I heard that Robert Bob was fired from his job in D.C. and replaced with Michelle Rhee.
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When Mayor Fenty [[ who by the way is around the same age, maybe younger than Kwame Kilpatrick) took over the schools he fired the president of the school board Mr. Bobb, There school board is appointed not elected then made Michelle Rhee his chancellor for the schools thereby giving her almost unlimited political cover much like what Mr. Bobb has here.
Store managers just have to get customers into their stores. No one wants to be given the hard sell about every or any product on sale. Stores offer enticements like discounts and free chatchkies. Doctors and hospitals have patients who have the same goal as they, the improvement of their health and/or physical condition. Schools don't. Schools work with minors who are influenced by their families and neighborhoods. Some minors can be enticed by praise; others not so much. There is only so much food enticements teachers can hand out. Students don't all learn at the same rate. I've been substituting in a first grade class as a parapro this past week, and I'd say that of the six and one-half hours of school at least thirty minutes is devoted to maintaining order every day. And this is with teachers working together so that children who are doing something inappropriate can be sent to the class next door. This teacher has children who range from one with cerebral palsy and one who may have a touch of Asperger's. Some families can afford to go on field trip type vacations; others can't. Working with children is a very complicated process and should not be compared to making widgets on an assembly line.
I can't believe the amount of angst that accompanies the closing of an elementary school. It's as though people live in a fantasy world where the cold reality of delining enrollment can be ignored. Detroit appears to have too many people whose first response to a situation they don't like is to get very angry.
Another school issue.
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/school_lunch_meat/
"...A recent investigation by USA Today found that the meat sold to U.S. school cafeterias faces less testing and lower safety standards than the meat that's served in most fast-food restaurants -- outlets that aren't otherwise known for their health consciousness and are as cost-conscious as the most passionate deficit hawk."
There's a petition to sign.
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireles...?currentPage=1
And it looks like schools could invest in netbooks instead of the big desktops for older students.
Here's an economics lesson instead of just learning about opportunity costs.
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/index-flash.html