Plus you can have a link which gives more detail if desired but doesn’t get in the way of the story if folks only want the gist. Others might have to say, “well, I have five stories which would interest some but only have enough money from advertising to run two of them.” Not that you just throw them out but you aren’t as constrained as a more woodish/paperish medium would be.

And this way you get to hear from more people wondering why you ran THAT article when THEY didn’t want to read it. It must be fun.

David way off topic

It’s all an interesting game of numbers, really. Unlike a printed newspaper where the editor must decide if people want to read about Mrs. Rosemary’s giant tomato, I get to see exactly how many people read what story. It allows me to make informed decisions on what type stories to run from where.

So I know how many people read this story about Alabama schools. Did I make the right decision to run it? Yep. It was a popular story.

Was a murder in Warrington a good story to run? Again, yes. It was widely read. Sometimes we in North Escambia forget that we live in the same county as the rest of the folks in Escambia. Does a murder in our county in Warrington have an impact on us? Yes, it does.

When at budget time the sheriff loses deputies and transfers half of the ones that work in Molino or Walnut Hill to the southern half of the county, perhaps we would understand why if we knew people were being murdered there, but not in Molino or Walnut Hill.

It’s all that bigger picture thing. Sometimes you just have to look just outside of your bubble to see what’s about to pop it.

The way I see it, knowing how well others are doing might affect our actions; we might make informed decisions.

If there are lots of killings or other crimes in other places, we might want to know so we could safely stay around Century to avoid them. If schools in other places were having problems or doing VERY well, it might affect our decisions regarding moving there or staying here.

And then there’s the “Maybe all our kids can’t add or think even as well as your kids, but at least our taxes are lower,” crowd to deal with.

Most importantly, if we know there are problems, we can decide to hide from them or address them. You decided to mention them at least.

David for perfecting NCLB
and everything else
other than me

Many in Florida who have interests in the public schools do care about the quality education or lack there of in Alabama because there will be flight from those failing schools to better schools in Florida. With that said, I’m afraid that once the FCAT results are fully published none of the Escambia County Florida schools or very few will make AYP and most school letter grades will decline.

One of the unintended consequences of NCLB is the shrinkage of time available to teach anything other than reading and math since these two subjects are the basis for AYP for all states. Test scores have become an obsession, with school districts investing heavily in test-prep materials and activities. Test taking skills and strategies have taken precedence over knowledge.

The above information was taken from the book “The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education.” This book was written by Diane Ravitch, historian of NCLB, who was initially a supporter of NCLB.

Every parent should look into just how much of each school year is spent on test prep. Many school districts have a testing ‘window’ of 1-2 weeks each year. This does not include months spent practicing, which often times begins immediately after Christmas, at the latest, and continues until testing.

We all know that our children are not all ‘equal’ when it comes to their ability to learn. Obviously it is grossly unfair to expect that all children will become proficient in reading or math at the same rate as other children.

NCLB assumed that shaming schools that are unable to lift test scores every year – the people who work in them – the students who attend them – and the parents who support them – would lead to higher scores. It was assumed that low scores are caused by lazy teachers. Higher test scores on standardized tests of basic skills they believe are synonymous with good education. They are wrong!

We must expect more from our children’s education than being able to read write and numerate. They need to learn to: think for themselves, make informed decisions, learn science and mathematics so they can understand the problems we face (oil in the gulf) and participate in finding solutions, understand our nation and world and the challenges we face economically and politically and much more. If all we do is teach them how to take a test, we will soon realize our children will not be successful beyond simply taking a test.

Thanks for incuding this story- most of us from Alabama appreciate seeing stories related to Atmore and other portions of Escambia AL.

Thanks William!