Posted 11:45 AM by Susan Darst Williams

Nebraska's Big Brain Drain:
Talk Talkey to the Young'Uns About It Over the Holidays

Here's a well-researched story from the Platte Institute for Economic Research on the fact that Nebraska ranks 10th in the nation in a negative category: the percentage of young, single, college-educated people who move away from the state.

Usually, it's job-related, but the impact is massive in areas such as law and engineering, where about half of the graduates take their well-educated brains and move away. About one-third are moving to bordering states, including Colorado.

The implications for Nebraska colleges and universities are vast, since it is their mission to use Nebraska tax dollars to develop future Nebraska leadership in business, the arts, academia and the professions.

The implications for Nebraska businesses are serious, since our future workforce is crucial to our future, period. And the implications for K-12 education are vast, since if our smartest graduates are moving away, how can our future teachers and students be the best that they can be?

As the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holidays approach, and families gather, the brain drain ought to be discussed among grandparents, parents and students interested in keeping the future as bright as possible in the Cornhusker State.

Kudos to the Nebraska-based think tank, the Platte Institute, for bringing this issue front and center:

www.platteinstitute.org/publications/graduations-reunions-remind-us-of-nebraskas-brain-drain-issue

Labels: brain drain, Platte Institute for Economic Research

Posted 8:49 AM by Susan Darst Williams

ANTI-AMERICAN BIAS
CREEPING INTO KIDDIE SONGS

Used to be that in any school, even if the classroom teachers and curriculum had gone sour with leftist, anti-American content, at least the music department was still politically neutral, if not pro-American and at least not hostile to Christianity. And around Thanksgiving and Christmastime, at least there would usually be one or two songs about our heritage that would be fun and inspirational for the kids to sing.

Not any more. We're coming up on Thanksgiving, which is the typical time to cover why the pioneers came to this country and settled here in the first place. It's also a great time to cover Native American content as well. There are all kinds of great songs about these major themes.

But . . . the resident third-grader came home all frowny-faced yesterday and said that they sang this really boring, long song about how there USED to be buffalo roaming all over the Plains, but then . . . WE KILLED THEM ALL!!!!!

Heyyyyy! That doesn't sound like very much fun. That doesn't make it sound like Americans are very good environmentalists or animal lovers, either. And she's the sensitive type: the last thing she or any other child needs nowadays is to be focused on violence and killing . . . in music class!!!

Yes, I'm going to track down what she was talking about and see if I can get those lyrics and share them with you. In the meantime, here's the list of folk songs that I'm going to share with the music teacher, principal and school board, if I'm understanding what happened correctly. Took me two seconds to find this list on the Internet.

Here's the list of positive alternatives I hope the music teacher will choose from next time:

CHILDREN'S SONGS

A Tisket, A Tasket
All the Pretty Little Horses
Bought Me A Cat (the cat pleased me)
Bingo
Did You Ever See A Lassie
Eency, Weency Spider
Farmer in the Dell, The
Hickory, Dickory Dock
Hokey Pokey, The
Hush Little Baby (don’t say a word, papa’s ...)
Rockaby Baby (in the treetops, when the wind...)
If You’re Happy and You Know It
Looby Loo
Mary Had A Little Lamb
Muffin Man
Mulberry Bush
Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley Grow
Oh! Dear! What Can the Matter Be?
Oh, Where Has My Little Dog Gone
Old John the Rabbit
Old MacDonald
Polly Wolly Doodle
Pop! Goes the Weasel
Ring Around the Rosies
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
She’ll be Comin’ Round the Mountain
Take Me Out to the Ballgame
There’s a Hole in the Bucket
This Little Light of Mine
This Old Man
Three Blind Mice
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Wheels on the Bus, The

FOLK SONGS

All Night, All Day
Amazing Grace
Aura Lee
Away in a Manger
Billy Boy
Camptown Races
Cindy
Clementine
Columbia, Gem of the Ocean
Cotton-Eyed Joe
Crawdad Song
Dixie
Down by the Riverside
Down in the Valley
Drill, Ye Terriers, Drill!
Erie Canal, The
Follow the Drinkin’ Gourd
Frog Went A-Courtin’, A
Go Down, Moses
Go Tell Aunt Rhody
Go Tell it on the Mountain
God of our Fathers
Goober Peas
Goodbye, Old Paint
He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands
Home on the Range
I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray
I’ve Been Workin’ On the Railroad
Jim Along, Josie
Blue Tail Fly, The
Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho
Kum Ba Yah
Liza Jane
Michael Row the Boat Ashore
Oh, Susanna
Old Chisholm Trail
Old Folks At Home (Way down upon the Swanee River, far, far away)
Onward Christian Soldiers
Over the River and Through the Woods
Rock-A-My-Soul
Shenandoah
Shoo Fly
Shortnin’ Bread
Simple Gifts
Silent Night
Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
Susie, Little Susie
Sweet Betsy From Pike
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Water is Wide, The
We Gather Together
When the Saints Go Marching In
You Are My Sunshine

PATRIOTIC SONGS

America
America, the Beautiful
Battle Hymn of the Republic
God Bless America
Marines’ Hymn (From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli)
Star-Spangled Banner, The
Caissons Song
This Land is Your Land
When Johnny Comes Marching Home
Yankee Doodle
You’re A Grand Old Flag

RECOMMENDED SONG LIST

1. A Tisket, A Tasket (a green and yellow basket)
2. All Night, All Day (angels watchin’ over me, my Lord)
3. All The Pretty Little Horses (Hushaby, don’t you cry, go to sleep little baby,when you wake, you shall have )
4. Amazing Grace (how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me)
5. America (my country ‘tis of Thee, sweet land of liberty)
6. America, the Beautiful (Oh beautiful for spacious skies)
7. Away in a Manger (no crib for a bed)
8. Battle Hymn of the Republic (glory, glory hallelujah, His truth is marching on)
9. Billy Boy (Oh where have you been Billy Boy, Billy Boy)
10. Bingo (there was a farmer had a dog and Bingo was his name-o)
11. Blue Tail Fly, The (Jimmy crack corn and I don’t care, my master’s gone away)
12. Caissons Go Rolling Along, The (over hill, over dale, we will hit the dusty trail, as those)
13. Camptown Races, The (camptown ladies sing this song, doo-dah, doo-dah)
14. Cindy (Get along home, Cindy Cindy, I’ll marry you some day)
15. Clementine (Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling Clementine)
16. Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean (when born by the red, white, and blue, thy banners make tyranny tremble)
17. Crawdad Song (You get a line, and I’ll get a pole honey)
18. Did You Ever See A Lassie? (a lassie, a lassie, did you ever see a lassie go this way and that)19. Dixie (I Wish I Was in the Land of Cotton)
20. Down By the Riverside (and study war no more)
21. Down in the Valley (valley so low, hang your head over)
22. Eency, Weency Spider (went up the water spout)23. Farmer in the Dell, The (hi-ho the dairy-o, the farmer in the dell)
24. Frog Went Courtin’, A (he did ride, with sword and pistol by his side aha, ho-ho)
25. Go Down, Moses (way down in Egypt land, tell old Pharaoh, let my people go)
26. Go Tell Aunt Rhody (the old gray goose is dead)
27. Go Tell it on the Mountain (over the hill and everywhere)
28. God Bless America (land that I love, stand beside her and guide her)
29. God of our Fathers (whose almighty hand)
30. Goober Peas (goodness, how delicious, eating goober peas)
31. Goodbye, Old Paint (I’m a-leaving Cheyenne)
32. He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands
33. Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (so early in the morning)
34. Hickory Dickory Dock (the mouse ran up the clock)
35. Hokey Pokey, The (you put your right foot in, you put your right foot out)
36. Home on the Range (where the deer and the antelope play, where seldom is heard a discouraging word)
37. Hush Little Baby (don’t say a word, papa’s going to buy you a mockingbird)
38. Rock-a-by Baby (in the treetops, when the wind blows the cradle will rock)
39. I’ve Been Workin’ On the Railroad (all the live long day)
40. If You’re Happy and You Know It (clap your hands)
41. Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho (and the walls came tumblin’ down)
42. Kum Ba Yah (my Lord, Kum Ba Yah)
43. Liza Jane (O Eliza, li’l Liza Jane, O Eliza, li’l Liza Jane)
44. Looby Loo (here we go looby loo, here we go looby light)
45. Marines Hymn (From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli)
46. Mary Had a Little Lamb (it’s fleece was white as snow)
47. Michael Row the Boat Ashore (hallelujah)
48. Muffin Man, The (oh do you know the muffin man)
49. Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley Grow (do you or I or anyone know how oats, peas, beans, and barley grow)
50. Oh! Dear! What Can the Matter Be? (Johnny’s so long at the fair)
51. Oh, Susanna! (oh don’t you cry for me)
52. Oh, Where has My Little Dog Gone? (oh where, oh where can he be)
53. Old Chisholm Trail (well come along boys and listen to my tale, let me tell you ‘bout my troubles on the)
54. Old Folks at Home (Way down upon the Swannee River, far, far away)
55. Old MacDonald (had a farm, e-i-e-i-o)
56. Onward Christian Soldiers (marching as to war)
57. Over the River and Through the Woods (to grandmother’s house we go)
58. Polly Wolly Doodle (oh I went down south for to see my Sal, singin’ polly wolly doodle all the day)
59. Pop, Goes the Weasel! (all around the cobbler’s bench the monkey chased the weasel)
60. Ring Around the Rosies (pocket full of posies)
61. Rock-A My Soul (in the bosom of Abraham)
62. Row, Row, Row Your Boat (gently down the sea)
63. She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain (when she comes)
64. Shenandoah (oh Shenandoah, I long to see you, away, you rolling river)
65. Shoo Fly (don’t bother me, shoo-fly don’t bother me, shoo-fly don’t bother me for I belong to somebody)
66. Shortnin-Bread (mammy’s little baby loves shortnin’ shortnin’)
67. Silent Night (holy night, all is calm, all is bright)
68. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child (a long way from home)
69. Star-Spangled Banner, The (Oh say can you see, by the dawn’s early light)
70. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (comin’ for to carry me home)
71. Take Me Out to the Ballgame (buy me some peanuts and crackerjack, I don’t care if I ever get back)
72. There’s A Hole in the Bucket (dear Liza, dear Liza)
73. This Land is Your Land (this land is my land)
74. This Little Light of Mine (I’m gonna let it shine)
75. This Old Man (he played one, he played knick-knack on my drum)
76. Three Blind Mice (see how they run)
77. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (how I wonder what you are)
78. We Gather Together (to ask the Lord’s blessing)
79. Wheels on the Bus, The (go round and round)
80. When Johnny Comes Marching Home (again, hurrah, hurrah, we’ll give him a hearty welcome then, hurrah, hurrah)
81. When the Saints Go Marching In (oh how I want to be in that number)
82. Yankee Doodle (went to town riding on a pony, stuck a feather in his cap)
83. You are my Sunshine (my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray)
84. You’re A Grand Old Flag (you’re a high flying flag)

Labels: anti-American songs, environmentalism in school, song selection in schools

Posted 4:48 PM by Susan Darst Williams

WRITER HAS BILL AYERS PEGGED:
NOT A SCHOOL REFORMER,
BUT A 'SCHOOL DESTROYER'

Writer Sol Stern had a good Wall Street Journal article on the terrible, horrible, no-good, very-bad, radical education policies of William Ayers, the uninvited speaker at the University of Nebraska College of Education, in CASE there is any doubt left that Ayers should never be listened to by anyone who wants to improve the academic achievement of disadvantaged kids:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122411943821339043.html

Glad to learn that Stern has a book coming out on Ayers and his "social justice" philosophies. That'll be a good read. Here's hoping some Nebraskan will get a copy in the hands of each N.U. College of Ed poohbah who wanted him to come and speak. They'll rue the day!

Labels: social justice education, University of Nebraska, William Ayers

Posted 9:42 AM by Susan Darst Williams

Three-Item Agenda to End-Run Ayers, Ed Schools,
And Others Who Would Radicalize Our Kids

1. Get rid of the U.S. Department of Education before it radicalizes our schools a la William Ayers' philosophies.

2. Get rid of the teaching certificate as a prerequisite to getting a teaching job in a K-12 school, since it is a sort of litmus test for kowtowing to Marxist principles of "bash the past and The Three C's -- Constitution, Capitalism and the Church."

3. Get rid of the education major at the University of Nebraska and other big crank-'em-out teachers' colleges. Instead of indoctrinating future teachers in left-wing philosophies that will end up radicalizing schools to the point where they teach our kids nothing but politics, we can have English majors and math majors and science majors and child psychology majors in classrooms teaching . . . gasp! dare I say it? . . . actual, quality content instead of politicized mush.

Why are these three simple steps so necessary? Because the University of Nebraska College of Education isn't the only teachers' college in the land having an unbelievably stupid, self-defeating romance with the cultural Marxism of William Ayers.

Thanks to Regent Randy Ferlic and other leaders with common sense, Ayers' invitation to speak at the N.U. ed school's big event this weekend was rescinded. But Ayers and others are still protesting that he is an important guru with good ideas for K-12 education.

HAH!

According to reports about the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, which Ayers and President-elect Obama were supposed to employ ($150 million or thereabouts) to help the academic progress of inner-city Chicago kids in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but which improved their academic progress not a whit, here's what the money DID do:

-- Formed "site-based management councils" in inner-city Chicago schools, composed mostly of parents, negating the policy power of an elected school board or the college-trained staff in the central office. Therefore, the rabble got in charge of the decision-making and how the money was spent. Can you spell C-O-R-R-U-P-T-I-O-N? It was supposed to transfer power to the parents, which could be a good thing, if the parents deserved that power. But few, if any, of them had any leadership ability, much less knowledge of how to teach kids reading, writing and 'rithmetic. No wonder the schools made no progress. This is Marxism.

-- Got rid of most of the Caucasian principals in those troubled schools and replaced them with principals who were by and large African-American. The only reason the white principals were canned is that they were white. That might not be so bad, if only the new principals were better-skilled than the old ones. But they were not. No wonder the schools made no progress. This is Marxism.

-- Instead of teaching the teachers the ideas of content-based, politically-neutral education leaders such as E.D. Hirsch, Diane Ravitch and others, the only education "thinkers" that the Ayers group permitted to be heeded were "constructivists" who don't believe in teaching kids anything directly, but just allowing them to hang out at school and soak up the knowledge and skills by hook or by crook -- to "construct" their own knowledge bases. Which, of course, doesn't work worth a dang. The ed "thinkers" that Ayers and others promulgate on unsuspecting teachers include Paola Freire, Henry Giroux and Jonathan Kozol, all of whom say that traditional America hates and oppresses people of color, that capitalism and our constitutional republic need to be overthrown, and that little kids in school ought to write nasty letters criticizing state senators and members of Congress telling them what they should do, or else. And THIS is what the teachers are getting trained to believe, instead of the rules of spelling, how to teach rounding, how classic American literature of hundreds of years ago covered the same hot topics as our TV shows today, and THAT kind of stuff. Noooo. All the "old" stuff had to go. In its place: political propaganda. No wonder the schools made no progress. This is Marxism!

Here's a pretty good article on this whole "social justice" curriculum, bringing in the element of multiculturalism, which also is part of the Ayers radicalization, and is infecting our schools in a bad way:

www.the-two-malcontents.com/2008/10/23/beyond-%E2%80%98taco-night%E2%80%99-barack-obama-and-the-frightening-future-of-critical-multicultural-education/

Posted 4:57 PM by Susan Darst Williams

Charters: 12/15 Best Schools Serving Poor in California;
KIPP Schools: Even Leftist Educators Concede Kids Do Better In Them;
So WHY Are Nebraskans Or Anybody Else Still Talking About Bill Ayers?!?

I reported several times this past month that the reason the University of Nebraska College of Education should never have invited unrepentant domestic terrorist William Ayers to speak at its big wingding is that he isn't really an educator. Can you spell L - O - S - E - R?!?!

His multi-million dollar "education" program that he and President-Elect Barack Obama both participated in, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, was just another kind of . . . well . . . bomb. According to its own final report, published in 2003, it had "little impact on student outcomes." Total spent: $150 million. But it didn't help kids. Sheesh. See:

www.ccsr.uchicago.edu/downloads/p62.pdf

But the Ayers invitation / disinvitation is still making news in Nebraska. Why, oh why?

Note what the N.U. College of Education, the Education Committee of the Unicameral, the State Board of Education, and the Omaha Public Schools STILL don't seem to grasp:

CHARTER SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL CHOICE ARE THE ANSWER FOR POOR KIDS!

Comes now a Los Angeles Times story dated Nov. 11 by Mitchell Landsberg that reports that 12 of the top 15 public schools in California serving poor kids are charter schools. That's based on standardized test results, and poverty levels reflected by a minimum of 70% of the student body having low enough family incomes to be on free or reduced-price lunch programs.

How could this be? The charter school officials quoted said that the kids are motivated to succeed because the public schools they were in before were failing them. And distractions were at a minimum, because unlike those former public schools, the charter schools focused on math and language arts, and not all that social engineering stuff like Bill Ayers likes to teach.

Also note another new report that's out from education policy wonks Jeffrey Henig of Teachers College, Columbia University, and Kevin Welner, University of Colorado-Boulder -- both left-wing strongholds -- but these two concede that the charter schools and private schools run by the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) are doing a better job with the same tough-to-teach disadvantaged students as the traditional public schools.

Detractors of KIPP say that they "cream" the best students from local low-income schools in order to look good on paper. But these left-wing wonks didn't find that. In fact, they said KIPP kids are more likely to have done WORSE in their former schools than average, and were more likely to be of color than Caucasian. Also, the wonks reported, if a student gets into KIPP and stays in KIPP, the student will have a better outcome, than if the student stays in the more-expensive traditional public school.

The only problems they cite are high student and teacher turnover, but those are problems overall in the low-income neighborhoods and nothing to do with KIPP per se.

Read about it on:

www.epicpolicy.org/publication/outcomes-of-KIPP-Schools

What don't we have in Nebraska?

Charter schools and KIPP schools.

We don't have Bill Ayers, either, which is a start. But let's hope the ed bigwigs begin to grasp some of these concepts soon, before we lose a whole 'nother generation to educational malpractice.

Labels: Bill Ayers, charter schools, KIPP

Posted 5:13 PM by Susan Darst Williams

Labels: Glenn Beck, Michelle Malkin, Teacher bullies child over McCain

Posted 1:06 PM by Susan Darst Williams

GERING: 80% REDUCTION IN SPECIAL ED REFERRALS:
AND ALL IT TOOK WAS TO TEACH READING RIGHT!

Look at the fantastic success that the Gering, Neb., schools have enjoyed in improved reading achievement! New special education cases have been reduced by 80% because, at long last, the kiddies are being taught to read correctly. This is since Gering started a phonics-ONLY reading instructional program in elementary schools:

www.sraonline.com/download/DI/EfficacyReports/GeringSchools_DI.pdf

Can you imagine how much money the Omaha Public Schools would save by reducing its enormous special education rolls by 80%? Special education is the most expensive way to educate kids, and the fastest-growing educational spending category. Wouldn't it be great to reverse that disturbing trend?

This proves what I've been saying for years, that the vast majority of the students who are labeled "special ed" or "learning disabled" simply were not taught to read properly.

There is nothing wrong with their brains -- or there WASN'T, until they were literally addle-pated by Whole Language reading instruction. That's what most schools in Nebraska are still using, despite great news like this about phonics-ONLY instruction.

That's the bad news. The GOOD news is, even current special ed students can be brought up to speed in a relatively short amount of time with good curriculum like Gering selected . . . saving taxpayers countless millions of dollars, since costly remediation, re-remediation, and re-re-remediation won't be needed any more.

And in the future, kids won't be stigmatized and depressed with a bogus special ed label, which is the best news of all.

Wake up, educators, and give kids what they need in those early grades: PHONICS!

Labels: Gering, phonics, reduce special ed

Posted 12:57 PM by Susan Darst Williams

KUDOS TO JIM ENRIGHT:
FINALLY, A CONSERVATIVE ON THE OPS BOARD

What a breath of fresh air! Someone whose lips can actually form the words "cut school spending" has been elected to the board of the Omaha Public Schools.

Jim Enright will do a great job of pointing out ways that the state's largest school district could cut spending on programs that are not cost-effective. He's a fan of charter schools, and of making much-needed nonclassroom spending cuts. He's wise, soft-spoken and determined, a great combination for a school board member.

Here's hoping his success and leadership will inspire other good people with common sense to run for school boards across the state. We need more Jim Enrights, who can balance the legitimate needs of the schools with the best interests of taxpayers.

Labels: Jim Enright, Omaha Public Schools board