Ohhh, So That’s What’s Happening….

If you are like me traveling through this interchange is exciting since with every commute, and nightly lane closure, something new and different has been erected.

It has gotten hard with all the complexity, to visualize just where each bridge and ramp will lead…

Hope this helps… It does make one proud of Delaware, … “where roads get thought out first…..”

Teacher Evaluation Quirks

There is a lot of mistrust between teachers and the Race To The Top administration.

Most of that comes down to testing, and evaluating a teacher based on her students.

One might think that would be ideal.  If you don’t teach well, you shouldn’t be a teacher.  “You are the weakest link,… Goodbye!”

However with teaching is it not so easy.  I’ll give you one example, which I sincerely hope never occurs.  It is so horrible, but it demonstrates a weak link in the process so I’m using it as an example anyway.

If you are the teacher, and every day your students get sodomized while they are at home,  how can anyone teach with that?

“Oh, she’s a bad teacher; look at her test results;  look at her students, none of them are engaged.  They are all in their own little world.”  Let’s fire this one.

Now do you get it?  How can anyone be a successful teacher in that environment?  You are getting so fired.

Perhaps they weren’t sodomized. Perhaps instead they didn’t eat the whole time they were away?   Or perhaps they saw their neighbor get beat up on the street, eye hanging out of his socket?  Or perhaps they were kept up with screaming, and sounds of fist hitting faces?

And the next day they are in front of you in relative safety, the memories burning on their cortex, and you are explaining the  executive branch of government….  “Excuse me, I (the teacher) asked you a question;  if you aren’t going to pay attention, you have to leave.”  “I ain’t leavin”… Yes you are! You haven’t paid attention since you came in.  Get out, now, take your books, go to compulsory.  You are ruining the educational experience for all these kids.  What’s wrong with you kids these days.  You won’t have a future because you won’t pay attention; you won’t learn..”

(Evaluator watching over the internet notes:  failed to control classroom;  creates incident unnecessarily)…

Teachers can’t win, and that is why there is such animosity to this system created in some office by someone wholly unfamiliar with what goes on in a student’s world.   They think everyone today is growing up just like they  grew up, white in a small all white town,  with a church on every corner…

Furthermore, because these evaluations were thought-out in an office somewhere, there are a rather large number of inconsistencies.

We suddenly have German  and French teachers being rated by how the Spanish teacher did, because there is no evaluator knowing German or French and tests were not created to measure them.  We have the drivers-ed teacher, being rated by how the Physical Education and Health department test out.

Usually the rubrics used to rate teachers, are 1 – 5.   One thing that could assist in the roll out of these new evaluatory programs, would be  that instead of manipulating data to cover the inconsistencies, you simply put down a “5 rating” anywhere there is something that is out of line.

Teachers are worried they will get screwed.  If you do the opposite,  and just hand out 5’s whenever there is a category that can’t be evaluated, much of the anger will ebb and disappear.  Teachers don’t want free high scores; they want to show they can teach well.   Putting these 5’s in place of items completely out of their control, alleviates the fear and stress that something over which they have no control, will make them unemployed.

Later, as the fact finders pick through these fives throughout the evaluation process, the inconsistencies become apparant, they jump right out at  you. The following year you can develop actions that match and test those areas in a fair way.

Seeing the problems Tennessee had with their teacher’s evaluations,  should Delaware just put down 5’s and announce this policy ahead of time,  would make life so much easier for all involved.

Remember, the total score is not what this accountability session is all about.   Keeping good teachers is what this accountability session is all about….  When kids have good teachers, sometimes despite the problems I mentioned above, … a good teacher can somehow, someway, in a way no test can ever determine,  find that secret hidden passage and finally get through to them…

In Order To Form A Better Consistent Partnership In Education

The Delaware Department of Education has launched an anonymous online survey called “TELL Delaware,” using Race to the Top money.

Educators have until February 15th to take the survey with the results being finalized in March. The state is seeking a 50-percent response rate at each school to get the best data.

I entreat all educators. This is important. This is the opportunity to get your statements out there. I believe 50% is an gross underestimate. I would encourage every teacher to strive for a 100% compliance among your peers. Yes, teachers, you may have to ride your fellow teachers. Every teacher should make it a personal goal, that every teacher they know, turns in their online survey…..

Why?

Across this nation education is racing forward. Giant sums of private investment are becoming available to help education. This has never happened on this scale in your lifetimes. The problem is that those who best know their children, up to now, have been shut out.

Research has finally caught up. It is now apparent that national testing measures nothing more than whether or not a person passed a test. The knowledge normally and previously required to score well on such tests, are missing… We are training nothing more than how to pass a test.

Teachers teach because it is their love. Each of you has not only an opportunity to express your beliefs, but an obligation….

You need to be a part of how Delaware education goes forward…. You NEED to be a part….

Here is how you should approach it. Remember 100% response rate!

Read the online survey questions.
Think about it for a while.
Isolate your top idea on how to better get through to your kids.
Do the survey and send.

I do want to caution you that the less wordy you are on your survey, the less heart your pour into the sidelines, and bylines, the better your survey will be.

Surveys are data collectors. There may be hundreds of ideas, many of them the same. The survey will isolate the top three… There is a good chance that out of all the Delaware teachers taking the survey (remember the 100% return rate) those concerns rising to the top, will be the best one. After all, if teachers the state-over have many of the same concerns, then addressing those concerns can only help children. Correct?

Now just in case this is a ploy or trick, I would recommend that notification be sent to the DSEA so we have two counts of the number of surveys sent. If the Department were to say their pool was 1100 and the DSEA had 4400 who acknowledged filling out the survey, we would instantly know cherry picking of the results was taking place to skew the results.

I caution the Department of Education. The idea of this survey is to find a way where teaching and corporate funding can co-exist in a way that helps education… In a way that improves learning. If you fudge your figures and the children continue to show no improvement, then money is wasted for no good…

The point is to find a way where teachers and investment can focus their resources on their children, and not quibble back and forth in stalemate. We need to focus on the children.

I have my own theories but they don’t belong here. 8,000 Teachers across this state have an average of 8 years of teaching. That is an average 64,000 years of experience…. Hmmm if we went back in time, it would be 62,000 BC, about the time mankind went down to one woman and built back up to what it is now…. All that teaching experience is now being tapped to combine with corporate money and invested in our schools.

If you care about teaching even the slightest, this is an opportunity not to be missed…. It is the chance of a lifetime to make a real difference…. If Delaware succeeds, then every child across America will one day get the full benefit.

Police To Obama: “Bout Time!

It seem that no matter what Obama does these days he always comes out on the right side of the issue, and the Republicans always look like a bad live skit off Saturday Night Live….. You know, the ones so bad you just laugh at the fart noises?

Today the International Association of Chiefs of Police released the following statement…..

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) commends President Obama and Vice President Biden for the comprehensive package of proposals they announced to combat gun violence. The IACP believes that the proposals and actions reflect an effective, balanced approach to addressing the plague of gun violence in our communities and nation. As this process moves forward, the IACP will continue to work with the Administration, members of Congress, and public safety leaders across the country to enact these much needed reforms.

For many years, the IACP has been a leading voice in efforts to reduce gun violence. Our membership was, and remains, a leading proponent of universal background checks for gun purchases, the ban on military style assault weapons, high capacity magazines, and ensuring that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) has both a permanent director and sufficient resources to enforce our nation’s gun laws. The adoption of these, and other reasonable measures, will certainly assist in reducing the level of gun violence in our Nation.

Doesn’t that make David Anderson, Don Ayotte, Frank Knotts, Jon Moseley, all anti-police? Hey, wait a minute… One of those is an elected official for the city of Dover, and he is anti police? Hmm, he is running this year… I wonder if his constituents know it, ..that their active council person seeking a third term is anti police?

You can’t be for no regulation on guns, and be pro police.

Puff The Magic Dragon

Between 2010 and 2011, California experienced a drastic 20 percent decrease in juvenile crime–bringing the underage crime rate to the lowest level since the state started keeping records in 1954.

1954.

In that one-year period, the number of arrests for violent crimes dropped by 16 percent, homicide went down by 26 percent and drug arrests decreased by nearly 50 percent.

The vast majority of the drop resulted from far fewer arrests for marijuana possession…..

California’s 2010 law did not legalize marijuana, but it officially knocked down “simple” possession of less than one ounce to an infraction from a misdemeanor–and it applies to minors, not just people over 21. Police don’t arrest people for infractions; usually, they ticket them. And infractions are punishable not by jail time, but by fines–a $100 fine in California..

The study, entitled “California Youth Crime Plunges to All-Time Low” and released by the San Francisco-based Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, looked at the number of people under the age of 18 who were arrested in the state over the past eight decades.

It appears it took a while for America to get smart. While experiencing the enlightenment of marijuana….. kids aren’t committing violent crimes…

It is time to reduce juvenile crime across the entire country…..

2000

This is post number 2000.

The only real significance is it is 150 posts more than where Tommywonk stopped exactly one year and fifteen days ago…

If some future historian looks back, I can only guess they may kindly make some note of the quality of thought that underlies these efforts, but my guess, is no one will ever notice…

Irregardless, as long as the urge to put thoughts down for others continues, we will go on. As usual, with no goal, no direction, and no ulterior motive. Probably upon reflection, my biggest surprise, right here, right now … is that I still enjoy it so much, and can’t wait to jot my thoughts down, click the button, and send them off to where ever cyberspace and the vast internet ocean, lets them drift….

For each of you who have become regular over the years, … thank you friend…

At What Price, Loyality?

This is going to my hard core Republican friends. Why are you still supporting Romney?

1) You know he is not going to win.
2) You know as the election heats up, his Bain Capital experience will make Republicans untouchable for decades.
3) You can’t pin down where Romney stands on anything.
4) He tied his dog to a car.
5) He stands with black people and says “Who let the dogs out, woof, woof.”

Most of you are telling me, “I certainly can’t vote for Obama. I guess I’m not voting for President this time.”

Let’s say, just for argument sakes there was a presidential candidate out there who says to have good government you need: …………………

1. Become reality driven. Don’t kid yourself or others.
Find out what’s what and base your decisions and actions
on that.

2. Always be honest and tell the truth. It’s extremely
difficult to do any damage to anybody when you are
willing to tell the truth–regardless of the
consequences.

3. Always do what’s right and fair. Remember, the more
you actually accomplish, the louder your critics become.
You’ve got to learn to ignore your critics. You’ve got to
continue to do what you think is right. You’ve got to
maintain your integrity.

4. Determine your goal, develop a plan to reach that
goal, and then act. Don’t procrastinate.

5. Make sure everybody who ought to know what you’re
doing knows what you’re doing. Communicate.

6. Don’t hesitate to deliver bad news. There is always
time to salvage things. There is always time to fix
things. Henry Kissinger said that anything that can be
revealed eventually should be revealed immediately.

7. Last, be willing to do whatever it takes to get your
job done. If you’ve got a job that you don’t love enough
to do what it takes to get your job done, then quit and
get one that you do love, and then make a difference.

Honesty. Integrity. Principal.

Sounds good so far. Let us say just for argument, he had chief executive experience. Let us say just or argument that he once ran a state, one of the fifty in this union. Let us say while governor, this is what he did…..

During his tenure, New Mexico experienced the longest period without a tax-increase in the state’s entire history.

1) He cut the rate of government growth in half,

2) Left the New Mexico state government with a budget surplus and 1000 fewer employees (without firing anyone),

3) Privatized half of the prisons in the state,

4) Brought a state-wide school voucher system to New Mexico.

5) Vetoed 750 bills (more than all the vetoes of the other 49 Governors in the country at that time, combined) with only 2 overrides, earning him the nickname Gary “Veto” Johnson.

6) In 1999, Johnson became the highest-ranking elected official in the United States to advocate the legalization of drugs.

7) Shifted Medicaid to managed care.

ISN’T THAT WHAT YOU WANT? ISN’T THAT WHAT WE NEED?

Can you not think of a better way to show your lack of enthusiasm over a wealthy capitalist buying his way to the top of your ticket, by voting for someone who has character, who does what you’ve always wanted, a doer, not a talker?

And to think…. you were simply just going to throw your vote away.

His name is Gary Johnson. He is the new party’s candidate for President.

Remember Republicans. It is your values that are important. If your party has given up and moved on from your values, don’t think you have to be loyal to the word…. “Republican”… What you have to be loyal too, is yourself. Always. Never lie to yourself.

You don’t need to waste your vote on Romney. You probably need to find more about this guy, Gary Johnson, and then throw your support behind him.

Don’t worry it is not one of the two parties on whose ticket he is running. Remember, at one point in time, the Republican Party was a once a third party too. One that went mainstream because of its core values, its principles resonated with everyday American People.

Delaware Libertarian’s New Code Name Is…….

Jockstrap….

I just couldn’t help but notice he supports almost every Johnson. (Even ones with Swiss spellings… Johansen ….)

Lol…

Nasty Boys: New Castle County Schoolboard Elections

To understand this year’s New Castle County School Board Elections you need to see

….

The DSEA has always sponsored candidates for school board elections. And usually there was little opposition. After all?  What crazy parent would run or even vote against his child’s teacher or that candidate who she was supporting?

Crazy….

Except that this organization supporting those hard working people called teachers… is a union….

And unions, are bad for business, or so says….Marvin N. “Skip” Schoenhals, head of WSFS Bank…( a good bank btw, one that did not make the mistake and sidestepped around the hole Wilmington Trust fell headfirst into…)

As Delaware Libertarian points out, at the state Chamber of Congress dinner, “Skip” To My Lou stood up and said…. ” Unions are bad… they hamper progress….” a statement subsequently verified by the News Journal.

So…. are these nasty school board elections about kids?  HA, HA, HA, HA, HA…..

No, it is about busting up unions… And the easiest ones to bus up, are the ones paid for with taxpayer’s funds..  After all, you can’t blame the corporation for making way too much money at the expense of workers, when it is  “WE, the people”  ourselves who are paying all the salaries…

Ingenious. Kill the unions that are publicly funded, then… use that success to get rid of union rights all together… ‘Tis a consummation, devoutly to be wished!”…

Wisconsin, did that. Indiana, did that. Ohio, didn’t quite do that, they voted no.

When a businessman or government official proposes to do away with a union, he is saying this; make them work for less so all that extra money comes to me… Pure and simple.

In real life outside Republican fantasy world,  the converse is actually true. If you have too much money to spend wisely, you should be investing that excess in the local economy. If you aren’t doing it willingly, then we, this county’s citizens,  should do it for you….

Ever wonder what $1 Billion extra dollars dropped into little ole Delaware’s economy each quarter, would do for unemployment? For sales? For profits?  For salary increases?  For your bank account?  For your alimony payment (ok, don’t go there)?

That’s what unions do. Instead of companies making $4 billion in profit a year and sucking it out of the local economy, a company, because of union negotiations, now takes only $3.9 billion out of the economy but that $100 million in union scale wages, goes right into our dealerships, our banks, our grocery stores, our restaurants, and our movie theaters, not to mention Christiana and Concord shopping malls.

That’s what unions do. They shave off a bigger piece of the pie, and let that shaving percolate upward through our economy.   Of course, “Skip” gets all  mopey because he no longer gets his 10% commission off that $100 million, (THAT’S  $10 MILLION DOLLARS to the non-mathematically inclined).. so he’s all sad-faced. (Well, in his defense, I’d be mopey if I didn’t get $10 million dollars)…

So the reason, this school board elections are being run by Nasty Boys?… Unions.

Would this much money be spent just to help the kids know right from wrong (I mean right from left (lol really I mean “wrong” from left))?  If you really believe it, then why do these new PAC supporters avidly and vocally complain about how much their school tax assessment (far less than they are spending to rig the school boards) is for Delaware’s education?

Just stop… and think…. for a moment…. (and count the ellipses…. lol….)

Isn’t there something sinister, when a company or single individual complains vociferously about being taxed too much for schools, then throws that much doubled, into stacking the school board with people who will do away with unions?

Ahhhhhh… now the nastiness on both sides… makes sense…..

And did you ever stop to wonder why no one has seen or heard of Janet Jackson, ever since Michael Jackson died?

Check the link again…..

Shout Out To UD For Great Research….

Topic: Does News Coverage Affect our Perceptions of a Candidate?

Or, better put, does what we are exposed to, affect us?

Duh……

Does your mother have any influence over the way you feel?
Is your religion affected by the beliefs of your church?
Are you motivated in a certain academic sort of way, because of a person you had as a teacher?

Maybe this is new to young people… But some of us can remember the horror as Khrushchev began denouncing Joesph Stalin, and the atrocities began emerging from someone most saw as a saint….. The same can be said with the wailing and gnashing of teeth, over the loss of North Korea’s “beloved” leader…

Some can remember recent stories of a certain young man, who went to Africa and came back as a sort of Marxist….

Some of us can remember Alex Keaton, a character on the show Family Ties during the 80’s, who in his youth, inspired a long line of future Republicans and business leaders….

So, unless we have been debriefed before, being exposed to something, obviously will affect our viewpoint…. Duh… Which is why, Democrats perfer multiple viewpoints so truth gets out, and Republicans who fear the truth, prefer only a single viewpoint ….

Duh, again…

Needless to say, the research herein, it exciting to political junkies, because it is something we all live… Their use of the Daily Show as one of the control groups, is a stroke of genius….

Since I was fascinated, i thought you might be as well…….