good LORD this was funny!

This was absolutely spectacular.Colleges everywhere have made an immense mistake by separating the BA's from the BS's. There's this inherent sneer on the lips of most English majors when they see a would-be businessman "selling out" to make a buck. Similarly there's this scoff and smirk on the faces of most IT majors when they think about the months of unemployment and disillusionment waiting for the would-be history scholars. Most seem not to think that the two sides, humanities and sciences, arts and business, language and technology, can be anything but incompatible. But this is what we need to achieve Aristotle's ideal of Work. Each man needs a work to provide for himself and his family AND a work to serve the needs of the greater good.

Who was he quoting when he said, "those dead, old, racist white men" ? Coz it sounds a lot like the leader of our diversity training at my old school. Eesh.

Didn't China have, like, an almost national epidemic of people being addicted to opium? I think they had like a third of their country puffing away in these opium dens until the Emperor decided to outlaw it. I mean, yeah, there wasn't quite as much education back then, and yeah, they were operating under a ruthless emperor who all believed had the mandate of heaven, and yeah... um... I really don't know what my point was.... Anyways, I enjoy your columns!

I'm not from a state with unionized schools, so I can't say any of what you've said is happening in Georgia. Most teachers I know make about 40k a year with their post-grad degrees. Those just starting make closer to 30k. And I know first hand that it is BEYOND easy to release a teacher because of disciplinary issues, upset and litigious parents, or a budget shortage in the county. Yes, earning a bigger paycheck simply because you've been there longer might not make much sense in some states where all you have to do is be present and accounted for almost every day, but in some states (in the south especially), if you've been there long, chances are you know what you're doing.

Maybe it was a writing assignment to see if the students could effectively request something from someone they respected? Maybe it was a social studies assignment to come up with a "problem" that is affecting the country. Perhaps it was a lesson in using internet tools or almanacs to find the address of a person they saw on TV. Or it might have been the end of a long week and the teacher had to yank something out of thin air for the last forty-five minutes of class that otherwise would have been spent watching a video. I dunno, Dr. Sowel... I think the very fact that "elected officials" should have any say as to what goes on in a classroom when they themselves have never set foot in a classroom since their own education wrapped up, has...

After only four years in public schools, I say I'd LOVE to have a job where I taught 15 hours a week. Sadly, nowadays, there's such a glut of people with doctorates in my field (Spanish) and very limited numbers of positions out there. But, seriously, I wish my schools would even BEGIN to consider the time it takes to grade papers and prepare lessons during a forty hour work-week.

See, when I read " the ball's in my court now" I thought you were making a joke about the enhanced pat downs. Get it? Because they'd be cupping my... oh dear never mind.

My mother teaches at Title 1 elementary school in rural Georgia. She says that the people she feels the most for, the students who really get passed over, are the poor white kids. Apparently, to receive any of the aid that NCLB has, you have to fall into three "demographics." Those demographics are: minorities, lower socio-economic scale, or learning disabilities. If you're poor, can't read, and black, then you'll be assigned a county worker as a part of a "Student Success Plan," who will make accomodations with your teachers about various problems. However, if you're poor, can't read, and white? Well, then you just missed the boat, because we only help the kids who are REALLY in need. Go back to your country club, whitey, you'll get no...