Saturday coffee.
This morning there was no milk in the fridge.
No milk. Well, then we can’t have coffee at home. So it was off to Peets and a rare bagel. It was kind of nice to see all the old regulars. And I just wasn’t in the mood for another bowl of oatmeal.
This is a crazy part of the school year. No school on Monday for Presidents Day.
Tuesday is a PD day. Heaven help us.
The fifth grade is off to outdoor ed Wednesday through Friday.
Add to this was last week’s snow day. My teaching schedule is pretty much trashed.
My god, teachers go crazy off of snow days. Teachers can be worse than the kids. It is rare that I have much sympathy for administrators. But weather issues are another matter. If a snow day is called too early and the storm peters out, they get creamed by parents. It they wait until six in the morning, they get creamed by teachers. There’s no winning on this.
I said earlier this week, if a teacher needs a day, take a friggin’ day. Personal days are part of our compensation. And the only way they actually do become realized as compensation is if we use them. You can’t leave ‘em for your children in your will. You can’t put ‘em in the bank. You can’t spend ‘em at the grocery store.
Senator Meeks’ bill to gut Local School Councils is going nowhere.
The creation of Local School Councils in the 80s was part of the first wave of Chicago school reform and always represented its most democratic impulses. Chicago Southside Senator James Meeks, who has always acted as a kind of provocateur in the legislature, has introduced a bill to do away with the LSCs.
“There’s a school funding side component, but the only string on that guitar is more money,” said Meeks. “And I played that same guitar for a while; I’ve been lead singer in the band. But now that I see nobody is coming to our concerts, it’s time to get some new songs.”
That new “songs” include two other proposals: a voucher program that would allow about 42,000 students at 65 failing city schools to attend private or parochial schools and a separate bill to end roughly 15 years of mayoral control of the schools.
Whatever the case, Meeks said he’s glad his legislation has stirred controversy.
“At least they’re discussing it,” he said.
Neither legislation is expected to go anywhere.
Marc Dean Millot discusses his relationship with Russo.
To me, the important issue that Marc Dean Millot has raised is that the fix is in on who gets R2T Duncan Dollars. His writing and research raises important questions about the honesty and ethics of the Duncan operation and of those who have been doing his bidding, including those who describe themselves as pro-union in the USDE.
But on another level is the role of two bloggers. One, Alexander Russo, pulled Millot’s column after being ordered to do so by his sponsor, Scholastic Inc.
Millot addresses this on Ed Notes.
I understand his business decision. There’s a moral element to all this, but in so far as Alexander Russo is concerned I’m prepared to set that aside. I think he made a bad business decision. Russo cultivated an “edgy” independent image. TWIE’s popularity is based on Russo. Taking my post down on Scholastic’s orders rather than the merits undermines Russo’s “bad boy” personae. People might see him as someone who did not demonstrate independence when it mattered, and gave way to Rotherham’s charge without a fight. That image offers no competitive advantage to TWIE.
The other blogger is Andy Rotherham who runs the think tank, Ed Sector. His blog is Eduwonk. Rotherham has made money advising states on their grant applications for R2T Duncan Dollars. Millot says it was Rotherham’s call to Scholastic that led to Scholastic demanding that Russo pull Millot’s piece. Millot will be discussing the Rotherham roll next on the blog, Tuttle SVC.
Here’s the original Millot post that Rotherham got taken down and Russo caved on.
This is getting good.
Illinois: “We’re #1! We’re #1!”
Gail Collins at the NYT has written several columns on the state of the union when it comes to political corruption. Last week she gave the #1 title to Illinois over NY. Justly deserved.
This morning she writes that other residents of other states have complained that they deserve the title as having the most corrupt political leaders.
But there is really no contest.
A Chicago reader said he was so frustrated with the Illinois Democrats that he asked himself whether the last Republican governor had done better. “Then I remembered that he was in jail.”
Eat our dust!
