Green Line Update

I received a phone call today with a great idea. They suggested a petition. If anyone has the time to get this going please do so. I will gladly sign it. I just don’t have the time to get this started.
Second, I was asked for the contact information for Letters to [...]

Back to the Green Line

Back to the Green Line is a great idea. It’s time has come. We need to do this here in D127 since they have decided to exceed their approved increase as well. Please visit Back To The Green Line for more information about this concept.
The 2 articles below are about how [...]

Student Burned In Classroom

A student at Frederick was burned on his finger when he accidentally stuck his finger with a paper clip wrapped around it into an electrical socket. I have not received confirmation on the date this incident occurred but it was on or near Wednesday, Nov. 17th. The student was taken to the hospital to [...]

Texas State School Board Withdraws from NASBE

The Texas State Board of Education removed itself from membership in the National Association of State School Boards. This decision will hopefully send a few shockwaves to the NEA, AFT and other similar organizations. It’s about time a group stood up to these national organizations who have strayed so far away from their purpose [...]

D46 Turns to Mediator

I know I’m behind on this story. Things have been hectic lately. I have been trying to get more information about the negotiations, but neither side can talk about them still. From this article it leads me to believe the negotiations are not going as well as either side would like. [...]

Islam Okay in Public Schools

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is at it again. Recently, they ruled parents don’t have a right to control sex education and now they are ruling it is okay to teach kids the religion of Islam. I received this via a Focus on the Family Citizen Link Update Email.
Just think about this [...]

How Abstinence Is Taught In Some Public Schools

Montgomery County, Maryland is teaching abstinence in it’s sex education classess. The problem is the definition of abstinence. There definition describes 3 kinds of abstinence:

No intercourse
withdrawal (ejaculation outside of the body)
rhythm (no intercourse during ovulation)

I’m sorry, but abstinence means abstaining or not doing something. In this particular usage, it means not having [...]

D127 Tax Increases Exceed Stated Amount

View Corrected and simplifed Post

Support Staff Contract Ratified

The Grayslake High School District support staff now have a new contract. This contract provides a 4.5% increase in pay for staff. It will also expire at the end of next year at the same time the teacher’s contracts expire. This provides the District the ability to negotiate everyone’s contract at the [...]

$100 Laptop

This has been in the works for awhile, but it is finally being released. Their is a groupd trying to help bring education to the poorest parts of the world through a $100 laptop. This is a great idea that I hope takes off. I know these laptops are aimed at third [...]

‘Innovative’ Math, but Can You Count?

I am a week behind on this article. But it is very applicable no matter when I write about it. In New York, they use innovative math. Recently the top scorer on their math team and scoring a 5 on their AP calculus tests. This young man was being taughted as [...]

Chicago Approves Independent Schools

Chicago Public Schools has approved 15 new independently run schools. Of course the Teachers Unions don’t like this idea and called it “appalling and questionable.” The only thing appalling and questionable is how the Teachers Unions keep schools and dedicated teachers from teaching our kids while lashing out at alternatives that will work. [...]

BOE Meeting Notes – 11/14/2005

Here are my notes from the board meeting on 11/14/2005. My comments are in [italics].
Public Comment

Gentleman living near Madrona stated there is an outdoor firing range about 1000 feet away from the school and can be heard by the students. He suggested the Board contact the owners and work with them on how [...]

Winthrop Harbor Letter to Parents

Superintendent Tenbusch of Winthrop Harbor District 1 sent this letter to parents in the District. I am providing excerpts below:

          

This support seemed to be forthcoming after the spring election, but the arrival of a well funded and organized opposition group from outside our community has changed everything. It no longer appears realistic to [...]

Transparency in Palatine Dist. 15

Palatine District 15 is doing what all school district should do. They are allowing parents and community members to easily see their finances, contracts and other documents by putting them online and in the library. Read below or at the Daily Herald. Please make an effort to forward this on to the [...]

Assessments: How They Work?

Did you just receive Blue Assessment Card in the mail? Do you know what it means? If not, then you should try and attend a meeting tonight (11/10) at CLC. The assessments process will be discussed. The meeting will start at 7:00 pm in the CWing Building. Bring your cards [...]

School Report Cards

School report cards have now been publicly released. Search for your specific School District at ISBE.
I am providing the scores below for CCSD #D-46 and High District D-127 from the Chicago Sun-Times reformatted for easy viewing. Use the following links for other local school districts:

Lake County Elementary District
Lake County High Schools

DISTRICT 46 [...]

BOE Notes 11/7/2005

Here are my notes from the BOE meeting from 11/7. Please let me know if there are any corrections or additions that need to be made.
Jane Dennis made a presentation about the FACES (Functional Academic Curriculm for Exceptional Students) program.

Need parental involvement
Teach functional age appropriate skills (planted the flowers at Frederick)
Teach social competency
Official appreciation [...]

Samaritan’s Purse

The time is getting short to drop off your shoeboxes for Samaritan’s Purse. By now… it seems that everyone knows about them, but just in case some of you have never participated or even know about them, let me tell you a little bit about them.

Should The Bible be Taught in Public Schools?

Over the past few weeks there have been several discussions taking place over whether the Bible should be taught in Public Schools. I know this is a controversial topic, so let’s discuss it.
Part of the Republican Gubernatorial Candidates have weighed in on whether Intelligent Design should be taught in schools. What sparked these [...]

Parenthood Unconstitutional

The ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is one of the most atrocious decisions I have ever seen. They have ruled that Parents do not have a right to control what Public Schools can teach their own kids about sex while they are in school. I am sure this one is [...]

Defending No Bid Games

The following comment was posted by Jen on the D46.info website on November 02, 2005 at 15:42:17. Nothing has been changed except for formatting purposes and so I could respond to each point in the order they are raised.

          

There are some gaps in Lennie’s research than need to be filled in:
Start-up costs:
The product was [...]

Letter to Ed School Students

This later was passed to me by the Illinois Loop. It brings up some good points and many things to ponder.
“This letter to ed school students was written by Martin Kozloff [Email address removed], an independent thinking professor who is the Watson Distinguished Professor in the education department at the University of [...]

Family Taxpayer Network

The Family Taxpayer Network has honered me this week by making my site the Feature Site for the week. Thank you for the recognition.
To all my readers, please visit them and let them know how much education matters to you.

Charter Schools Outperform Public Schools Again

Yesterday I discussed the NAEP test results. Today is the companion article discussing how Charter Schools are again outperforming their counterparts in traditional Public Schools. These results should be a wake up call to politicians to finally encourage more charter schools. In Illinois the local school districts have to approve the charter [...]

Cleaner Update

I spoke with District 46 staff yesterday to get an update on the Cleaner purchases. I was assured they were getting prices and looking into alternative products. I was directed to call back next week since they expected prices to be back late this week or early next week.
I also forwarded them information [...]

D-300 Charter School Approved

D-300 has finally approved the Charter School for Pinegree Village. This has been a long and uphill struggle to get this approved. (Hat tip: Students First.) As I said before though, the restrictions are very rigid and almost setup to make the charter school fail. It appears that others are now [...]