If C ever wants to sub, he’d better not do it in Florida… This sub was unceremoniously let go after doing a magic trick for the students. His sub supervisor (I guess they do thing differently over there- no sub supervisor here) called him in and accused him, of all things, wizardry. Seriously. Read the story at the link below:
Two news items in one day after a drought! This one is about several parents being arrested- because their kids racked up too many unexcused absences. I am not really sure how to feel about this one. After all, parents do have a responsibility to make sure their kids are educated. But handing them over to the police? (shakes head in bewilderment). As long as this doesn’t involve criminal charges- unless they were doing something illegal with the kids- I guess it can’t hurt to scare them a little in front of a judge.
15 Fla. Parents Arrested In Connection With Children’s Unexcused Absences At School
Just a quick third post of the day. I just read this one- kids do really stupid things in school. Here is the latest:
Student Accused Of High-Fiving Teachers With Tacks
I think I will skip giving middle-school students high-fives for awhile…
No license? Who cares? Usually this would be a bad conversation, such as an underage child taking dad’s car for a spin (my brother has done this before, so has my nephew…). This time however this boy was saving everyone on the bus from experiencing the sudden effects of being hit by a truck. He didn’t really drive it, just steered it out of the way. The driver had left to answer the call of nature, but somehow this bus came out of gear and started rolling downhill. This 11-year-old, thinking only of his older brother also on board, chose not to jump off like some others, but instead to save both him and his brother by stopping the bus. Click link to read on…
Or incomplete reporting? A story in today’s paper talks about a choir director who quit after the school disciplined him by reducing him from director to assistant director, accompanied by a 20% pay cut. What was his infraction? He let two students who “recently violated the school’s co-curricular code” dress for a concert though they did not actually perform. School code says they could not even dress for the event. Wait, they dressed for a performance?? How… how could the director allow this? Hang him by his thumbs! The students didn’t actually sing? Well so what? Hang him up anyway! To me, this punishment is only a little less ridiculous. However, before I get all bent out of shape, I have to admit to myself there may be more that the paper isn’t reporting, such as were there any problems before this that may have caused the punishment to be more severe than it otherwise would have been? However, the article really gives no indication there could me more than meets the eye.
Prospect High School choir director quits over punishment
On a side note, the former choir director at this school was convicted a couple years ago of sexual abuse of some of his students. It was all over the paper at the time and I actually had been in a musical with him at one time. So had someone else somehow involved at this blog site- you know who you are. 🙂 Just thought I’d mention it even if it’s not at all relevant.
The answer we all want for this question is of course a resounding yes (I hope :P). However, if you live in an urban environment the statistics show that his or her chances are lower than if they live in the surrounding suburbs, at least for most of the 50 largest cities. Chicago, for example, has a 55.7% graduation rate while the Chicago suburbs are at 84.1%. Two Ohio cities have more drastic statistics with Cleveland at 42.2% vs. 78.1% and Columbus being 40.9% vs. 82.9%, and Baltimore, Md. has the largest gap at 34.6% vs. 81.5% for its suburbs! However, at the other end of the scale your child is about 10% more likely to graduate in the city of Colorado Springs (83.7%) than its surrounding suburbs (73.5%). Click the link for rest of the 50 largest cities.
I saw this on Channel One this morning (news briefs shown at some schools). How important are grades to you? Well, in Indiana they are probably as important as they are elsewhere, but nevertheless they managed to lose a month of grades over spring break due to what they say was a computer glitch. Click link for story:
It is April 1 after all. How old does one have to be to have criminal intent? Well, there were those ten-year-olds a few years ago who tossed a five-year-old off of a balcony, but how about eight or nine? And an actual plot to attack a teacher? Among not one, not two, but nine students? Read on…
I have heard of dyslexia of course, but this is the first time I have heard of math dyslexia. Apparently this condition makes for a very hard time in math. One Florida teacher is finding that he may not be allowed to teach since he can’t pass a required basic math skills test due to his disability. Where this gets interesting is he is an art teacher. No math involved in what he teaches. The rules say it doesn’t matter, all teachers must pass this test. However, he has people fighting for him. Click the link to read the article:
This was a favorite line of one of my past coworkers. Speaking of coworkers, this isn’t a story about students not getting along- it’s about two middle school teachers! Someone tell these two that they’re supposed to be role models! Click link for story.
Teachers Who Got in Fist-Fight Arrested
And just so I don’t have to write another post, there’s a link on that page about a school staff member dying his hair green for St. Pat’s day. The principal apparently wasn’t a fan of the day…
Udpate: News item scrolled off the links. Here it is: