Merit-bound Alley

That stingrays started by taking out one of out much-loved celebrities. The message could not have been more clear: No one is safe. Now begins the insidious thinning of our numbers, starting with Florida.

I, for one, welcome our new Stingray Overlords.

An interesting article in the NJ describes the failure of the DSTP testing and the No Child Left Behind act to account for special education students in Delaware.

For those that don’t know, the NCLB act sets a standard of performance for public schools in the US. The performance of a school is measured with a standardized test; in DE, this is the DSTP. Failure of a school to perform to the expected level results in a an official sanction and the potential of being put on an improvement plan, which eventually could lead to replacement of all school staff or state takeover of the failing school.

There are many things wrong with the NCLB act and DSTP testing in Delaware, but this article concentrates on the effect of standardized testing on special education students. All students in DE take the same DSTP for their grade level regardless of whether they have special needs as a student. These students find themselves consistently failing to meet the standard, and this puts their schools at risk of sanction.

This is why Red Clay Consolidated Superintendent Robert J. Andrzejewski has sued the state to make Richardson Park Intensive Learning Center an individual school, so it does not affect the performance of other Red Clay schools when these students inevitably fail to meet the standard.

It makes zero sense to me that special needs students should be held to the same standard of students unencumbered by learning disabilities. As if these kids didn’t have it hard enough, they have the onus of not only continually failing to meet the standard, but potentially negatively affecting their school as well.

The simple fact is, that it’s not a failure of these kids, but a failure of the system when special needs students are unable to be tested in a manner that is commensurate with their abilities. Standardized testing as it is does not measure progress of the student. This is why a school like Richardson Park or Colonials Commodore McDonough is doomed to fail no matter how much they are helping their students.

Maybe improvement of students should be as worthy a course as simply meeting the standard.

In 15 minutes, Progressive Voices will be starting, with a program about GLBT rights. Please listen in and contribute, as this could be a very important show.

Update:

I feel I must say that I don’t think there is a more noble purpose than equal rights for everyone in this country. I also feel, that in consideration of the answer I got from Larry Peterson, that he and the Haven group seem to be dropping the ball.

I called in to tonights Progressive Voices show. My question for the guests was (paraphrased), “What are you doing to educate todays candidates about the topics that are so important to you?”

Unfortunately, I was not completely satisfied with the answer, which seemed to be that they have a democratic group that talks to democrats about equal rights for gays. The Delaware Stonewalls are a group that:

is committed to working within the Democratic Party to assure that the Party lives up to its Platform of being an inclusive Party.

In a state such as Delaware, where there is no support for GLBT rights outside of the Dems, it falls to Haven to pick up the slack. Especially in a time such as this, where the rule of the incumbents could not be in more jeopardy, the GLBT community has the unique opportunity to educate all of the candidates to the issues that they represent. To limit themselves to the Democrats seems to me to be a huge oversight, especially when they have the resource of a young and idealistic candidacy.

Believe me, it pains me to criticize a group that I so agree with, but Haven needs to do more than preach to the choir. They need to start educating those that may not already agree with their message. They may find that many of this years candidates may support their message.

Equal rights for all Americans is not a point to be taken lightly, and Haven has a message than can change civil rights in this country. I hope they realize the potential for empowerment before this years election is over.

No.

The NewsJournal printed a story today about Muslim high-schoolers and how their Ramadan fasting affects their sports play. Muslims fast between sunrise and sunset during Ramadan to practice denial and discipline as an act of faith. This obviously has a negative affect on athletic performance, causing fatigue and sometimes cramping.

That’s interesting, but I think the real story about these kids is the show of bravery in choosing to display their faith in a misunderstood religion, and in front of high-schoolers, no less. High school is not a place that welcomes differences from the status quo, and the athletes seem to be expected to show an almost inhuman level of conformity.

One boy even had to suffer being called “Osama” throughout a game by the opposing team. I wonder how well they would take to being called “Torquemada” by their teammates. Oh, wait, they were Delaware students, so they probably would have no fucking clue about the reference.

Few enough high-schoolers have the guts to display their differences in front of their peers, so it is a testament to these Muslim children’s courage that they will display their oft-maligned faith in front of some of the cruelest people the world has to offer: other high-schoolers.

I’m using this post to honor the birthday of my wife, Meg.

Meg is a warm, generous, and loving mother and wife. She brightens the lives of everyone who knows her, and every day since I met her has been better than the last.

Happy Birthday, Meggie!
I love you!

Rep. Mike Castle is <a href=”http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061013/NEWS/61013023″>considering an outpatient surgery</a> within 4-6 weeks due to a condition called <a href=”http://www.webmd.com/hw/mens_conditions/nord878.asp”>Patent Foramen Ovale</a>. PFO is a congenital heart disease where a small hole in the atrial septum (the wall between the atria) never closed after birth. In utero, this hole ised to bybass bloodflow to the lungs, since the baby gets it’s oxygen from the mother, and it normally closes within the first year. A PFO can allow clots directly into the coronary atery, causing a heart attack or into out of the heart and into the brain, causing a stroke.

According to Dr. Sandy Shah, DO in a <a href=”http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic1766.htm”>June 2005 article on PFO</a>:

<blockquote>The recurrence rate of stroke or transient ischemic attack has been reported to be as high as 3.4-3.9% per year.</blockquote>

If, indeed, the procedure that Rep. Castle is considering is outpatient, then it’s a procedure where the catheter goes from a leg, the neck, or the groin (eep!) which carries a device to either side of the hole, sandwiching it into place. Heart tissue then grows around the insert, making it a part of the heart.

The alternative is cardiac surgery, which is “invasive, costly, and painful, and is associated with all the usual risks of cardiac surgery.” (taken from Dr. Shah’s article.

Rep. Castle, if you happen to be one of the two people who will read this, please take a moment to prioritize. Why risk your health to continue doing a job that someone else can breathe new life into? Whether you have 2 or 20 years to go, wouldn’t you like to spend them in relative peace with your family than battling it out in the House? This would be a terribly easy decision for me.

<a href=”http://blog.wired.com/tableofmalcontents/2006/10/album_cover_apo.html”>Album Cover Apocalypse</a>

Warning: Contains Violence and Nudity (woohoo)

Apparently, border security is so stretched that the guy fired from The Apprentice can cross illegally with three elephants and a six-man mariachi band. <a href=”http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA101206.01B.border.elephants.350c41b.html”>I’m not kidding.</a>

We’re all familiar with the insidious intrusion of the Holiday season into earlier and earlier months. Christmas sales start in October, Christmas music in the Christiana Mall begins before what used to be known as Thanksgiving, and even now the bell-ringers are polishing their brass implements of hearing loss. Thanksgiving is now known a Christmas Eve-Eve and our toy, video game, and jewelry stores get rich earlier.

Well, now it seems that the same philosophy of early preparation is <a href=”http://www.tbo.com/news/nationworld/MGBOBV475TE.html”>in the works</a> for the Presidential elections in 2008. No longer do we constituents have to wait to hear the trash-talk fly! Now, we can hear it long before they are even candidates! So let loose the dogs of the partisan war, presidential hopefuls! I eagerly await the first unholy barrage of smear ads with Christmas bells on… in October.