Thank a Teacher's Union

Its all for the kids

The old feeder has had a splitting sinus headache all day today. The barometer has been changing too fast for my crusty old cranial pressure equalization systems. Then again my headache might have been caused by one of the first news items I saw early this morning. The USA Today headline: Teens losing touch with common cultural and historical references. Here is an excerpt:

Among 1,200 students surveyed:

• 43% knew the Civil War was fought between 1850 and 1900.
• 52% could identify the theme of 1984.
• 51% knew that the controversy surrounding Sen. Joseph McCarthy focused on communism.

In all, students earned a C in history and an F in literature, though the survey suggests students do well on topics schools cover.

When I hear stories like this, I feel very little hope for a future filled with hope. Save us O great Bama! Give us hope. And some change, too.

Omaha Public Schools - always on the ball

Who is watching the coop?

The taxpayer supported Omaha Public School retirement fund has been writing checks to a retired teacher that died almost 20 years ago. She was Winifred Brinker, and taught for 17 years at OPS, retiring in 1980. The $120,000 in payments made since her death in 1988 were electronically deposited to an American National Bank account.

Compound interest should have fattened that amount to a tidy sum by now. Unless, of course, it isn't there. The bank needed a court order to open up the account; I don't know the results yet. OPS spokeswoman Luanne Nelson said they were still "in the discovery process." Read: "We don't have a clue."

The Omaha World Herald had the details here, last time I looked. Unless they have changed their ways, the OWH will try to make you pay to read it after a few days. If you are in Omaha, you aren't supposed to read about Winifred here: Not For Online Use In Omaha Market. Any wonder why newspapers are going broke?

I gather that the stewards of OPS' retirement money just wait to be informed that a payee is deceased. Maybe they read the obituaries, maybe they don't. Winifred Brinker's obit appeared in the OWH:

Brinker's obituary advertisement ran in The World-Herald on May 19, 1988. And her death certificate was filed with Douglas County vital statistics the day after her death. OPS officials had no answers as to why they weren't aware, or made aware, of Brinker's death.

The same OPS is the steward of our children's' educations. Private schools ought to get our tax money. These bureaucrats posing as educators have no incentive to do anything right. No incentive to teach to a standard, no incentive to provide guidance and leadership, and no incentive to keep an eye on the bottom line. The taxpayers are their constant cash cow and the kids are their victims.

Fed Up in Belmond, Iowa

The Good Old Days

The Belmond-Klemme School Board reacts to the teachers' frustrations after a high school student spit on a teacher recently. They were frustrated because the only punishment they could mete out to the little miscreant was a 3 day suspension. From the Belmond Independent:

"How do you tolerate behavior that is despicable?" boardmember Steve Tenold asked.

School administrators had little recourse. The student was suspended for three days and then transferred to the alternative school. Superintendent David Sextro said he took the matter to County Attorney Eric Simonson who refused to file charges. The boy has since been heard bragging about the incident, and saying how pleased he was to be in the alternative school.

"I would have dropped that kid in a heartbeat," president Jim Swenson said, and boardmember Claude Post agreed. "My reaction would have been to jack the kid, and that is one of the reasons I had to get out of teaching," Post said.

"What do we have to do to provide protection to our teachers and staff?" Tenold asked.
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Sextro pointed out that special education students can only be suspended for a total of 10 days during one school year. "When they took corporal punishment away from schools, they really hurt us," Sextro said.

"I think we want stronger discipline," Swenson commented. Post added that Frakes has done a good job restoring discipline over the past two years, but that is time to "take it to the next level."

My italics. The old feeder partied at Cow College with some cats from Belmond. I remember them because they had gone home when the tornado of 1966 hit the town, and came back with lurid stories of the damage.