Extra Credit... or too much credit?

My buddy Ed U Cater has once again written up an excellent piece for the Dallas Morning News. This time, it's about giving credit where credit is due. Which is usually NOT at the top.

Check it out and see if you don't agree.

Let's get our priorities straight

My colleague and friend has written an outstanding editorial piece for the Dallas Morning News, and I encourage everyone to check it out and weigh in.

A key point:

"It is all about priorities, and education just doesn’t seem to be that vital. The government will bail out the private-sector banks and huge corporations in the best interest of the economy and its citizens. Who will step in and help out our children, teachers and schools? Taxpayers will fund a $1.2 billion stadium to have the Cowboys in their back yard. But when it comes time to pay property taxes, many complain because they don’t even have a child in the school system."

Well done, Michael.

Tuesday Tip o' the Hat

As part of my initiative to get back into being more involved with this blog, I am instituting "Tuesday Tip o' the Hat" -- a feature where I will link to a particularly relevant or inspiring post from somewhere else on the web.

Today's inaugural web link comes courtesy of Ed U Cater, who is one of this semester's Teacher Voices contributors for the Dallas Morning News. His column this week is about the importance of recess, and the detriments of not having it.

If your school still gives kids their recess then consider yourself lucky, because many school have taken it away altogether. Ed's column is definitely worth a read, and feel free to leave a comment either there or here. I'll be sure he gets it.

The newest voice online

A good friend of mine is one of the "Educator Voices" in the Dallas Morning News this year, and his first editorial column ran today. It's very well written, and I invite everyone to check it out.

Does this seem right?

I read a story in the Dallas Morning News today about a family that is getting private school reimbursement from a public school, thanks to a recent decision by the Supreme Court.

The story talks about a kid in Oregon who is referred to as T.A. This boy was tested for learning disabilities, but did not qualify for special ed. Later, it was determined that T.A. had ADHD.

Here's the part that really gets my hackles up. The story states:

"By then, T.A.'s parents had already placed him in a $5,200-a-month private residential school, a step many parents take when they think the public schools fail to provide proper diagnosis of their children's needs or the right programs for them."

Um, what? Over $5K PER MONTH??? I went to private school and it was barely that much for the entire year. Even taking inflation into account (I'm not THAT old), this still seems ridiculously exorbitant!

Secondly, many parents place their kids in outrageously expensive private schools when public schools fail them?? I'm not sure I buy that!

Thirdly, the story rubbed me the wrong way because -- the kid has ADHD!! At least in MY district, that's not considered a learning disability and cannot be used for placement in special ed programs! If all of our ADHD kids were in special ed, we would all be full time special ed teachers!!

This story just seems really scary to me. What do you think?

Silent but Deadly

Not that this has ANYTHING to do with education...

I was reading the Dallas Morning News the other day when one story just jumped out at me. Please go and read it for yourself so you can catch a whiff of the story.

In such a short story, there were more than a few red flags. First of all, why are FIVE men sharing ONE motel room? Second, what the heck were they eating that gave the one guy such blazing saddles? Third, guys LOVE farts! We pull our shirts up over our noses, we laugh while our eyes water, we try to fart louder and harder than the first guy -- so what nitwit ruins all that by throwing a knife at the farter???

Dude, it's "who cut the cheese?" not "who cut Juan Antonio?"