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Matthew K. Tabor - Education for the Aughts
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In Education for the Aughts, Matthew K. Tabor analyzes and discusses issues in the education world.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'americana'
World Trade Center and Pentagon Terrorist Attacks, 2009 Update
Last year we were winning 7-0; now it’s 8-0. I show no mercy - none - to the folks in education who say that NCLB, various teaching/administrative/reform initiatives, etc. inspire “terror” in children or that their practitioners are...
Storming the CASTLE in the War on Christmas
‘Tis the season, folks. For family, friends and joy, some say. Others seize the opportunity to hoist the banner of the Establishment Clause to persecute those who dare to recognize any bit of Christmas in public schools. Over at Dangerously Irr...
Bob Lettis’ Tales of Cooperstown: Influential People, Teachers
I wanted to highlight a neat article by Bob Lettis that appeared this week in a Cooperstown paper. He reminisces about some of the great Cooperstown teachers of his day - Red Bursey, Nick Sterling, etc. Perhaps one day I’ll write my own version...
Great Links Curriculum for Tuesday, November 18
If you aren’t already following me on Twitter, you ought to start. I link to and comment on education stories ’round the clock. And if you’re new to Twitter or aren’t sure how to get started, check out TwiTip’s 10 Easy S...
“There’s Always One Place Where You’ll Be Welcomed With Open Arms: Academia.”
Click to skip right to Indoctrinate U’s deleted scene. Indoctrinate U is a wonderful documentary film about the injection of politics into higher education. If you haven’t seen it, pop over to their site and grab a copy. All this talk abo...
A Million Takes on Bill Ayers, Terrorist and Educator Extraordinaire
[ Photo: William Ayers, Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago, compares tattoos with a developing revolutionary. When asked the location of Ayers' tattoo[s], our young comrade repl...
Who’s Behind the Academic Cabal Supporting Bill Ayers?
For a brief history of Bill Ayers and public education, check out “Revisiting AERA, Bill Ayers, the Weather Underground and Public Education.” It’s a 3,500-word crash course in Ayers, AERA, the Weather Underground and why it all mat...
Ambrose Bierce and the Devil’s Dictionary on Education
For those who haven’t come across Bierce, he was a biting critic of literature and culture in 19th- and early 20th-century America. Bierce’s short stories are singularly engaging and, in my opinion, few in American literature have demonstrated su...
The World Trade Center and Pentagon Terrorist Attacks
We’re winning 7-0, and I’d like to go for the shutout. I don’t really use the phrases “9/11″ or “September 11.” Instead, I refer to the events 7 years ago today as what they were - a terrorist attack on the W...
Intellectual Dishonesty and Fearmongering on the Boston University Dean’s Blog
I wrote yesterday about my dissatisfaction with the Boston University Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore’s push for voter registration. It’s a poor use of resources, it’s outside the scope of the Dean’s office, and it’s rea...
Viva La Revolucion, Hipsters!
Thinking of those college Democrats got me in the mood to post Che Mouse. Countdown to Gretchen Wilson at the RNC? About half an hour. Don't forget to subscribe to the Education for the Aughts Podcast!...
Do You Remember History? I Do. Sportswriters Tend Not To.
You know that old saw? That one about ‘those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it?’ [Hint: It was a chart-topper for George Santayana in 1904 or so.] Not everyone does. Remembering history has other benefits, too - when...
Jericho Scott and New Haven’s Little League Handicapper General
Ahh, the meritocratic American Dream. It’s a beautiful thing until some moron stomps on it in the name of equity and fair play. The term “Handicapper General” comes from a Kurt Vonnegut story called “Harrison Bergeron.” ...
The New Paternalism is the Old Education
From Fordham, a new book on a hot topic: Today Fordham proudly releases David Whitman’s latest book, Sweating the Small Stuff: Inner-City Schools and the New Paternalism. (We don’t subscribe to the Bush Administration’s maxim that, “from a ma...
Breaking: Sherman Invades Georgia
Hurrah! Hurrah! We bring the Jubilee! “Marching Through Georgia,” which celebrates General Sherman’s Georgian campaign, has always had international appeal. During the Russo-Japanese War [1904-05], the Russians at Port Arthur heard ...
The Education Olympics: We’re Losing to a Bunch of Friggin’ Finns
Read on, lest ye think I’m a xenophobe. The greatest moment in sports history - professional, amateur, Olympic, any - was the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team’s Miracle on Ice in Lake Placid. Coach Herb Brooks assembled a team of college kids ...
Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors
I’ve been distracted and busy - I’ll get back to posting and following up on some comments in due time. I’m eager to have a few of these discussions. For now, here’s Dolly Parton singing ‘Coat of Many Colors’ [YouT...
Affirmative Action/Discrimination in Education
The issue at The Quick and the Ed, and on Flypaper’s radar, is affirmative action. TQ&tE, in discussing Obama’s take on the issue, says: “I’m in favor of racial preferences in college admissions as long as the goal is to ...
Education for the Aughts Podcast: Dennis Prager and Independence Day, Hillsborough County Grade Inflation, and Utica Area Schools Falter
This edition of the Education for the Aughts Podcast addresses three topics: A look at patriotic curricula in public schools - what we had and where we’re not; Grade inflation in Hillsborough County, Florida; Lack of accountability in New Hart...
Baseball Loses Russert, Asinof Near Hall’s Anniversary
There is, and will continue to be, plenty of coverage of Tim Russert’s untimely death. Every network and article reports that Russert was an avid baseball fan; Russert was more than that. Russert served on the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Boar...
The $43.58 New York School Budget
There’s a fuss around New York State about a proposed 4% cap on property taxes [or 120% of the Consumer Price Index, whichever is less]. Some of us are taxed a lot; others are taxed even more. My state senator, James L. Seward, has the good sen...
Elton Britt: There’s a Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere
One of my favorite songs is Elton Britt’s “There’s a Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere.” Penned by Roberts and Darnell, Britt recorded it in 1942. It was an instant hit. The song is sung from the perspective of a young man...
Otsego County Schools: Route 59, Town of Hartwick
This photograph comes from Diantha Dow Schull’s Landmarks of Otsego County, a tome of nearly 250 photographs that presents the quiet dignity of the area. From the text, p. 153: District school buildings were mandatory by 1812; each township was...
Charlotte Valley School: Flagless
From today’s Letters in The Daily Star: I just returned home from another school event at the Charlotte Valley Central School in Davenport. Once again, at this event, there was no American flag displayed nor was the Pledge of Allegiance recited...
Memorial Day
Don't forget to subscribe to the Education for the Aughts Podcast!...
An American Trilogy
Take it away, EP - you make a fine introduction to another Memorial Day Weekend. [RSS readers click here for video] An American Trilogy is one of the finest songs to express the complexity of Memorial Day, and Elvis’s version is the best. Sorry...
Revisiting AERA, Bill Ayers, the Weather Underground and Public Education
Don’t you wanna just tousle the little scamp’s hair? I was tickled when eduwonkette said she’d link to a reaction piece re: Ayers, Petrilli and Millot. Time to do my part. Bill Ayers’ March election to the post of Vice Preside...
25 Years On, A Nation Still at Risk
From ED in ‘08: This week marks the 25th anniversary of the release of the landmark education report, A Nation at Risk, which warned that America’s weak education system was undermining American prosperity, security and society. Their rep...
Absolut Historical Ignorance: Or, How I Learned to Love More Than One Book
If you aren’t familiar with the concept of Reconquista, check it out here. It’s a term applied to many movements that, at the core, advocate for reclaiming real estate that one used to own, that one doesn’t own now, and that one wi...
Cooperstown and Hartwick’s Greatest Hits, Volume 1
I’ve gotten a wave of visitors who, coming from some sort of mailing list, have an interest in what I’ve written about the Cooperstown/Hartwick/Otsego County area. Hello and welcome - and remember, you can always give a call or send an e-...
