Where Is Brenda Lee When You Need Her?

"I'm sorry, so sorry
That I was such a fool
I didn't know
Love could be so cruel
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Uh-oh
Oh, yes

You tell me mistakes
Are part of being young
But that don't right
The wrong that's been done

[Spoken:]
(I'm sorry) I'm sorry
(So sorry) So sorry
Please accept my apology
But love is blind
And I was to blind to see
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Uh-oh
Oh, yes

You tell me mistakes
Are part of being young
But that don't right
The wrong that's been done
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Uh-oh
Oh, yes

I'm sorry, so sorry
Please accept my apology
But love was blind
And I was too blind to see
(Sorry)" Brenda Lee


If we could just have Brenda Lee on our School Board, being kicked to the curb and having our fat asses bumped off the "free-is-not-for-me-anymore" bus would be a little easier.

(Hey Thomas, read the link and see where money was the initial motivation to "make our kids fat". Now we see that this was a precursor of rationalizations to stop "courtesy busing". Instead of "we will no longer provide courtesy busing" it was presented as "look at how we will provide healthy exercise for our beloved children".)


Brenda would have asked us to accept her apology that she made a mistake for loving us.

Brenda would have told us she was sorry for having blind love and giving us free bus rides that we were not deserving of all of these years.

Brenda would have sung to us like we were the reason for her existence.

Love is blind, I guess.

Now and then there's a fool such as I.

The Driver On The Bus Says "I Told You So"

While there is some room for those who would challenge my claim, my response is "prove me wrong".

Frequent readers of my blog would know that I have written several times about how the public education system sets up practices that may come back to bite them in the ass ("free" busing", "free" breakfast). These same frequent readers would know that I submit that the public is blamed for not being independent whenever the public school system cuts the service that was the initial step in creating the public dependency. How many parents succumb to the "if it's free it's for me" mindset when "everyone does it", such as "free busing" and "free breakfast"?

While I was perusing my blog and other local education blogs, I fell on this early post that I made as "anonymous".

For those who care, I learned a long time ago that if my real name of Richard L. Hancock was attached to something, my "concerns" were discounted because I was known as a "malcontent", an "isolated incident" attacker-by-the-hundreds(?) or a "broad brush attacker" against the HCPS (from Earl himself).

For what it is worth, here is a comment I made a long time ago on April Griffin's blog:

"
Anonymous said...
Within any system, with increasing numbers of units involved, logistic strategies must change to adapt.
If the District wants to enforce the State guidelines then stick with this as the focus of the debate. When exceptions are made, they must be made on reliable data, not personal whims from either side. The data should be solid enough to withstand scrutiny.

Leadership must rise above the rest if they want to be credible. When District personnel use ad hominem stategies to boister their position it sets the arena for the debate and we end of with distorted rationalizations from both sides. The result of these ill conceived tangents continues the degradation and gives credence to those who see a lack of competent leadership.

August 12, 2007 10:27 AM "

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

I think I an right again about my perception of "the system".

I wrote my above comment a year ago.


For those who are challenged with the concept, just think about the fact that the "state guideline" of busing was ignored by the district for many years. Now, the district wants to enforce it.

What is to be expected?

For advanced thinkers, this is the same problem that exists with how the system deals with behavior.

When the hammer "really" comes down, the fact that the "hammer was never used for (days, weeks, months, years), the resulting "fit of the student(parent)" is more about the "hypocrisy" than it is about the "rule".

Missed A Comment On "Free Breakfast"

Somehow I did not see this comment posted by Thomas Vaughn:

"Do you honestly think the free breakfast is a money maker? I have never heard that before."


I cannot locate the original article, but I first wrote about it here:

"One more thought while I have the opportunity. In the Palm Beach Post article, there was this sentence: "Palm Beach County's program will be paid for with state and federal money. It might even be a money-making venture for the food service department, which operates as an independent corporation and does not draw from the district's general fund."

This statement leads me to believe that the motivation for the program was money, not the stated reasons of having more alert students. I could be wrong, oh me of little faith.

August 13, 2007 9:09 AM"



.... Read the complete comment by "anonymous", which was me.
The article I was referring to was written August 13, 2007. I did a few search attempts and could not locate it.

******

As far as contrived social programs to create dependency, I believe that this is a much argued sociological issue in many arenas, public education being one of them.

I don't think it is much of a secret that political groups identify and target specific groups to provide services for in return for voter support.

Blaming Parents 101

This is the kind of stuff that gets my lamb chops. And my goat.

Here is another article on The Gradebook titled Want kids to perform? Reward them

While I do not agree with this concept, I haven't got to the part that really puts my ovine in a bundle.

If one reads the articles (follow all of the links), you see names such as
1 - Sen. Elaine Alquist, the bill's sponsor

2 - Jeb Bush

3 - Patricia Levesque - "Bonuses for student performance have been tested for more than a decade, and results show this type of incentive works," reads the statement from Patricia Levesque, the foundation's executive director.

4 - Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg

5- Roland G. Fryer, the Harvard economist who designed the student incentive program,

6 - Nationally, school districts have experimented with a range of approaches....

7 - Virginia Connelly, the principal of Junior High School 123, in the Soundview section of the Bronx.......


I do not see any "Parent" being mentioned.

I do not see any "Parent" sponsoring a bill.

I do not see any "Parent" asking the public school system to do this.

But I did see this comment on the Gradebook post:

Isn't it the PARENT'S job to be setting the example and rewarding their children for bringing home good grades (and punishing them for bad ones)? Parents have to take responsibility for their kids and stop expecting the state to raise them right.

Posted by: Frustrated | July 21, 2008 at 05:15 PM


This is what is frustrating to me. Blaming parents for something they didn't start.
However, once it is provided to them, when it is taken away they do complain then.

But parents didn't start it.

I wrote about this a long time ago here as anonomous. Here is the reprint:

"Connecting free school transportation with free school breakfast.

This got my attention: "Following school districts in Baltimore, New York City, Seattle and Tampa, Palm Beach County is embracing a healthy breakfast as a weapon against discipline problems, chronic visits to the nurse and a lack of focus in the classroom."
palmbeachpost.com August 13

I hear a lot of criticism about how parents are doing their "job' and I hear many complaints that the school system has to "do it all". Which came first, poor parenting or a system that instilled dependence? While the stated reasons for providing this free lunch are laudable, one must look at the big picture.

I can only imagine that in a few years this "free breakfast" program will be a financial burden on the system. But by then, two things will have happened. The first will be that this entitlement mentality will be entrenched in the public. The second will be that the etilogy of this program will be forgotten. The school personnel will blame the kids and the parents for not being responsble, and the parents will be angry because their lifestyles will have adapted to the system and the system is "abruptly" taking away something.

One more thought while I have the opportunity. In the Palm Beach Post article, there was this sentence: "Palm Beach County's program will be paid for with state and federal money. It might even be a money-making venture for the food service department, which operates as an independent corporation and does not draw from the district's general fund."

This statement leads me to believe that the motivation for the program was money, not the stated reasons of having more alert students. I could be wrong, oh me of little faith.
August 13, 2007 9:09 AM"

Where is Gary Puckett When You Need Him

I don't know much about the gap between unions, school administration and teachers, but I sense there must be one.

For those who would like to read some perspectives from a previous "school boss", read here.