We Don’t Need No Education

Oregon Teachers Traumatized by Unannounced Shooter Drill

"Panic erupted on Friday at Pine Eagle Charter school in rural Oregon when two masked men carrying handguns burst into a teachers’ lounge and opened fire. After the initial chaos, the terrified teachers realized the guns were firing blanks and that they were the subject of an unannounced shooter drill. The little school in Halfway, Oregon was having an in-service day, so the children were at home at the time of the drill. The terrifying action has drawn criticism from many but Principal Cammie DeCastro has defended it, saying, 'For us not to know how we were going to respond is leaving us open'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOregon Teachers Traumatized by Unannounced Shooter Drill

David Galland: Chains of Convention

"It behooves us all to periodically stop and examine our life path. What's missing in your life? What seemingly never gets fixed, and unfixed, makes your unhappy or unfulfilled? On examination, you may find that the problem is that you are adhering to convention, and doing so at great personal cost. Nancy did something that probably not one in a half a million people in her circumstances would have done – break the chains of convention and set out to enjoy the remaining years of what is likely to be a much longer life as a free and independent woman." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDavid Galland: Chains of Convention

Zero Tolerance Watch: Teen Faces Felony Charges for Science Experiment

"No one was hurt. There's no sign that Wilmot was up to something malevolent. The kid's own principal thinks this wasn't anything more than an experiment, and he says she didn't try to cover up what she had done. What punishment do you think she received? A stern talking-to? A day or two of after-school detention? Maybe she'll have to help clean up the lab for a week? Nope. The budding chemist has been kicked out of school and charged with a couple of felonies." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingZero Tolerance Watch: Teen Faces Felony Charges for Science Experiment

Eagle Scout Facing Expulsion over Gun Charge

"Eagle Scout Cole Withrow was just a few weeks from graduating with honors from his North Carolina high school, but now the active church member is facing a felony weapons charge and a precarious future after accidentally leaving a shotgun in his pickup truck in the school parking lot. Most members of the Johnston County community, just southeast of Raleigh believe the 18-year-old is paying far too big a price for an honest mistake. Withrow, who did his senior class project on gun safety, locked the gun in his truck before going to call his mother. But when he asked her to come and take the gun, the trouble started." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEagle Scout Facing Expulsion over Gun Charge

Sen. Rubio ‘open’ to cutting off all Muslim student visas

"Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on Wednesday said that he was 'open' to considering the idea of halting all student visas from Muslim countries as a reaction to this month’s Boston Marathon bombings, even though the two men suspected of carrying out the Boston bombings emigrated from Russia as refugees. 'We need to be open to changes that provide more security,' Rubio replied. 'I don’t like profiling anybody or singling or generally leading, on the other hand student visas are something this country does because it’s in our national interest but you don’t have a right to a student visa.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSen. Rubio ‘open’ to cutting off all Muslim student visas

Bulletproof whiteboards installed in Minnesota school district

"A Minnesota school district where two students were killed in a 2003 shooting unveiled a new device Tuesday aimed at adding a last-ditch layer of safety for teachers and students: bulletproof whiteboards. The Rocori School District has acquired nearly 200 of the whiteboards, made of a material touted by its manufacturer as stronger than that in police-issue bulletproof vests. The 18-by-20-inch whiteboards can be used by teachers for instruction and used as a shield in an emergency. Police Chief Phil Jones demonstrated the whiteboards Tuesday in a school gym by leveling a karate kick at one, whacking it with a police baton and stabbing it with a knife." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBulletproof whiteboards installed in Minnesota school district

Second-Grade Teacher Suspended for Showing Children Garden Tools

"Yes, my friends, a 17-year teaching veteran did it. He showed garden tools to his class. It’s incredible. He actually showed them tools. That’s right. He got out a box of tools. There was a pair of pliers. There was a screwdriver. But the school’s authorities knew this was a cover. He showed the children a pocket knife. What kind of tool is that? What can a knife do that a pair of hedge clippers can’t do a lot better? So, he was suspended for four days without pay. The public schools are determined to protect children. They should not be shown a knife at age 7. Condoms, yes. That’s different. But not knives." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSecond-Grade Teacher Suspended for Showing Children Garden Tools

Guy Spent $11,000 On A Coding ‘Bootcamp’ And Doubled His Salary

"These intensive training programs are not cheap — charging $10,000 to $15,000 for programs running nine to 12 weeks — and they're highly selective, typically only admitting 10 to 20 percent of applicants. And they're called boot camps for a reason. Students can expect to work 80 to 100 hours a week, mostly writing code in teams under the guidance of experienced software developers. One San Francisco school called App Academy doesn't charge tuition. Instead, it asks for a 15 percent cut of the student's first-year salary. Graduates who can't find jobs don't have to pay, but so far nearly all of them have." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGuy Spent $11,000 On A Coding ‘Bootcamp’ And Doubled His Salary

Czechs unrelated to Chechens, diplomats remark after Boston blast

"Make no mistake: the Czech Republic is not Chechnya. That's a distinction the Czech ambassador to the United States wants to make crystal clear after news emerged that the two suspects in Boston Marathon bombing had Chechen origins. 'The Czech Republic and Chechnya are two very different entities - the Czech Republic is a Central European country; Chechnya is a part of the Russian Federation,' Petr Gandalovic, the Czech ambassador, wrote on the embassy's website on Friday. The unusual statement followed a series of Twitter messages from people who apparently struggled to distinguish the two places with similar names." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCzechs unrelated to Chechens, diplomats remark after Boston blast

Chechnya Isn’t Czechoslovakia

"All day I was wondering what the heck the deal was and at about 11 pm I figured it out. On Facebook, I found this – a link to a list if tweets that in some way confused Czechoslovakia and Chechnya. Traffic was spiking so heavily because people were confusing the ethnically Chechen Boston bombing suspects with the no longer existent country of Czechoslovakia. I would like to reaffirm the important statement that there has been no such place as Czechoslovakia for over two decades. Maybe we need to better challenge a few trends in our society if we are calling authoritatively for the bombing of countries that don’t even exist." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChechnya Isn’t Czechoslovakia