Monday, January 03, 2005

ANOTHER REASON FOR SCHOOL CHOICE

From Eduwonk:

"When I saw this story on the local evening news, I couldn't believe what I was watching. A fifteen-year-old tenth-grade bully had an accomplice videotape his brutal assault upon a 14-year-old ninth-grade student at Midview High School, which is located in Eaton Township, (Lorain County) Ohio. Amazingly, this crime occurred while class was in session, just before winter vacation. The Morning Journal newspaper gives additional details of the incident.....

There is an unwritten "code of silence" that every student knows, as does almost every public school teacher, as do most public school administrators. The code simply states, "If you go to the authorities, sooner or later we are gonna make you pay." In other words, the bullies do not fear (nor respect) school authorities. And the victims know that the school will not protect them.

As an actively serving classroom teacher, I can affirm that this is the type of criminal behavior that is occurring everyday in classrooms around the country. There have been numerous classroom fights in my own mid-sized California school district. The difference, of course, is that this particular malefactor (obviously lacking any brains whatsoever) had an (equally idiotic) accomplice videotape the crime.

Expulsion for these two offenders will not even be automatic. There is a good chance that the school will find an "alternative placement" for these vicious predators. In other words, the school system will probably "pass the buck" and enroll these disgusting little creatures on another campus. This will happen because there will be many in the educational bureaucracy that will be sympathetic to the assailants. Without a doubt, some will soon be uttering psycho-babble such as: "these kids have issues, they need help, we can put them on a behavior contract, let's give them another chance. Etc."

And when they get to their new campus, they will be free to terrorize other victims. And this is the sort of thing that happens all the time in our public school systems. And nobody does a thing to change it".

More here




A QUALIFIED CAT: AT LEAST IT'S AMUSING

Is this a new low in diploma mills?

"The Pennsylvania attorney general's office Monday sued an online university for allegedly selling bogus academic degrees - including an MBA awarded to a cat. Trinity Southern University in Texas, a cellular company and the two brothers who ran them are accused of misappropriating Internet addresses of the state Senate and more than 60 Pennsylvania businesses to sell fake degrees and prescription drugs by spam e-mail, according to the lawsuit.

Investigators paid $299 for a bachelor's degree for Colby Nolan - a deputy attorney general's 6-year-old black cat - claiming he had experience including baby-sitting and retail management. The school, which offers no classes, allegedly determined Colby Nolan's resume entitled him to a master of business administration degree; a transcript listed the cat's course work and 3.5 grade-point average.

The state is seeking a permanent injunction, civil penalties, costs and restitution for violating consumer law and restrictions on unsolicited e-mail ads".

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

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