By Mark | August 28, 2006
I suppose the comparison might not be completely fair, as the charter school movement is still somewhat new, but according to this piece in today’s New York Times they’re failing miserably compared to public schools. Here’s a clip:
A federal study showing that fourth graders in charter schools score worse in reading and math than their public school counterparts should cause some soul-searching in Congress. Too many lawmakers seem to believe that the only thing wrong with American education is the public school system, and that converting lagging schools to charter schools would cause them to magically improve.
The study, based on data from 2003 on students’ performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, found charter school students significantly behind their non-charter-school counterparts. But it also showed that not all charter schools are created equal.
On average, charter schools that were affiliated with public school districts performed just as well as traditional public schools. That may be a disappointment to advocates who expected them to show clear superiority. But the real stunner was the performance of free-standing charter schools, which have no affiliation with public school systems and are often school districts unto themselves. It was this grouping that showed the worst performance.
Free-standing charter schools often bite off more than they can chew. The presumption is that without the bureaucratic restraints of the public school system and the teacher unions, charter schools can provide better education at lower cost. But the problem with failing public schools is that they often lack both resources and skilled, experienced teachers. While there are obvious exceptions, some charter schools embark on a path that simply recreates the failures of the schools they were developed to replace…
By Mark | August 27, 2006
Clementine continues to impress and terrify us. This week, it’s with discussions of “gardenias” and “orangutans”… I’ve yet to verify this with my mom and dad, but, while I’m pretty sure I’d come to understand that there were such things as monkeys and flowers by the time I’d turned two, I’m almost positive that’s where my understanding stopped. I may have been able to jump and made “monkey sounds,” but I sure as hell wasn’t able to differentiate between different primate species… Clementine is freaking me out. She was asking for nuts a few weeks ago and I handed her some. She tossed one into her mouth, looked up at me happily and said, “Mmmm… Cashew.” Who the fuck knows what a cashew is before they turn two? Is that kind of thing normal? I’ve got to get some of this on video. (Here’s a photo of Clementine and Linette at the museum yesterday.)
update: The possibility that she could develop into a little Harlan Pepper hadn’t even occurred to me! Here’s a comment from the Anonymatt:
Clementine’s starting to remind my of Christopher Guest’s character in “Best in Show”:
Harlan Pepper: I used to be able to name every nut that there was. And it used to drive my mother crazy, because she used to say, “Harlan Pepper, if you don’t stop naming nuts,” and the joke was that we lived in Pine Nut, and I think that’s what put it in my mind at that point. So she would hear me in the other room, and she’d just start yelling. I’d say, “Peanut. Hazelnut. Cashew nut. Macadamia nut.” That was the one that would send her into going crazy. She’d say, “Would you stop naming nuts!” And Hubert used to be able to make the sound, he couldn’t talk, but he’d go “rrrawr rrawr” and that sounded like Macadamia nut. Pine nut, which is a nut, but it’s also the name of a town. Pistachio nut. Red pistachio nut. Natural, all natural white pistachio nut.
By Mark | August 27, 2006
Linette and I took Clementine to the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History to see the stuffed, dust-covered monkeys and mastodons yesterday. While there, we were happy to see that there was also a temporary exhibition on evolution. Before heading into the room that housed it, I noticed the above sign. I’m not sure if there have been instances of anti-scientific vandalism since the exhibit opened, but my guess is there have at least been threats.
I had the occasion to speak with a paleontologist while at the museum, and, when asked, he confirmed that an ever-increasing portion of his job as a professor was being taken up responding to the questions of biblical literalists among the student body, unable to accept the possibility that the earth is a day older than 6,000 years old. It’s amazing to me that things like this are taking place at centers of higher education. (I mean, the questioning of the status quo is great, and that’s what going to university should be about, but when those pursuits begin to significantly eat in to the class time of others, and when they threaten the existence of exhibitions meant to educate, in my opinion, they’ve gone too far.)
(note: No other exhibits within the museum contained similar signage.)
And, in related news, “evolutionary biology is missing from a list of majors that the U.S. Department of Education has deemed eligible for a new federal grant program designed to reward students majoring in engineering, mathematics, science, or certain foreign languages.”
By Mark | August 27, 2006
I usually like to report real news, but I found this piece in the Boston Herald on Bush’s love of flatulence humor to be kind of telling, and thus worth sharing. Here’s a clip:
…U.S. New & World Reports’ Paul Bedard says our commander in chief “loves flatulence jokes . . . can’t get enough of fart jokes. He’s also known to cut a few for laughs, especially when greeting new young aides.”
In an interview yesterday, Bedard, who writes “Washington Whispers” for the weekly newsmagazine, also said he’s heard about Bush’s full-salute “Austin Greeting.” That’s when new aides come in for their “meet and greet.”
“Word is,” says Bedard, “he likes to gas a couple, and then bring the aide in and see what the kid’s face looks like.”
Naturally, the aide can’t accuse the President or grimace or hold his nose. This dilemma apparently drives the presidential funny bone wild…
The blatant disregard for others demonstrated here reminds me of that time when candidate Bush was caught on tape wiping his glasses on the sweater of one of David Letterman’s unaware producers.
All hail the Fratboy-in-Chief. (One wonders if he’s ever made the cabinet members convene over a soggy biscuit.)
By Mark | August 25, 2006
(Don’t worry, the grafitti, which references a song we did this session called “Ballerinas are Forever,” isn’t permanent. It was written in cocaine.)
