Moscow Education (Idaho)

Logos School wins the Idaho State Knowledge Bowl

2010-03-17T18:35:47Z

Logos School won the Idaho State Knowledge Bowl tournament today.

Off to nationals for the team!

Academia agrees: Grad School is a racket

2010-03-17T00:27:14Z

From The Chronicle of Higher Education:

A year ago, I wrote a column called "Graduate School in the Humanities: Just Don't Go," advising students that grad school is a bad idea unless they have no need to earn a living for themselves or anyone else, they are rich or connected (or partnered with someone who is), or they are earning a credential for a job they already hold.

In a March 2009 follow-up essay, I removed the category of people who are fortunately partnered because, as many readers wrote in to tell me, graduate school and the "two-body problem" often breaks up many seemingly stable relationships. You can't assume any partnership will withstand the strains of entry into the academic life.

Those columns won renewed attention last month from multiple Web sites, and have since attracted a lot of mail and online commentary. The responses tended to split into two categories: One said that I was overemphasizing the pragmatic aspects of graduate school at the expense of the "life of the mind" for its own sake. The other set of responses, and by far the more numerous, were from graduate students and adjuncts asking why no one had told them that their job prospects were so poor and wondering what they should do now.

The Toxic Culture Theory: a coarsened culture has stripped young men of inspiration.

2010-03-16T01:27:15Z

Temple University Professor Steven Zelnick lays out the theory that a coarsened culture has stripped young men of inspiration. Zelnick is a humanist who teaches literature and labors as a core curriculum and Great Books advocate at Temple University.

Boys do poorly in reading in the early grades, they fail in great numbers to graduate from high school, they go on to higher education at lower percentages than young women, and they fail to complete higher education programs at a noticeably higher rate than their female counterparts.

So many theories have been proposed for these failings that it is difficult to keep up with them. Boys’ brains don’t work right for what school does; boys’ energies are not suited to sitting still (more Ritalin, please); boys are biologically best suited to manual labor; boys lack male role models in school settings; boys see cooperative behavior as submission; boys resist cupboard-keeping neatness; and so on. Undoubtedly, these are all true, and always have been.

I would like to propose a wider perspective by looking for causes in the broad cultural environment. As a humanist who teaches literature and labors as a core curriculum and Great Books advocate, I premise my thoughts on old notions of human nature, social values, and cultural continuity.

Thus, I would add something I am not hearing in this discussion. Boys, and young men in particular, respond very well to noble purpose but haven’t had much to go on in the past fifty years of our bedraggled history. So many of the young men I see in my classes have mentally and emotionally quit, given up. They are not supported by inspiring ideals that help organize and focus their energies.

They seem prematurely weary, defeated by obstacles they haven’t met yet, bored and restless and merely going through the motions. Some have adopted the cool pose of indifference, and, indeed, they really don’t care. When I ask them where they are going with their educations, they look perplexed, as if I had awakened them from a deep sleep. Instead of a direction, they tell me a long wandering tale of possibilities, a tale told with an embarrassed smile and no conviction.

Who can argue that popular culture has not become coarsened and hurtful to boys?

Want to Know Why Campuses Are Unbalanced?

2010-03-14T15:08:31Z

Why are campuses unbalanced? MetLife lays out the problem nicely.

Here’s the table of results:

Here are the results of the study (click to enlarge).

HT: Richard Whitmire

CNN is waking up

2010-03-13T14:50:51Z

It looks like even CNN can’t take it any longer.

You know things have become bad when the MSM starts talking like this.

HT: Ashley L.

Third World Here: President of Detroit Public Skoolz Kant Rite Veri Goode

2010-03-13T14:47:13Z

I would call this a race to the bottom. But a very high-priced race to become a Third World nation.

From LewRockwell.com blog:

Detroit school board chief Otis Mathis admits to a “grammar problem.” When some of his emails (consisting of 3rd-grade level grammar) got out in the public, the local media nicely jumped on it. From Laura Berman’s column:

He also acknowledges he has difficulty composing a coherent English sentence. Here’s a sample from an e-mail he sent to friends and supporters on Sunday night, uncorrected for errors of spelling, grammar, punctuation and usage. It begins:

If you saw Sunday’s Free Press that shown Robert Bobb the emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools, move Mark Twain to Boynton which have three times the number seats then students and was one of the reason’s he gave for closing school to many empty seats.

It turns out he couldn’t even pass an English proficiency exam required to graduate from college. Here’s another one of his emails:

Do DPS control the Foundation or outside group? If an outside group control the foundation, then what is DPS Board row with selection of is director? Our we mixing DPS and None DPS row’s, and who is the watch dog?

He graduated from a Detroit high school with “a 1.8 grade-point average but was previously reported as a .98 average.” He used to be a substitute teacher. He calls himself a role model. But, in his defense …..

Dare I defend him, but anyone who works in a large corporate environment such as I do sees emails far worse than those above on a daily/hourly basis. Horrifying, incomprehensible emails all day long — even from managers, senior directors, and the like. For years this has baffled me. And before that I tutored college students (most of them from grad programs) in Business Communications. That was a major eye opener for me. For example, I was tutoring senior managers from Chrysler, GM, Ford, etc. who were in business school to get their grad degrees (mostly MBAs) for job advancement.

So the only difference is that Mr. Mathis actually leads those who teach at the lowest performing public schools in the nation.

HT: Dave G.

Kansas City closing nearly half its schools

2010-03-12T00:41:05Z

Nearly half of K.C. public schools will be shuttered. From the Associated Press:

The Kansas City school board narrowly approved a plan Wednesday night to close nearly half of the district’s schools in a desperate bid to avoid a potential bankruptcy. The board voted 5-4 after parents and community leaders made final pleas to spare the schools even as the beleaguered district seeks to erase a projected $50 million budget shortfall. The approved plan calls for shuttering 29 of 61 schools – a striking amount even as public school closures rise nationwide while the recession eats away at academic budgets.
…
the district’s buildings are only half-full as its population has plummeted amid political squabbling and chronically abysmal test scores. The district’s enrollment of fewer than 18,000 students is about half of what the schools had a decade ago and just a quarter of its peak in the late 1960s. Many students have left for publicly funded charter schools, private and parochial schools and the suburbs. Fewer students means less money from the state.

School buildings are half-full. This seems like a no-brainer to me.

Idaho college students rally for more funding

2010-03-12T00:06:59Z

From KREM News in Spokane:

Students from across Idaho are heading to Boise Thursday morning to talk to state lawmakers about what they say is a lack of adequate funding for public universities and education as a whole in Idaho.

Students at the University of Idaho, Boise State University, Lewis and Clark, and Idaho State University plan to meet with legislators starting at 11a.m. After that, hundreds will continue the message by rallying for education on the Capital steps.

I rally for all Idaho college students to take at least one class in microeconomics.

ESPN: Obama seeks to ban fishing. No Kidding!

2010-03-10T23:53:58Z

From ESPN:

The Obama administration has ended public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing some of the nation's oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters.

This announcement comes at the time when the situation supposedly still is "fluid" and the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force still hasn't issued its final report on zoning uses of these waters.

Fishing industry insiders, who have negotiated for months with officials at the Council on Environmental Quality and bureaucrats on the task force, had grown concerned that the public input would not be taken into account.

"When the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) completed their successful campaign to convince the Ontario government to end one of the best scientifically managed big-game hunts in North America (spring bear), the results of their agenda had severe economic impacts on small family businesses and the tourism economy of communities across northern and central Ontario," said Phil Morlock, director of environmental affairs for Shimano.

"Now we see NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the administration planning the future of recreational fishing access in America based on a similar agenda of these same groups and other Big Green anti-use organizations, through an Executive Order by the President. The current U.S. direction with fishing is a direct parallel to what happened in Canada with hunting: The negative economic impacts on hard-working American families and small businesses are being ignored.

Rod D. Martin

SENATE WARNS EMPLOYEES TO AVOID THE DRUDGE REPORT

2010-03-10T23:51:09Z

Via the Matt Drudge:

SENATE WARNS EMPLOYEES TO AVOID THE DRUDGE REPORT
Tue Mar 09 2010 08:53:37 ET

Just as the healthcare drama in the capitol reaches a grand finale, congressional officials are warning employees to avoid the DRUDGE REPORT!

The Senate's Committee on Environment and Public Works issued an urgent email late Monday claiming the DRUDGE REPORT is 'responsible for the many viruses popping up throughout the Senate.'

The committee ordered hill staff: 'Try to avoid' the DRUDGE REPORT 'for now'.

On Monday DRUDGE served over 29 million pages with NOT ONE email complaint received about 'pop ups', or the site serving 'viruses'.

The site was seen 149,967 times since March 1st from users at senate.gov and 244,347 times at house.gov. [10,825 visits from the White House, eop.gov]

The Systems Administrator may want to continue taking her antibiotic until the prescription runs out.

Idaho budget hits higher ed: Universities facing $32.1 million less in funding, including $10M less for UI

2010-03-10T23:49:37Z

As reported in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

Lawmakers plan to give Idaho's four-year public universities about $32.1 million less in total funding next year, further slashing the state share of costs for higher education.

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee agreed on a budget Tuesday that proposes spending roughly $377.7 million on the University of Idaho, Idaho State University, Boise State University and Lewis-Clark State College.

The budget plan for higher education in the next fiscal year wields a loss of nearly 8 percent in total funding, which includes state general funds, endowment money, one-time federal stimulus cash and student tuition and fees.

The state's general fund portion would drop about 14.1 percent, which, combined with previous losses, means Idaho will be spending about $67.6 million less in tax revenue on higher education than it did two years ago.

Keith Ickes, the UI's executive director of planning and budget, said Tuesday afternoon the legislature still had to determine how to distribute the dollars to each institution, but he estimated the UI would see about a $10 million cut in state general funding from this year's budget.

He said he felt "no shocks, no surprises" from JFAC's vote.

"These were approximately the kinds of numbers that we've been looking at for the last two to three weeks, if not a month and a half," he said.

Idaho budget hits higher ed: Universities facing $32.1 million less in funding, including $10M less for UI

2010-03-10T23:41:56Z

As reported in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

Lawmakers plan to give Idaho's four-year public universities about $32.1 million less in total funding next year, further slashing the state share of costs for higher education.

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee agreed on a budget Tuesday that proposes spending roughly $377.7 million on the University of Idaho, Idaho State University, Boise State University and Lewis-Clark State College.

The budget plan for higher education in the next fiscal year wields a loss of nearly 8 percent in total funding, which includes state general funds, endowment money, one-time federal stimulus cash and student tuition and fees.

The state's general fund portion would drop about 14.1 percent, which, combined with previous losses, means Idaho will be spending about $67.6 million less in tax revenue on higher education than it did two years ago.

Keith Ickes, the UI's executive director of planning and budget, said Tuesday afternoon the legislature still had to determine how to distribute the dollars to each institution, but he estimated the UI would see about a $10 million cut in state general funding from this year's budget.

He said he felt "no shocks, no surprises" from JFAC's vote.

"These were approximately the kinds of numbers that we've been looking at for the last two to three weeks, if not a month and a half," he said.

Gates Foundation pushing comm colleges to offer LESS choice--how revolutionary

2010-03-10T13:11:02Z

From Inside Higher Education:

For colleges to succeed at graduating more students, institutions will have to embrace "transformational change," and if they do, they may get some help from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. That was the message from Hilary Pennington, who directs the foundation's efforts in higher education, in a talk Monday to college presidents gathered at the annual meeting here of the American Council on Education.

In the talk, Pennington mixed not-so-subtle criticism of the policies of many traditional colleges with a concrete example of the foundation's willingness to back dramatic change in the way education is delivered. She announced that the Gates Foundation, along with the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, will provide $3.6 million to expand Cabrillo College's Academy for College Excellence to allow the effort to be used at three other (unidentified) community colleges in California and one in another state.

The academy concept, similar in some ways to the ideas behind the new community college being planned by the City University of New York, involves more direction and fewer choices for students, with the goal of getting them into college-level work right away and earning an associate degree in a reasonably speedy fashion. In an interview, Pennington said that foundation officials increasingly believe that "less choice, more structure" may translate into the kind of revolutionary change the foundation wants to see in community colleges.

Isn’t this actually counter-revolutionary?

HT: Dr. A

Breaking News: Idaho universities to lose $32 million next year

2010-03-09T19:58:52Z

As reported in today’s online edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

State lawmakers plan to give Idaho’s four-year public universities about $32.1 million less in total funding during the next fiscal year.

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Tuesday agreed on a budget that proposes spending roughly $377.7 million on the University of Idaho, Idaho State University, Boise State University and Lewis-Clark State College.

The budget represents a loss of nearly 8 percent compared to the current fiscal year.

The committee agreed to slash 12.6 percent in total spending on community colleges and approved a budget that spends $25 million on the schools during the next fiscal year, or about $3.6 million less compared to this year.

Average Faculty Salaries by Field and Rank at 4-Year Colleges and Universities, 2009-10

2010-03-08T15:35:49Z

From The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Average Faculty Salaries by Field and Rank at 4-Year Colleges and Universities, 2009-10

	Professor	Associate professor	Assistant professor*	New assistant professor	Instructor
Agriculture, agriculture operations, and related sciences	$90,053	$71,583	$61,645	$62,589	$45,123
Air transportation	$99,803	$71,605	$59,434	-	$45,545
Architecture and related services	$95,723	$73,319	$60,181	$58,935	$50,040
Area, ethnic, cultural, and gender studies	$98,375	$73,570	$58,198	$57,246	$46,048
Biological and biomedical sciences	$91,184	$68,294	$57,545	$57,021	$44,193
Business, management, marketing, and related support services	$109,919	$92,573	$85,996	$95,822	$57,192
Communication, journalism, and related programs	$83,656	$65,006	$53,599	$54,424	$44,616
Communications technologies/technicians and support services	$81,269	$63,907	$56,041	-	$52,089
Computer and information sciences and support services	$101,219	$82,230	$70,791	$72,199	$51,854
Education	$82,919	$65,182	$54,953	$54,009	$45,553
Engineering	$112,679	$86,031	$75,226	$75,450	$56,974
Engineering technologies/technicians	$87,592	$71,688	$62,439	$60,452	$48,995
English language and literature/letters	$79,372	$61,684	$51,502	$51,204	$40,519
Family and consumer sciences/human sciences	$87,638	$66,526	$56,724	$55,506	$44,869
Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics	$85,620	$65,129	$53,529	$52,271	$42,577
Health professions and related clinical sciences	$94,610	$74,162	$62,704	$64,296	$52,279
History	$82,354	$62,630	$52,047	$51,811	$42,297
Legal professions and studies	$134,146	$101,045	$83,991	$92,033	$64,292
Liberal arts and sciences, general studies and humanities	$82,541	$62,700	$52,279	$50,427	$42,429
Library science	$87,336	$67,716	$54,741	$55,175	$46,191
Mathematics and statistics	$84,324	$66,012	$55,765	$55,186	$42,782
Multi/interdisciplinary studies	$91,380	$69,001	$57,503	$55,284	$44,615
Natural resources and conservation	$91,420	$68,653	$58,170	$59,361	$47,029
Parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies	$80,513	$64,126	$53,246	$53,189	$43,523
Philosophy and religious studies	$84,621	$63,460	$53,018	$53,668	$43,160
Physical sciences	$88,147	$66,898	$56,720	$56,483	$43,084
Psychology	$83,840	$64,461	$54,850	$54,584	$43,493
Public administration and social-service professions	$89,342	$68,896	$56,572	$57,873	$47,669
Science technologies/technicians	-	$75,577	$63,100	-	$46,622
Security and protective services	$84,569	$66,374	$54,538	$53,482	$44,230
Social sciences	$89,351	$68,363	$57,901	$58,466	$45,854
Theology and religious vocations	$71,473	$59,979	$51,605	$50,535	$42,752
Visual and performing arts	$79,098	$62,197	$51,480	$50,762	$43,113
*Includes data for new assistant professors
Note: © 2010 by College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. Contact CUPA-HR (http://www.cupahr.org) for permission to reprint the data. All rights reserved. The figures are averages for public and private institutions combined. The data are based on reports covering 215,309 faculty members and 4,031 researchers at 822 public and private four-year colleges and universities. The figures cover full-time faculty members on 9- or 10-month contracts. A dash indicates insufficient data.
Source: College and University Professional Association for Human Resources

Charter School Success in Harlem. Who'd Object?

2010-03-08T14:28:01Z

From the Wall Street Journal:

Today there are 24 Harlem charter schools. They select students by lottery, and they educate about 7,700 of the community's 50,000 school-age kids. Another 5,700 children matriculate at one of Harlem's 30 private and parochial schools.

"Harlem now has more school choice per square foot than any other place in the country," says Eva Moskowitz, who operates four charters in Harlem. Nationwide, the average black 12th grader reads at the level of a white eighth grader. Yet Harlem charter students at schools like KIPP and Democracy Prep are outperforming their white peers in wealthy suburbs. At the Promise Academy charter schools, 97% of third graders scored at or above grade level in math. At Harlem Village Academy, 100% of eighth graders aced the state science exam. Every third grader at Harlem Success Academy 1, operated by Ms. Moskowitz, passed the state math exam, and 71% of them achieved the top score.

This year, Harlem's charter schools received more than 11,000 applications for 2,000 available slots. More than 7,000 children are on wait lists.

Who could ever object to something like that? Well, the Teachers Unions, of courses.

The United Federation of Teachers and its political acolytes in the New York state legislature are hell-bent on blocking school choice for underprivileged families. Worried that high-performing charters are "saturating" Harlem, State Sen. Bill Perkins and State Assemblyman Keith Wright have backed legislation that would gut state per-pupil funding at charter schools and allow a single charter operator to educate no more than 5% of a district's students. Unions dislike charter schools because many aren't organized. But how does limiting the replication of successful public education models benefit ghetto kids?

These obstructionists, Mr. Clark says, aren't doing the community any favors. "The teachers unions ought to be ashamed of themselves because they know better than I do how bad these schools are," he says. "Everybody on my block and in my building and around the corner . . . they all want charter schools. They don't want a political debate."

The next time that progressives tell you “it’s all about the kids,” laugh out loud in their faces.

HT: Mark J. Perry

Theme party being promoted to WSU students on Facebook draws racial concerns

2010-03-08T14:14:19Z

As reported in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

A few students, faculty and staff at Washington State University became concerned Friday about a theme party they deemed racist.

A student or students had planned a theme party "Vatos Lokos Party," for March 28. The theme party was being promoted on a Facebook page where it encouraged students to take part. Vatos Locos is a name for a Mexican gang.

This is not the first time that area students have participated in such theme parties.

UCSD students helped arrange a party called the “Compton Cookout,” which ridiculed African-Americans on the occasion of Black History Month.

That’s actually a more common party theme than you might think. They also go by the names “Pimps and Hos,” and “Gangsta” or “Ghetto” parties.

At these gangsta parties, students wear gold chains. They drink malt liquor. They flash gang signs.

Fraternities also have thrown parties making fun of Latinos. At Santa Clara University, students came dressed as gardeners and janitors. Some of the women put balloons under their shirts to look pregnant.

Poor white people are targets, too. A fraternity at the University of Idaho throws a big one at the end of the year. Partyers wear overalls and John Deere caps to the “White Trash Trailer Bash.”

Here’s another party concept: “Mekong Delta.” At the University of Florida, male students dressed up as U.S. soldiers and the women as Vietnamese prostitutes.

Whatever happened to togas?

Looks like all that government reeducation, indoctrination stuff isn’t working.

Passing on the title: Logos School's Emily Carlson was named 2011 Pullman Junior Miss

2010-03-08T14:03:18Z

Emily is the 3^rd Logos School student named as a local Junior Miss in the last 4 years: Cecilia Hui in 2007, Naphtali Lineberger in 2008, and now Emily Carlson in 2010. Well done, ladies!

As reported in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

Emily Carlson was named 2011 Pullman Junior Miss on Saturday night.

Family and friends rushed to the stage to congratulate Carlson, who was overcome by emotion.

"Just participating has been my dream for the past nine years," Carlson said, in tears. "This is one of the best experiences of my life. I'm crying, but it's all happiness."

Hundreds of people convened at the Gladish Community and Cultural Center auditorium to watch the 15 participants compete in the scholarship program.

The participants were from Pullman High School, Pullman Christian School and Logos School in Moscow. During the program they were judged on scholastics, fitness, talent, self-expression and an interview.

The program awarded almost $6,000 in scholarships to the top winners. The money came from donors and the local business community.

Along with the title of Pullman's new Junior Miss, Carlson won a $1,000 scholarship and one year of paid tuition at Washington State University. She also received the $500 fitness award and the $500 self-expression award.

Carlson will now represent Pullman in the Washington Junior Miss Program, which will take place at Washington State University in August.

Detroit socialist explains the Soviet States of America

2010-03-08T03:29:17Z

It really is amazing what our government schools are producing today.

This is from the "National Day of Action to Defend Public Education", held on 4 March in cities across America. This was organized by the best of the left:

Michigan’s “By Any Means Necessary”
Ohio’s “Community Organizing Center for Mother Earth”
Los Angeles’ “County Peace and Freedom Party”
New York’s “League for the Revolutionary Party”
North Carolina’s “Destroy Industry.”

With groups like that, it can’t help but be good.

Below is a video from Detroit a guy representing the Che Guevara/Mumia Abu-Jamal “FIST Youth”. Here he educates a crowd on the virtues of socialism, lecturing on the Soviet Union, its roots, and the glory days when the “people’s council” made all of the important decisions.

It wouldn’t surprise me if he learned this from the University of Idaho’s history department…

Nampa Classical Academy focuses on 'Greater Things'

2010-03-07T22:54:09Z

Interesting things here from a government school.

From the Idaho Statesman:

About 500 children line up outside on a brisk Wednesday morning, the small in front of the tall. They turn toward a flagpole to pledge their allegiance, then face the headmaster to recite their creed, declaring that they are wise, virtuous and strive for excellence in all they do. Teachers follow suit, pledging to develop in their students "a strong intellectual foundation coupled with a potent moral compass."

When they're done, Headmaster Val Bush proclaims, "Teachers, you may lead your students to fulfill their destinies."

Destiny isn't a word bandied about much. But at Nampa Classical Academy it's a staple - not just in the daily opening ceremony, but as one of a dozen "Greater Things in Life" that students in grades K through 9 vow to heed.

The others? Character, charity, civility, discipline, excellence, industry and thrift, integrity, loyalty, originality and creativity, patriotism, and service.

The public charter academy, which opened last fall in an array of portable classrooms in west Nampa, is proudly old-school, formal and conservative.

Uniformed students stand up to answer questions from teachers who call them "Mr." and "Miss." Latin and logic classes are required from sixth grade on up.

And each ninth-grader must recite something in front of the entire student body at least once during the year.

The goal, says founder, teacher and operations director Isaac Moffett, is to give modern-day children the kind of education that Thomas Jefferson and other Founding Fathers received.

"By reading our founders' writing, you'll see why classical education is important," Moffett said. "Our current traditional education system does not produce such thinking, such writing."

Nampa Classical, he said, aims to produce graduates who can think well, write well and achieve their purpose in life.

Then it gets interesting.

In a seventh-grade ancient history class, teacher Bruce Forrest preps the students for an upcoming quiz. He asks questions and they rummage through their notes, hands flying skyward as they find or remember the answers. Then he goes over the same material again, until all can call out the correct answer.

"How much do we know about the Etruscans?" he asks.

"Very little, because we can't read their writing," one girl responds, correctly, without checking her notes.

The review moves on to a lightning round of sorts, with quick-fire questions and answers. Facts that prove elusive to the students merit a drill, such as repeating five times the dates for the first Punic War (264 to 241 B.C.).

The educational approach is formal and structured, but intent on developing independent thought and the ability to argue points, Bush said. Memorization and debate are equally prized.

"We're trying what has never been done in Idaho before - to offer a classical liberal arts education in public school," Moffett said. "There's really no comparison, other than going to a private school."

He also calls NCA "the only conservative public school in Idaho" and says, "we put our patriotism up front."

That doesn't mean liberal political views aren't welcome, he said, adding that a variety of viewpoints makes for nourishing debate and stronger minds.

"It's not about conforming to a conservative ideology," Moffett said. "We can't have it just one way.

"The whole point of school is to grow yourself."

It will be interesting to see if a government school (even a charter one) can pull off anything close to being classical.

Now the zingers:

When it comes to the Constitution, the school is strictly traditionalist, he said: "We do not believe it's a living document. The original intent of our founders must be taught to our children."

Latin is a staple at Nampa Classical, and plans call for teaching Greek to future juniors and seniors. The foreign languages common in other schools, such as Spanish and French, aren't among the course offerings, although Bush said he hopes to add them within a couple of years.

One thing that won't ever be part of the curriculum, he said, is vocational education.

To Moffett, standard public education has shifted in the past century from a system that produces leaders to one that produces workers.

"It's a slave-training mentality," he said.

At Nampa Classical, he said, school leaders don't worry about training people for specific vocations - instead, they aim to impart the knowledge and mental agility to enable students to be good at whatever pursuit they choose.

"All of this is to focus on the student's destiny, and that requires an understanding of who they are," Bush said. "This isn't just to educate them to get a job. It's educating them to be the person they're going to be."

We’ll see how this goes over time. I’m not convinced that the government will allow for a classical education that is funded by the state. It’s too subversive. The government wants to have drones that will recite the party line, not thinking citizens.

The dependency road to academic debt slavery

2010-03-06T14:59:15Z

Dr. A writes:

The average college graduate’s debt topped $23,000, up 6 percent annually since 2004, according to The Project on Student Debt, based in Berkeley, Calif. The report, which appeared in the most recent Bulletin of Higher Education Administration (Vol. 16, No. 3, March 2010), published by the Association of College Administration Professionals, had more bad news:

“graduates saddled with those loans likely are having a harder time finding a job to pay them off, given a third-quarter 2009 unemployment rate of 10.6 percent for graduates 20 to 24 years old. That’s the highest national rate for that group in the 10 years data has been available.”

According to the report, the average debt load in 2008 was as low as $4,781 at Alice Lloyd College in Kentucky, while others topped $50,000.Â The institution burying its students with the highest debt load was St. Louis College of Pharmacy, which reported the average student red ink exceeding $105,000. As I’ve suggested before, do the math: students could spend their years seeing the world on cruise ships (and learning a great deal) for the same price as tuition as institutions masquerading as academic cruise ships in dry dock–offering rooms without a view.

Attendance drops at this year's UI jazz fest

2010-03-05T23:05:36Z

Not good news for UI or the local economy. From the Associated Press:

Attendance at the University of Idaho's Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival was down 23 percent from 2009.

Festival officials say attendance at the evening concerts Wednesday through Saturday was about 10,800 this year, down from nearly 14,000 last year.

The Moscow-Pullman Daily News reports that officials blame the decrease in part on reductions to school and university travel budgets.

University spokeswoman Joni Kirk says the university sold nearly $192,000 worth of concert tickets last week.

Moscow Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Steve Hacker says the festival generated big returns for area businesses. He compares the impact on the local economy to a major UI football game.

Attendance drops at this year's UI jazz fest

2010-03-05T23:05:01Z

Not good news for UI or the local economy. From the Associated Press:

Attendance at the University of Idaho's Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival was down 23 percent from 2009.

Festival officials say attendance at the evening concerts Wednesday through Saturday was about 10,800 this year, down from nearly 14,000 last year.

The Moscow-Pullman Daily News reports that officials blame the decrease in part on reductions to school and university travel budgets.

Whatever. Do they not realize that there’s a depression underway? Perhaps people didn’t have money to come this year? Or was the UI planning on subsidizing attendance?

University spokeswoman Joni Kirk says the university sold nearly $192,000 worth of concert tickets last week.

Moscow Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Steve Hacker says the festival generated big returns for area businesses. He compares the impact on the local economy to a major UI football game.

Measure would allow Idaho schools to reopen contracts

2010-03-05T05:11:38Z

From the Associated Press:

A measure declaring a financial emergency for all Idaho schools that was tacked onto Wednesday's $1.58 billion public education spending plan prompted a protest by the Idaho teachers union.

Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley, is pushing the provision to allow Idaho school boards to reopen negotiations on salary and benefits of school teachers in the middle of 2010-2011 school years, even if their districts aren't close to exhausting their funds, which was required by a 2009 law before they could declare an emergency.

Separate votes Wednesday to pare a total of $128 billion from the public education budget were all 15-4, with Republicans on the winning side and minority Democrats losing. But Wood's measure passed 12-7, with three Republicans - Sens. Dean Cameron, from Rupert, Joyce Broadsword, from Sagle, and Jim Hammond, from Coeur d'Alene - joining the minority in opposition.

They defected, despite Wood's assurances that a statewide emergency would be in effect for the coming year and could be lifted once the economy improves.

"This doesn't mandate that any school district do anything. All it says is, the conditions are met, if they want to do that," Wood said. "If, in fact, any changes have to be made, both sides will negotiate in good faith."

MSD School Funding Forum

2010-03-05T01:52:35Z

The following is from the MJHS discussion board:

Are you concerned about funding for our public schools?

A group of concerned citizens and educators in our community will meet in the MJHS band room (rm. 108) on Wednesday, March.10, where we hope to have a conversation about what we can do in our community to raise awareness about adequate school funding.

We know you understand the value of ensuring our schools have the resources they need to give our kids a world class education. Please join us and share your ideas.

Looks like MSD is winding up to increase our property taxes yet again.

If it passes, do you think they will cut property taxes afterwards?

Breaking News: Idaho Budget committee approves $17 million cut to K-12 education

2010-03-03T21:02:24Z

The following is from the online edition of the Lewiston Tribune.

The joint budget committee approved a $1.58 billion total budget for public schools Wednesday, marking the first cut in overall education spending in Idaho history.

The budget includes $1.21 billion in general fund support, or just over half of all general fund spending in fiscal 2011. That's down $17 million from the current year; the total budget, including federal and dedicated funding, is off $129 million or 7.5 percent.

It's tiered furloughs for UI faculty, staff: Plan should save university about $1.2 million

2010-03-03T13:18:41Z

As I’ve said before, furloughs are better than layoffs.

But you just have to wonder if the UI employees are not paying for the $37 million spent on Kibby Dome renovations. Now there’s $37 million that could have been better spent elsewhere.

As reported in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

About 2,600 University of Idaho employees statewide will take some unpaid time off this spring as part of the UI's new tiered furlough plan.

UI President Duane Nellis announced the plan Tuesday after several months of discussion about how to deal with mounting revenue shortfalls, including two state budget holdbacks this year and a likely multi-million dollar decrease in the university's state appropriation next year.

Keith Ickes, the UI's executive director of planning and budget, said the plan should save the UI about $1.2 million.

He said the university has already taken numerous steps to save money this fiscal year, including eliminating some vacant positions and consolidating some programs, and it would not be prudent to dip further into the UI's reserves and possibly put more programs at risk.

The furloughs are divided into six tiers based on salary levels. Employees in the lowest affected tier, between $22,500 and $32,499 per year, will take between four and seven unpaid hours off work. The highest tier includes employees making at least $200,000, who will take at least five unpaid days off.

Employees who earn less than $22,500 per year will not be affected by the furloughs.

Nellis, as the UI's highest-paid employee, will be the only one to take six unpaid days off work, Ickes said. Nellis' six days will amount to slightly more than $7,730 in savings, according to UI spokeswoman Tania Thompson.

Breaking News: UI to Furlough Employees

2010-03-02T20:23:11Z

As reported in today’s online edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

MOSCOW -- The University of Idaho this morning announced a plan of tiered furloughs for 2,600 employees in a short-term budget cutting measure.
The minimum furlough will be four hours for an employee making $22,500 per year. Employees making more money will be required to take more unpaid leave, topping out at five days for those making more than $200,000 per year.
The UI is the first public four-year institution in Idaho to use furloughs to address the ongoing state budget crisis. By doing so, university President Duane Nellis is exercising strengthened powers granted by the State Board of Education two weeks ago.

WSU Computer Program Off Boeing's Approved List

2010-03-02T04:38:04Z

In today's Lewiston Tribune on page 5a, there is a brief note that reads:.

"PULLMAN- Boeing Aerospace has scratched Washington State University's computer science department off its list of approved bachelor-degree programs for software engineer positions."

Do any of my readers know what’s wrong with the WSU Comp. Sci. program that scares the hi-tech company so prominent in the State of Washington?

This cannot be good for WSU.

HT: Bill J.

'Dating Out' -- The Option Coming Soon to White Women

2010-02-28T15:20:03Z

From Richard Whitmire over at Why Boys Fail:

Dating Out is what black women call dating someone out of their race, as laid out in this Washington Post article. For black women looking to marry someone equally educated, that's an option that has to be considered. In urban areas such as Washington, there are three times as many college educated black women as men. The math is simple.

The math is also becoming simple for white women. With 62 percent of associate's degrees and 57 percent of bachelor's degrees going to women, where are educated white women going to find suitable mates? By "marrying down," so to speak, to men lacking their education level.

Will that happen? Perhaps, but I'm guessing not nearly enough to avoid significant rises in the number of middle class white women avoiding marriage and having children on their own through sperm banks.

Now, tell me again why so many women's advocacy groups resist school interventions designed to correct the academic indifference we see among boys in the K-12 school system? And please explain why the Department of Education continues to duck the gender gap issue.