Education Policy?

... I posted this on the HuffingtonPost.Com site regarding the article: "How Will Republican Wins Affect Federal Education Policy?" You can read the article at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/03/how-will-republican-wins-_n_778496.html

The part of this issue that is not being addressed is the demands of the DE regarding testing. Please look at what is going to be tested in 2011-it's appalling. If at best the testing only tests a small portion of what should be really taught in school - music, creativity, patterning, physical education, art, dance to name only a few. What the tests test in the fourth grade is read and math, that’s it. The whole experience of learning is more than those two subjects, lots more, yet the DE only test math and reading, it like testing for how pure water is by testing only for gas and oil. There is no reason to rely on these very limited areas for understanding how kids are getting along in school. I have no idea who creates these tests - I can bet it's probably some corporate hacks that have a big contract that has been greased by the political process, made simple by the politicians that passed the education bills that benefited these 'educators'. But that's just speculation on my part, but I wouldn't put it pass the political jerks that use every issue they can get their hands on to advance their own personal slant on the world. End of rant.

Path of Sanity

There are many people of like concerns that are traveling on a path of sanity. Their individual concerns all add up to the making of a path of sanity. Each person or group know that there needs to be solutions to these concerns but what they might be are not foreshadowed for many reasons. I have many issues of concern and as I travel along this path I look forward and I see people that are farther along the path than I, look back some who are just getting started, but we are all on this path to sanity.

I think we need a spokes person, one who could speak to a larger crowed and tell them about our path. We need a person that we look up to, respect and would voice our needs, hopes that would foreshadow what our individual stories are in a compelling way.

I think that person is Van Jones and I think we should ask him to take on the task of telling others about our Path of Sanity.