Daily Archives: March 5, 2007

How about using existing school day better?

March 5, 20071:02 a.m.

Let’s prepare our kids for full-time jobs by sending them to full-time school. Sounds like a good plan, right? Wrong. What better way to burn students out and make them want to skip school more often than to make their school days two hours longer.
Even with the improvement shown in test scores in 10 Massachusetts schools trying this new $6.5 million program, wouldn’t it be better in the long run (and more economically viable) to fix the structure of the regular 6½-hour school day?
Rather than doing as my high school did — where instead of reading “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, we watched the 1961 film — schools could just make students devote more time to reading and other studies, instead of preparing for and taking numerous state and national assessment tests.
I hope the same brilliant minds that came up with the No Child Left Behind law won’t include an 8½-hour school day when NCLB is updated this year.
Posted by Ross Stewart

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Education | Comments (54)

Dubious, bogus and utterly phony headlines

March 5, 20071:01 a.m.

The following satirical headlines come from borowitzreport.com:
SUPREME COURT GIVES GORE’S OSCAR TO BUSH; Stunning Reversal for Former Veep
CONDI UPGRADES IRAQ FROM QUAGMIRE TO MORASS; Situation Disastrous But Not Catastrophic, Rice Says
DAVID GEFFEN NAMED GOP CHAIRMAN; Grateful Republicans Tap Chatty Mogul
NETWORKS CRITICIZED FOR LACK OF ANNA NICOLE SMITH COVERAGE; CNN: We Dropped the Ball
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Spoof headlines | Comments (11)

Some carrots to landowners might help protect critter

March 5, 20071:00 a.m.

Sen. Michael Crapo, R-Idaho, is sponsoring a bipartisan bill that would provide incentives for landowners to comply with Endangered Species Act regulations. The bill would offer $2.7 billion in tax credits over 10 years to landowners who take steps to help endangered species recover.
Lawmakers think the carrot approach could be more effective than sticks and lawsuits. Groups backing the bill range from Environmental Defense and the National Wildlife Federation to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Posted by Patrice Hein

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Environment | Comments (5)