievable amidst what George W. Bush called the "soft bigotry of low expectations."

Long ago, Hugh Hewitt had a morning show ("Morning Glory"), my first experience with WWTC aka The Patriot. He had great fun with then Governor of California Gray Davis. And he was the first voice I heard speak of the attack of 9/11.

Then he moved to his current evening slot ("Evening Grace"), going up against Jason Lewis and I soon switched. Jason left to do 3 years in Charlotte, then returned, and again, I had to choose. But the Jason Lewis that returned in great FM splendor had clearly had gone national, and sure enough now has a nationally syndicated show.

For me, the Jason Lewis style works great on local issues, but not for national issues. These need a little more cerebral approach, and therefore I have largely now switched back to Hugh Hewitt. I still listen to Lewis when Hewitt is away or doing the Lord's work, and I still like his "accept no substitute" conservatism over Hewitt's kinder, gentler center-left pragmatism. But I learn more from Hewitt.

Now if only Hugh Hewitt would do something about that awful theme song opening. Bring back Canned Heat!

I think August might be my least favorite month. This dates from my youth. I loved finishing each grade in June, but I was ready to go back for the next one by August. There was swimming and summer recreation programs and Independence Day and vacations and it all seemed to end in July. Even the beaches closed for algae. Plus August used to be hot and air conditioning was the exception most places.

Even now, other than work, there just isn't much going on, at least not much that merits attention here. So, much as I took July off from politics last year at Chad the Elder's suggestion, I'm taking August as my political month off this year, until after Labor Day to be specific.

It was bound to happen. A recent college graduate is suing her alma mater because she has yet to get a job after three stressful, fruitless months of searching. She wants her $70,000 tuition back, and $2,000 more for the aforementioned stress.

It was bound to happen because of The Certification Myth. Originally created to extol educators and placate parents, it is now permeating those skulls full of mush in the middle - the students themselves. Certification equals success, or so the myth would have us all believe. Personality, grooming, sobriety, punctuality, tattoos, spelling on your resumé, preparation for the interview, these are just style points, not deal breakers. If you're qualified and the diploma says so and there's an opening, why shouldn't you get the job?

Education per se is potential. There are no guarantees, expressed or implied. I therefore wish for the speedy summary judgment in the college's favor that this foolish young lady deserves and maybe even a little scolding for the lawyer who brought the case.

That said, there is an exception, within the world of education itself, where such certification is indeed the coin of the realm. Yes, I must again harp about how about one of every three Minnesota public high school graduates need remedial work at Minnesota's public colleges. There will always be a few cheaters and skaters, but this is obviously academic fraud. The prep schools issuing these fraudulent diplomas and transcripts should be held liable for the extra time and tuition required.