Educational-Industrial Complex

Common Core architect & advisor to the NH DOE: ELIMINATE LOCAL CONTROL

May 14, 2013

This is the plan to eliminate Local School Boards….just released today – by Marc Tucker at the Center for American Progress (THE Progressive think tank frequented by Clintonistas and Obama-ites which is totally in favor of “fundamentally transforming” America); the important part:  …If Americans are going to decide which level of government we want to [ Read more ]

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Data Point – the next time you hear “We need more money!” from teachers unions and School Boards

May 7, 2013

Show them this graph: Now tell them “Not until the student line slopes are STEEPER than the Total Cost one – or the Employee one at the least”. Otherwise, they are LYING THROUGH THEIR TEETH when they say “it is for the children”. (H/T: Cato via The Corner)

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NH State Senator Peggy Gilmour – I demand who should control education dollars

April 19, 2013

And that would not be parents – From today’s Concord Patch: ‘Sen. Peggy Gilmour, D-Hollis, had urged her colleagues to overturn a committee recommendation and then pass the repeal bill. In a statement, she said, “The program has no accountability of public money. It allows private, non-profit corporations to determine where public education dollars are [ Read more ]

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“I despise bullies……wealthy officials who exercise school choice for their own families while denying it to others less financially fortunate”

March 11, 2013

This column came to my attention from Ann Marie Bannfield who as become one of the most knowledgeable and articulate defenders of the need for Educational Freedom, for local control,  and an ardent foe of lowered educational/academic standards that have swept our country.  Thus, when she emailed out a link to this Op-Ed, I read [ Read more ]

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Yes, we MUST be critical of their thinking (or what passes for it)

February 3, 2013

Political correctness, CYA, a lack of blame-shifting / “not my fault and not my responsibility” and a total lack of “critical judgment” – what a combination we see.  And the Educational-Industrial at work (School Board Associations, Administrator Associations, and Public Teachers Unions at these Government schools purport to be all about “public education” and how [ Read more ]

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From the “Dragging him over the line” notebook – well, he’s got this Education point right.

May 23, 2012

In 2008, I was not the most thrilled to have John McCain to be the Republican nominee, at least until I was able to say “Yeah, I voted for Sarah Palin and the old white guy”.  At that time, however, I had a bad premonition about what an Obama Presidency would bring (yeah, I pretty [ Read more ]

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Guest post by JR Hoell: Let’s Send Every Child to a Good School

October 16, 2011

According to the U.S. Department of Education, almost 27% of children  in America already have access to the school of their choice.  As recently as 2007 (the most recent year of available data from the National Center for Education Statistics), 16% of students attended a public school other than the assigned school in their district, [ Read more ]

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That Rich Bastard Who Is Screwing The Teachers Over Is Actually…

October 13, 2011

The Department of Education does nothing that the states, or towns, or teachers themselves cannot do themsleves, (except double its budget every two years to pay more for doing even less.) So the real question is not how we can use class warfare to make an inefficient bureaucracy bigger, but how we find ways to help teachers teach children.

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“Applicant must have college degree”; overblown need?

October 7, 2011

If you walk around the Right blogosphere, you will see a lot of folks talking about the "education bubble" – lots of folks who were told to go to college, took on lots of debt, and now are either unemployed or underemployed.  The overriding problem seems to be the overemphasis on the credentials to do [ Read more ]

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UBIQUITOUS (AND SNEAKY) FORMS OF THE MANCHESTER SCHOOL DISTRICT

September 12, 2011

“Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies“—Honoré de Balzac, French novelist and playwright 1799 –1850 The beginning of the School year, brings the plethora of forms home from school with the kids for parents to fill out and return. A physical health form must be signed by the family physician. Conversely, I find such [ Read more ]

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Arriving at the door: “Don’t Let The Kids Drink The Kool-Aid: Confronting the Left’s Assault on Our Families, Faith, and Freedom”

August 23, 2011

New book in from Regnery Press by Marybeth Hicks: "Many people assume that this generation of young Americans is much like any other. But thanks to the radical Left, they’re not even close. So says columnist and author Marybeth Hicks in her shocking new exposé, Don’t Let the Kids Drink the Kool-Aid: Confronting the Left’s [ Read more ]

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A “Walking School Bus”? A “Rolling Bike Train”? Good grief….

August 13, 2011

Leave it to the combination of Big Government and Edu-babble to make things FAR more complicated, FAR more expensive, and FAR more devoid of common sense.  I found this AP report over at the Concord Monitor: NH gets $1 million for Safe Route to School Ten New Hampshire communities are splitting almost $1 million to [ Read more ]

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Liberals Buzz Over Take Down Of Obama

August 8, 2011

This guy is nuts. (And he is not alone). Even in his despair, as liberals buzz over the take down of Obama, he is so steeped his own party propaganda that he can’t see the recent past in its original context to properly frame his dissatisfaction. Even as he attacks Obama he is still in denial about the circumstances.

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If You Are Not Following Me On Twitter….

July 20, 2011

Twitter inspires the opportunity to aggravate the leftists who insist on following conservatives there. Not every witticism will fit on Twitter. Sometimes you have to write a blog and post a link. And then there are the thoughts that are too short to blog and too long to tweet. (Some things can’t be said in under 140 characters.)

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Third Circuit – Online speech by students cannot be treated the same as on campuss – NH & Federal Bullying laws at risk?

June 29, 2011

I do hope so.  I have had great concerns as School Administrations have incrementally increased their reach and control far from the schools from years ago to the point where it seems that the Edu-Industrial Complex believes it is responsible for their students (vs Parents for their own children).  Witness the growth of pre-school day-care, [ Read more ]

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Guest post by NH State Representative Bruce MacMohan on Education

June 11, 2011

SB67 (passed 273*-100): A bill to establish a committee to study school vouchers and school choice. Although, I voted for this bill, I wouldn’t mind seeing, as an alternative to more studies and committees, a resolution urging all members of the House and Senate to go down to their school district offices and apply to [ Read more ]

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SWAT Team? They have a SWAT TEAM? They seem to be as good as our High Schoolers do math, reading, and writing…

June 8, 2011

A LOT of people wondered "Why the heck is the US Department of Education buying 27 short barrel shotguns??" – me too.  Now, we know, but I’m not convinced that this is a good thing.  One of the stories that has gone viral today – that of a Federal SWAT Team (yet aGAIN!) breaking down [ Read more ]

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Parents, it IS time to read and hear what is going on in your child’s classroom

June 2, 2011

More and more in the general culture, parents are becoming less and less involved in their children’s education – or so it seems or so we are led to believe.   So therefore, we are to leave Government Legislation the Media Education to "the professionals".  Nonsense – more and more I keep understanding why we need [ Read more ]

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Competency Based Education, coming to a New Hampshire School near you?

June 2, 2011

Competency Based Education, coming to a New Hampshire school near you? Bedford started using Competency Based Education a few years ago after the grand opening of their new high school. One of the first things parents noticed was the number of students failing their competencies and then were required to take summer school. I think [ Read more ]

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If you are a parent…or you are interested in education…

April 25, 2011

…or if you are a teacher…or you believe in school choice…or if you yourself are a student…or want to learn about something, such as…well, anything…. Watch. This. Video. It will blow your mind.

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School Voucher Kids Do Better

April 20, 2011

I Tweeted this earlier, but since I’m short on time, it is more than Post-Worthy. Apparently school vouchers result in a higher graduation rate at a lower cost to taxpayers–

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What Education Is About

April 16, 2011

Thanks to Ann Marie Banfield, Grok contributor at large, for posting this link on Facebook. It is a letter to the editor, in the Hollis -Brookline Journal, that needs no further exposition on my part:

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Guest post by NH State Representative JR Hoell – Parental Rights

April 9, 2011

Last week we GraniteGrok and RLCNH told you about the Senate caving on thebudget, and now they are caving on parental rights issues: The bill in question is drafted from these sections of the republican partyplatform: Only parents can be entrusted to control the education of their children and choose schools that best suit their [ Read more ]

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Define Irony For Me

March 28, 2011

The government run schools are concerned about making sure students get some kind of an education in personal finance and economics.

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Teachers Get Help From Republicans

March 24, 2011

A bill (HB 375) is being debated in New Hampshire that, if passed, would protect teachers from civil or criminal penalties when they use physical force in the classroom. The bill is designed to protect teachers who feel helpless against aggressive students because they are afraid of being sued by parents.

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