Charter School Approved, Maybe

The District 300 School Board has tentatively approved the charter school for Pingree Grove subdivision. At first glance this appeared to be good news. When you start looking at the details it seems the Board is trying to take the onus off themsleves and put it on the Northern Kane Educational Corp. who [...]

Regional Superintendent of Schools

There is an election coming. The primaries will be held on March 12, 2006. The Regional Superintendent of Schools is up for re-election this cycle here in Lake County. We need to find a candidate that will reform the education system and back that candidate. If any of you have any [...]

4 Day School Weeks

I found this interesting way for schools to save money. Jackson, KY has cut the schools’ week to 4 days. Several other school districts have been doing this successfully for a while.
This is an intriguing idea. Beside lowering the transportation costs, it enables teachers to have more time for lesson [...]

Intelligent Design vs. Evolution Update

Here is an update on the Pennsylvania lawsuit trying to stop the teaching of Intelligent Design. Opening arguments started today.

          

‘Intelligent Design’ Court Battle Begins
September 26, 2005 7:23 PM EDT
HARRISBURG, Pa. – A school district is undermining science education by raising false doubts about evolution and offering “intelligent design” as an alternative explanation for life’s [...]

Intelligent Design vs. Evolution

The Intelligent Desing vs Evolution debate continues in the schools. This time thought in Philidelphia it is headed to court just like it did in Georgia recently.
This is happening at the same time the the supposed Hobbit like creature that was found is really a human with a rare disease. Read the story [...]

Hurricane Relief Efforts Update

Joy Lutheran Church is sponsoring Joy Fest today are Viking Park in Gurnee to raise money and collect items to give to Hurricane Katrina relief. Please attend if you still have not found a place to help out. Jack and Justin’s Just Kids Helping Kids will be there as well collecting gently used [...]

Education Carnival 33

The latest Education Canival is up at The Education Wonks. It covers many topics from Constituion Day, the Pledge of Allegiance to Hurrican Katrina relief efforts and its funding on always several post on ways to improve eduation and how to teach. Stop by for a visit. You’ll be drawn in by [...]

Charter Schools and The Suburbs

There are several articles this week about Charter Schools. I will highlight them all in this post. Thanks to the Illinois Loop for these articles.
First, Elizabeth Evans, Executive Director, Illinois Network of Charter Schools has the following Op-Ed piece in the Chicago Tribune. This article brings up some good information about the [...]

Education Relief Funds

President Bush is proposing $1.9 billion in federal relief money for students. This is a total of $7,500 per student. Liberals like Ted Kennedy are opposing this funding. There objections stem from the fact that this money would not discrimate. Kennedy only wants the money to go to Public Schools and [...]

See You at The Pole

Don’t forget, tomorrow is See You At The Pole Day.
What Is See You at the Pole?
It “is student-initiated, student-organized, and student-led. That means this is all about students meeting at their school flagpole to pray—for their school, friends, teachers, government, and nation. This is not a demonstration, political rally, or a stand for [...]

CCSD 46 BOE Meeting 9/19/2005

Just thought I would do a quick rundown of the BOE meeting tonight. If anyone has any additions or corrections please let me know.
A budget hearing was held first to discuss the proposed budget for the 2005/2006 school year. I was writing fast so some of the numbers are approximations.

District switched to accrual [...]

Quarter of State Pupils Fall Short

The State School scores have been released. You can review the ISBE reports thanks to the Illinois Loop. The scores are not impressive. In fact, a quarter of students fell short as reported by the the State Journal-Register Online. There is an excerpt below.

          

Roughly one-quarter of Illinois [...]

Everyday Math

Everyone I know is heard about Whole Language. If not you can read what I think of it here, here, and here. Today I will show you an example of everyday math thanks to Kitchen Table Math via Extreme Wisdom.

How can someone teach this and call themselves a Math teacher? This is [...]

Man Refuses to Take Down Vote NO Sign

Winthrop Harbor police visited Christopher Clements, a resident, asking him to take down his Vote No Sign. He refused of course and vows to go to jail instead of taking it down. Why does Big Ed or it’s supporters not want free speech? That’s easy, it doesn’t allow them to continue to [...]

No Money for Website Visits

NO, I DO NOT receive any money from or for people visiting my site. I do have Google Ads in the side bar. If a visitor decides to click on one of them, then yes, there is the potential for me to earn a few pennies. Since I started my website around 6 months ago [...]

Miami-Dade Public School Corruption

Sauk Villiage and some other Illinois School Districts are not alone in the corruption of the schools. I recieved this information about Miami-Dade County Public Schools from CRAFT. The most significant quotes about the corruption are as follows:

          

“You would need an entire FBI field office to get this place clean,” said Inspector [...]

Winthrop Harbor Update

Please visit the Vote No Tax website. They have updated their information about the school district and their over spending habits. They have flyers that can be printed and passed out. If you live in that district understand this is not about the kids, it is about a district that is out [...]

Lake County Fairground Rumor Untrue

I have been able to confirm with Mayor Perry that the rumor that evacuees would be housed at the Lake Couty Fairground is untrue. At this time no evacuees are coming to the fairgrounds.

New School Impact Fee Model Introduced

The Lake County Planning commission has introduced a new model for helping schools more accurately calculate the impact new development will have on their schools. you can read the full Press Release here. School districts can find out more information at the following meetings:

          

School districts wishing to utilize the new programs [...]

The Single Best Thing a Parent Can Do To Help a Teacher

AllProDad.com has a great article about advice on making homework almost hassle free. For those of you who do not know about this organization, please check them out. They are very good at helping dads build a lasting relationship with their kids.

          

One fall, a dad named Ron made it a point to ask [...]

I Agree With Sen. Robert Byrd

This is a rarity. I actually agree with Sen. Robert Byrd. Here is the quote I agree with him on:

          

Sen. Byrd has repeatedly warned that a decline in knowledge about the Constitution in government and the citizenry is having negative consequences for the nation. Even many members of Congress “do not come really [...]

Lake County Hurricane Relief

There are several groups doing Hurricane Refief locally. Please support these efforts. If you prefer to make donations, bloggers are banding together to assist you in finding charities. Please visit Truth Laid Bear. I have also been highlighting Feed The Children. Other great charities are Samaritan’s Purse and 210 Footwear [...]

CCSD 46 Superintendent Interview

The CCSD #46 District Superintendent, Ellen Correll, graciously allowed me to ask her some questions to be posted on my website. The interview is below. None of her answers have been altered in any way except for formatting needed for display purposes.
1. What is your philosophy for education, i.e. outcome based, direct instruction, [...]

Education Beauracracy

Take a look at this organization chart from the State of Nevada. After seeing that, do you really wonder why Big Ed can’t teach the children.

Education Carnival #31

The Education Carnival is now open at What It’s Like On The Inside. The Science Goddess has done a great job of laying out the articles in a manner that is fun to read. Head on over and read through the conversation and the links.

D46 BOE Meeting 9/6/05

Here is a quick recap of the BOE Meeting tonight for those of you who could not make it.

The Westlake Board met in closed session with the BOE. No public resolution was made after the session. Mary Jane Lucas did mention that there may be an issue with giving Westlake a clear Title on [...]

Emergency Educational Help for Children

Ambleside Online Advisory is providing free curriculm for the kids who have no school to attend due to Hurrican Katrina. This can be used by homeschoolers as well who have lost their curriculm in the storm. Read their letter below to get more details. This is a wonderful idea to help the [...]

Vouchers Hit the Burbs

Kevin Killion of the Illinois Loop always has great analysis of what is happening in Education and how to reform it. Below he explains why the Voucher progam in Ohio is great news to all those who wnat to see Big Ed reformed. Go read the full article and follow the links. It’s [...]

If at First You Don’t Succeed

You remeber the old adage, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”. I don’t believe that should be the policy for teaching our children. But obviously, the Education Dept. does. They are relaxing the rules for Chicago Public Schools so they can tutor students themselves who they have already failed [...]

Tyranny of The Minority

Board member, Mike Davitt, of the Naperville District 203 are tired of the tyranny of the minority where teachers can hold the district and the children of the district hostage to their demands. I have written about whether teachers should be allowed to strike as well. Mike is very clear in what happened [...]