Below is one of the most informative and detailed articles I’ve come across regarding the whole language fiasco. The Weekly Standard’s “Read it and weep” by Charlotte Allen is far too long to print here. Key excerpts include: Read more

I came across this group by way of Mike Antonucci’s Education Intelligence Agency
COMMUNIQUÉ. Mike has good stuff.

Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) was formed to, as they say below, “press for real education reform” and “we were frightened by our own party’s unwillingness to take on powerful entrenched interests to help them” (the students). Talk about encouraging and refreshing. It is heartening to see some of the Dems willing to do what is best for students instead of the interests. You can read their Web site by clicking here. Below are some excerpts from their site: Read more

The Office of the Attorney General agreed with my concerns as a trustee of the Carson City School District that an agenda item for the district’s January 9, 2007 meeting was vague, too broad, and lacked specificity in violation of the Open Meeting Law (OML). I raised this issue before and during the January 9th meeting suggesting it be tabled and then voted against it when it wasn’t tabled. Ann Bednarski took these concerns to the AG’s office as a formal complaint the next day on January 10th. The response to the complaint was received by Bednarski on July 5, 2007. Read more

Joe Enge to appear on the Heidi Harris Show, KDWN Radio AM 720 Las Vegas Friday morning around 9:30 for the Nevada Policy Research Institute. The topic will be about teacher unrest in Clark County and the Association of American Educators as a real professional alternative to the unions, Clark County Education Association or Teamsters.

You can listen live by clicking here to go to their Web site. Then click the “Listen Live” tab in the upper left hand corner. Heidi is also a fellow columnist for Liberty Watch Magazine.

As reported by Samantha Stone with KOH Radio this morning, 2 of the 4 charges Joe Enge with EdWatch Nevada filed against state board member Gary Waters in June of 2006 in trying to implement TeenScreen have been upheld to warrant a formal hearing with the Nevada Commission on Ethics in September. Waters is no longer a board member, his final term ended in December of 2006. Waters set up The Center for Health & Learning as a non-profit to implement TeenScreen. I questioned whether it is legal for a state board member to set up a non-profit and use Nevada Department of Education equipment and office. Read more

Nevadans won’t settle for business-as-usual placebos like full-day kindergarten

By Joe Enge

Published in the July issue of Liberty Watch Magazine

In a mad rush to jack up education spending by more than $1 billion during the 2007 legislative session — without any serious and badly needed education reforms involving choice or accountability — Nevada’s education establishment tripped over the rock of reality and stumbled head on into a pronounced credibility gap.

While most media reports painted the session’s outcome regarding education as a balanced “compromise,” the reality is that the state’s insatiable behemoth was left stunned, trudging away with only $63 million in additional funding above Gov. Gibbons’ proposed budget. Read more

The peasants are beginning to revolt.

By Joe Enge

Published by the Nevada Policy Research Institute’s E-Bulletin June 29, 2007

Teachers often bemoan the fact that they are neither seen nor treated as true professionals. It is true that teachers are not held in nearly as high a regard in American culture as they are in many others. Having taught in Estonia, I’ve experienced the difference in treatment that teachers receive there as compared to here in the United States. In fact, students don’t refer to their teachers by name in Estonia, instead using the term “teacher” as a respectful way to address educators. Read more

Published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal on July 9 as a letter to the editor.

To the editor:

Because more and more teachers in Clark County have expressed discontent with their representative unit, the Clark County Education Association, the Teamsters have decided to throw their hat in the ring.

But the fact of the matter is neither the association nor the Teamsters is looking out for the best interests of teachers. Teachers are professionals who deserve a professional organization that will engender the type of respect and recognition that unions do not bring to the table. The Teamsters are no better a solution to the concerns of the teachers of Clark County than the association. Read more

• What did you think about Chancellor Rogers’s Self-Evaluation?

It was superficial, self-serving and Pollyanna-ish. It missed most of the major issues and misrepresented much.

• What would you say about the Chancellor’s relationship with the 8 institutions that comprise the system? Read more

By Andy Matthews
May 18, 2007
Record Courier

Nevada’s public education system rightly demands that students do their homework, think critically and resist following the crowd in response to peer pressure.

Yet sadly, they do not practice what they preach and it is the students and the public who pay the price. The students pay in the form of a sub-standard education, while the public foots the bill for increasingly expensive programs that produce little benefit. Read more