No parent really wants their kids to be smarter than them...

...and it would seem that the (once) great state of Texas has a solution to that little dilemma; "fix" the kid's textbooks. Of course the real losers are (in no particular order):

• The school children of Texas.
• The school children and families in other states that are stupid lucky enough to use Texan-books.
• The country.

Of course any countries that look to compete with the US in the "knowledge based economy" can only be jumping for joy.

No Child Left Behind - Florida style

Some schools in Florida are counting the time it takes their students to walk to lunch against the state's requirement for two and half hours of physical exercise each week. I suspect this won't help the state reduce their overall level of obesity from 23%. Of course, once the kids get to lunch they can stuff themselves full of their favourite vegetable: ketchup!

Why Bristol Palin's pregnancy is a legitimate campaign issue

The mother of the fecund young woman in question is soon to be nominated as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate. The elder Ms. Palin is a strong advocate of "abstinence only" sex education and one assumes that "abstinence only" sex education is what the younger Ms. Palin received. Clearly the message failed in this case. Governor Palin's spokespeople say that the family is delighted at the news that the young woman plans to have the baby and ultimately marry the father.

Fine. Let us hope that neither the birth of the child nor the wedding will come about as a result of undue duress on the part of the parents involved. Let us also hope that, against the odds, the extremely young couple's partnership is successful and their child healthy and happy.

But not all families or young couples will wish to take the same path as these two. They may realise that the failure of their education and the mistake that they made by practicing unsafe sex, in an age when unsafe sex can kill, both have the potential to ruin their lives and affect those around them. Well to those families Governor Palin, and her erstwhile running mate The Aged One, stick up two fingers and roundly say "fuck you". They both believe, she most vehemently of the two, that a woman should have no right to control her body or her reproductive processes. In her own words Ramb-ette, as I like to call her, has said that she would oppose abortion even if her "own daughter was raped".

So she wants to ensure that America's children are not provided with education about sex, reproduction or options other than "don't do what we're not telling you about" and should this "education" fail, as it clearly did in the case of her very young daughter, she also wants to ensure that there are no legal options available even in the worst of circumstances (i.e. rape and incest).

So I'm sorry to those who might disagree but the issue is valid, it is not an intrusion of privacy (she made it public) and it must and will be discussed.

Fighting back

A suit has been filed in Federal Court in Ohio against John Freshwater, a teacher for the Mount Vernon OH school system, alleging that he taught creationism to eighth graders despite a school policy forbidding such blatantly religious instruction. The teacher had also refused to remove a Christian Bible from his desk despite orders from the school system to do so.

It has also been alleged that Mr. Freshwater branded his students with crosses using an electrostatic device; a charge that should, one would think, lead to criminal charges of child abuse. Or perhaps not, it is America after all.

What do you do when then isn't enough abstinence to go around?

Give 'em twice what they asked for! It also helps if the wife of Republi-con blowhard Bill Bennett is running the programme in question.

You are the American State Department...

...you award Fulbright Scholarships to a number of students from the illegally occupied Gaza Strip to allow them to pursue advanced degrees in America. Said students are denied permission to leave the Gaza Strip by the illegal occupier as part of the illegal occupier's policy of collective punishment (in violation of international law).

• Do you inform the illegal occupier, who relies extensively on American support and finance, that this is unacceptable and force them to allow these undoubtedly deserving and intelligent young people to further their education?

or

• Do you cancel the scholarships?

If you took the first choice you've forgotten who is running the country!

Is our childrens principals learning?

Well they may be learning but might still come up short of learned. Charlesetta Deason was the head mistress of a charter school in Houston when she was asked if she would like to set up a similar institution in Qatar. Only one problem. She didn't know where Qatar was. A high school principal. What can I say?

Of course Ms. Deason's previous school was in Texas so that may explain the lower standards.

Is our childrens learning?

Not if this poll is to be believed. 1 in 8 high school biology teachers in America are presenting creationism or "intelligent" design as a scientifically valid alternative to evolution. Whilst there is no reason these theories cannot be presented in religion or philosophy classes they HAVE NO PLACE in the teaching of science. If this trend continues America's place as a centre for education, research and science will be lost quickly; in less than two generations.

Especially if they don't like being buggered

In what could be bad news for the Tory Party, where Eton old boys are in the ascendancy again, Parliament's select committee for children, schools and families is to investigate whether boarding schools are bad for children.

Is our childrens learning?

To judge by the state of Texas where, thanks to the reign of Captain Codpiece as Governor, they've effectively had No Child Left Behind longer than the rest of the country, it looks as if Mostest Childs Been Lefted Behind with the learning levels of many, if not most, high school seniors are four or five years behind where they should be with many reading at an eighth grade level and/or struggling with simple arithmetic. One can only assume that these kids, who have been failed miserably by their community and their government, aren't going to be joining the "knowledge economy" anytime soon.

I suppose it is within the spirit of "No Child Left Behind"...

...if the educational process becomes so poor that no one actually learns anything. Captain Codpiece's beloved $1 billion a year reading programme turns out to be just as effective as abstinence only sex education. At least he's consistent.

Well surprise, surprise (in a Gomer Pyle voice)

Occasionally I am pleasantly surprised by events. Who would have thought that the state of Texas would have the temerity courage to deny accreditation to the science programme of the Institute for Creation Research as they have to apparent interest in teaching science.

"Welcome to Florida...

...the "Teach What You Want" State. It shouldn't be too long before it's a 3rd world nation at this rate.

Compare and contrast

News (via Reuters): "Experts say US sex abstinence program doesn't work"

Not News (via Faux Business): "Waxman Sham Hearing Distorts Abstinence Education Benefits"

We report - you deride!

Shorter Reverend Swank

"I just don't get this separation of church and state thing!" He seems have a hard time understanding why a science teacher in a public school should have to remove a copy of the Christian Bible from the top of his desk. Apparently it is all the fault of the Mount Vernon (OH) School District where both the school's principal and the superintendent are "non-God fearing" infidels.

Is our childrens learning?

A summit of educators, held this week in New York City, has called for a sweeping overhaul of science and maths education in the US as American students continue to fall behind. As a country the no longer makes much of anything the US will have to rely on intellectual achievements to keep its economy ahead of the pack or it will certainly slide backwards and become a agricultural state.

Eager not to be left behind Florida and Oklahoma are already leading the way!

[Sigh]

Just in case you thought there was a new, caring Tory Party...

...there isn't. I can't imagine anything going wrong with this idea. Can you?

A disgrace

If India's Financial Express is any indication the rest of the world has noticed the disgraceful state of the American education system. No child left behind indeed!

Science banned in Oklahoma!

No. Really. I kid you not!

How long before the US slips off into the third word? A generation? Two?

I think I may have been young at just about the right time

A new study out of America's Centers for Disease Control indicates that more than a quarter of American teenage women is infected with a sexually transmitted disease. That abstinence thing seems to be working just fine. And, since the most common infection was the human papillomavirus, it was obviously a great idea to resist vaccinating girls for HPV, which can cause cervical cancer, because to do so would only encourage them to have sex.