Montgomery County, Maryland is a wealthy suburb of Washington, D.C. Like many such jurisdictions, Montgomery County remains tightly locked down. Its public schools are closed, and all students are required to participate in “distance learning.” The results have been disastrous –particularly for minority students.
Since the advent of the great “War on Poverty” liberal educators in Montgomery County and elsewhere in the nation have trumpeted their efforts to close the “achievement gap” -the yawning chasm that exists between the performance of white students and minority, particularly black, students. Quite rightly educators have focused on the fact that in an increasingly high-tech world, students who come out of school without the requisite education are doomed to a lifetime of poverty and are much more likely to end up institutionalized. Continue reading
I have not slept well this past night, and so chose to just get out of bed and do some desktop fishing. I began going through some old emails and decided to do something just a bit interesting this morning – post a major piece of work from a now deceased Southern Brother – a man who I came to know quite well over a number of years. As a writer – with one exception – he was known as, J.D. Longstreet. His real name was Bill Ghent. There are some of you who may have known him, or of him. Let me begin by sharing a brief biography of him… and THEN prepare yourself for over 200 pages of his love of the history of the Southland.
Children always get excited about the different weather patterns, but they can get confused. Often, it’s a good idea to use weather activities to help kids understand what is happening. They learn something, but they can also have fun and do experiments. With the newest technological advancements available, it’s easy to forget the magic of weather. Get back to basics with your children and help them understand what comes from the sky. Then, share this list with relatives, friends, coworkers, and neighbors to remind others what the weather does for them. 
The Burbank Unified School District in California has banned several classic literary works that contain racial slurs. To Kill A Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are two of the classics on the district’s new list of banned books.
At every Olympic Games, a 26.2-mile race celebrates Pheidippides’ grueling run back to Athens to bring news of the great Athenian victory over the Persian army at the Battle of Marathon. According to last year’s California-approved ancient-history textbook from McGraw-Hill, however, the Greeks “defeated the Persian navy.” The author of this text also wrote the 2006 edition of the same book, from the same publisher. That earlier edition correctly describes the battle as a clash of armies.
With great dismay, I read the article on KTAR radio’s website by reporter Griselda Zetino on Oct. 26 entitled, “Drop in Arizona students enrolled in kindergarten raises concerns.”