December 7, 2009

I do want to pause to honor the combatants of WWII when on this day the attack on Pearl Harbor brought us into the war. My father fought in WWII, and I am proud of what he did as well as all the others who fought for the freedom of so many.

Well, I am in Hershey, and the conference is off to a rousing start with the gov making a videotaped speech and the Secretary of Education telling about SAS. I rambled about that in last Friday's posting. I do believe on the surface that it does have merits, but I do disagree with the great powers of government who claim that this is not a curriculum for school districts. It is, and there is nothing wrong with that. Since our society has become more mobile and better informed, it is important to synchronize the learning environment with the basics. If I moved to another district in the state, I would be able to learn and teach in that district with those basic standards. I also disagree with the precept that we are not teaching to a test. We are teaching to a test. We have done that for decades, but this test means more than other tests. I am keeping my overall verdict about SAS until the end of the conference. So to my readers.....keep hanging on until Friday...................flick