Illinois-American Water Company and Why Some Large Land Owners in Brimfield Area Want City Ownership

The JS as usual misses the point of why anyone would offer $200,000 for consultants to advise the city whether of not to buy out the water company. Of course, consultants, 8 times out of ten, give those putting up the money the rational to support the moneyed position. The JS should look how much land is owned by those willing again to put up large amounts of money or how the buyout would benefit these generous donors.

One major reason favoring those who would greatly benefit from the buyout is same as I have blogged many times before is that the City of Peoria could take actions to extend water well outside the City without needing the approval of the ICC. Some developers would love to see more growth northwest of Peoria. producing more sprawl at the ordinary property taxpayer's expense.

Really quite simple to answer the question if the Journal Star could afford competent reporters who could dig deep into why one wealthy person with extensive holdings in the Brimfield area would put up $200,000 of their own money.

Kudos to Mayor Jim Ardis for again  realizing ownership of public utilities is never a benefit for cities the size of Peoria. For communities like Carlock, Mackinaw, Deer Creek and Goodfield  is where buyout advocate, Steve Van Winkle, gets his mis-leading figures to support the buyout. They all own their water companies because they are forced to because the answer is large privately held water companies are not interested in them as there would be no profit so these small communities have little choice but to have local taxpayers involved in running their own water systems.

I would predict that Weaver, Johnson, Riggenbach, Greyab, Turner, and Moore will cast 6 votes in favor a another paid study.

I did extensive study of  the buyout effort years back. Readers can find my blogs under such titles as "Waterlogged", etc. George Jacob cast the 6th deciding no vote. George credited my blogs to help him arrive at the correct decision.

Humor With a Touch of Reality

Rorwared to me by a friend.  Merle

 

A public school teacher was arrested 
today at John F. Kennedy International airport as he attempted to board a 
flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a compass, a slide-rule 
and a calculator.

At a morning press conference, 
Attorney General Eric Holder said he believes the man is a member of the 
notorious Al-Gebra movement.

 

He did not identify the man, who has 
been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math 
instruction.

 

'Al-Gebra is a problem for us', the 
Attorney General said. 'They derive solutions by means and extremes, and 
sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values.'

They use secret code names like "X" 
and "Y" and refer to themselves as "unknowns" but we have determined that 
they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates 
in every country.

As the Greek philosopher Isosceles 
used to say, "There are 3 sides to every triangle."

 

When asked to comment on the arrest, 
President Obama said, "If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math 
instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes."

White House aides told reporters they 
could not recall a more intelligent or profound statement by the President. 
It is believed that another Nobel Prize will follow.

 

 

 

 

 

Sebelius Says, "I'm Responsible" and (He) Says" He's Not Happy But WE Are Working On the Problems"

Really???

Obama Halloween Mask - If You Really Want to Scare 47% or Maybe 51% of USA Citizens

I would love to have one to wear tomorrow all day.. He (Obama) was just an observer as his health care program went into action after 3 1/2 years of diligent study.("He", that's how I will address him after watching the "wicked witch from the west" and some of the Democrats who 'testified' before the House today absolving him of any blame for the massive failures going on with his Socialistic health care plan).

The former Governor of Kansas was repeatedly asked why she wasn't forced  or why she didn't volunteer to serve under the same health plan as regular citizens are forced to do. She said she isn't included in the plan, you know. Exempted because of her high position in our government as are thousands of other government hierarchy..

Will a lot of people benefit both from the screw-ups and from the program? You bet, even Hitler was given credit for Germany's excellent highways and many Germans benefited from what they stole from the Jews and in other ways. The German highways are reputedly superior to ours. So I've been told many times.

Will "he" get some credit in future history books? Of course. Also because may liberal supporters of him are writing and will write history.

Oh, and yes, some of the media reported that an employee of a Kentucky private company who wore a mask of him to work caused 750 employees to take some type of sensitivity training. I'd love be sit in one of those classes.

So sad and no, I'm not an anarchist, just terribly disappointed in the majority of our leadership as I near the end of my life.

Obama Scandals - Just a Few

Forwarded to me by a good friend and former politcian.  Do not let the voter who can think, forget. Maybe make a few hard core Democrats have a few questions of this president and his continued relentless drive to socialize the citizenry of the United States of America.  Merle

 

What scandal?

 Bob: "Did you hear about the Obama administration scandal?

Jim: 1. "You mean the Mexican gun running?"

Bob: "No, the other one."

Jim: 2. "You mean SEAL Team 6?"

Bob: "No, the other one."

Jim: 3. "You mean the State Dept. lying about Benghazi?"

Bob: "No, the other one."

Jim: 4. "You mean voter fraud?"

Bob: "No, the other one."

Jim: 5. "You mean the military not getting their votes counted?"

Bob: "No, the other one."

Jim: 6. "You mean that 3 or 4 of Obama's GAY friends were mysteriously MURDERED when they came forward with claims he was gay too?"

Bob: "No, the other one."

Jim: 7. "The NSA monitoring our phone calls, emails and everything else?"

Bob: "No, the other one."

Jim: 8. "You mean the drones in our own country without the benefit of the law?"

Bob: "No, the other one."

Jim: 9. "Giving 123 Technologies $300 Million and right after it declared bankruptcy and was sold to the Chinese?"

Bob: "No, the other one."

Jim: 10. "You mean the president arming the Muslim Brotherhood?"

Bob: "No the other one:.

Jim: 11. "The IRS targeting conservatives?"

Bob: "No, the other one."

Jim: 12. "The DOJ spying on the press?"

Bob: "No, the other one."

Jim: 13. "Sebelius shaking down health insurance executives?"

Bob: "No, the other one."

Jim: 14. "Giving SOLYNDRA $500 MILLION DOLLARS and 3 months later they declared bankruptcy and then the Chinese bought it?"

Bob: "No, the other one."

Jim: 15. "The president's ordering the release of nearly 10,000 illegal immigrants  from jails and prisons, and falsely blaming the sequester?"

Bob: "No, the other one."

Jim: 16. "The president's threat to impose gun control by Executive Order in order to bypass Congress?"

Bob: "No, the other one."

Jim: 17. "The president's repeated violation of the law requiring him to submit a budget no later than the first Monday in February?"

Bob: "No, the other one."

Jim: 18. "The 2012 vote where 115% of all registered voters in some counties voted 100% for Obama?"

Bob: "No, the other one."

Jim: 19. "The president's unconstitutional recess appointments in an attempt to circumvent the Senate's advise-and-consent role?"

Bob: "No, the other one."

 

Jim:  20. You mean the Pentagon blocking access to the Southern Baptist Website?

 

Bob: "No, the other one.

 

Jim:  21. You mean the Feds giving millions in contracts to firms owned by fictitious people

 

Bob: "No, the other one."

 

Jim:  22. You mean the Appeals Court sharply worded opinion that Obama was simply flouting the law with plans to close the Yucca Mountain repository simply because of policy objections?

 

Bob: "No, the other one."

 

Jim:  23. You mean the Feds admitting improper scrutiny of candidate, donor tax records

 

Bob: "No, the other one."

 

Jim: 24. "The State Department interfering with an Inspector General investigation on departmental sexual misconduct?"

Bob: "No, the other one."

Jim: 25. "Clinton, the IRS, Clapper and Holder all lying to Congress?"

Bob: "No, the other  one."

Jim: 26. "I give up! ... Oh wait, I think I got it! You mean that 65 million low-information voters who don't pay taxes and get free stuff from taxpayers and stuck us again with the most pandering, corrupt administration in American history?

Bob: "THAT'S THE ONE!"

Illinois Citizens for Better Education

October 23, 2013

 

Courtesy of Terry Rowe, a community leader in Peoria, Illinois.

 

Merle

 

The Illinois Citizens for Better Education are announcing a Forum for Understanding Common Core to be held November 9 at the Gateway Building located at 200 NE Water Street in Peoria Illinois. The free event will held from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM. The featured speaker will be Shane Vander Hart from Truth in American Education. He is a recognized expert on the history and implications of Common Core. He will present the facts about this major shift in educational policy in a clear and concise manner that will allow the listeners to form their own conclusion about Common Core. Common Core has become a major educational issue and people are encouraged to study both sides of the debate. The public is encouraged to attend this important free forum on educational policy. Registration is available at www.eventbrite.com The doors open at 9:30 for this free event which is sponsored by the Illinois Citizens for Better Education. www.IC4BE@outlook.com

TownHall Predicts Debt Ceiling Will Hit $22 Trillion by February

Who cares, says Obama. "I got your minds off of Benghazi, Fast and Furious, legalizing illegals which I'm going to do because 90% of them will vote for a third term for me, unemployment, the unstable economy and gives me more time to do what I can to blame Fox News and the Tea Part for the failing ObamaFarce. Whoops, I meant the Affordable Care Act".

Yes, he has more problems than worry about our rising national debt and cities going bankrupt while the very rich get very richer. And the employment rate is lowered as he hires more people to run a morally bankrupt administration. Yes, and why does Kathleen Sebelius still hold her position. Is she part of Obama's promise to "save jobs:??

I Apologize To All the Friends I Have Hurt And Will Try To Do Better

When hurt, I strike back ususaly because i feel the one or ones who have hurt me do not have all the facts. I try to strike back with facts. Let me know personally by name how I have hurt you and I will try to make amends.

STONE
>
>
> TWO FRIENDS WERE WALKING
> THROUGH THE DESERT .
> DURING SOME POINT OF THE
> JOURNEY, THEY HAD AN
> ARGUMENT; AND ONE FRIEND
> SLAPPED THE OTHER ONE
> IN THE FACE
>
>
> THE ONE WHO GOT SLAPPED
> WAS HURT, BUT WITHOUT
> SAYING ANYTHING,
> WROTE IN THE SAND ,
>
>
> TODAY MY BEST FRIEND
> SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE .
>
>
> THEY KEPT ON WALKING,
> UNTIL THEY FOUND AN OASIS,
> WHERE THEY DECIDED
> TO TAKE A BATH .
>
>
> THE ONE WHO HAD BEEN
> SLAPPED GOT STUCK IN THE
> MIRE AND STARTED DROWNING,
> BUT THE FRIEND SAVED HIM.
>
>
> AFTER HE RECOVERED FROM
> THE NEAR DROWNING,
> HE WROTE
> ON A STONE:
>
>
> 'TODAY MY BEST FRIEND
> SAVED MY LIFE'
>
>
> THE FRIEND WHO HAD SLAPPED
> AND SAVED HIS BEST FRIEND
> ASKED HIM, 'AFTER I HURT YOU,
> YOU WROTE IN THE SAND AND NOW,
> YOU WRITE ON A STONE, WHY?'
>
>
> THE FRIEND REPLIED
> 'WHEN SOMEONE HURTS US
> WE SHOULD WRITE IT DOWN
> IN SAND, WHERE WINDS OF
> FORGIVENESS CAN ERASE IT AWAY.
>
>
> BUT, WHEN SOMEONE DOES SOMETHING GOOD FOR US,
> WE MUST ENGRAVE IT IN STONE
> WHERE NO WIND
> CAN EVER ERASE IT'
>
>
> LEARN TO WRITE
> YOUR HURTS IN
> THE SAND AND TO
> CARVE YOUR
> BENEFITS IN STONE.
>
>
> THEY SAY IT TAKES A
> MINUTE TO FIND A SPECIAL
> PERSON,
>
>
> AN HOUR TO
> APPRECIATE THEM,
>
>
> A DAY
> TO LOVE THEM,
>
>
> BUT THEN ,
>
>
> AN ENTIRE LIFE
> TO FORGET THEM.
>
>
> SEND THIS TO
> THE PEOPLE YOU'LL NEVER
> FORGET.
>
>
> I JUST DID..
>
>
> IF YOU DON'T
> SEND IT TO ANYONE,
> IT MEANS YOU'RE IN A
> HURRY AND THAT YOU'VE
> FORGOTTEN YOUR FRIENDS.
>
>
> TAKE THE TIME TO LIVE!
>
>
> DO NOT VALUE THE THINGS
> YOU HAVE IN YOUR LIFE, BUT VALUE
> WHO YOU HAVE KNOWN IN YOUR LIFE!
>
>
>
>
> Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of
> battle.
>
>
>

Air Force Academy Considering (Under Pressure) Dropping.........

The Air Force Academy is considering dropping the phrase “so help me God’ from its honor oath after the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) filed a complaint.
The Academy’s Honor Review Committee met Wednesday to review the oath in response to the MRFF complaint, said Public Affairs Director Maj. Brus Vidal.
“They considered a range of options and some of those options will be presented to Academy leaders and, ultimately, the Academy Superintendent for a decision,” he said.

“Removing this voluntary affirmation expresses hostility toward religion.”

- Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty

The current version of the Academy’s oath reads: “We will not lie, steal or cheat nor tolerate among us anyone who does. Furthermore, I resolve to do my duty and live honorably, so help me God.”
Last week, the Colorado Springs Independent newspaper published a photograph of a poster at the academy which included the oath. The newspaper then forwarded the photo to MRFF President Mikey Weinstein.
Weinstein, a frequent critic of Christianity in the armed forces, wrote a letter to Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson. Weinstein said she responded 68 minutes later.
“The Prep School poster has been taken down,” she wrote in an email reply posted by the Independent. “We are assessing the situation and have many mission elements, to include Prep School leadership, the Honor Review Committee and other entities on base, working to put together a way ahead that is respectful to all perspectives.”
While the poster has been removed, the phrase “so help me God” remains as part of the oath.
Vidal told the Air Force Times they could either make no change, make the God part optional or strike the entire oath.
“We value an inclusive environment that promotes dignity and respect for all,” Vidal told the newspaper.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council and a Marine Corps veteran, told Fox News it’s not about accommodating those who don’t believe in God.
“That already exists,” he said. “No one is forced to say this. This is about imposing an atheistic view on everyone so there can be no recognition of God.”
Perkins said the incident raises questions about who is in charge of the nation’s military.
“Is it in fact the military chiefs or is it Mikey Weinstein?” he asked.
Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty said the incident is “one more example of the Academy yielding to Mikey Weinstein at the expense of official military policy.”
“Removing this voluntary affirmation expresses hostility toward religion,” Crews said. “Further, it removes the solemnity and gravity of the oath, particularly for the many cadets who come from a faith tradition.”
Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations. Sign up for his American Dispatch newsletter, be sure to join his Facebook page, and follow him on Twitter.

Todd Starnes

•   Print
•   Email
•   Share
• 1252 Comments
• inShare9

Related Opinion

Does Army consider Christians, Tea Party, a terror threat?

Remember "Sail Now, We'll Check For Defects While In the Water". Sound Familair?

Subject: Fwd: John McAfee, founder of McAfee anti-virus, on Obama Care               John McAfee, founder of anti-virus company McAfee, Inc, on the ObamaCare exchanges:      On Fox Business Network’s “Cavuto” on Wednesday, computer programmer and founder of McAfee, Inc. John McAfee said the online component of Obamacare “is a hacker’s dream” that will cause “the loss of income for the millions of Americans who are going to lose their identities.” For starters, McAfee said the way it is set up makes it possible for fake websites be set up to fool people to think they’re signing up for Obamacare. “It’s seriously bad,” McAfee said. “Somebody made a grave error, not in designing the program but in simply implementing the web aspect of it.  I mean, for example, anybody can put up a web page and claim to be a broker for this system. There is no central place where I can go and say, ‘OK, here are all the legitimate brokers, the examiners for all of the states and pick and choose one.’” “Instead, any hacker can put a website up, make it look extremely competitive, and because of the nature of the system — and this is health care, after all — they can ask you the most intimate questions, and you’re freely going to answer them,” he continued. “What’s my Social Security number? My birth date? What are my health issues?”   According to McAfee, there’s not a quick fix — and as long as it set up this way, it could be a playground for computer hackers. “Here’s the problem: It’s not something software can solve,” McAfee continued. “I mean, what idiot put this system out there and did not create a central depository? There should be one website, run by the government, you go to that website and then you can click on all of the agencies. This is insane. So, I will predict that the loss of income for the millions of Americans who are going to lose their identities — I mean, you can imagine some retired lady in Utah, who has $75,000 dollars in the bank, saving her whole life, having it wiped out in one day because she signed up for Obamacare. And believe me, this is going to happen millions of times. This is a hacker’s dream. I mean I cannot believe that they did this.”  So, instead of redistributing wealth from the middle class to welfare deadbeats, ObamaCare will redistribute that wealth to Internet thieves. Can you visualize the mob of fleeced ObamaCare customers forming from coast to coast? Now might be a good time to invest in tar, torches, feathers, and pitchforks to sell to the mad as hell people on the march who won't take it anymore.  Hope & Change, baby,                         <

 

Screwing? This President is Screwing 53% Who Know It and 47% Who Accept It Because They Are the Recipients

 Mr. President......blaming Fox News
>
>
>
> Obama is blaming Fox News for 2/3 of the country disliking Obamacare.
> Here's Neal Cavuto's explanation and it is great. If you don't understand
> what is bad about ObamaCare please read his comments and you will
> understand.
>
>
>
>
>
> Mr. President, Fox News isn't what's making Americans sick about your
> healthcare law. Your healthcare law is. Welcome, everybody, I'm Neil
> Cavuto. And excuse this departure from form. But I think this is just poor
> form. So, it's time we set some things straight.
>
> Mr. President, we at Fox News are not the problem. I hate to break it to
> you, sir. You are. Your words are. Your promises are. We didn't sell this
> healthcare law. Sir, you did. Remember this?
>
> President Barack Obama: If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep
> your doctor. Period.
>
> Mr. President, tell that to tens of thousands of retirees at IBM and Time
> Warner and dozens of others, who've been dumped from their coverage and
> told to find their own coverage. Fox News didn't break that news to them,
> Mr. President. Their companies did.
>
> Fox News didn't push more of those firms to hire part-time workers. Your
> healthcare law did. Fox News didn't incentivize fast food restaurants to
> scale back their benefits. Your healthcare law did. Fox News didn't make
> doctors want to opt out. Your healthcare law did. Fox News didn't make
> insurance premiums sky rocket. Your healthcare law did. Just like Fox News
> didn't grant hundreds of exemptions to companies that needed them. You
> did. And Fox News didn't delay one key provision after another, including
> online enrollment for those small business exchanges. You did.
>
> Just like it wasn't Fox News that said we had to pass this to see what was
> in this. You did. Or was that Nancy Pelosi? Sometimes I'm confused. But of
> this I am not. Fox News didn't re-do basic math. Sir, you did. Fox News
> didn't say you can cover 30 million more Americans and not see a hit in
> premiums. You did. Fox News didn't say you could throw in those with
> pre-existing conditions and not have to pay for it. You did. Fox News
> didn't all but say you could get something for nothing. You did. Fox News
> didn't come back years later and say, oh yea, we did raise some taxes. You
> did.
>
> Here's where you are right about Fox News, however, Mr. President. We can
> do math. And did. You cannot. And did not. We said it, and proved it. You
> didn't. And we're all suffering for it. Take it from the numbers guy at
> Fox. Numbers don't lie. The number of Americans working part-time and
> nervous. The number of retirees days away from being dumped on exchanges
> and anxious. The number of company bosses with any news to pass along on
> those exchanges, but still clueless. The number of doctors who want out.
> The number of congressmen now opting out. No, Mr. President, none of those
> numbers lie.
>
> But with all due respect sir, I can only conclude you do know; I know, I
> know you hate us at Fox. But please take a look in a mirror, and fast. You
> think we're the skunk at your picnic. But that doesn't mean we're the ones
> that stink. Because that smell isn't coming from the folks reporting on
> your law. Mr. President, that smell is your law.

If You Never Read Anything Else I Post, Read This

 

Go to my search bar and read the several articles I have written about this highly successful Harlem School.  Merle

From The New York Times - Our thanks to Albert Goetz for bringing this piece to our attention.

******************************

OP-ED COLUMNIST

An Industry of Mediocrity'

By Bill Keller

"Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. And those who can't teach, teach teaching."

WHOEVER coined that caustic aphorism should have been in a Harlem classroom last week where Bill Jackson was demonstrating an exception to the rule. Jackson, a 31-year classroom veteran, was teaching the mathematics of ratios to a group of inner-city seventh graders while 15 young teachers watched attentively. Starting with a recipe for steak sauce - three parts ketchup to two parts Worcestershire sauce - Jackson patiently coaxed his kids toward little math epiphanies, never dictating answers, leaving long silences for the children to fill. "Denzel, do you agree with Katelyn's solution?" the teacher asked. And: "Can you explain to your friend why you think Kevin is right?" He rarely called on the first hand up, because that would let the other students off the hook.

Sometimes the student summoned to the whiteboard was the kid who had gotten the wrong answer: the class pitched in to help her correct it, then gave her a round of applause.

After an hour the kids filed out and the teachers circled their desks for a debriefing. Despite his status as a master teacher, Jackson seemed as eager to hone his own craft as that of his colleagues. What worked? What missed the mark? Should we break this into two lessons? Did the kids get it? And what does that mean?

"Does 'get it' mean getting an answer?" Jackson asked. "Or does it mean really understanding what's going on?"

At that point Deborah Kenny, the founder of the Harlem Village Academies charter schools, leaned over to me: "That right there, that is why we're starting a graduate school."

How America prepares its teachers has been a subject of dismay for many years. In 2005 Arthur Levine, then the president of Teachers College at Columbia University, shocked colleagues (and himself, he says) with a scathing report concluding that teacher preparation programs "range from inadequate to appalling." [ http://www.edschools.org/pdf/Final313.pdf ] Since then the outcry has only gotten more vociferous. This summer the National Council on Teacher Quality described teacher education as still "an industry of mediocrity." [See http://www.nctq.org/dmsView/Teacher_Prep_Review_2013_Report ]

The heartening news is that the universities that have so long resisted pleas to raise their standards are now beginning to have change pushed on them from outside. Governors (including New York's Andrew Cuomo, last month) are raising admission standards for state education colleges. Philanthropies like the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, which Levine now runs, have been pouring money into reform. And academic entrepreneurs like Kenny are arising to compete with the established schools. [See http://www.governor.ny.gov/press/09232013-suny-teacher-preparation-programs ]

"Where charter schools were 10 years ago, that's where teacher preparation is right at this moment," Kenny told me. With start-up money from the media executive Barry Diller (who says he hopes to see the venture amplified via the Internet) and a core of master teachers like Jackson, Kenny has begun to build a graduate education school that will be integrated with her K-12 campuses in Harlem. It will join a young cottage industry of experimental teacher training.

Of all the competing claims on America's education dollar - more technology, smaller classes, universal prekindergarten, school choice - the one option that would seem to be a no-brainer is investing in good teachers. But universities have proved largely immutable. Educators, including some inside these institutions, say universities have treated education programs as "cash cows." The schools see no incentive to change because they have plenty of applicants willing to pay full tuition, the programs are relatively cheap to run, and they are accountable to no one except accrediting agencies run by, you guessed it, education schools. It's a contented cartel.

Among reformers, there is a fair amount of consensus about what it would take to fix things. The first step is to make teacher colleges much more selective. According to one respected study, only 23 percent of American teachers - and only 14 percent in high-poverty schools - come from the top third of college graduates. [See http://mckinseyonsociety.com/closing-the-talent-gap/ ]

The importance of selectivity comes through vividly in "The Smartest Kids in the World," Amanda Ripley's engrossing new diagnosis of why American education lags behind the likes of Finland and Singapore. Ripley says she was initially skeptical, since most research shows little correlation between a teacher's grade point average and classroom results. Then she went to Finland, where only top students get into teacher-training programs. [See http://www.amandaripley.com/books/the-smartest-kids-in-the-world ]

"What I hadn't realized was that setting a high bar at the beginning of the profession sends a signal to everyone else that you are serious about education and teaching is hard," Ripley told me. "When you do that, it makes it easier to make the case for paying teachers more, for giving them more autonomy in the classroom. And for kids to buy into the premise of education, it helps if they can tell that the teachers themselves are extremely well educated."

Once they are admitted, critics say, prospective teachers need more rigorous study, not just of the science and philosophy of education but of the contents, especially in math and the sciences, where America trails the best systems in Asia and Europe. A new study by the Education Policy Center at Michigan State, drawing on data from 17 countries, concluded that while American middle school math teachers may know a lot about teaching, they often don't know very much about math. Most of them are not required to take the courses in calculus and probability that are mandatory in the best-taught programs.[See http://education.msu.edu/csc/pdf/World-Class-Standards-for-Preparing-Teachers-of-Mathematics.pdf ]

"There's a big range in this country," said William Schmidt, who oversaw the study. "Some of our education programs are putting out math teachers at the level of Botswana, a developing country in Africa, and some rank up with Singapore." Unfortunately, Schmidt reckons, the Botswana-level teacher programs produce about 60 percent of America's future middle school math teachers.

Another missing component, reformers say, is sustained, intense classroom experience while being coached by masters of the profession. Too much student teaching is too superficial - less a serious apprenticeship than a drive-by. The Woodrow Wilson program, which has beachheads at 23 universities in four states, builds teacher training programs in partnership with local school districts, requires prospective teachers to spend a full year inside schools working alongside veterans, and provides three years of postgraduate mentoring in the classroom.

Kenny's plan in Harlem is to integrate teacher training with her K-12 campuses so closely that it will be analogous to a medical residency.

After my morning in Harlem I dropped by the red-brick edifice of Teachers College to meet Susan Fuhrman, who succeeded Arthur Levine as president and is a leader in the industry under siege. She began by acknowledging the criticisms - "there is a lot of mediocrity" - and added a couple of her own. States make it far too easy to get a teaching license, she said. Bad schools are protected by politics: "There's an ed school in every legislator's district, and nobody wants to close ed schools." She favors raising admission standards and figuring out ways to hold education schools accountable for their results.

But Fuhrman finds the birth of alternative teacher schools "upsetting." "I worry about cutting that kind of preparation off from the scholarship and from emerging research" that a university offers, she said. "It can sound like I feel threatened. I don't. But it just worries me as a trend."

There are 3.3 million public school teachers in America, and they probably can't all be trained by start-ups. Raising up the standards of our university programs should be an urgent priority. But one reason for the widespread mediocrity is that universities have had a cozy, lucrative monopoly. It's about time the leaders of our education schools did feel threatened.

----------------------------

PHOTO SIDEBAR:  Bill Keller.  Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

-----------------------------

SIDEBAR ILLUSTRATION:  Nicholas Blechman

-----------------------------
A version of this op-ed appears in print on October 21, 2013, on page A21 of the New York edition with the headline: 'An Industry of Mediocrity'.

************************************************

--

Jerry P. Becker
Dept. of Curriculum & Instruction
Southern Illinois University
625 Wham Drive
Mail Code 4610
Carbondale, IL  62901-4610
Phone:  (618) 453-4241  [O]
            (618) 457-8903  [H]
Fax:      (618) 453-4244
E-mail:   jbecker@siu.edu

Those Were The Days

---

---

 

 

~~~~~~~~~

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE

1930s, '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s!!

 

 

 

First, we survived being born to mothers who may have smoked and/or drank

while they were pregnant.

 

 

 

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

 

 

 

Then, after that trauma, we were

put to sleep on our tummies

in baby cribs covered

with bright coloured lead-based paints.

 

 

 

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets,

and, when we rode our bikes,

we had baseball caps,

not helmets, on our heads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

 

 

 

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And we weren't overweight.

WHY?

 

 

 

Because we were always outside playing...that's why!

 

 

 

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day.

--And, we were OKAY.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We would spend hours building

our go-carts out of scraps

and then ride them down the hill,

only to find out we forgot the brakes.. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem..

 

 

 

 

 

 

We did not have Play Stations, Nintendos and X-boxes. There were

no video games, no 150 channels on cable,

no video movies or DVDs,

no surround-sound or CDs,

no cell phones,

no personal computers,

no Internet and no chat rooms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

WE HAD FRIENDS

and we went outside and found  them!

 

 

 

We fell out of trees, got cut,

broke bones and teeth,

and there were no lawsuits

from those accidents.

 

We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand, and no one would call child services to report abuse.

 

 

  

 

 

   We ate worms, and mud pies

made from dirt, and

the worms did not live in us forever.

 

 

   

 

 

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, and

-although we were told it would happen- we did not put out very many eyes.

 

 

 

 

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Little League had tryouts

and not everyone made the team.

Those who didn't had to learn

to deal with disappointment.

 

 

 

Imagine that!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

 

 

 

 

 

 

These generations have produced some of the best  risk-takers,

problem solvers, and inventors ever.

 

 

 

The past 50 to 85 years have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas..

 

 

 

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If YOU are one of those born

between 1925-1970, CONGRATULATIONS! 

 

 

 

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives  for our own good.

 

 While you are at it, forward it to your kids, so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

 

 

 

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?

~~~~~~~

The quote of the month

by

Jay Leno:

 

 

   "With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those that prefer to think that God is not watching over us...go ahead and delete this. 

For the rest of us.....pass this on.

---

---

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Obama "Says" And The More he Says, The More he Lies

Obama Said This with a Straight Face 10/22/2013 “Thousands of people are signing up and saving money as we speak.” Yes, President Obama actually said that yesterday about Obamacare. As we all know, for the vast majority of people, the opposite is true. SIGNING UP? Most people have found it impossible to sign up for coverage through the Healthcare.gov website. In fact, some of the people standing behind the President during his speech—who were supposed to represent “success stories”—have not yet obtained coverage. SAVING MONEY? Heritage research revealed that in 43 out of 47 states with information available, premiums are higher in the Obamacare marketplaces than in the individual insurance market. The first problem—website signups—can be fixed. The second—Obamacare’s price—cannot. Find your state and see how much premiums are going up >>> Obama touted the fact that young people can stay on their parents’ plans until they are 26. But what about parents whose premiums are going up? Or people who are turning 27 and facing the disproportionately high cost burden that Obamacare puts on young adults? He touted the law’s Medicaid expansion, which puts more Americans on a broken-down program where one out of three primary care doctors already won’t accept new patients. He claimed Obamacare would bring “competition” and “more choices.” In reality, the opposite is true. Heritage experts Robert Moffit and Edmund Haislmaier have explained how “Under Obamacare, Americans will have less choice and less competition” (emphasis added). He claimed Obamacare is “high quality” health insurance. But it’s a one-size-fits-all deal—and that doesn’t work for health care. A high quality system would put patients and their needs first. Today Obama said, “The Affordable Care Act is not just a website—it’s much more.” Exactly. The Obamacare website might eventually get fixed—but Obamacare won’t. Read the Morning Bell and more en español every day at Heritage Libertad. Quick Hits: Where’s that big economic fallout that was supposed to come from the government shutdown? Bad sign: Even Oprah isn’t on board with Obamacare. Why doesn’t Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius have time to testify about the problems with Healthcare.gov? These are what the White House considers “Obamacare success stories.” Read excerpts of Ann Coulter’s 10th book here, then tune in at noon ET on Wednesday to hear her speak at Heritage’s Bloggers Briefing. Have you ever used Sriracha hot sauce? Did you know the company doesn’t advertise at all? The Obamacare maze: Conscience gets lost. Print  |  Comments  |  Forward  |  Donate

The Heritage Foundation | 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE | Washington, D.C. 20002 | (800) 546-2843 Add morningbell@heritage.org to your address book to ensure that you receive emails from us. You are subscribed to this newsletter as merlewidmer@msn.com. If you want to receive other Heritage Foundation newsletters, or opt out of this newsletter, please click here to update your subscription.

The Rise and Fall Of Our Republic (Democracy) Is On Target

Forwarded to me by a friend. Exactly what I have been predicting. Merle   Scary Obituary.....and it is occuring as you read this... In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh , had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior: "A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship." "The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to complacency; From complacency to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage." The Obituary follows: Born 1776, Died 2012 It doesn't hurt to read this several times. Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the last Presidential election: Number of States won by:         Obama: 19               Romney: 29 Square miles of land won by:    Obama: 580,000      Romney: 2,427,000 Population of counties won by: Obama: 127 million  Romney: 143 million Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:                                               Obama: 13.2             Romney: 2.1 Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Romney won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of the country. Obama territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in low income tenements and living off various forms of government welfare..." Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.. If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegal’s - and they vote - then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years. If you are in favor of this, then by all means, delete this message. If you are not, then pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom..