It sounds like something from a cheesy Hollywood movie or TV show, but an East Texas teacher is missing out on a prestigious award because he refuses to miss 2 days of school to attend a mandatory “conference”.
Via the Lufkin Daily News comes this story about high school Math instructor Bill Newell. Mr. Newell was, in effect, selected as one of the 10 best teachers in the state of Texas by the University of Texas.
The award came with a catch:
Newell learned that, in order to receive the award, he had to attend the conference.
“They didn’t say anything about that in their application,” he said. “I thought it was a no-win situation. If I didn’t go, I wouldn’t get the award. If I did go, I didn’t think it would be fair to my students. My students depend on me to be here every day. They always say to me, ‘What will we do if you’re not here?’ I get that all the time, because they’re so used to seeing me all the time.”
Not wanting to miss his classes, Newell explained the situation to award administrators to no avail.
Mr. Newell will also have to forfeit a $2250 cash award for his refusal to miss 2 days of work.
It sounds like some people at the University of Texas has their priorities a little messed up, doesn’t it?
Source: Mike in Texas
As teachers we’ve listened to years of political hacks telling us how important standardized tests were, how schools needed their feet held to the fire and how if it wasn’t measured it wouldn’t improved.
Well, Texas politicians and school officials have proven that tests are not really that important. Seems there was a little problem in scheduling. Texas primaries were scheduled on the same day as TAKS testing in the schools, and since a large number of polling places are in schools school officials and the governor decided to reschedule the mostly pointless primaries.
Just kidding of course. Instead they moved the all important, schools have to be accountable through standardized test, TAKS test to a day later.
Via the Corsicana Daily Sun.
Source: Mike in Texas
A local religious school, that my neighbor’s daughter attends, has figured out a unique way to raise money. First they load someone’s yard up with pink flamingos, then charge them $25 to remove them and plant them in someone else’s yard.
The money will go for a trip to Washington, D.C.
Source: Mike in Texas
Sometimes, in the mornings before I’ve had my coffee, I have some REALLY weird thoughts. But as Dave Barry always says, “Wouldn’t that be a great name for a band?”
We won’t discuss what I was doing but all I want to know is, how come hair grows everywhere but the top of my head?
Source: Mike in Texas
The school choice is well funded and has the ear of the media. After all when Bill Gates and Eli Broad call reporters $60 million can buy you alot of attention, so its no big surprise that stories about how often charters fail don’t get much attention.
This past week in Texas News 8 in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area obtained information with this telling statistic about charter schools:
According to the Texas Education Agency, one out of every six is a failure.
In another state with a long running charter program, Ohio, the charters are even worse, with traditional public schools outperformed charter schools on all 28 state achievement tests with an average difference in proficiency levels of nearly 26 percentage points.. In fact, 58% of all Ohio charter schools have been rated deficient, compared to only 10% of regular public schools.
But yet politicians, mostly Republican, continue to clamor for more charter schools. And as always, the evil teachers’ unions are to blame.
Source: Mike in Texas
Like 50 million other people I’ve been trying to find a Wii. The local Wal-Mart seems to have them occasionly, but the problem for me is they get them in on a weekday in the morning when I can’t go so I had to resort to using the internet.
If you’re searching for one check out WiiTracker. It checks all the major sources, lists when they have them in stock, and has a timer that tells you how long its been that they’ve had them in stock.
I would watch out for the bundle deals. To me (an admitted old fart) they seem to come with games I’m not interested in.
Now to work on my Wii boxing skills.
Source: Mike in Texas
You married guys know what he’s talking about.
Source: Mike in Texas
I’ve written numerous times about how the oil companies are screwing us consumers and in a post called Bend Over and Take It a right winger made the snide comment that I obviously hadn’t learned any economics while I was in ed. school.
So maybe that right winger can come back and see how my grasp of it is.
Let’s start with supply and demand shall we?
But oil slipped after the Energy Information Administration’s weekly inventory report. EIA said crude stocks rose by 3.2 million barrels last week, higher than the 2.4 million barrel increase expected by analysts, according to a Dow Jones poll. Gasoline supplies, attracting more attention as traders anticipate the upcoming summer driving season, rose by 2.3 million barrels. Analysts were expecting a gain of 400,000 barrels. EIA said gas stocks are now above average for this time of year.
That was the 7th week in a row US crude and gasoline supplies have risen.
So apparently, supply and demand is not the answer.
How about the economics of it all? Let’s see, it’s now costing me $60 a month more to fill my vehicle up with gas. That’s $60 I’m not spending anywhere else. But where does that $60 go? Into the bank accounts of Exxon, Shell and other companies, which are experiencing record profits and getting a nice tax break on it all, which their president has pledge to protect.
But the effects don’t end there. Not only am I putting an additional $60 a month into oil company profits, I’m also having to pay more for everything I buy, since EVERYTHING we purchase has to be produced and transported using gasoline, oil and diesel.
I wonder what it is costing me total every month? $75? $100?
Is it any wonder the rest of our economy is going down the crapper into what may be the worst recession since the Great Depression?
Explain it for me some of you right wingers.
Source: Mike in Texas
I hate that American Idol exit song from last year, but it seems appropriate for this picture.
It’s Spring Break, so I refuse to take anything too seriously.
Source: Mike in Texas
I’ve written before about how I feel we’re purposely being shafted by the oil companies, while oilmen Bush and Cheney stand by and doing nothing. I thought this cartoon by Mark Cohen summed it up nicely.
The Exxon cartoon is by John Sherffius.
Now the economy is in the tank and Bush seems even more clueless.
This video shows how much Bush and co. care about what we think.
Remember, a poor and uneducated population equals low wages and docile workers. The real plan of the Bush owners
Source: Mike in Texas
