MY RECENT POSTS
- Oregon Ed Reform: Learning
from the Sordid Penn State
Saga
October 10, 2012 11:07AM - Dear Oregon Taxpayers:
October 08, 2012 01:03PM - Oregon D.A.S. explanation of
second-class citizenship
July 19, 2012 08:55PM - New Schools in Portland
("Weird" really means
"Innovative")
June 25, 2012 09:03AM - TEACHING IN THE SHADOW OF THE
SWOOSH 1997-2004
June 07, 2012 10:46PM
C. C Cinnamon's Links
Oregon Ed Reform: Learning from the Sordid Penn State Saga
The evil one is put away for 30 to 60 years. The next news of Sandusky will likely concern some attempt on his life.
The trial for our souls is the one that begins soon--the cover-up conspiracy involving former leaders of the Pennsylvania State University. Powerful men with enormous influence and… Read full post »
Dear Oregon Taxpayers:
Dear Taxpayers:
I arrived in Oregon in '97 with an honorable mention Teacher-of-the-Year from an education program at one of Kentucky's best eduction universities, Murray State, and with 25 years of experience working with deaf and hearing teens in public and private schools. Included
Oregon D.A.S. explanation of second-class citizenship
July 16, 2012
To Michael Jordan, chief operating officer
Oregon Dept of Administrative Services
Mr. Jordan:
New Schools in Portland ("Weird" really means "Innovative")
Portland (OR) Public School officials seek more money:
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/06/portland_school_bond_proposals.html
Where is an innovative alternative? The old school has deteriorated; no one disagrees. The question is not a choice between "Do we spend a lot of money repai… Read full post »
TEACHING IN THE SHADOW OF THE SWOOSH 1997-2004
A Video Trail of Memories
from one of the
Most Challenging and Rewarding Experiences of My Life
Beaverton OR School District #48
2000 Trevor Crowe and Eric Ball in Westview HS video production Dream Girl (original script) Segment directed by Sean McKeen
Rudy Crew Rides at the Oregon Education Rodeo
Rudy's Ride (go, rudy--btw: I used to work for the amherst regional schools long ago)
"Hope has Two Daughters: Anger and Courage." Saroyan
Any man who talks in metaphors has the soul of a poet, but it doesn't matter if Mr. Crew channels Shakespeare is he can't address the problems of a… Read full post »
To Peter Bhatia, OREGONIAN publisher
"Demon" Bill Sizemore vs. the OEA/PERS Juggernaut
I sat in a coffee shop on the east side of the river with a friend, a guy from Santa Cruz who had made a little independent movie I had a part in. He was a 30-something snowboarder-type, creative and hard-working, and his eyes glazed over when the subject of Bill… Read full post »
Hanna-pocrisy and the Oregon Education Investment Board
Governor Kitzhaber's Education PRE-form?
Thank God Mr. Saxton is capable of telling the truth: He didn't sign up to reinforce Oregon's current level of below-average schools and above-average PERS millionaires.
The hypothetical goal of graduating more students WILL BE MET because administrators will… Read full post »
We are NOT EAGER-EAGER-VERY EAGER to Reform Public Schools
Re: "How do we fairly measure teacher performance?" by R.P. "Joe" Smith
Hey, Joe: The metrics are vague here, counselor. Would the evaluators be using a continuum? Ordinal numbers? Are values weighted? I mean, was the teacher deemed VERY EAGER, or just EAGER, to "receive and try new ideas… Read full post »
The Insidious Cost of Public School Adminis-Traitors
Rick Pitino, the Clampetts, and Proximity to the OR Coast
I remember when "Slick Rick" Pitino first arrived in Kentucky to coach the Wildcats. He appeared in a commercial on top of the Paul Miller Ford dealership in a long shot on a windy day and, as the camera zoomed in, he spoke defiantly in "New Yawker" directly to us rednecks:… Read full post »
To Jerome Colonna, P.E.R.S. Joe Pa
"Hope has two daughters: Anger and Courage." Saroyan
To Jerome Colonna, BSD supt (ret.)
Jerry,
I m reading that the Westview ball field is undergoing some cosmetic repairs. You helped them get that field: Westview and Southridge will both sport new turf fields for the fall season
Oregon Ed Reform: Farts in a Limo
The Jeremy Lin phenomenon is thought-provoking for a lot of reasons.
Public education is under fire as wasteful and ineffective...and a lot of support is available for those kinds of arguments.
Evaluating teachers and testing students and holding administrators accountable are all on the table. To wh… Read full post »
Rabbit Hole Ed: But Lisa Is Leaving?
"Beaverton School Board has a Full Agenda..." by Wendy Owen The Oregonian
Like a family torn by unspoken shame, the Beaverton School Board will assemble publicly and behave as if all is well at home. A brave public face.
These folks, with vast influence and power over the livelihoods of so… Read full post »
Oregon Education Reform: Runnin' in the Deep
Re: "School reform: Real work begins after feds reject Oregon's plans"
by Susan Nielsen, associate editor The Oregonian Feb 16 2012
Ms. Nielsen is doing something that Oregon's Fourth Estate should have been doing for a long time. Too many schools in Oregon are top-heavy and overload… Read full post »
3 Imperative Clauses = Reform in Oregon Education
Re: "Behind Portland's dropout rate" Oregonian editorial board Jan 31, 2011
*First, drop your defenses.
*Second, publish all the data, even the embarrassing stuff.
*Third, build a district-wide strategy that is grounded in the individual relationships between adults and students.
In th… Read full post »
Rabbit Hole Ed: Reform Continuum
1. To change, we have to be different.
2. No one at the top is letting go easily. The phrase "mired in mediocrity" comes to mind.
3. We need something new.
4. We can't afford anything new, so we have to divide the "old" and let one part become "new."
5.… Read full post »
Welcome to Our School: Watch Your Back
Re: "Oregon schools: Floating on Lake Wobegon, soaked by the facts" January 22, 2012 by Susan Nielsen The Oregonian
They say there are two kinds of people: Scouts and settlers. If that is true, I would fall into the first category. Licensed to teach English in four states and a sign… Read full post »
Come West, Mayor Bloomberg!
Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, declared that we have to realize that "our schools are not an employment program' and… Read full post »
Rabbit Hole Ed: "Alas, the School Boards Sigh..."
"Alas," the school boards sigh.../"It's for the children!" they cry... /Then pay the lawyers to lie.
The Beaverton, Oregon (District 48) School Board got pretty famous for a while, with Nike moving in and all. Some of those folks became local celebrities. Same with some of the BSD superintendents at… Read full post »
Rent-Seeker of the Week: Vickie Chamberlain, T(d)S(d)PC
Aspiring U.S. Representative (?) Suzanne Bonamici
To Oregon Senator Suzanne Bonamici,
I have not received any correspondence from you in a long time and I have no way of knowing if you or Mr. Atkins read my frequent emails. I am sure enough of them have seemed “heated” for you to be disinclined but I assure you… Read full post »
Oregon's Judas PERSona
Letter from the editorial board of the Oregonian: " A Window into PERS"
When I read the editorial board's article about PERS, I first reacted with appreciation for clever use of the extended metaphor ("window...blinds" in the title lines),
Then I thought about the importance of what these w… Read full post »
Is Willie Lyles helping OR find school administrators, too?
Fernandez is like another administrator brought to the Portland area from Texas (why is Oregon finding BOTH football players AND school officials south of the Red River?) only to have their welcome wear out after a short, high-paid run.
"Portland schools' defense in lawsuit: Incompetence, not discrim… Read full post »
Kerry Lauerman
Joan Walsh
Salon.com