Wonkitorial: The Latest From Babylon, D.C.

Looks like another of the Washington Crowd has been caught with his pants down hands in the hypocrisy jar:(emphasis added) "Miz Julia" doled out a steady stream of advice, both practical and philosophical.From her California home, she e-mailed tips to the 132 women who worked across the Washington area for the firm Pamela Martin & Associates. Her newsletters, now excerpted in court records, were

The Nation's Top Teacher Meets The President

President Bush met with Washington State music teacher Andrea Peterson who has been selected as the "National Teacher of the Year:"WASHINGTON -- Teaching is a family thing for Andrea Peterson, honored Thursday as the nation's top teacher.The 33-year-old is a music instructor in Granite Falls, Wash. Her father, Victor Rahn, has been in the classroom since before Andrea was born. Two sisters-in-law

The Carnival Of Education: Week 116

Welcome to the midway of the 116th Carnival of Education!Here's this week's roundup of entries from around the EduSphere. Unless clearly labeled otherwise, all entries this week were submitted by the writers themselves.If you're interested in hosting an edition of The Carnival Of Education, please let us know via this email address: edwonk [at] educationwonks [dot] org.As always, we give a hearty

High Noon For High School Sports?

Mr. McNamar of The Daily Grind is asking a very sensitive question: Has the time come to end high school sports? The central mission of public education is to teach the skills necessary to contribute to the global society. Then how do high school athletics fit in?Here are four reasons why high school athletics may not fit into the mission of public education.Reason 1: Across the country, school

Carnival Entries Are Due!

Entries for the 116th midway of The Carnival Of Education are due today. Please email them to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net . (Or, easier yet, use this handy submission form.) Submissions should be received no later than 9:00 PM (Eastern) 6:00 PM (Pacific). Contributions should include your site's name, the title of the post, and the post's URL if possible. Visit last week's midway, hosted

The Watcher's Council Has Spoken!

Each and every week, Watcher of Weasels sponsors a contest among posts from the Conservative side of the 'Sphere. The winning entries are determined by a jury of 12 writers (and The Watcher) known as "The Watchers Council."The Council has met and cast their ballots for last week's submitted posts. Council Member Entries: Big Lizards took first place with Fighting Back Was Not an Option, Part 2.

The Website Of The Day: TeacherTube

If you're a fan of YouTube, then you're gonna love TeacherTube. Check'em out right over there.(TipWonk'd by: Polski3 of Polski3's View From Here)

Trespassers Will Be Eaten!

A group of Chinese youngsters thought that it would be cute to jump over a park's fence in order to tease some carnivorous animals that are housed there. The trespassers received a first-hand lesson about the food-chain instead: BEIJING, China (AP) -- A crocodile shot to death in south China during a search for a missing 9-year-old student was found to contain the child's remains, the official

Merit-Based Success: James Calderwood

Now here's a young man who's actually earned his accolades the good old-fashioned way: he worked for them: Archaeology, emergency preparedness, textiles, personal fitness — this seemingly random list of activities is just the beginning of the things James Calderwood has mastered.Calderwood is a Boy Scout who's earned every single merit badge available. Twenty-one are needed to become an Eagle

British UnParenting

It has long been said that English parents rear very well-behaved children. Well.... it appears as though that's no longer true as ever-increasing numbers of young (even kindergarten-age) children are being expelled for criminal behaviors that run the gamut from drug dealing to sexual assault: At least one child aged five or under is expelled from school every week and dozens more are suspended

Administrative Idiocy: Parents And Teachers Fight Back

Administrators in one Texas school district really know how to disrespect teachers and anger parents: ANNA – The story of Black Friday has shaken the small Anna school district, but tonight many people here hope to make it a legend of the past.Some residents of this rural Collin County town have painted their cars, donned T-shirts and posted signs to protest Black Friday, the day known by staff

Carnival-Carnival

The 115th edition of The Carnival of Education (hosted this week by DY/DAN) has opened-up the midway with a variety of exhibits and freak sideshows from across the EduSphere.Round-out your Educational Experience by seeing what the homies are up to over at Tax Edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling. --------------------------See our latest EduPosts.

Carnival Entries Are Due!

Entries for the 115th midway of The Carnival Of Education (hosted this week by Dan over at DY/DAN) are due today. Please email them to: dan [at] mrmeyer [dot] com . (Or, easier yet, use this handy submission form.) Submissions should be received no later than 11:00 PM (Pacific). Contributions should include your site's name, the title of the post, and the post's URL if possible. Visit last week's

The Watcher's Council Has Spoken!

Each and every week, Watcher of Weasels sponsors a contest among posts from the Conservative side of the 'Sphere. The winning entries are determined by a jury of 12 writers (and The Watcher) known as "The Watchers Council."The Council has met and cast their ballots for last week's submitted posts. Council Member Entries: Cheat Seeking Missiles took first place with Don't Know Your

President Bush: The Reasoning Behind NCLB

President Bush tells us why he pushed N.C.L.B. in the first place: all he wanted to do was help public schools: President Bush, acknowledging public frustration over his No Child Left Behind Act, said Thursday the point of the law is not to punish schools that fall short, but to help them.Bush suggested the White House and its allies must do a better job of explaining the goal of holding schools

Principal Pornstar Meets Ms. Horndog The Teacher

School principal Leroy Coleman and 8th grade teacher Janet Loften thought that it would be cute to "get their honey 'lovin where they get their money." He and She have now ended-up starring in their own adult film which was produced on location in his office: (Ed's note: See latest updates at the bottom of this entry.) CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- A principal and a teacher at a suburban elementary

The Carnival Of Education: Week 114

Welcome to the midway of the 114th Carnival of Education!Here's this week's roundup of entries from around the EduSphere. All entries this week were submitted by the writers themselves.If you're interested in hosting an edition of The Carnival Of Education, please let us know via this email address: edwonk [at] educationwonks [dot] org.As always, we give a hearty "thank you" to everybody who

Carnival Entries Are Due!

Entries for the 114th midway of The Carnival Of Education (hosted this week by us here at The 'Wonks.) are due today. Please email them to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net . (Or use this handy submission form.) Submissions should be received no later than 9:00 PM (Eastern), 6:00 PM (Pacific). Contributions should include your site's name, the title of the post, and the post's URL if

The Watcher's Council Has Spoken!

Each and every week, Watcher of Weasels sponsors a contest among posts from the Conservative side of the 'Sphere. The winning entries are determined by a jury of 12 writers (and The Watcher) known as "The Watchers Council."The Council has met and cast their ballots for last week's submitted posts. Council Member Entries: Eternity Road took first place (for the second week in a row) with The

13-Year Old Busted For Writing On Desk!

Thirteen-year-old New York City middle school student Chelsea Fraser thought that it would be swell to scribble "okay" on her school desktop. She was caught and led away in handcuffs:In this day and age when young students are frequently charged for serious school offenses such as possessing weapons, dealing drugs, or assaulting other students on school property, one Brooklyn teen's arrest may

When Parents Hire Substitutes To Fill In

Are these parents whackjobs or do they simply have more money than they know what to do with? Some parents hire sleeping coaches for their babies and toilet trainers for toddlers. They pay experts to teach their kids to ride a bike or write a “thank you” note.At Your Service will take children grocery shopping to teach them the value of money and how to compare brands, as well as take them

Parent Vs. School Board: When Fruit Flies!

Back in the 'ole days, audiences were known to throw fruit at Vaudeville acts that they didn't like. One Detroit mom has taken a page from history in order to express her concern:Throwing fruit at Detroit Public Schools board members may seem like sour grapes, but it's also assault and battery and disorderly conduct, if you consider the charges that were filed Wednesday against the alleged

The Knucklehead Of The Day: Ruth Ann Stoneburner

Getta load of this one: AMANDA, Ohio - A substitute teacher's tool for silencing chatty kindergartners — clothespins — doesn't wash with school officials.Four boys said spring-type clothespins were placed over their upper or lower lips for talking too much in class, Amanda-Clearcreek Primary School principal Mike Johnsen wrote in a letter to parents this week.Ruth Ann Stoneburner, a retired

Student Moons Teacher And Sues The School!

This story out of Florida well illustrates what's wrong with the attitudes of so many public school students: CLEARWATER, Fla. --A high school senior acknowledges he went too far when he mooned a teacher. But he thinks the decision of school officials to send him to a new school for the rest of the year was too harsh, so his family is suing.Tyler Tillung, 18, mooned a teacher "suddenly and

Hypocrite Alert: That Romney Don't Hunt!

The nearly endless presidential election cycle is hardly underway and already the lying has begun: BOSTON - To hear Mitt Romney talk on the campaign trail, you might think the Republican presidential candidate had a gun rack in the back of his pickup truck."I purchased a gun when I was a young man. I've been a hunter pretty much all my life," he said this week in Keene, N.H., to a man sporting a

Administrative Buffoonery: Principal Poo Gets The Boot!

And we thought that the "crest-fallen bone-headed school administratrix" was a feces species found almost exclusively in American public schools:A suspended Toronto elementary school principal has pleaded guilty to throwing feces (excrement) on a child.Maria Pantalone, 49, was charged with two counts of assault - one against that child and one against another – but only admitted to one of the

Let's Carnival!

The 113th edition of The Carnival of Education (hosted this week by Getting Green) has opened-up the midway with a variety of exhibits and freak sideshows from across the EduSphere.Round-out your Educational Experience by seeing what the homies are up to over at this week's edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling. --------------------------See our latest EduPosts.

Today's Non Sequitur: Dangerous Dancing

Next time you decide to do a little dancing with one of your co-workers, you might want to reconsider: Oldies music was playing at the Lincoln Park bar and a circle of co-workers danced.But Lacey Hindman said she had no idea David Prange was about to grab her by the forearms and flip her into the air, jitterbug-style.The small-framed 22-year-old said she was surprised as the stocky-built Prange

Newt Criticizes Bilingual Ed. And Gets Nuked!

Looks like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (yeah, that Newt Gingrich) has been running his mouth again, much to the outrage delight of the MSM: WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich equated bilingual education Saturday with "the language of living in a ghetto" and mocked requirements that ballots be printed in multiple languages."The government should quit mandating that

Carnival Entries Are Due!

Entries for the 113th midway of The Carnival Of Education (hosted this week over at Getting Green) are due today. Please email them to: ggreenblog [at] hotmail [dot] com . (Or, easier yet, use this handy submission form.) Submissions should be received no later than 9:00 PM (Eastern), 6:00 PM (Pacific). Contributions should include your site's name, the title of the post, and the post's URL if

The Watcher's Council Has Spoken!

Each and every week, Watcher of Weasels sponsors a contest among posts from the Conservative side of the 'Sphere. The winning entries are determined by a jury of 12 writers (and The Watcher) known as "The Watchers Council."The Council has met and cast their ballots for last week's submitted posts. Council Member Entries: Eternity Road took first place with Demographics and the Medicalization of

Outsourcing California's Overcrowded Public Schools

Polski3 has the skinny on Governator Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's visionary plan to relieve overcrowding in California's public schools by shipping excess students to nearby states: Emboldened by his recent court victory to allow the transfer of California prison convicts to cheaper prison facilities in nearby states, Gov. Schwarzenegger announced today his new plan to reduce crowding in