High School Confidential
High school blogger Lone Dissenter thought the SAT II's were "loads of fun", but came away from the multiple-choice items wondering if there was some subtle political brainwashing going on. She also believes that her school has made some changes in an effort to preserve the students' self-esteem, such as cutting the Junior Book Awards (that way, those who don't receive it won't feel bad) and removing the index page from the annual (so students who are only a few pages won't feel bad). Joanne Jacob's rejoinder is priceless:
"Perhaps they should run the same yearbook photo for every student to protect the unattractive from ego-shattering comparisons."
Man, I would have preferred that back then.
Rachel Lucas is on the warpath against a family that beat a teacher unconscious - because the teacher dared to discipline her student. For her, the feeling is somewhat personal:
...let me comment upon something. I used to do medical transcription for physical medicine doctors - they mostly treated people who'd been injured. At least twice a week, I'd come across a dictation for a teacher in one of those "alternative" schools, teachers who'd been attacked by the little punks they were trying to help...
It's not surprising that teachers in an alternative school program for troubled youngsters might be more at risk - terrible, but not surprising. The presence of the parent in all this, though, is just despicable. I'm glad that the courts are throwing the books at all three perpetrators.