Yeah, ‘Puter knows House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA7) lost his primary, but that’s not the most important political development from yesterday, and not by a long shot.* Less noticed but more important is Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Rolf … Continue reading →
As everyone knows,* student loans are the sole reason today’s college graduates are unable to enter adulthood. This ginormous debt burden forces grads to decamp their college digs for their parents’ basements. We are told by our media betters that … Continue reading →
As our loyal readers know, ‘Puter’s earned an artium baccalaureus degree in Philosophy. ‘Puter loved learning philosophy, turning over complex ideas that have confounded humans for ages. Is God falsifiable? How (and why) do we think? What is knowledge? From … Continue reading →
GorT’s eldest is a junior in high school and therefore we are knee-deep in the college search process including the SAT and ACT, picking a college, road trips to rule out (or in) various universities and the whole financial planning … Continue reading →
It’s always convenient to blame your personal failures on an omnipotent-yet-nebulous third party. As a representative of middle aged, taxpaying white guys with jobs, ‘Puter shares our happiness you have found a way to work us in to your pathological denial … Continue reading →
GorT spoke at his son’s school’s Career Day last week. After years of hiring (or trying) people in the computer science field and getting quite a broad set of experiences dealing with them, GorT had enough and decided that there … Continue reading →
Meet Ethel Anderson, a Hillsborough, FL “educator,” recently convicted of nailing her 5th grade charge. These are the sorts of teachers unionism rewards at the expense of all the good teachers. One of ‘Puter’s longtime friends* – a high school A.P. … Continue reading →
GorT’s company is hiring. We’re a small company and the founders are ruing the day when they have to make the decision to hire employee #50 with all the federal mandates that come with that. As part of this hiring, … Continue reading →
A guest post today from Island Dweller, who does indeed dwell on an island. In perusing the news screeds this morning I came across the following. It is a rather lengthy article re: the poor educational showing, not of American … Continue reading →
Gentle Readers, Dr. J. hopes you will forgive his lack of posts of late. He has been on the inpatient ICU and consult services and balancing that with a number of parental obligations at the Jedi Academy and Bene Gesserit … Continue reading →
Gentle Readers, Dr. J. has woefully neglected his inbox in which a couple of missives have been collecting dust. The first comes as a follow up to a recent letter from newly minted Operative DC. Operative DC, who also likes … Continue reading →
Gentle Readers, Dr. J.’s seeing a new trend in elementary and intermediate education at independent schools, and it is not what you would expect. It was ‘Meet the Witches Night’ at the New Atlantis Bene Gesserit Chapterhouse last night, and … Continue reading →
…the fool, or the fools who follow him. – Obi Wan Kenobi, Star Wars I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if 55 million voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has … Continue reading →
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)learned all she needed to know abouteconomic theory selling tax-free boozeand cigarettes on The Rez.Sen. Warren also claims to have watchedaghast as Gen. Whitside slaughtered herpeople at Wounded Knee Creek in 1890. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s your … Continue reading →
As we celebrate the Fifth Anniversary of this site going public (at least in this time stream for GorT), each of us has been asked to post our individual favorite essay or submission over the years. While this post has … Continue reading →
Dr. J’s econocrush™ Veronique deRugy posted this Cato Institute chart on the Corner yesterday: Just a friendly reminder in these tight times when your politicians and school board members come along, hat-in-hand asking for more money for teh childrunz that … Continue reading →
You had no idea they were Democrats, didja? ŒV: Good God. RT @heminator: If you’re an ivy league educated woman, motherhood makes you a traitor to feminism? bit.ly/11xjqLL— The Gormogons (@Gormogons) April 23, 2013 Your Gormogons in recent days have been discussing … Continue reading →
Wow, Your Mandarin may have to take a trip to the opera! Your Mandarin’s son was given an assignment for his 5th grade music class the other day. Your Mandarin’s son had stated that some of his friends had started … Continue reading →
‘Puter’s teachers in high schoolwere Jesuits. And no Jesuit isas good looking as this fine, younglesbian child rapist. It’s been a long time since ‘Puter posted on America’s “education professionals” in action, too long perhaps. ‘Puter thinks he got bored, … Continue reading →
The only thing common to Common Core education standards is that there seems to be something in it to annoy everyone. Forward! Go all loyal student with Common Core teachings to make smart America for all envy of world! Unless … Continue reading →
A middle school principal in Ipswich, Massachusetts, has elected to cancel the honors students’s induction ceremony because it makes the other kids—who didn’t get good grades—feel bad. No, of course this is real. Instead, they will be honored during an … Continue reading →
“The educational paradigm has shifted from guaranteeing universal access to guaranteeing universal performance.” -‘Puter’s Tiny Local School District 2013-14 Budget Presentation PowerPoint** If the old saw is true — that a gaffe is when a government official accidentally speaks an … Continue reading →
Fear not only leads to anger. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration… There were tidings of great joy yesterday in the halls of J. Abbey. March 2nd is independent school D-Day in New Atlantis and the Lil Resident’s … Continue reading →
The ever-busy D.T., our spiffy and smiling Myrmidon wrangler, writes to us with a surprisingly accurate opening line: Oh Wise, Mighty, Terrible, Yet Surprisingly Cuddly When the Mood Strikes Him Czar, I read this account of a “racial brawl” at … Continue reading →
Not to undo the entire crux of Dr. J’s rational polemic, in which he says that non-letter grades are indeed desirable for little ones, allow the Czar to quote himself: And certainly simpler systems work for K-3 because kids are … Continue reading →
Dolores Umbridge that is: Shorter Dolores: If I SAY they’re meeting expectations, they are meeting expectations, even if they aren’t. Like Columbia J-School students are taught, draw them in with a headline, no matter how inaccurate. Dr. J. read with … Continue reading →
O Mighty Czar, At risk of further inciting your wrath, I have an observation regarding the “standards-based scoring” post. This final Kuzniewski quote: The zero is the most damning of grades because it’s the lowest and has the most significant … Continue reading →
The Czar is on a full-tilt rage this morning, so look out. The Czar is wont to read local newspapers; as you know, he thinks the entire newspaper industry is a dying business model, but enjoys reading the wit and … Continue reading →
The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is headed by Karen Lewis, who spends no time in classrooms. Of course, you likely think the Czar is criticizing her teaching experience; in fact, she appears to have spent little time in classrooms as … Continue reading →
Are you testing me Master Jedi? Dr. J. is still playing catch up on topics he’s wanted to talk about. Last Friday, the New Atlantis Jedi Academy had a Dad’s Coffee. The Jedi Academy has a few of these every … Continue reading →
Louisiana’s Gov. Bobby Jindal and itslegislature provided their state’s children education vouchers, freeing poor children from the invisible but lifelong shacklesof a “separate but equal” education just assurely as the Supreme Court did decadesearlier in Brown v. Board of Education. Louisiana recently … Continue reading →
‘Puter harped plenty about colleges’ use of affirmative action in admissions last week in the context of the Supreme Court’s review of the issue. Imagine ‘Puter’s surprise when he came upon this nugget of information. Florida’s Department of Education is … Continue reading →
Guns or Butter…which one of these? Dr. J.’s 7th & 10th Grade Marxist American History teacher introduced him to the idea of opportunity costs and Federal budgeting back in 7th grade through an exercise called ‘Guns and Butter.’ The idea … Continue reading →
Our royal archivist, MBernadetteE, came up from the Castle basement the Friday morning, which was a source of great relief because nobody has seen her for three weeks. If you didn’t know, she has been diligently archiving, indexing, and filing … Continue reading →
Shut up and eat your food. Or no more SmartBoards. In 1946, the Truman administration—as part of the Progressive Health, Education, and Welfare trifecta— began the national school lunch program (NSLP). In 1966, LBJ extended that to include breakfasts as … Continue reading →
‘Puter’s been thinking about Mitt Romney, and not in the “I wonder if he’s wearing that funky Mormon underwear” way. ‘Puter’s been thinking Mitt Romney needs to be true to who he is. Mitt Romney is the son of an … Continue reading →
And so Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is living large, now that he has bested the Chicago Teachers’ Union. Right? Well, not quite. Although the backlash against the teachers has been intense, the first major test of his ability to restore … Continue reading →
The Czar cannot promise that all aspects of Chicago Public School (CPS) politics will be very interesting, but today’s CPS strike is intensely fascinating if largely inside baseball. Here is our assessment. Never let a crisis go to waste, even … Continue reading →
You know, the Czar has said for years that you will likely go your entire life without ever encountering a legitimately natural-forming quadratic equation. But to suggest that algebra itself is a time-wasting distraction is losing the baby with the … Continue reading →
It’s hard to shut down the positronic brain at times and so I had a few musings that struck me last night as I drifted off to the Matrix to shoot at some recognizers. Mmmm, tasty. It’s menu item #34 … Continue reading →
If everybody’s super, no one is. ‘Puter frequently rails against the American education system, for what it has done and what it has failed to do. ‘Puter frequently blames teachers’ unions, teachers and administrators for the system’s problems. Certainly, each … Continue reading →
One of GorT’s beliefs is that liberals are generally short-sighted in their attempts to remedy perceived problems. In other words, they look for immediate fixes without considering what the longer term consequences are…or what the unintended consequences could be. The … Continue reading →
The Czar is wont to make predictions, and today he makes another one. Society has basically had enough with goofy leftism. 2010 saw a major political swing back toward something resembling common sense, although clearly there is much work to … Continue reading →
I came across this OpEd in the NYT this morning by David Brooks and it illustrates the current economic problems we’re facing pretty well. Brooks allocates two sides to the economic debate. The first he refers to as the cyclicalists … Continue reading →
Paul Krugman deigns to share his Nobel laureate economic wisdom with us intellectual peons in today’s New York Times. And thank goodness Mr. Krugman shared his truthiness with ‘Puter, because ‘Puter never would’ve been able to figure out the correct answer on … Continue reading →
Nothing brings out the best in New Yorkers like school district budget season, and this year’s no exception. Just to keep the bare-knuckled brawls from becoming mundane, this year many Upstate districts are structurally bankrupt as a result of the … Continue reading →
Dr. (KN)J, our Royal Mathematician, writes in: O Most Dread and Noble, etc. If my recent conversations with public primary and secondary teachers are any indication, you have left a “blame arrow” out of your diagram. All the aforementioned teachers … Continue reading →
As most of ye know, many of your Gormogon spouses are either teachers or work in education. Not Mrs. Volgi. The Czar is not sure what she does, but it appears to involve an odd combination of vivisection, golf, and … Continue reading →
Our Royal Exchequer, SW writes in: I’ve enjoyed your musings over the state of education both because I often agree and because my daughters are teachers. One of them, currently a professor teaching teachers has a perspective you may want … Continue reading →
An Arizona legislator introduced a bill this week attempting to get the state to allow public high schools to offer an elective class on GASP! the Bible. The idea behind the bill is that the misguided mindset behind banning the … Continue reading →
This article is at the intersection of Education & Health, and on the kids side of town, so you knew Dr. J. was going to have to comment on it. Published in the journal Pediatrics about two weeks ago, it … Continue reading →
Logically-minded people all over the UK are celebrating a rare (for the Brits) victory. The government has largely decided that schools there will teach evolutionary theory, and that creationist new-agery will not. Further, any school that does promote creationist thinking … Continue reading →
“You shall be known as Usul, which is the strength at the base of the pillar,” Stilgar, Dune by Frank Herbert.” Dr. J. wanted to get this in before the iPhone 5 announcement, so as not to embarrass Tim Cook … Continue reading →
‘Puter was very pleased to receive several thoughtful missives regarding his posting on special ed’s negative impact on general ed. Both correspondents herein are, as you will see, parents of special ed students. ‘Puter was happy to discover much common … Continue reading →
Here’s an anecdote in support of ‘Puter’s confrontational statement. ‘Puter knows that the plural of anecdote is not data, but it seems that for some reason, the education establishment doesn’t want to collect data on the phenomenon described below. ‘Puter, … Continue reading →
Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York predicts riots in the streets if the economy doesn’t create more jobs. Oh nos 111!!!!!!eleventy!!!!!11@!!!! Mayor Bloomberg is warning all who will listen that these riots are in our future unless Washington gets serious … Continue reading →
‘Puter’s just about had it with so-called educators. ‘Puter has watched as nearly everything that worked in public education has been jettisoned for fads. No fad, in ‘Puter’s humble opinion, has had a larger negative impact on public education than … Continue reading →
‘Puter tells his sons, aged 13 and (almost) 10, that they have four options when they graduate high school. 1. State school2. Scholarship3. Marine Corps4. Priesthood Other than that, they are on their own. ‘Puter and Mrs. ‘Puter will have … Continue reading →
‘Puter lives in Upstate New York. His school district is maybe 40 or so square miles in size. It follows, essentially, the borders of a medium sized suburban township. The school district has one high school, one ninth grade building … Continue reading →
I’m going to borrow a topic from an email by GorT, Sr., lifting some of his points and expanding upon them.Around 1910, the United States recognized that people were moving from rural to urban areas and they wanted a literate … Continue reading →
You may have heard that the University of Missouri St. Louis (UMSL) had some explaining to do when students alleged that two co-instructors—under the aegis of teaching Introduction to Labor Studies—taught, encouraged, and flaunted illegal and unethical activities to two … Continue reading →
While conversing with a co-worker, ‘Puter lamented the low quality of education these days. ‘Puter’s co-worker agreed, saying she had a great example of current academic shortcomings. Below is an essay submitted by an Arizona State University senior journalism major. … Continue reading →
Dear Czarman, I have been reading your comments on public schools, and I filter them by my relative’s experiences (by which I mean you’re spot on). She has taught in both public and private schools, but for some reason the … Continue reading →
The Czar took a lead from ‘Puter (who is drop-dead gorgeous, if you (a) like open head wounds and (b) are willing to drop dead), and flipped through his wife’s quarterly teacher’s union magazine. The theme of the entire issue … Continue reading →
As many of you know, the Царица is herself a public school teacher in a tough part of town to the east of Muscovy. She has been impressed with the yanked carpet the Wisconsin state Republican senators pulled on their … Continue reading →
Not so much a reply, but a follow up to dear ‘Puter’s takedown of a Time magazine letter to the editor. Thanks to Geep, the Czar was able to read the union boss’s’’ let’ter, and discovered, to no surprise, that … Continue reading →
Volgi alerts all of us to an assessment of how US education spending compares to other countries’ spending per student, and where our performance falls. And falls is a generous word. If this doesn’t destroy every teacher’s union argument about … Continue reading →
In a follow up to the Czar’s recent post on home schooling your Mandarin would like to add to that neither home schooling or institutionalized schooling are the ultimate answer to educating our children. In reality it is a combination … Continue reading →
DEAR CZAR, OH HOW I CARE FOR YOU, What do you think of the proposed legislation that Illinois home-schooled students be registered with the state? Prima facie, it looks reasonable. I know that, in other states, they must meet certain … Continue reading →
Your Mandarin would like to direct your attention to this article by Patrick J. Buchanan. Your Mandarin suspects that the article will send the educational industrial complex (the unions and Democratic politicians), the race baiters, and the progressives into an … Continue reading →
Via Instapundit, ‘Puter came across this article on the imminent student loan crisis, coming soon to a theater near you. Essentially, students have mortgaged their futures and will be unable to meet (or, inconveniently for them, discharge in bankruptcy) their … Continue reading →
Right about here, the Czar asked: “So what say you smart folks? Does JS have a solid idea here? Is the Czar wrong in his (ahem) assessment of the situation? Let us know.” And indeed, JTS writes in! Don’t confuse … Continue reading →
Mail, mail, mail. First, JS writes in to ask: I have a question for you—has anyone ever entertained the idea of tax breaks for people with kids in private schools? I know lots of people hate vouchers, but what about … Continue reading →
The Czar has often said that scientists tend to be political idiots. Not all, mind you, because that would be an exaggeration. Probably only 99.995% of them, which is easily in the millions. There is of course an unabashed streak … Continue reading →
Borepatch makes an interesting association between recent conservative faux-gaffes and the problem with Smart People. Check it out. As with all things Borepatch, he lays his argument out simply and efficiently. Because you know what we think of the Smart … Continue reading →
And in response to this: Would he approve of a system of handicapping by which the brighter sort of people, like himself, were held back in order that the dimmer sort should have greater opportunities to shine their light, such … Continue reading →
Peter Berkowitz in the WSJ. Neither professors of political science nor of history have made a priority of instructing students in the founding principles of American constitutional government. Nor have they taught about the contest between the progressive vision and … Continue reading →
One hesitates to enter ’Puter’s bailiwick of edumocation, but this takedown by Friend of the Gormogons Flava Last prompts the following thoughts off the top of one’s head, and what are blogs for if not making unconsidered comments publicly? One … Continue reading →
You cannot make a person a leader by merely insisting he or she is special. You need to challenge the person on a physical, mental, and spiritual level; only then will the leader emerge. Of course, you might be hard-pressed … Continue reading →
♪ Entire towns with only one last name! ♪ ♪ Cross-eyed, slack-jawed, we all look the same! ♪ Apologies to all our Mountaineer readers. The Gormogons actually adore the state, and have at least one secret base in the mountains … Continue reading →
Operative JS has not checked in for some time, having been on special assignment deep in the Sudan. JS was told not to return unless there was proof of a deep underground spacecraft made of a living metal capable of … Continue reading →
Depending on to whom one speaks, failure to pass President Obama’s proposed $50 billion teachers’ union bailout is either: (1) a death knell for public education, the economy and possibly all life in the Gulf of Mexico; or (2) all … Continue reading →
Miami teachers’ union members have staged a sickout to protest working conditions. What’s the horrible work condition? It’s something every single non-unionized private sector employee copes with just fine: merit pay. The Florida legislature passed by an overwhelming margin, and … Continue reading →
Me or your lyin’ eyes? This is the position of Burlington Township (NJ) Superintendent of Schools Christopher Manno regarding the cult-like, glassy-eyed version of My Comrade Obama Will Let A Thousand Flowers Bloom, or whatever they’re calling that tuneless, hypnotic … Continue reading →
President Obama has got to hate YouTube by now. For now we have video from last June (rapidly being pulled off YouTube, so the following link may be dead by the time you read this) featuring about 18 multiracial school … Continue reading →
But affluent middle-class Democrats now seem to be complacently servile toward authority and automatically believe everything party leaders tell them. Why? Is it because the new professional class is a glossy product of generically institutionalized learning? Independent thought and logical … Continue reading →
The Czar has read the President’s speech, which of course was posted far too late for schools to do anything about it. The Mandarin is aware of some school districts—and the Czar has similary heard—that school principals are saying “Screw … Continue reading →
Well, as you have likely heard by now, the Secretary of Education is pulling back on the Obama-related activities students are to partake in before, during, and after his address to the youth of America. Oh, and as ‘Puter reminded … Continue reading →
Download: Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sent a letter to all school principals that POTUS Obama will speak to school children on September 8 on an unprecedented internet feed. Millons of school children will stop their day, gather in classrooms … Continue reading →
This is a fascinating and deeply troubling graphic, if true: (Source with extensive discussion. Via Jonah on the Corner.) The Œc. Vol. has frequently thought—anecdotally—that something like this is the case. A whole range of explanations suggest themselves, but Confucius* … Continue reading →
Your Mandarin is old enough to remember when it was an honor and a privilege for the best and brightest students to be awarded an appointment to one of our nation’s military academies. Upon graduation these young men and women … Continue reading →
Not As Good As You Think: The Myth of the Middle-Class School Buy it here. Confucius, Œc. Vol.Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu. gormogons.com
Continue reading →Gormogons Follower Djinifer writes in, in re “Oh Brother”, noting the Czar: …quotes one parent as saying, “Our schools are a reflection of our community and world…From a very early age, children should see what exists in the world.” Yeah … Continue reading →
In another stunning case of liberal fascism (click on the tag below for more), Alameda USD parents are outraged that a new anti-bullying effort will begin teaching children as young as five all about the lesbian, gay, and transgendered community. … Continue reading →
The highly excitable and sometimes brilliant Steve Sailer gets the universal pre-K hoax half right in his post here. Sailer posits the universal pre-K push is (1) a racist scheme to take poor, black children from their parent(s) and (2) … Continue reading →
President Obama and the Democrat controlled Congress effectively have killed the D.C. Public School System’s voucher program. What’s worse is that President Obama’s Department of Education withheld the results of a study until after Congress acted to kill the program. … Continue reading →
POTUS Obama has a plan to fix the American public school system. The Царица, by the way, is a public school teacher, and reacted quite negatively to this plan. Her opinion is that the Obama plan penalizes good teachers by … Continue reading →
…echoes the Volgi. Flattering for the Volgi, bad for America. “…The markets’ recent precipitous decline is a reaction not just to the absence of any plausible bank rescue plan, but also to the suspicion that Obama sees the continuing financial … Continue reading →
Magnus Linklater (member of The Gormogons’ All Name Team) writing in The Times (of London) today states the inconvenient truth behind England’s current educational philosophy, which truth is equally applicable on this side of the Atlantic. Mr. Linklater notes that … Continue reading →
