On Line Education…
Well, yes, the sky is falling–slowly–and we’re doomed but so long as you understand that, there are some sunnier events taking place, too. Sort of ‘in spite of everything’ events that naturally, are not news per the media generally, so you likely haven’t heard about them. We need a term to replace: “good news” since it’s so evidently not news these days.
‘Blessing’ came to mind but that’s out; it might offend the anti-religious folk, a big no-no today. Curiously, they seem to feel a right not to be offended by believers while also standing upon a right to offend same themselves. Huh…
So we’ll just use: ‘Event.’ That’s neutral, right? Our first optimistic event (well, if you worry about schools) is from New Mexico. That’s a bit like recruiting for law enforcement from Los Zetas’ headquarters but there it is. Seems Hanna Skandera, the (R) Governor’s appointed as state schools chief, (who last I heard, hadn’t been approved by the (D) state Senate), has overruled the Public Education Commission to approve the state’s first charter school with a completely virual (on line) program. A K-12 school to serve initially, 500 students around the state. Wow! How soon before we can dump the single most expensive chunk of local government since huge, costly concrete prisons will shortly become unnecessary?
The Commission had studied the matter carefully before doing the bidding of the teachers’ unions and nixing the whole idea. Skandera evidently leaped in through a window with her red cape flying and muscles rippling and faced them down, ruining their long-established grift in the process. I hope she avoids open windows…
New Mexico schools will face choice and competition for the first time, at least until the union-dominated education establishment figures out how to sabotage the program. Until then, this has to be a real ray of honest light in the educational dark. Like Governor Bobby Jindal’s Louisiana vouchers, equally unheralded. See? Scattered rays of light!
Governors Martinez and Jindal are both Republicans, naturally. Well, Martinez is sort of Republican; as for Jindal, I hear he drinks tea. Governor Christie of New Jersey seems a Democrat but since he is fixing the states finances using reality as a tool, he has to wear Republican clothing. He finds balance by praising the President. The Democrat now receiving praise for his work is most unlikely of all these, the Governor Redux of the tarnished Golden State, California’s ‘moonbeam’ Jerry Brown who has allegedly restored fiscal rectitude to the spendthrift by raising taxes. Some of the indigenous wealthy are claiming they will remain there anyway; we will have to see. Maybe it depends on how much of the governmental largesse offsets their new taxes? Of course not!
So, see? All is not doom and gloom, just almost all. If we look really hard, we can find, here and there…’events,’ so long as we don’t expect the news folk to inform us. (Though the virtual school deal was reported locally in the Albuquerque Journal.)
Who knows what exciting ‘events’ we’ll come across tomorrow?
Thanks for the rays of sunshine.
On another matter, recently I’ve had some issues accessing several of your posts. Perhaps it’s on my end but perhaps not. One was the piece from Ron Paul. Please advise.
Ok. If you’ve been hit by freight train and then thrown under the bus. It’s been stated as a question recently “what difference, at this point, does it make?”
Well, if you’re going to be realistic, it’s probably similar to a beggar finding a quarter lying in the gutter. (The quarter lying there, not the beggar…) But it’s more fun to contemplate finding a quarter than to contemplate falling into an open manhole, isn’t it? (If that doesn’t do it, I’ll up it to 50 cents…)
Well, I got rolled in the Cradle of Aviation years ago and would have loved either amount to call for assistance. Glad it was yesteryear not today…event happens, can’t say “blessing.” Right?
Amen!