On Friday, teachers protested the California state budget cuts in Los Angeles, spending the first hour of the instructional day picketing and slowing traffic and leaving kids  to hang out for an hour on the athletic fields. The proposed budget cuts from Sacramento are draconian, rolling back gains that have been made in the past decade. Parents are getting into the act, too:

On the LAUSD superintendent's "warm plea" for parents not to support the action, because it will "hurt the kids":

And as for our kids? Well, not having teachers at all is what will hurt them far more than missing an hour of school. Sitting in airless, overcrowded trailers next year trying not to get left behind while yacht owners sail off into the tax free sunset is really going to hurt.

Us mommies are mad. We have baked and fund-raised, sold magazines and clocked in endless unpaid hours at our children's schools trying make up for previous budget cuts that have left us without teacher's aides, arts programs, working computers, you name it. We have labored beside these teachers collating handout pages and collecting money for field trips, serving snacks and writing grants and they have become our friends and collaborators. These are the people (not Brewer, nor Schwartzenegger) who are helping us to rear our children into informed, responsible citizens. Citizens who hopefully will have learned by our example that sometimes you have to stand up for what you believe in and do what is right, no matter what the cost or inconvenience.

I'm mad, too. They take and take and take. Schwartzenegger knows better. He knows this is important.

And if tomorrow's action isn't enough for you, then please join us in Sacramento on June 17th for the California Children's Rally Led by artist, activist and "Mother on Fire" Sandra Tsing Loh, this will be an historic event. Thousands of pissed-off moms, put-upon dads and their underserved children will converge on the capitol steps to protest these draconian cuts. But you won't hear adults making speeches. Instead the children will square dance and tell jokes, they will dress up and sing gold mining songs and construct a giant elephant out of trash. Together we will celebrate the creativity, brilliance and vast potential of California's public school children that is being jeopardized by these cuts. We will kick off the hootenanny tomorrow by standing shoulder to shoulder with our teachers, who are sacrificing an hour of well-deserved pay to fight for their future, the future of our children and the future of California itself.

I am currently in Preschool hell. My son Brady will be 4 this summer and for the past year he has been going to a Montessori school that I thought we would stick with next year.

Then I started to notice that I didn't really like the way the school was affecting his personality. At first I blamed it on phases, then thought, well I haven't been feeling well and he's picking up on it. Then I started talking to his other teachers more (school policy is that we mostly deal with the Directress) and realized that he's just not getting much out of it. It's not that it's a bad school, it just doesn't work for his personality and it's not helping him like school (which is why I chose a Montessori for my very independent little man). I've realized that he needs more structure than he's getting and a 5 day a week program.

Virginia does not have any state run Pre-K Programs and since I live in Pat Robertson (700 Club guy) central, most of my options are VERY Christian and those that aren't are VERY expensive and the hours offered don't justify the expense. Starting at this late date doesn't help, but I had this problem last year too and I started looking when he was only 18 months (to start school at 3). How do you guys handle this?

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        Why are our kids in K-12 so poor at math compared to other countries in the world?

The answer is not pretty, based on what I've seen going on in my district in Louisville, KY. Many of the factual details and links both on the Louisville and the national problems are presented in my recent diaries.

Here I will present two slide shows. One is a statement of what is so wrong about my school district's selection process including the following slide:
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More than mere rational discourse will be required in many districts around the country.

The second slideshow may provide some useful new ammunition for fighting for improved K-12 math education in your school. I have annotated in blue excerpts from the the advisory panel report to the U.S. Department of Education.  In many ways the report slams Reform Math.
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In California, parent organizations are doing everything they can to try to save teacher jobs, including attempts to raise extraordinary amounts of money. Ivanhoe Elementary, in the Los Angeles Unified School District, is attempting to raise $180,000 to save three teacher positions.

As Steve Lopez writes in the LA Times:

Get out your checkbooks, parents were told. All those wrapping-paper sales and pancake fundraisers wouldn't be enough. We could either pony up some hard cash, or see Ivanhoe's standing as one of L.A. Unified's best schools.

Pay $25, if that's all you can afford, Herman said. But he pointed up to a screen encouraging parents to dig a little deeper. Those three jobs can be saved, he said, if 80 parents contribute $250 apiece, 75 contribute $500, 50 fork over $1,000, 20 give $2,000 and six bust the bank with $5,000 contributions.

It's unconscionable. And of course, not every school has the resources to raise even $1800, let alone $180,000.

A Republican member of our school board was saying, gee, Gray Davis wasn't so bad after all. That's when you know things have gone mad.

Here is yet another list for you: Five jobs outside the cubicle as suggested by MSN careers. They are:

Construction management
Want to plan, direct and coordinate activities outside an office?  Construction managers do just that by managing the construction of buildings and other structures. While a bachelor's degree is typically required, most construction managers come from an engineering or architectural background, according to John McKeon, vice president of communications, Construction Management Association of America.  

Veterinary medicine
...After earning a bachelor's degree fulfilling vet school prerequisites, aspiring veterinarians enroll in a four-year veterinary school program before taking the required licensing exam. As for the most important skills?  "You need compassion and empathy for animals and the ability to interact well with people," (veterinarian Kimberly) May explains.

Nursing
...As for requirements, a two-year associate degree in nursing, a hospital diploma program, or a bachelor of science degree in nursing will suffice; upon completion, nurses take the NCLES-RN, a licensing exam.

Flight attendant
...After training in topics such as first aid, emergency procedures, federal aviation regulations and in-flight passenger service procedures, flight attendants earn the Federal Aviation Administration Certificate of Demonstrated Proficiency. Flight attendants must periodically attend retraining and pass an FAA safety exam to continue flying.

Teaching
...Bachelor's degrees are required, and state licensure and certification requirements differ by state.  Although teachers have their own "homework" throughout the year with various lesson plans and grading, there are at least two initial reasons to pursue this rewarding vocation: July and August.

Of course, the gazillion hours teachers put throughout the year more than makes up for two months of vacation -- if they can afford it. What are your experiences in these careers, MotherTalkers?

Guess what, MTs? The US isn’t the only place where frivolous lawsuits happen. A Melbourne father who sent his kids to the uber-posh, richy, richy, rich Brighton Grammar private school is suing them, well, I’ll let this article explain:

A FATHER whose twin sons flunked their final exams is demanding an elite private school repay up to $400,000 in fees.

Victorian Steven Weybury,  unhappy with his sons' VCE results, has challenged Brighton Grammar to refund the money spent educating his twins from kindergarten to year 12.

He has alleged his boys were humiliated by their VCE results.

Mr Weybury - a partner in a city law firm - claims he warned the school that his boys were headed for academic disaster in their final year and attempted to remove them at the end of year 11.

But school bosses persuaded him to let the boys stay on and assured him that they could cope emotionally and academically, he claims.

"The boys did not successfully complete year 12 in any respect," court documents allege.

"The boys obtained placements in courses of a type which did not require year 12 attendance."

Mr Weybury has sought a refund of fees paid for the boys between 1994 and 2007, as well as damages and legal costs.

"The plaintiff paid fees to (the school) for a total of 28 years in an amount of the region of $400,000," court documents allege.

"The lack of achievement of the boys in all areas considered important . . . confirms that the payment of fees were (sic) excessive and unnecessary."

The internet is already abuzz with commentary about a recent case involving a homeschooling family, where a California judge,  Justice H. Walter Croskey, wrote, "Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children."

And so people have taken that one line and started lining up on either side of the issue, with homeschooling advocates threatening to take it "all the way to the Supreme Court" and homeschooling foes apparently declaring some sort of victory. The defendant himself declared he believes the ruling stems from hostility against Christians and vowed to appeal to the state Supreme Court.

But when you look at the details of this case in context (which even some media didn't report), it changes the debate entirely:

LA Times

The appellate court ruling stems from a case involving Lynwood parents Phillip and Mary Long, who were repeatedly referred to the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services over various allegations, including claims of physical abuse, involving some of their eight children.

All of the children are currently or had been enrolled in Sunland Christian School, where they would occasionally take tests, but were educated in their home by their mother, Phillip Long said.

A lawyer appointed to represent two of the Long's young children requested that the court require them to physically attend a public or private school where adults could monitor their well-being. A trial court disagreed, but the children's lawyer appealed to the 2nd District Court of Appeal, which has jurisdiction over Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

The appellate panel ruled that Sunland officials' occasional monitoring of the Longs' home schooling -- with the children taking some tests at the school -- is insufficient to qualify as being enrolled in a private school. Since Mary Long does not have a teaching credential, the family is violating state laws, the ruling said.

"Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children," wrote Justice H. Walter Croskey in a Feb. 28 opinion signed by the two other members of the district court. "Parents who fail to [comply with school enrollment laws] may be subject to a criminal complaint against them, found guilty of an infraction, and subject to imposition of fines or an order to complete a parent education and counseling program."

Yesterday I wrote a diary on the NYT article discussing single sex public education alternatives.  I just had a chance to follow-up and read all of the comments and am still mulling the thoughts over. Thanks to everyone who shared!

To me there is no topic more important than education. My parents were big on education and I was blessed with a fabulous one so I am already finding it all too easy to stress out about how to provide an education for Campbell.

There was a fabulously interesting article in the NYT Magazine yesterday about a ground swell of support for gender segregation in public school classrooms.  I have to admit this was a concept I'd never really considered and would have probably dismissed without thought before reading the article.  But the article's citation of studies showing that girls and boys learn differently has left me curious - though not fully converted.

The Wall Street Journal has a fascinating article about the Finnish education system, which can boast of posting the highest overall scores in science, math and reading in a recent international comparison. (The U.S. scored just below average among 57 countries.) This is despite the fact that they eschew much of what we demand in our schools:

High-school students here rarely get more than a half-hour of homework a night. They have no school uniforms, no honor societies, no valedictorians, no tardy bells and no classes for the gifted. There is little standardized testing, few parents agonize over college and kids don't start school until age 7.

What's more, there's  no marching band, no prom, so sports. Just school. Notably, Finnish teachers are paid the rough equivalent of U.S. teacher salaries. How can this be?

I want to highlight one more education piece in Time. BTW, the entire series is worth a read!

The magazine neatly summarized the remaining (viable) four presidential candidates' stances on some of the most important issues in education: No Child Left Behind, vouchers, merit pay and whether we should extend the school day or year.

No Child Left Behind
Sen. Hillary Clinton: Wants to end it. Says it is underfunded and puts too much emphasis on standardized tests.
Sen. Barack Obama: Wants NCLB to go beyond standardized tests and offer support for failing schools.
Gov. Mike Huckabee: Yes, despite some reservations about teaching to the test.
Sen. John McCain: Voted for it in 2001 and would reauthorize it, with slight tweaks.

Vouchers
Sen. Clinton: Believes that vouchers divert resources from the public-school system.
Sen. Obama: Believes that vouchers divert resources from the public-school system.
Gov. Huckabee: Yes, but puts more emphasis on "public school choice."
Sen. McCain: School choice, including vouchers, is his main theme for education.

Merit Pay
Sen. Clinton: Maybe. Favors schoolwide performance-based pay but not merit pay for individuals.
Sen. Obama: Supports merit pay for individual teachers--but not if it's based solely on test scores, and only if teachers support it.
Gov. Huckabee: Supports merit pay for individual teachers.
Sen. McCain: Supports merit pay for individual teachers.

Longer School Day Or Year
Sen. Clinton: Supports the concept but doesn't specify it in her education plans.
Sen. Obama: Would give grants to districts providing more learning time for students in need.
Gov. Huckabee: Yes, but would leave the decision--and the funding--up to individual school districts.
Sen. McCain: Maybe. Hasn't taken a position yet.

Oh Ben Stein.

You created such a persona for me to believe in. Sure, your dry eyes and dry tones were simply a facet of your acting skills, but what about the game show, where you made me believe you were a smart kinda guy? It was all a ruse? For shame.

If you haven't heard yet, Mr. Stein and Premise Media Corporation (who brought you The Passion of the Christ, Polar Express and The Chronicles of Narnia) have released their new movie, Expelled, which, well here, from the press release:

It’s a movie that Ferris Bueller would take the day off to go see. What freedom-loving student wouldn’t be outraged to discover that his high school science teacher is teaching a theory as indisputable fact, and that university professors unmercifully crush any fellow scientists who dare question the prevailing system of belief? This isn’t the latest Hollywood comedy; it’s a disturbing new documentary that will shock anyone who thinks all scientists are free to follow the evidence wherever it may lead.

And... yeah. You lost me at " teaching a theory as indisputable fact". Please, please, please- go away.