Thinking Right

By Copyleft

June 10, 2008 8:16 AM | Link to this

Meh. I’m just not interested in Wooten’s tired, predictable rants about the evils of public education today. Heard it before, wasn’t impressed.

By chris.weed@comcast.net

June 10, 2008 8:17 AM | Link to this

http://whatgrindsmygears-christopher.blogspot.com/

By TW

June 10, 2008 8:19 AM | Link to this

Anywhere the students show up ready to learn - they do. Kids who do their homework, spend their six waking hours out of school in a secure environment, eat breakfast, dinner, and sleep the recommended amount do well no matter where they are, no matter the teacher ore the facility or if it’s public, charter, or private.

The education argument is merely a ruse in which those who don’t want to pay for our great country can feel good about not doing it.

Isn’t it strange that the public schools in the middle of the big houses do very well, while those in the projects don’t score well at all?

Nowhere is the rightwing’s dismissal of the scientific method more obvious than in their dissemination of the schooling ‘problem.’

Anti-American government is anti-American.

Who needs al qaeda when you have the republicans?

By Neo-cons McChimpyHalliburtonCheneyHitler warmonger

June 10, 2008 8:29 AM | Link to this

Good morning all. We had a similar positive experience in another state. We lived in one of those rare places with competing public school systems, one city and one county. The systems were originally set up with no real competition. The city system schooled only through the sixth grade, and the county system took only elementary students outside the city limits. For reasons of ego, the city school administrator determined to set up a k-12 program in his highest-income section of the city and opened a state of the art facility with some gobbledygook they called a “paedea” philosophy, then the vogue of the education world. (Strangely, not much talk about the philosophy 18 months after the school actually opened.)

After the city opened its new school, the county administrator, in a t**-for-tat move, decided to open a magnet fifth and sixth grade school. The principal and I were members of a club that managed the little league baseball program, so the jbmlaw progeny were admitted to the “exclusive” school despite their father’s reputation. We found the best teachers and a truly inspired student body, and our kids thrived. Competition works, even among government entities. Leftists do not understand, but anyone with real life experience sees the virtue.

By catlady

June 10, 2008 8:37 AM | Link to this

Hey, you don’t even NEEd a charter school, or even the best teachers! As long as you have a self-selected, MOTIVATED student body, you have got it made! They don’t have to have money, they have to have “want to”. “It’s not the charter status, stupid.”

By Dave

June 10, 2008 8:40 AM | Link to this

Copyleft-Wooten’s Rants, who cares if they’re true or not. It’s just our kids future. Wow, you’re still drinking the cool aid.

By Neo-cons McChimpyHalliburtonCheneyHitler warmonger

June 10, 2008 8:45 AM | Link to this

Dear Catlady @ 8:37, all you say is true, but I think you wrongly disparage the “means of delivery.” The introduction of competition, whether via charter schools or vouchers or any other comparable innovation, may well be the ideal way to manufacture motivation. Nobody gets excited about shampoo until there are two brands on the market.

By Neo-cons McChimpyHalliburtonCheneyHitler warmonger

June 10, 2008 8:47 AM | Link to this

Dear Catlady @ 8:37, all you say is true, but I think you wrongly disparage the “means of delivery.” The introduction of competition, whether via charter schools or vouchers or any other comparable innovation, may well be the ideal way to manufacture motivation. Nobody gets excited about shampoo until there are two brands on the market.

By ron

June 10, 2008 8:48 AM | Link to this

Good morning Jim,The accomplishments that come from a group of people who know what they’re doing is always the same,very satisfactory.Leaders that lead,teachers that teach and students that want to be there is a winning combination in any school.Don’t forget about my last point.Students that want to be there.

By Taxpayer

June 10, 2008 8:49 AM | Link to this

Well, I think we have been quite successful in our efforts to transform the health-care industry into a booming industry that provides jobs for a significant portion of our society. Just look at it — we have the health and dental insurance industries, the hordes of specialists in every conceivable sub-branch of medicine, the drug industry, specialized accounting industry, medical care facilities, etc. — and yet we have millions and millions of people still in need of jobs.

Well, I say it’s high time we moved toward privatization of education. We need to move all these tax-paid facilities and jobs and supporting functions into the private sector and take that tax burden off of the taxpayer once and for all. Put that burden where it needs to be — on the individuals that choose to use it. We’ll have new demand for specialized training centers, educators and administrators, advertising, sports, school buses, tutors, etc. The potential is just staggering and as Jim so succinctly points out, all you need to do is exceed the minimum enrollment for break even. It’s all gravy (that’s layman’s talk for profit for you uninitiated) after that point.

There’s jobs to be created and money to be made here so let’s get with it. What are we waiting for. After all, can you even think of a better value-added proposition than an education. Pricing can even be advertised nationwide like housing. Instead of $/square foot though it would be something like $/credit-hour. Can you just imagine the extra incentive placed on the parent to get their child educated in the fewest number of credit hours and at the lowest cost per credit hour. On a side note, I wonder what an education bubble would look like.

By Jeff

June 10, 2008 8:53 AM | Link to this

“There will be no excuses… You will work harder here than you ever have before… and all I require of you is ganas. Desire.” -Jaime Escalante.

The above is the KEY to education. Schools and communities that have extremely high standards and accept no excuses. Students with a desire to learn. When both of those two factors are present, you have an EXTREMELY high performing school, as Tech High has found.

BTW: For those that don’t know: Escalante is the subject of the movie Stand and Deliver. In real life it took him about a decade, but what the movie depicts by and large actually happened eventually: He took a group of blacks and latinos from the ghettos and barrios of South Central LA and had them pass the AP Calc exam SO WELL that ETS - the organization that administers the exam - accused them of cheating.

By Redneck Convert

June 10, 2008 8:54 AM | Link to this

Well, I reckon some schools can work, if you go in for that kind of thing. Me, I never made it out of 5th grade and it never hurt me none. Danged multiplying tables.

I’m all for anything that don’t make me pay taxes. Wooten don’t say weather my tax money goes to pay for this school he raves about.

School ought to be like WalMart—good and cheap. People send their kids and the teachers are suppose to pour the learning in. Long as it don’t get in the way of NASCAR races and fambly vacations or make parents help with homework, that’s fine with me. Just don’t make the kids too smart. They could turn into pointy-heads and turn librul.

I think we got it just fine as it is. We may have the next to worst test scores in the whole nation, but we got the finest citizens that got brains enough to vote for the Republicans every time. That’s all the book learning we need.

I can’t figure out why jbmlaw has took to going by another name. He uses NeoCons McChimp Halliburton at the top and then talks about jbmlaws kids in what he types. Maybe he needs to go to one of them schools Wooten talks about so he can figure out who he is.

Have a good day everybody. Its hot today so maybe people will drink more beer and help save my job.

By Get Real

June 10, 2008 9:02 AM | Link to this

Wooten, you should be Charlie Brown’s teacher…..Wonk, wonk, wonk, wonk….. What about McClellan agreeing to testify before Congress? Or gas jumping over $10 in one day on Friday. I guess these aren’t really important topics to a Republican. But had a Democratic President been in office when gas practically doubled in a year, this is all you would hear about. Please retire Wooten.

By TW

June 10, 2008 9:08 AM | Link to this

Never is the frailty of the rightwing more evident than when 5th grade educated Redneck Convert expresses his ownership of jbmlaw.

By happy2teach

June 10, 2008 9:16 AM | Link to this

I’m a liberal.

And I recognize that competition is needed in education.

I love the idea of charters, though I’m afraid of abuse in the system (re-segregation anyone?), but if we improve the quality of teachers entering the field, a lot can get done. Whatever it takes to increase the quality of our teachers is what needs to get done and I think there is a lot more potential to creatively problem-solve this in a charter system.

Never under-estimate the power of an amazing teacher.

By J Dawg

June 10, 2008 9:23 AM | Link to this

Well I got me my stimulus check the other day. Thank god for George Bush and the Chinese who done loaned him the money. Now off to Wal-Mart to get me some stuff. I figure that way I’ll be sending the money right back to China in the hopes that they may loan it back to us again next year.

By zeke

June 10, 2008 9:26 AM | Link to this

Government education never works at any level! It only serves to indoctrinate! In the USA, liberal socialist use government schools to influence the path of the nation away from our culture, our heritage, our system of capitalism and indeed the place our our country in the world and history! Unless we rid our schools and colleges of liberal socialist instructors, we will be lost!!

By Believer

June 10, 2008 9:30 AM | Link to this

zeke. zeke, where are you? I lost you somewhere after “Government”.

By Curious Observer

June 10, 2008 9:34 AM | Link to this

Maybe Wooten should brush up on the famous Hawthorne studies, well known in management studies. Workers at that plant who received a lot of attention performed much better than others who received less attention.

I suspect the same principle is at work in the school about which Wooten writes. Students are self-selected, and they receive the attention that motivates them to excel.

Now switch to the typical public school, where teachers face 35 students per class. How much attention can a teacher give to each student?

Smaller class sizes, motivated teachers, and parents’ giving a hoot about the education of their children would work wonders in Georgia. But no, we will go on complaining about school taxes and rambling on about competition—as though public school teachers have the time even to think about how other schools are performing.

By Shar

June 10, 2008 9:47 AM | Link to this

Good Morning. I went to two of Tech High’s initial meetings, one to explain the program and one to recruit students, as my older daughter was of an age to be in this year’s first graduating class. APS’ institutional resistance to charter schools was evident in the layers of requirements the bureaucracy mandated and the absence of funds, facilities and personnel resources committed to the school. Tech High was guided and funded by a public/private partnership, with a Board primiarly made up of Atlanta business people and advisors from Georgia Tech. Internships were created for the students by local companies, the principal was a former military officer who had been running a boys’ middle school north of town somewhere, Barbara Christmas (who ran for Secretary of Education and who has impressive connections throughout the state’s educational elite) was raising money and wrangling CEO support and, as Mr. Wooten says, teachers were being screened and selected, not taken from APS’ dreaded “pool”. There were no sports and, as I recall, minimal curricular “enhancements” such as the arts or electives. The emphasis was on discipline, personal attention and graduation, a package that seemed to have particular appeal to the parents of boys.

The point that Mr. Wooten glosses over in his essay is class size. Those 44 students in the graduating class had far more oversight, assistance and individual attention than did their counterparts in APS’ other high schools. With a total enrollment of 250 and 18 teachers, the student/teacher ratio is just shy of 14:1, yielding a class size that few other metro high schools, public or private, can afford.

The parents of Tech High’s students were sufficiently involved and aware to find out about the new school and enroll their children. Public spending per student is high and is heavily supplemented by private donations of money, expertise and other resources. Teachers are hand-chosen and class sizes are very small. Students are disciplined, tutored, mentored and motivated by scholarships to college (as evidenced by the high college attendance rate among students who qualify for free or reduced price lunches).

Yes, the first graduating class of Tech High has been successful, but it is unfair to compare their achievements to other APS seniors who did not receive the additional support. It also remains to be seen whether the Tech High formula can still succeed if the school is required to be financially self-sufficient and to provide the curriculum and services demanded of other APS high schools.

By GayGrayGeek

June 10, 2008 9:59 AM | Link to this

Curious @ 9:34 - You’re daring to propose that Wooten actually bother with documented facts and demonstrable truth?

Why should Jim start now, when simply parroting the latest Faux News Talking Points aka Outright Lies is so incredibly much easier?

By Dennis

June 10, 2008 10:31 AM | Link to this

Mr. Wooten, we all want successful schools.

But given your constant harping about magnet schools and charter schools and how wonderful they all are/could/will be, would you please answer one question?

What are you going to do with/for the “failing” kids who do not get into one of them?

Instead of writing them off (which is what your columns do) write about what to do with them.

You don’t have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.

By Retired Teacher

June 10, 2008 10:37 AM | Link to this

Thank you Shar, for your insightful comments. We are comparing apples and oranges. The class size, teacher selection, and additional support from corporate sponsors make this school much different than the average high school. Also, any school that can select the students who will attend has an automatic advantage. I am surprised their test scores weren’t 100% and wonder why not.

By Dusty

June 10, 2008 10:55 AM | Link to this

Well, I appreciate Jim Wooten telling us about a successful school. I’m glad to hear about it. Encouraging to know that there are some out there.

That school Jim mentioned was run like a good clock..screened teachers, small classes, uniform dress, rules of behavior, etc. etc. Great!

But I keep remembering the old tales about people like Abraham Lincoln who worked all day as a boy, did homework at night by the fire with a piece of coal on a shovel. You know those stories. How did HE succeed? What did he have that seems to be missing today? Are students today so “lacking” that only super schools can make them intellectuals or professionals?

Well, I can’t answer my own question. My children have pulled through public school without too much “damage”. They continue their education in many way, some in school and some in the “world”. One thing they know for sure. Their parents are 100% behind them.

By Taxpayer

June 10, 2008 10:57 AM | Link to this

Now, now. If people start examining Mr. Wooten’s sales pitch too closely, they’re likely to find that there’s a lot of high-priced snake oil on those shelves and I’m not talkin’ ‘bout the “Made in China” variety. On a side note, Mr. Wooten, do you get paid a commission? Just wondering.

By GayGrayGeek

June 10, 2008 10:58 AM | Link to this

Dennis @ 10:31 - You’ve obviously forgotten that “failing” kids are almost always Those People, and in PaleoconWorld there is no need for Those People to be able to read, write, do basic math, etc. My goodness, you allow Those People to “learn” and they might just get the slightest bit Uppity on you!

By Neo-cons McChimpyHalliburtonCheneyHitler warmonger

June 10, 2008 11:00 AM | Link to this

Dear Redneck @ 8:54, you indirectly ask an intelligent personal question. I realized all of the really great bloggers here use more than one identity. I determined to embrace one to help people identify my positions, rather than the old one that magnified my personal qualifications. I’ll continue to use the latter identity in my work and related matters, just not on this blog. As you are one of the old-timers here, however, please feel free to address me as either jbm or jbmlaw.

Dear Shar @ 9:47, great factual info, thanks for the background. You left out the one point I most wanted to see – your forecast. “It also remains to be seen whether the Tech High formula can still succeed if the school is required to be financially self-sufficient and to provide the curriculum and services demanded of other APS high schools.” I suspect you have an informed sense of the direction – is it sustainable with growth, or is it a flash in the pan?

By Dennis

June 10, 2008 11:09 AM | Link to this

Mr. Wooten is a typical armchair teacher. He can tell you what’s wrong and how to fix it (and he can recall the “good ole days when one teacher taught everybody and everybody learned”), but he can’t do it himself.

You don’t have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.

By Peter

June 10, 2008 11:13 AM | Link to this

Boy is is nice to see some GOOD News for a change!

I have a buddy who taught for 13 years after retiring as a Major, and a 20 year guy from the Army.

He worked in the inner Atlanta school district. This is about as opposite a story as I have heard.

Now what do we do about the inner schools? His major problem was 70% of the kids had either one parent, or lived with uncles or aunts, or grand parents.

That is a tough life for these kids.

By AFnPC

June 10, 2008 11:18 AM | Link to this

Good Morning All…

As a graduate of Gwinnett County Public Schools, I feel the Atlanta Area has excellent oppurtunities for education for all. Now, after travelling the country, and the world, I realize how good I actually had it. The inner-city schools remind me of the schools here in Panama City, FL where safety takes precedence over education. Most students are there for social reasons, rather than to get an education and public school teachers and administration are limited as to what means they have at their disposal to get rid of the students that are there for all the wrong reasons. The Charter school here is by far head and shoulders above any of the public schools. They require 20hrs of volunteer time from each students parent throughout the school year and that keeps parents involved. All too often, parents look at school as more of a free daycare than an education for their little ones. I don’t really understand how so many of you can get so heated about whether a school is public, private, or a charter. Education is education and in the interest of our children, we should get them the best one possible for THEM. Not us.

By Dusty

June 10, 2008 11:34 AM | Link to this

Well, sniff! sob! I’m going out and get me some extra IDs. jbmlaw alias xywpvydm, has said that all “great bloggers” here have several IDs.

Just call me “Typhoid Mary” or something ‘cause I only use ONE ID. I suppose I will have to change my ways. Let’s see Southern Suzy,Connieservative, Bonnie Babe, WhackaLib, SuperSavy, GotchaGal not to mention all the name used by aboriginal libs. But we’ll forget those gutteral gimps.

So, exoqighsocvi, expect a new exciting Dusty. Well, any day now when I get a bad case of Pofoitis.

By Copyleft

June 10, 2008 11:58 AM | Link to this

Dennis: To answer your question, Wooten dreams of a truly capitalist education system: Where the rich and privileged get the quality they pay for, and everybody else can go straight to Hades.

After all, it’s THEIR fault they chose poor parents!

By Shar

June 10, 2008 12:03 PM | Link to this

It’s too hard to remember multiple names. I grit my teeth every time I have to create a new password. One name on this blog, but I’ll cut down on posts to avoid my tedium of sameness.

To The Blogger Formerly Known As jbmlaw: I don’t have a specific prognostication for Tech High. I fear, however, that one or more of the many crucial outside supports that have permitted its success so far may crumble due to additional demands from APS, parent apathy, corporate donor fatigue, key personnel losses, etc. Without every one of the extraordinary props the school has enjoyed, it will become that much harder to continue on its current path.

For example, I did not choose the school for my daughter because it didn’t offer any AP or other advanced courses, didn’t have fine arts, journalism or other writing enhancements, sports, communications, drama, anything more than the bare minimum (2 year proficiency in Spanish) to satisfy Georgia’s foreign language graduation requirement, or much opportunity for social clubs as the (very few) students were drawn from all over the city and found it hard to congregate. If they add enhancements (which are required in other APS high schools), they incur great expense in staff and facility costs. Without those elements, Tech High may have difficulty recruiting sufficient students to remain open. If they do recruit enough students to double current enrollment and achieve break even, they will lose their class size advantage.

I wish Tech High well, but with so many contingent parts I fear for its continued success

By getalife

June 10, 2008 12:04 PM | Link to this

Well, we have one patriot in Congress.

“Kucinich again calls for Bush impeachment”

He read 35 articles on the floor last night.

Too bad the spineless dems and corporate gop will do nothing.

Mindlessly supporting either party at this point is insane.

By DaveD

June 10, 2008 12:07 PM | Link to this

Just glad that the GOP has done so very much to “fix” the education problem in GA. That was one of their issues when they “took over” with regards to their political agenda when they became the majority. Yet GA is STILL at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to education in this country. They can NOT blame us “liberals” any longer….as the LIBERAL states…always..ALWAYS have students who perform the best…just ask Bubble Boy (Dubya) Bush….as HE himself, grew up in the LIBERAL state of CT!

Stop trying to blame others…as this is YOUR problem. Your means of “fixing” the problem is faulty as well…

Charter schools are NOT the answer the the needs of this STATE… good teachers, good decent school boards…and most of all…PARENTS WHO CARE are…

Why do schools in the BRONX NY perform better than top schools in GA?

You need to ask yourself why….

GA…ALWAYS in LAST PLACE when it comes to education…

Only the “yankees” moving in will be able to fix it…

Makes sense…how can one that was educated in sub-par schools fix the illness still lingering within them?

By DaveD

June 10, 2008 12:17 PM | Link to this

See…i need to learn to proof read..

Your means of fixing the problem “ARE” faulty as well…though many (not all here) saw no problem with that sentence… I’m sure of it…

(see below and above)

“Stop trying to blame others…as this is YOUR problem. Your means of “fixing” the problem is faulty as well…”

By Didja ever notice

June 10, 2008 12:26 PM | Link to this

That Redneck Convert calls her Sister Dusty and all his posts begin with “Well,”

And did you further notice that many of her posts also begin with, “Well,”

I rest my case. Proof positive that Redneck Convert and Dusty are indeed brother and sister. Though, hopefully not incestuously so. But in Forsyth County, who knows?

By DEATH TO LIBERALISM AND LEFTIST TRAITORS

June 10, 2008 12:27 PM | Link to this

Greetings festering unhinged leftist dogturds and should have been aborted deranged cut and run surrender monKKKeys.

I trust you are all collectively eagerly anticipating the elephant eared half-black orangutang Hussein Obama getting its perfidious worthless black racist arse severely kicKKKed by the pandering loathsome moderate McLiar from AZ in the autumn.

Come the big day in November many of those lemming like moveyourbowels.org human scum who puke up their shameless lies to pollsters will, along with the hillariously vanquished pathological liar Hitllary and its extra-chromosomed supporters silently do the honourable thing and NOT vote for a snotty half-black racist liar and hatemonger who has wilfully enslaved the verminous demoNcrats with the most sullen hateful wannabefirstladybitch since that narcissistic nutjob Teresatearsonmypillow Heinz-KKKerry amused the hell out of patriotic BUsh voting Americans in that richly deserved defeat four GLORIOUS years ago!!

SO MANY LIBERALS - SO FEW RECIPES FOR PIGSWILL!!

By BFKaJ

June 10, 2008 12:28 PM | Link to this

Dear Dusty @ 11:34 and Shar @ 12:03, I admit that, when selecting a new blog handle, I failed to consider potential difficulty in allowing my friends to address me. I thought if I embraced all of the epithets normally used by the less lucid on this board, I could effectively silence them – they would have nothing left to say. Seemingly made little difference in practice. Therefore, I embrace the acronym suggested in Shar’s post.

By Tater

June 10, 2008 12:34 PM | Link to this

DaveD

Neither the dems (Roy Barnes), the Bonehead from Bonaire (take a guess) or Kathy Cox have done anything to enhance the educational system in Georgia. We will, as a State, be in last place in the nation in less than 3 years IMHO.

The APS and Clayton County BOE are two systems we should be so proud of. The graduating students can’t read, write or count change, yet they are promoted from grade to grade without any repercussions.

By BFKaJ

June 10, 2008 12:38 PM | Link to this

Dear Didja @ 12:26, to quote Jack Benny, “I’m thinking, I’m thinking.”

By DaveD

June 10, 2008 12:49 PM | Link to this

Tater, It’s just the state itself…people care more about being able to water their lawns during a historic drought than they do about the school system…

It clear…CRYSTAL…

But it’s the GOP who has had control for long enough to try and fix it..

It’s just as bad as it always was…

It makes no sense. It does not. WHY, does this state do EVERTHING WRONG? From mass transit to education…stuff that’s IMPORTANT?

Hey guess what?! They DID pass a law a few years ago allowing the bible to be taught as history!!! YAY!

MAYBE…just maybe…they should have shoved math, literature, and english down kids throats! And give them gym as well…GA is one of the FATTEST states in the nation…as Soccor moms drive their kids everywhere in their gas guzzling SUV’s… fat kids, fat parents…stupid kids…stupid parents…

COME ON YANKEES>…. keep moving IN! CHANGE this horrible state of the state!!! ;-)

By DEATH TO LIBERALISM AND LEFTIST TRAITORS

June 10, 2008 12:50 PM | Link to this

Tater,

clearly, according to your more implicit than explicit post its the sullen anti-education hippety hop, drive by shootin’ lovin ebonics spoutin’ BLACKS and freeloading bigoted illegal mexican type leeches that are holding GA back from improving its national educational position.

Obviously it (almost) goes without saying the utterly unwanted decade or two long infestation of nasal whining self absorbed COSTCO shoppin’ yanKKKee scum hasn’t helped much either.

The worthless lardarse criminal KKKennedy, unlike Bush was kicked out of Harvard for shameless, blatant cheating!! Also Bush never ‘murdered’ an innocent campaign worker whilst drunk driving off a bridge under water.

By DaveD

June 10, 2008 12:50 PM | Link to this

Tater, It’s just the state itself…people care more about being able to water their lawns during a historic drought than they do about the school system…

It clear…CRYSTAL…

But it’s the GOP who has had control for long enough to try and fix it..

It’s just as bad as it always was…

It makes no sense. It does not. WHY, does this state do EVERTHING WRONG? From mass transit to education…stuff that’s IMPORTANT?

Hey guess what?! They DID pass a law a few years ago allowing the bible to be taught as history!!! YAY!

MAYBE…just maybe…they should have shoved math, literature, and english down kids throats! And give them gym as well…GA is one of the FATTEST states in the nation…as Soccor moms drive their kids everywhere in their gas guzzling SUV’s… fat kids, fat parents…stupid kids…stupid parents…

COME ON YANKEES>…. keep moving IN! CHANGE this horrible state of the state!!! ;-)

By DaveD

June 10, 2008 12:57 PM | Link to this

Tater, It’s just the state itself…people care more about being able to water their lawns during a historic drought than they do about the school system…

It clear…CRYSTAL…

But it’s the GOP who has had control for long enough to try and fix it..

It’s just as bad as it always was…

It makes no sense. It does not. WHY, does this state do EVERTHING WRONG? From mass transit to education…stuff that’s IMPORTANT?

Hey guess what?! They DID pass a law a few years ago allowing the bible to be taught as history!!! YAY!

MAYBE…just maybe…they should have shoved math, literature, and english down kids throats! And give them gym as well…GA is one of the FATTEST states in the nation…as Soccor moms drive their kids everywhere in their gas guzzling SUV’s… fat kids, fat parents…stupid kids…stupid parents…

COME ON YANKEES>…. keep moving IN! CHANGE this horrible state of the state!!! ;-)

By DEATH TO LIBERALISM AND LEFTIST TRAITORS

June 10, 2008 12:59 PM | Link to this

YanKKKees go home

YanKKKees go home

YanKKKees go home

YanKKKees go home

YanKKKees go home

YanKKKees go home

Unless you vote Republican … huge snigger

By Dusty trails...

June 10, 2008 1:05 PM | Link to this

Dusty, How about ParrotGirl? Blindasabat? NoCriticalThinkingHere? BlindedbyaBush? ThisKoolAidisTasty? NoDissentAllowed? VeepCheneyCanShootMeintheFaceAnyday? OurPresRightOrWrongRightIntoTheAbyss?ThinkingMakesMyBrainHurt? TellMeWhatToSayRush/Sean? Oh, the possibilities are endless.

By Taxpayer

June 10, 2008 1:06 PM | Link to this

Well now. And all this time I thought that jbmlaw and Dusty were the too tight duo. Now someone has to go and ruin that for me by suggesting that Redneck Convert meant something more than just Dusty being “related” in a congregational sense when he referred to her as “Sister”. You know, “Brother Redneck”, “Sister Dusty”, etc. That’s just a Southern Baptist thing. Isn’t that so, Jim. (You notice that I would only refer to him as “Brother Jim” if we knowingly belonged to the same congregation.)

By Tater

June 10, 2008 1:13 PM | Link to this

DaveD You are absolutely correct. This state has done everything wrong. I would someone like to comment on what has been done in this state to enhance anything.

Death Those are your words, not mine.

By Dusty

June 10, 2008 1:54 PM | Link to this

Soooo…. this is your new “sweetums” speaking. Ignore the ajc ID which is passe’. From now on I shall be the imperial school wizard like Shar, the legal eagle like whatshisname, the attorney grendel (beowulf, thank U), the lingering linguist like Glenn (where R U?), the Avid Reader like Andy, and who knows whomever. Hmmm……

Sir Jim Wooten, I pontifically declare your prodigious column a magnamimous propensity of intellect and sagacity. (How’m I doing?)

But will you RedNeck Converters please SHUT UP. If my REAL sister hears such trash, she might not let me use her summer home on Cape Hatterus. And I would have to put up with this crowd all summer.oh woe fo sho if evermo..it’s going to be a long hot summer….

By Devastator

June 10, 2008 1:59 PM | Link to this

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama is considering former top military leaders among his possible running mates, according to a senator who met Tuesday with the Democratic presidential candidate’s vice presidential vetting team.

North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad told The Associated Press said the team asked him about potential candidates from three broad categories — current top elected officials, former top elected officials and former top military leaders.

Conrad would not disclose which names they discussed, and the Obama campaign has been keeping the process a closely guarded secret.

“We talked about many names,” Conrad said, including “some that are out of the box, but I think would be very well-received by the American people, including former top military leaders.”

A running mate from the military ranks could help address concerns that Obama lacks foreign policy experience, having served just three years in the Senate. It could also provide a counterpoint to the military bonafides of the Republican ticket, which will be led by Vietnam war hero John McCain.

Obama has a three-person team managing the vetting process that includes one-time first daughter Caroline Kennedy, former Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder and Jim Johnson, the former CEO of mortgage lender Fannie Mae.

The vetters have been holding meetings with several Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill to get their input. Conrad met with Holder and Johnson.

“I sensed from this meeting that they are still very much building the list and at the same time evaluating possibilities,” Conrad said. “It’s very clear they have reached no conclusions, not even tentative conclusions.”

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland also met with Johnson and Holder. He also would not disclose names they discussed, but said he advised that any presidential candidate should tap for his No. 2 “someone they feel comfortable with, someone who they believe is qualified in the event they could not serve out the balance of their term for whatever reason, and someone whom they believe will be helpful as they campaign to be elected. And I think Mr. Obama will do that.”

Many former military leaders have been involved in the 2008 Democratic presidential campaign. Some of Obama’s most prominent campaign advisers have been retired Gen. Tony McPeak, who was Air Force chief of staff during Operation Desert Storm; retired Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, who flew repeated combat missions and has worked with Obama on a range of military issues since before he began his presidential campaign; and Richard Danzig, who was secretary of the Navy under President Clinton.

He might also look at some of former rival Hillary Rodham Clinton’s top military advisers in a gesture of unity, retired generals who include Hugh Shelton, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; or Wesley Clark, who led the war in Kosovo and sought the Democratic presidential nomination four years ago. Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, who served as Navy secretary under President Reagan, has also been frequently mentioned as a possible running mate.

NBC News reported that one name being discussed is retired Gen. James Jones, the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander.

Campaigning in St. Louis, Obama was asked about criticism from McCain of Johnson, who received loans from Countrywide Financial Corp. with the help of the firm’s chief executive, Angelo Mozilo. Countrywide is part of a federal investigation in the midst of the subprime mortgage crisis.

Holder has also come under Republican criticism for his role in helping fugitive financier Marc Rich get a pardon from President Clinton.

Obama said he was not hiring “a vetter to vet the vetters.”

“Jim Johnson has a very discrete task, as does Eric Holder, and that is simply to gather up information about potential vice presidential candidates,” Obama said. “They are performing that job well. It is a volunteer, unpaid position. … They’re not people who I have assigned to a particular job in a future administration.”

By Devastator

June 10, 2008 2:11 PM | Link to this

This has been a 50-state campaign from the very beginning. A year ago this week, our grassroots supporters organized a nationwide canvass in more than 1,000 cities to introduce people to Barack Obama.

Since then, we’ve had an unprecedented primary season that built grassroots infrastructure in all 50 states — not just for Barack, but for all of the Democratic candidates.

Now it’s time to bring all of that energy together for our common cause of change.

All across the country, Democrats, Independents, and even Republicans are tired of the politics of the past and are looking for new solutions to the challenges we’re facing.

That’s why we’re launching a nationwide day of action on June 28th called “Unite for Change” — and asking you to host a Unite for Change meeting in your neighborhood.

In all 50 states, supporters like you — seasoned veterans and first-time volunteers alike — will host house meetings with the express purpose of reaching out and bringing together folks who supported all of the Democratic candidates (and those who are just tuning into the process now).

The goal is to come together and use the common values we share to build a united volunteer organization in your neighborhood that will register new voters and build support locally.

It’s going to be an amazing time, and hosting your own event is easy. We’ll provide all the tools and resources you’ll need.

Learn more and sign up to host a Unite for Change party on June 28th:

http://my.barackobama.com/unite

We’re heading into a battle against John McCain, and the stakes are higher than ever before.

But the path to victory is as simple as talking to your friends and neighbors.

From the beginning, this campaign has been about ordinary people reaching out and building the bonds of community — empowering one another by coming together to make change.

With the general election approaching, it’s more important than ever to keep this momentum going. And there’s no better way to make this happen in your community than hosting a Unite for Change event.

You’ll gather — not just with Obama supporters, but with anyone who’s tired of the politics of the past and ready for something new — to share your stories and lay the plans for how to build this movement locally in the weeks and months ahead.

It requires some responsibility, but don’t worry — our team will be here with all the support and resources you need to make your Unite for Change event a big success.

Learn more and sign up to host a party in your community:

http://my.barackobama.com/unite

Yesterday, our deputy campaign manager, Steve Hildebrand, announced that this will be the first campaign in a generation to put staff in all 50 states.

It says a lot about our movement — and about the enthusiasm and resources people like you have supplied — that this is possible.

But being in every state will not be enough.

In order to succeed in every community in America, it’s going to be up to you to take the lead. Everyone who hopes for real change after November is counting on you.

Thank you,

Jon

Jon Carson National Voter Contact Director Obama for America

By Dusty

June 10, 2008 2:26 PM | Link to this

Oh no no no no

Devastator is back with his lengthy cut’n’paste lib propaganda aka boring bits. And the he runs it TWICE!!!

IS THERE NO JUSTICE!!!!

Your “sweetums” departs for greener pastures of livelier logic and the stirring sentiments of cogent conservatism. You bet!

By Devastator

June 10, 2008 2:30 PM | Link to this

Dusty,

I didn’t run it twice. If you would enlist the aid of your seeing eye dog, you will discover that they are two different posts.

Would you like to donate to the Obama campaign? If not, it doesn’t matter. He’s going to win anyway.

By Dimmycrats for high gas prices

June 10, 2008 2:31 PM | Link to this

Ha! Republicans stampede block the socialist liberal Dimmycrats’ brilliance of taxing windfall profits of big evil oil - all whopping $.08 for every $1.00 of gas sold returned to big evil oil as a net profit … that means what is pocketed by big evil oil for you ignorant liberal Dimmycrat Obamanian sheeple out there.

You don’t hear these same moonbats and their idiot Dimmycrats in Washington soil themselves about soda companies earning nearly $.20 in net profit for every dollar of beverage sold.

But then we get to the good stuff - britches soiling by a Dimmycrat:

“Americans are furious about what’s going on,” declared Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., “and want Congress to do something about oil company profits…”

This is from the same Dimmycrat led Congress that right at 24 months ago, right before they were elected to drain the swamp of Republican corruption and broken promises, said that they’d tackle and do something about high gas prices - when our 87 octane gas was at $2.35 per gallon. It appears the swamp wasn’t drained at all - it was just replaced by one incompetent group of liars and thieves for an incompetent group of appease-the-leftists at all costs in the spirit of being bi-partisan - choke a maggot already. At least Republicans wouldn’t have been this stupid here.

Outstanding job America - the Dimmycrats you helped put in power are going to push this nation over the economic cliff and blame it on Bush and Republicans. You take away profits, and you take away jobs.

Just like you take away jobs when you ram a large increase in the minimum wage down large, small, and medium sized companies. Good luck finding a job this summer kids, and don’t blame Bush on this either:

This year, it’s harder than ever for teens to find a summer job. Researchers at Northeastern University described summer 2007 as “the worst in post-World War II history” for teen summer employment, and those same researchers say that 2008 is poised to be “even worse.” According to their data, only about one-third of Americans 16 to 19 years old will have a job this summer, and vulnerable low-income and minority teens are going to fare even worse. The percentage of teens classified as “unemployed” — those who are actively seeking a job but can’t get one — is more than three times higher than the national unemployment rate, according to the most recent Department of Labor statistics. One of the prime reasons for this drastic employment drought is the mandated wage hikes that policymakers have forced down the throats of local businesses. Economic research has shown time and again that increasing the minimum wage destroys jobs for low-skilled workers while doing little to address poverty.

Gee. Ya tink? Another one of the Dimmycrat Party’s promises of 2006 goes up in smoke.

Liberal Dimmycrat Morons.

By Mrs. RepubLady

June 10, 2008 2:47 PM | Link to this

That’s right! The more money you make the less you should pay in taxes! That’s the American way. I love my oil stocks. With all my loopholes, and hidden foreign accounts, and (hee hee) “failed investment” write-offs,, I paid 4% last year. Suck on it, peasants, and keep driving! Gotta go, my gigilo is here.

By Dusty

June 10, 2008 2:50 PM | Link to this

Oh, I do apologize Devastator for not reading correctly your long, boring liberal propaganda. Just don’t know what got into me.

But may I suggest that you contribute your money to Obama’s campaign instead of using free propaganda on blogs? Seems a bit ‘cheap’ when most of the top dog Democrats are millionaires, even billionaires. And you are out begging on a conservative blog? Oh well.

Gone again.

By Redneck Convert

June 10, 2008 3:01 PM | Link to this

Well, I don’t understand why anyone would think I’m Sister Dusty’s real sister. You can take one look at us and see I come from alot prettier fambly. I use Sister Dusty to mean we are brother and sister in Christ, like most god-fearing folks are. Except the Jews and the heathens and the towel-heads.

Tell jbmlaw I don’t care what name he uses when he posts. I reckon he couldn’t bring hisself to get off of the blog in a huff like Glenn did, so he just changed names. Anyway, he ain’t the one to worry about. This TFTT is deadlier than a rattlesnake and somebody needs to keep a eye on him. He’s about one more fit from going back to the crazy house. Well, I’m in favor of amending that gun carrying law when it comes to him.

By ron

June 10, 2008 3:18 PM | Link to this

By TW

June 10, 2008 3:19 PM | Link to this

getalife@12:04 - Amen. Anybody shrugs off impeachment does al qaeda’s work for them.

Take the option to impeach a president out of the books if we don’t dump this one. What does a pres have to do to get impeached if this is not it? Nixon covered up a break-in and he was gonna get it. ‘w’ lied to the families of our troops and now 4100 of those troops are needlessly dead. Anybody not demanding the impeachment this ‘president’ spits in the face of the families of those dead troops.

‘w’ has turned our bald eagle into a chicken.

‘Love it or leave it’ - how about FIX IT, morons. ‘Love it or leave it’ is for you silver spoon republicans and your ‘daddy will buy another one’ philosophy.

Cowards.

By JK

June 10, 2008 3:35 PM | Link to this

TW, please add my name to the list of people who think Kucinich should be the subject of one of those “Real American Hero” beer commercials. The short guy with the funny name stands up, not for his own glory, attention, riches, or throngs of swooning followers, but for truth, justice, and the real American way.

It’s my strong opinion that if you have a “W” sticker on your car, or had one on there and are not deeply, truly contrite, you belong in Gitmo with the same legal privileges as the other inmates there. Bush IS treason, and those of you who still enable his crimes are the traitors among us.

By Copyleft

June 10, 2008 3:44 PM | Link to this

“A running mate from the military ranks could help address concerns that Obama lacks foreign policy experience”

How? Since when does serving in the military qualify as “foreign policy experience”? You might as well recruit your dentist to set economic policy. Non sequitur!

By Brad

June 10, 2008 3:44 PM | Link to this

Hey, Jim, how about a charter school for disenfranchised, low performing students from backgrounds of poverty and broken homes, or charter schools for children who have emotional and mental problems? Do you think that would fix ‘em?

By Young Republican

June 10, 2008 3:56 PM | Link to this

You people with this crazy impeachment talk really crack me up!!!!!!!! Do you know how crazy that sounds. LMAO!!!!

I really have been thinking a lot about the Bush Presidency lately. I know there are a few of you out there that think he has done a bad job, but for those of us in the know, now is the time to plan our strategy for the future.

Us young Americans must be ready to take back our future from the American hippies that want to turn us into Communists.

By 2012 we must be ready to reclaim America. The next 4 years are lost. At best we get McCain for 4 years, then what? Besides, McCain certainly hasn’t been embracing the Bush legacy.

The answer is obvious. We have to change the constitution so that President Bush can reclaim the Presidency. We will need him to continue the war on terrorism and provide our corporations with the tax cuts that will move our country forward.

Please everyone, become involved. We have to be ready to do whats right for America. I can’t stand the thought of 4 years without George W Bush as our leader.

Lets change the constitution and make President George W Bush eligible for another term as President, another 2 terms for that matter.

God Bless America, God Bless our President.

4 more years!

By Peter

June 10, 2008 4:05 PM | Link to this

Hey…… By Young Republican…better get off the crack !

By Alan Gravitt

June 10, 2008 4:06 PM | Link to this

Thanks to Jim Wooten for noticing our new school. May I mention a few things that need to be noted to clear up some misconceptions voiced by some responding to his article.

Tech High is a city of Atlanta Public School operating under a charter granted by the State through APS.

If more students apply than we can accept for a given year, then those admitted are chosen by a lottery, not by academic achievement. We do not select only the highest achievers, believing that all students that work hard can achieve at a high level. Many of our top students did not begin that way, but now are on their way to colleges and universities.

There is some self selection in that our program is one of high expectations and commitment by students and parents is expected.

The lower class size is a definite help. As a teacher, I believe that the insistence on mastery is a more solid indicator of why our students have done so well in several areas.

The Charter school program brings additional money from private sources to bear on the educational needs of the students of Atlanta. Those private sources believe, and place their money where their mouths are, that discipline, high expectations, accountability and dedication will produce measurably better results.

Many teachers here are devoting 10 hours or more per day to our students. We believe that we communicate that the capability of our students is unlimited and that upper limits on their achievement is limited only by their faith in themselves and not by the expectations of others. I have heard that aiming for a star and hitting the moon is better than aiming for a stump and missing.

We appreciate the help given Tech High by the business and technology community in Georgia. We appreciate the help given us by Atlanta Public Schools and we hope to make them proud of what we have done with their resources, faith and trust. We believe that in spite of interesting obstacles, we are making a difference in the lives of our students.

If anyone must focus on Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, so be it , but I would contend that we will all do better focusing on the students, the Students and the STUDENTS and how we do better for them.

What is it that you can do for Tech High or any other school facing challenges every day? Become involved and make a difference. Insist on excellence and I assure you that you will get more of it. At least honor those who are doing the heavy lifting and those who cheer them on.

Come to the Tech High web site www techhighschool org and see our newest program, the Center for Sustainable Technologies which seeks to prepare our engineering students to be the problem solvers of their generation.

Alan Gravitt Teacher Tech High School

By DaveD

June 10, 2008 4:07 PM | Link to this

Young republican…

Let me clue you in…

there IS no god!

if you think there is…

than you must believe in ALL fairy tails and ALL gods…

idols included…

it those like you (believers)..

that screwed up this country in the first place…

as this country…was founded…

to make “NO GOD” before country…

stop reading fables, read and LEARN FACTS…not fiction…

By Craig Spinks, Ed.D.

June 10, 2008 5:12 PM | Link to this

When will we Georgians replace “excuse-based” public education with the “incentives-based” variety?

By Crafty

June 10, 2008 5:45 PM | Link to this

DaveD, There is a God. He was here before you and will be here long after you are gone. You have no power whatsoever over anyone or anything. You are nothing but dust in the wind with a keyboard at hand. You are nothing more than leftover afterbirth. Go sell atheism somewhere else because people are sick to death of despair and doom that comes from morons like you.

By AmVet

June 10, 2008 5:57 PM | Link to this

Of course there is a god(s).

Zeus, Thor, Shiva and Oden all come to mind.

All you have to do is pick your favorite mythology.

And then keep it to your self…

By just a teacher

June 10, 2008 6:13 PM | Link to this

While competition is at the heart of any market economy (and is therefore a huge part of the American culture), education is not just another commodity like shampoo or fruit juice.

I think one of the most dangerous aspects of the whole voucher/school choice model is the implicit consumerism at its core. I don’t work for my students, or their parents. I work WITH my students AND their parents (and lots of other people) for the good of the community.

(Bring on the communist name-calling.)

By Copyleft

June 11, 2008 8:30 AM | Link to this

Education, like healthcare, is not a consumer commodity. Not everything is made better by capitalism.

Heresy, I know….

By WhatWillLauraDo?

June 11, 2008 2:34 PM | Link to this

This blog topic does reference Atlanta Public Schools does it not? Good, then there’s no legitimate reason to remove a comment that asks why the AJC editorial board has been completely silent on the discipline scandals in APS. And you can’t say the following examples are in error; they were reported in this very paper, just not commented on by Wooten and company.

The feds cite APS for turning in data that says there were ZERO discipline problems in 40 schools. ZERO problems? In 40 schools? APS spins it, in this very paper as “perhaps our reforms are working so well, there are no discipline problems to report” a whopper that the editorial board lets go completely unchallenged.

Well Mr. Wooten are you willing to exhibit the conservative value of personal responsibility and explain your complete silence on this?

Seems your liberal cohorts over at the Bookman blog are so intimidated by the question, they had it removed, even though it came up on yet another blog that made specific reference to APS.

But again, since you Mr. Wooten brought up APS in this blog, are you willing to address your own unwillingness to address it?

Or is “personal responsibility” just a convenient talking point for criticizing others?