The best laws cannot make a constitution work in spite of morals; morals can turn the worst laws to advantage. That is a commonplace truth, but one to which my studies are always bringing me back. It is the central point in my conception. I see it at the end of all my reflections.
If To Kill a Mockingbird is one of your favorite books ever– and if it isn’t what’s wrong with you?—you’ll want to check out this profile of Harper Lee at the Daily Mail.
Try as many have to deny the existence of the “acting white” phenomenon, evidence for it continues to pile up. Stuart Buck’s recent Acting White: The Ironic Legacy of Desegregation puts the problem front and center. But, when the highly-regarded linguist, author, expert on race relations, and conservative think tank fellow John McWhorter writes about [...]
In an odd case in Texas, teachers won the right to give students the grades that they earned, no matter how low a failing grade might be. According to the Houston Chronicle, Texas law requires that students receive truthful grades on their work. Eleven school districts challenged the law: The school districts — most of [...]
Funny. The kids get none of the blame for not reading. H/T: Omnivoracious via Instapundit
Kevin Carey’s post at The Quick and the Ed clarifies what’s going on in education reform right now and how’s it’s changed since the passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2001. We’re in what Carey calls the “post-NCLB era of education reform.” For one thing, today’s major players are different: When I began [...]
Ron Chernow writes in the Wall Street Journal that partisanship and political vitriol are nothing new in this country. Once the War for Independence was won, and folks had to decide how the country should be governed, it was clear that George Washington’s “noble but failed dream of nonpartisan civility” was not to be. In [...]
Speaking of the value of competition, what’s true for sports is true for academics, too. But here comes the NYT story about graduating classes that sport 7, 9, 10, 23, 30 or more valedictorians. (No, they don’t all give a commencement speech.) In top suburban schools across the country, the valedictorian, a beloved tradition, is [...]
Coming to schools in Britain– and with any luck to a politically-correct schoolyard near you– is the revival of competitive games. The aim, according to the UK’s Daily Mail, is to “turn Britain back into a nation of sporting champions.” But, as the article points out, it’s also a move away from the PC idea [...]
There are two seasons that bring with them the threat of law suits against school policies and practices. Christmas is one. Graduation time is the other. Nathan Koppel at the Wall Street Journal reports that many schools face challenges to the practice of holding graduation ceremonies in church buildings. This is not a prayer-at-graduation issue. [...]