Damn you 2005

I thought my immediate family had lost enough for one year, with my mother's death in April and Hurricane Katrina later but 2005 has struck again.

This past Saturday my 16 year nephew simply died of unknown causes. He began moaning in his sleep and was not breathing. CPR efforts by us and the paramedics had no effect. I held his head in my hands as he took his last breath.

My sister and all of us are devastated. My nephew had been living in Texas with another sister and her family and was doing extremely well.

2005 will not be gone soon enough.

Colorado school district opts out of NCLB

Via Schools Matter comes this story about the folks in Kit Carson, CO who have voted to make up lost federal money so the local school district can opt out of NCLB.

Jane Urschel of the Colorado Association of School Boards said she has never heard of another Colorado district asking voters to make up for the lost aid with a tax hike.

"I think it says that the best education occurs at the community level and the best decisions are made right there," she said.

Finally, some parents are beginning to see the light and react, like this group of Texas parents.

An interesting question from Polski3

My colleague Polski has posed an intersting question? What is the oddest job you have held?

For me the answer was easy. I worked in the last single screen theater in the New Orleans area. Every Friday and Saturday night at midnight we showed "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". One of my duties was to stand guard in front of the screen when Susan Sarandon sang "Toucha Touche Touche Me" and keep people from rushing the screen and fondling the screen boobs.

Visit Polski3 and tell him about your odd jobs.

Texas cuts per student spending

In their never ending quest to make their corporate buddies rich, I mean improve education for all Texas children, the Republican controlled state govt. has actually decreased the amount of per pupil funds its sends to schools.

According to Science Daily Texas was the only state in the nation to cut per student funding. The study, done by the National Education Association, says Texas per student funding dropped by 1 percent. The study also notes that state share of funding for education has dropped to 35%, down from a high of around 60% last decade. According to the NEA, Texas is spending $7, 132 per student, compared to the national average of $8,618. A spokesperson from Gov. Goodhair’s office was quick to claim that the Texas Education Agency had reported actual per-student spending at $7,358, which if I’ve done my math correctly, shows the state only actually cut per student funding by .7%.

In a related story, the Houston Chronicle points out that:

The governor's press secretary, Kathy Walt, questioned the accuracy of the NEA figures Monday, saying they don't reflect the small funding increase that the Legislature approved for public schools for the 2004-05 school year.

They also pointed out:

Mr. Perry has cited statistics from the annual NEA survey in the past to support his claim that education spending in Texas has been more than adequate.

In short, Gov. Goodhair’s office is saying Texas didn’t cut spending on students by that much, and you can’t believe the NEA’s statistics, unless they agree with what he’s saying.

Is it any wonder?

While watching the local news yesterday there was a story about how the Lufkin ISD football team was practicing on Thanksgiving Day to get ready for their big playoff game this weekend.

Lufkin seems to have enormous amounts of money. To spend on their football team. Their stadium had an instant replay screen and an indoor practice field. All of this was added while other school districts were in court begging for extra money and relief from the demands the legislature has placed on them. Of course, since the football team has won 3 state championships money is no object. Local businesses will kick in thousands of dollars to buy state championship rings for the players. I wonder how much they'd kick in for teaching supplies?

You would think with such outstanding athletic facilities the school facilities would also be top-notch. However, I attended some Science training this summer at Coston Elementary. The cabinets in the room we did training in was that 50s era green (you older folks know what I'm talking about), and it was peeling in most places. I wonder how much lead is in that old paint?

Is it any wonder some politicians believe school districts have to be slapped down and ordered to spend their money wisely?

Texas Surpreme Court does Gov. Goodhair's bidding

Althouth the Texas Supreme Court did rule the state's funding system is unconstitutional it did rule the system if equitable when it comes to access to funds and building funds. One need only check the Highland Park ISD website to see how idiotic this is.

In another nod to Gov. Goodhair, the Supremes made sure to set a deadline for school funding reform after the March primaries. That way none of the seated Republicans will have to answer any pesky questions about school reform.

Unless of course, you are a Republican who stood up to the attempted gutting of the school systems the R's try to pull off this year. Rep. Bob Griggs, who spoke so eloquently in favor of doing what's right for schools, has decided to retire rather than take on the well funded opponents the GOP is throwing at him.

Rep. Tommy Merritt of Longview is facing the same proposition.

No Texas Teacher Left Behind meeting at Angelina College

One for the locals, the No Texas Teachers Left Behind group will have a meeting this Tuesday, November 15th at Angelina College in Lufkin, TX. The meeting will be held in the Hudgins Room beginning at 6:30 P.M. For an Angelina College map click here

Scott Elliot hijacks the carnival bus

and hosts this week's edition of the carnival of education here

Parental involvement isn't that important

According to the folks at EdSource parental involvement is not that important to student achievement.

Now before you teachers all go rolling your eyes you have to realize what a group of experts the folks at EdSource have assembled. For example, there's Executive Director Trish Williams, whose BA in English Literature qualifies her as a public education expert.

Then there's Deputy Director Mary Perry. She has a journalism degree for the University of Oregon and has been a copywriter and an editor, valuable experience for fixing all that ails the public schools.

We can't forget Brian Edwards and his experience in policy analysis, or Carol Studier who has a degree in Education Policy Analysis and Evaluation. I bet that makes Brian feel inferior at those watercooler discussions.

Scrolling through the rest of the staff qualifications finds nothing more than a bunch of policy analysts and journalists. Oddly enough, no one at EdSource, the experts who say parental involvement isn't that important and who:

Over nearly three decades have developed a solid reputation as a credible and respected source of K–12 education information, research, analysis, and data

have any teaching experience.

Who'da thunk it?


Don't take my word for it, check it out yourself at their
About Staff webpage

The Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching

I'm currently attending CAST in Houston at the Reliant Center. I am staying at the nearby Park Plaza Reliant Center Hotel, a place I recommend you avoid like the plague.

I arrived tired and cranky from the drive here, about 2 and half hours. I spent nearly 45 minutes trying to check in as 1)the hotel did not have enough people working the check in counter and 2) I had the misfortune of arriving just behind a large group of teachers from Wichita Falls ISD, who for some reason did not discuss roommate arrangements on their 8 hour drive to the convention, and had to hash it out at the front desk.

I also had the misfortune of being assigned a room two doors down from one of the Wichita Falls people who was busy screaming at a hotel employee in the hallway just outside my room. Later I saw her down in the bar screaming at the restaurant manager for something.

The hotel is the butt of running jokes among the teachers at the conference. Twice in about 3 hours last night they had to rescue people from stuck elevators. Arriving back from the conference at lunch time we found of all things, the restaurant was closed. Food was available at the bar if you were willing to wait 20 minutes to order it and eat standing up. Not to mention they were also out of Coke. How can they expect people to eat a hamburger without a cold Coke to wash it down?

I'm blogging in the hotel lobby. Their are some very nice, non-functioning high speed internet connections in the room and wireless access available in the bar or lobby.

I attended two interesting presentations this morning. One was by two 1st grade teachers from Lubbock ISD presenting a unit on the solar system they teach to their students. They provided a link to a fantastic website called Planet 10. Be sure to try the Solar System flyby as well as the Planet Builder.

Battery and caffeine levels are running low.

My son's apartment

My son is 21 years old and lives with 3 other males. Needless to say his apartment does not stay clean but last weekend I saw something I have never seen before.

Ladies and gentleman I give you:




Mold growing on a plastic shampoo bottle!

Other pictures for your viewing displeasure include:


This lovely sofa-sleeper was purchased at a garage sale for only $20. The stain in the lower left corner is ketchup. As an added bonus it came with its own set of sheets! No charge!


No swinging bachelor pad would be complete without a counter space full of empty liquor bottles. Always sure to impress the ladies!!



Another surefire way to impress the babes is with a room like this. I'm pretty sure that somewhere in there is a bed and a computer I seem to remember costing us a lot of money.

The real reason for the 65% rule

From this Austin American-Statesman story comes the real reason Gov. Goodhair is pushing for a 65% spending rule. It comes from an organization called First Class Education, which has paid for commercials to run in several states. The Statesman also obtained a copy of a First Class Education memo which states the group also hopes the rule will "create rivalries between teachers and administrators while boosting Republican credibility on education issues"

Nowhere in the memo does it say anything about actually improving education for kids. Those of you who read by blog know that I feel the Republicans don't give a damn about kids and their real purpose is to destroy public education so their friends like the McGraws and Chris Whittle can make big bucks at the public trough.

Funny how athletics are considered "instructional" when it comes to the 65% rule but librarians aren't. The Republicans know it would be political suicide to cause school districts to give up their football teams.

Help! Updated

Thanks to The Science Goddess and Allen for their help with the experiment problem I was having. One of the links Allen provided showed how the same effect can be created using a black marker and some water, while the Science Goddess' suggestions greatly cut down on the amount of time and safety gear required for this lesson.

The picture at left shows one of the early results. Although we didn't get the red I was hoping for we did get some nice orange and yellow, and it was more than we got the other way. Now if someone could show me a way to capture the results a little better. Snapping a picture of it didn't work out too well so I placed it on a flatbed scanner. This picture does not show the results as well as they really looked.

Thanks again for those who offered help.

Help!

I'm hoping someone knows the answer to this problem I am having.

I am doing an experiment with my 2nd graders where we are trying to extract the red, yellow and orange colors out of leaves. So far we've been able to get only yellows. I have tried nearly everything I can think of, and even consulted two chemistry professors, both of whom say I am doing it right.

Here are the steps we do:

1. Tear the leaf into tiny pieces
2. Using the edge of a rock, cut and rip the pieces into even smaller pieces
3. Place all pieces into a cup and add acetone, stir thorougly
4. Using a q-tip, dab the resulting green liquid onto a piece of coffee filter
5. Dip the coffee filter into rubbing alcohol, just barely gettiing into the dab of green liquid.

Variations I have tried:

- different leaves. I've used spinach, lettuce, collard greens, as well as leaves off of local trees.
- differnet strengths of rubbing alcohol, from 71% to 90%
- different strengths of acetone. While I haven't measured the mixture I have used about half acetone/half water all the way up to full strength.

Any ideas out there?

Someone at USA Today is finally seeing the light

Linked fromEducationNews.org, this USA Today story shows that finally there is an education writer out there who digs and finds out the truth.

My favorite line was this, regarding accoutability and high-stakes testing:

It's like putting a slow runner 50 yards behind at the start line and expecting her to finish with the fastest.

Here's another choice tidbit:

Researchers found the act's two key rules — identifying subgroups within student populations (such as black, Hispanic or disabled), and setting a uniform proficiency goal make it easy for large minority districts to fail. Here's why: large urban districts are more likely to be diverse. If just one subgroup doesn't reach proficiency, or if less than 95% of a subgroup take the test, the whole district fails to make adequate progress.

On a more personal note, I've been out all week from school, which needless to say is driving the wife and friends crazy. I could really have some fun if I wasn't also babysitting my daughter. I would LOVE to drive to Tyler to visit the hobby shop; I haven't flown any model airplanes in months. Having an 11 year old girl along would require we also visit the mall, a proposition I can't afford. You Dads of pre-teen and teen daughters know what I'm talking about.

DeLay Indicted

From a CNN story, Tom DeLay has been indicted and stepped down as Speaker of the House. Here is a direct quote from the article:

A grand jury in Austin charged DeLay, 58, and two associates already facing criminal charges with a single count of criminal conspiracy, accusing them of improperly funneling corporate donations to Republican candidates for the Texas legislature in 2002.

I hope this leads to more legal action in Texas. Who knows? Maybe some judge will throw out the 2002 election results since the whole process was tainted with illegal money. Sure, it's a pipe dream but a guy can hope.

Pictures of Hurricane Rita

Down the street a few houses. Some industrious soul had already cleared most of this one from the street when I took this picture.


My neighbor cattycorner from me. Luckily both trees missed their house, their cars and their camper. They also have a large tree down in their backyard.



This monster fell one block over. It could have easily killed someone but luckily it fell away from the nearby house and no one was on the road when it landed.

Hurricanes are definitely male

All of the things I expected from Hurricane Rita I did not expect her to roar through East Texas as a Category 2 hurricane.

2 days after the storm has passed our little corner of East Texas is still trying to recover. Luckily for us the eye passed about 40 miles east of us, but I understand Jasper, Tx has taken severe damage. I can tell you the power of the storm was awesome, even 100 miles inland and 40 miles east of the eye. I think you would have to be a lunatic to try and ride out a Cat 3 or 4 storm at the shore.

My neighborhood still has blocks without power. Some parts of the city have no water. We were fortunate to be without power for only 15 hours or so.

I don't know why hurricanes were named after females in the beginning. The roar of the wind was definitely a deep baritone as it came through. We lost some shingles off our roof and had the back storm door ripped frame the frame. Our neighbors across the street lost shingles and tar paper off their roof and thus had leaks. They are also without power. We had 3 friends sleep over last night b/c they also don't have power.

There have been some problems. The neighborhood rumor mill has been passing around stories about problems at local Wal-Marts, such as gas and groceries being stolen from people in the parking lots. Sadly, a two year old was run over in some kind of road rage incidents. The local papers are only reporting the story and not providing any details. Another person was killed by a falling tree limb. My family members who tried to flee Houston ended up having an easier time of it than we did.

I have pictures but for some reason they will not appear. I will try to put them up later.

In the meantime pictures from a local paper can be found here.

My turn in the barrel

The relatives I was expecting last night did not show, they couldn't get out of Houston. Looks like Houston has some work to do when it comes to evacuating people, although with 6 million people in the Houston area I don't know if its possible.

The predicted storm track may actually bring the eye of the storm, if it is still around, directly over East Texas and my town sometime late tomorrow. Of all the things I expected I didn't expect to have to prepare for possible hurricane force winds.

On a lighter note, Michael F. Shaughnessy has a commentary called Cleavage: A Commentary over at Education News. I'm not sure if he means students or teachers but I also see plenty of both.

Unbelievable!

For the 2nd time in 3 weeks a category 5 hurricane is bearing down on the homes of loved ones. This time it's the Houston area I will be getting evacuees from. We are expecting 6 tomorrow.

This will make for a total of 24 people in 4 different groups who have taken shelter at my house in the last 3 weeks.

We used to complain about never having visitors. . .