Tis the season... to waste a generation or two

The carnage has begun. The city of Colton has closed its libraries, Redlands is getting ready to lay off teachers, increase class size and reduce the services it provides to students. This appears to be a direct violation of the California state constitution which requires the state to provide a free and adequate education for all children. Next month the California School Boards Association will file a suit claiming this. It will be interesting to see just how all of this plays out. In the past the courts have sided with the state in such law suits, but with the massive amount of data available to support this suit, it just may realign what is considered to be an adequate free education. Since prop. 13 went on the books in California, public education has been hit hard. We went from 2nd in the nation to 47th in the amount of money spent per student. Rather sad when you consider that California has one of the largest and most diverse student populations in the country. After the budgetary ax falls, those who will remain will be rather angry, educated, and will most likely have really long memories. Budget cuts had better be fair and equitable as possible or my guess is that there will be hell to pay in the coming years. At will employees, Superintendents, and elected members of school boards throughout the state had better carefully consider all avenues of action as the political fallout of this impending disaster will last for years to come.

Whew!

It's been awhile, but I finally have my chapter 3 very rough draft done. Now comes the hard part. Editing the darn thing. Next I have to take the IRB online test, defend my proposal, get IRB approval, collect data and write it all up. If only my professional life would cooperate....

On another note, I attended a wonderful wedding reception for a former student. An interesting drink was served called a habanero margarita. Sweet and hot. Its base is a simple syrup infused with habanero pulp. Its a little too sweet for me. Now to get on with other doc. program stuff.