David Williams refused to talk to WDRB yesterday
Here’s what I’m paying attention to lately.
The Politics of Gaming — Funny to watch David Williams, who usually loves to hear himself speak to reporters, avoid a TV camera from WDRB yesterday. Williams made a dash for an elevator, telling Gilbert Corsey he wasn’t talking about the gaming issue. Gov. Beshear introduced legislation yesterday that would pave the way for a vote on gaming in Kentucky.
I’ll Drink to This: This headline from WHAS-TV’s website — “Alcohol may boost creativity.” A study shows that a few beers actually helped people solve problems.
Manual’s President Project: Some good news for the ambitious students at Manual and their project to get President Obama to come to graduation. From their Facebook page. “.. . The President Project’s invitation to President Obama has been flagged as important by the Office of Scheduling and Advance…” And they got some love from CNN.
Saying No to Charter Schools — It looks like all this uproar over charter schools, and all those wasted advertising dollars, will be for nothing. A Frankfort committee adjourned yesterday without taking a vote on the issue after charter school backers made their pitch. (cn/2)
Soon, The Bridge — Chances are good that the Sherman Minton Bridge will open a week earlier than the March 1 deadline. The bad news is that when it’s done, 30 days of lane closures will begin on the Kennedy Bridge, setting up delays for drivers.
A Vote Against Constables: We can all admit that the shenanigans involving constable David Whitlock are an embarrassment. State Rep. Joni Jenkins wants to let voters decide to get rid of the office, in which constables with no training are allowed to pose as gun-toting peace officers. Jenkins has written a bill that would put the abolishing constables on the ballot.
Commercial Content: Wondering how they’re doing at WHAS-TV’s Great Day Live!? I generally like the show, when I’ve seen it, but today tuned in to a show that looked a lot like the old morning show on the CW, filled with commercials masquerading as information segments. There was a lengthy interview with a sponsor, Republic Bank, followed by another paid piece, an interview with attorney Karl Truman.
Name Me, Baby: The famed mare Rachel Alexandra is pregnant. The sire is Curlin, a champion in his own right. So what would you name their regal offspring? Stonestreet Farms is taking suggestions here.
I have yet to be convinced that charter schools are either a useful innovation or an answer to a problem that hasn’t been identified. Based on many readings, their results appear mixed, while their biggest impact seems to be taking away our tax dollars from traditional public schools while enriching private investors (in the case of for-profit charters school) or directors of non-profit ones, who seem to be usually overpaid compared to their traditional public school counterparts.
I would like to see these innovations that I think will work far better:
1) Providing one-on-one tutoring for students falling behind.
2) Giving students the option of learning at their own pace, rather than the classroom pace. This would be beneficial for students behind or ahead of the class.
3) Trusting teachers with more power over curriculum, teaching approaches, and peer review. This includes taking an honest look at JCPS’ top-heavy administration and its often domineering treatment of teachers which saps teaching creativity and effectiveness. (An audit of JCPS is also well overdue.)
4) Defocusing from testing and teaching to the tests. Overdone standardized tests don’t teach anyone anything, wear children out, and turn bright-eyed students into bored students. (I know I would have hated school if I had to attend today.)
5) Refocusing on the rest of the core curriculum, especially science (!) but also social studies (history, geography, etc.).
6) Giving the spotlight back to magnet programs, which have clearly produced positive results.
7) The hardest innovation we need to work on: Figuring out what to do to ensure all children coming to the classroom are Ready to Learn (wide awake, well-fed, etc.).
(Pardon my typos in my post; don’t have access to edit.)
All good ideas, Steve, certainly better than the charter schools plan. fortnuately, I think the charter schools initiative is dead, for now.