New Research: Taking the SAT In A Crowded Room Means Lower Scores – NurtureShock Blog – Newsweek.com

There is a bit about Arkansas in this one. Students in rural states do better on SAT.

New Research: Taking the SAT In A Crowded Room Means Lower Scores – NurtureShock Blog – Newsweek.com.

Filed under: Arkansas, Education

Tulsa World: Oral Roberts hospitalized near Southern California home

I didn’t know he was still alive.

Tulsa World: Oral Roberts hospitalized near Southern California home.

Filed under: Education

Obama speech FORBIDDEN, an important message from Pat Lynch to children, students, young people

Dear youngsters,

Your parents and other important and VERY SMART adults have made a decision for your well being. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you comply with this rule. There will be no exceptions.

The scheduled school speech by President Obama is OFF LIMITS. You are STRICTLY FORBIDDEN to view, hear, or read any transcript of this speech. Responsible adults agree that the contents of this speech will have long term and gravely detrimental effects on your moral, spiritual, intellectual and economic development.

As adults, it is our right and obligation to determine what is best for your young minds. We don’t generally care about murder and violent sex acts depicted in your music, but this is beyond any possible redemptive value. You are NOT to view the President’s speech which some school districts will transmit next week.

We understand that you will be strongly tempted, and perhaps strongly inclined, to view this video on You Tube or to download it from some other internet site. This is not to be allowed and any such action on your part will constitute AN ACT OF DIRECT DISOBEDIENCE TO THOSE IN AUTHORITY OVER YOU.

We, as responsible adults, expect your complete acceptance and compliance with this DIRECT ORDER. Again, there will be no exceptions, so don’t bother asking.

Filed under: Education, National politics

Jacksonville Elementry School inspection raises health and safety concerns

And these are the people who want to form their own district. Or they might say that this kind of occurance is why some want a new district. North Little Rock Times has the report.

An inspection of Jacksonville Elementary School by Jacksonville city code enforcement officers revealed “multiple safety and health violations,” according to an Aug. 11 letter to Pulaski County Special School District signed by Martin J. Sanady, senior building inspector for the city of Jacksonville.

Filed under: Education

Little Rock School District declared Unitary (again)

Unless the full Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals or the U. S. Supreme Court says otherwise, the deseg lawsuit is over. It has been a constant fact of life for all of the 25 years I have lived in Arkansas – even longer for some of you.

Since the district has become a majority black district and lost much of the support previously enjoyed from a core of dedicated parents and the business community. The present board, sadly, is taking the district off to total ruin.

And don’t try to convince yourself that my commentary is somehow tinted by an ill racial motive. The truth is the truth. Instead of working with the white minority, the black majority of the board has taken its new status as “pay back” time. As always, the students lose.

Let me also add that the behavior of white board members is frequently insensitive and detached. I really don’t mean to take up sides.

This stuff really matters because a generation of black youngsters, many of them very talented and capable, are being robbed by the division in the administration. Little Rock deserves better.

So here we are. No more court supervision. One less convenient scapegoat.

This should mean the end of lawyer fees and closing the office of Metropolitan Superintendent of Desegregation – or whatever they call it. Perhaps there will be fewer paychecks in administration. Good.

A lot of good people worked very hard to see this day. Oma Jacovelli did not live to enjoy it. Skip Rutherford  is one of the more notable school board presidents. He has a big smile today, I promise. Eugene Revelle from Buffalo, New York is not around to comment. He was as good a politician as Roy Brooks is incapable of that art of persuasion.

For me, the glass is always half empty.

The district will get less state deseg money and there is no particular reason to think that peace is going to break out among board members.

John Walker will sue till the last white student finally departs. He is a great man, but way off base on this one. He will lose.

On balance, a good day for education in Arkansas.

Filed under: Arkansas, Commentary, Education, Little Rock

Keeping those priorities straight

More academic whining from the unnecessary appendage of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Good grief! It’s just the debate team. The Traveler files the report.

Imagine an Arkansas athletic team that has beaten Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Marquette and is considered to be the class of the Southeastern Conference. Now imagine that team worrying about not being able to go to the national tournament next year – not for lack of talent but because they cannot afford to travel to the tournament. Welcome to the world of the Arkansas debate team.

Filed under: Arkansas, Education

Self-dealing in St. Francis County? Nah…..

This one is a doozie from the Times-Herald. It would seem that one of the beneficiaries of a summer program had a financial interest in one of the companies that got paid for it. Now, I knwo this seems far fetched in sedate St. Francis County. You may read the story and judge for yourself.

Among the discrepancies are two out-of-state field trips, one to Washington, D.C., and the other to Atlanta, along with the use of the Zachary Elderly Foundation to provide services for the program. “The Zachary Elderly Foundation made travel arrangements for the trip to Atlanta and provided services to the 21st CCLC Program. The site coordinator for both the 21st CCLC programs in Forrest City, is the founder of the Zachary Elderly Foundation. Having a business relationship with this foundation is a violation of the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR).”

If you read on you will see that, due to the severity of the infraction, ADE demands full repayment. Good for them

Did heads roll? The District is not saying, but we know in the historic home of Coolidge Conley, jusice will be swift and sure.

Filed under: Arkansas, Commentary, Education