The State of the Union

Some Missing Chapters are in OrderHarry Wong’s chinty little masterpiece — masterful in covering up the unseemly aspects of public education — needs another set of chapters on the ins and outs — mostly, outs — of teaching.Here is a sampling of headings that I…

Schools Do not Allow Teachers to Be EffectiveI bought into the rhetoric.I liked the idea that teaching did not have to be too difficult.Like many other teachers who had been in the profession, the teachers whom I had visited in the local schools where I had attended,…

“The First Day of School” is a best-seller in the education training business.I received a copy of this book the first day of teacher credential school.At South East High School in South Gate, the lead teacher who wanted to prepare us for the next academic…

Los Angeles, an admirable move,even if he did not shore up enough votes for the GOP primary.He has spoken with students of color in urban charter schools. Minorities arethe most adversely affected by the statist status quo monopoly of government schools,controlled by…

“Dropout Factories””Dropout Factories” “Dropout Factories” certainly describes the failing schools throughout Los Angeles, where a disturbing number of freshman enter, but they do not receive a diploma. According to a study…

The City of Gardena wants to limit the sale of single cigars within its city limits.Is there no puritanical cause that municipal governments will avoid embarking on?Granted, cigar smoking is a nasty habit, in some cases more dangerous than smoking cigarettes, but city…

I used to hate hearing this phrase muttered by some utterly disrespectful students:”He’s weak!”They usually said this to intimidate me, to shame because I had no qualms about calling security to remove an unruly student from class.The two times I…

Oversimplified Attack on the Supreme CourtI do not accept Political Cartoonist Michael Ramirez’ take on the Roberts Court’s ruling on ObamaCare.I believe that the conservative coalitions in this country will look back five years from now and applaud John…

Romney in Fighting FormI think most of the American voters are sick and tired of politicians who think that they can play Superman and Santa Claus all wrapped up in one politician.Mitt Romney has put off many — including the current writer, who admittedly…

John Taylor Gatto“God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” (Psalm 7: 11)John Taylor Gatto is one of the most vetted and sought-after experts in public education.He slogged through thirty years of New York public schools,…

Allan BloomAllan Bloom (September 14, 1930 – October 7, 1992) is one of the most fruitful and resplendent scholars in modern American Academia.He passed away almost twenty years ago, yet his work “The Closing of the American Mind” (1987) still inspires and…

http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=_W6-5GG_7m8From the first day in office, the Republicans have given the president ample opportunity to cut the spending, slash deficits, and decrease the national debt.Waxman and company have pursued policies guaranteed to explode…

John Donne (January 1572 — March 1631 )Out of a fired ship, which by no wayBut drowning could be rescued from the flame,Some men leap’d forth, and ever as they came Near the foes’ ships, did by their shot decay;So all were lost, which in the ship…

and get them on my side!”She saw student challenges as bread for the eating. I learned to change my attitude to those threats.One young lady was a real piece of work. She was a brazen young one, who had no problem pushing people aside to make a point. Once, she…

Death Be Not Proud — John Donne (1572 — 1631)Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrowDie not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.From rest and…

http://www. youtube. com/watch? feature=player_embedded&v=xxLNKnLaDG8For any taxpayer who manifests even a bare interest in how his or her federal taxdollars are spent, no admission could be more disturbing or frustrating the Waxman’s fluster comment to…

Thou canst not then be false to any man. (Hamlet, I, iii)What an example of pressed and hurrried fatherly advice, yet the chain of maxims and epithets does more to expose the folly and naivete of an old courtier mimicking the plain platitudes of royal court life…

Paraphrasing Alphaville’s hit “Forever Young”, Redondo Beach Unified Superintendent StevenKeller remarked about his district’s looming budget concerns: “We always planfor the worst and hope for the best.” Ouryouth should not be…

Anywhere Out of the World This life is a hospital where every patient is possessed with the desire to change beds; one man would like to suffer in front of the stove, and another believes that he would recover his health beside the window. It always seems to me that I…

Speech from Charlie Chaplin’s ‘The Great Dictator’ I am tired of populists who look to ensnare the souls and minds of human beings, as if appealing to their sense of self tied in with their meaning in a group will liberate man from his present…

Russian-Jewish dissident Natan Sharansky implored his fellow Israelis to look beyond their domestic differences and remember their common heritage and dedication to each other and the Jewish state. They may not agree with their different views on foreign and domestic…

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute…

He was the closest to Christ, the only disciple who stayed with Jesus, even as He hung on the Cross. Jesus commissioned him to take care of His earthly mother. Five times (the number of grace), John describes Himself as the “disciple whom Jesus loved”….

He lost his momentum one month into his campaign last year, when the GOP voters realized that he could not communicate effectively. He stumbled in debate after debate, quickly attempting to recover the surge of enthusiasm that he has initially harnessed when he…

Despite the Republican-backed welfare reform package that President Bill Clinton signed in 1996, and despite the steep drop in welfare cases in the Golden State, California still had to shoulder the largest burden, in which one third of national welfare recipients…