tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-188586382012-01-16T00:14:29.632-05:00<b>This is an unofficial and oftentimes humorous look at my Region19 Board of Education experience. I will try to stimulate interest and discussion along the way. This is a sandbox of ideas that we'll explore together so feel free to comment.</b>Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.comBlogger877125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-13586572276113380782012-01-15T19:22:00.001-05:002012-01-16T00:14:29.639-05:00

Global competition is often sited as the stimulus for the mind numbing arguments that we NEED standardized education or the sky will fall. Here's a sample of what that globalized competition looks like: and here's the backstory: "And I say to her, you seem kind of young. How old are you? And she says, I'm 13. And I say, 13? That's young. Is it hard to get work at Foxconn when you're-- and

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-83983727148779181972012-01-10T20:47:00.001-05:002012-01-10T20:47:30.984-05:00

Here's a web site that announces a national action to opt out of high-stakes, high-stress testing.  We are requesting to everyone that this remain a PEACEFUL occupation with NON-VIOLENT actions. Be sure to click the link and read the guidelines carefully.  Given how the Obama administration has perversely botched education policy in this country, the very idea that people are still smart enough

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-67649708710100875162011-11-12T23:29:00.001-05:002011-11-13T00:41:43.432-05:00

The Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS) recently issued a comprehensive set of recommendations in a document called NextED - Transforming Connecticut's Education System. In examining the documentation, the Superintendent's get the right answer but cheat when it comes to the details.  They haven't done their homework. What they get right is that children need to

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-54780338287346676342011-11-12T21:55:00.001-05:002011-11-13T21:52:04.620-05:00

A few days ago, Stephanie Reitz reported in the Courant that UConn had funded a study of "recommendations from McKinsey & Co., which it paid $3.9 million last year to suggest ways to cut costs and boost income as the school's state subsidies drop." Wow.  Four million dollars to find ways to cut costs or increase revenues.  That's a pretty amazing  amount of money to throw at such dare we say

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-60461728266398085692011-10-09T01:10:00.001-04:002011-10-09T01:10:17.718-04:00

To Hell with NCLB and Race to the Top, America needs to clone this kid's education.

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-36900684365510078902011-09-18T14:22:00.000-04:002011-09-18T14:22:15.354-04:00

Hat tip: ZeroHedge

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-49682518529925454432011-08-28T12:31:00.000-04:002011-08-28T12:31:33.843-04:00

A new wikileak exposes a cable from the US delegation in Chengdu, China, where a counsel met with a local representative of the World Bank's International Finance Corporation, for a candid one on one. What's most interesting is how poor the Chinese education system is. And what's of most interest in terms of the American system of education that is in such dire straits is that for over a decade

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-67044461933387055962011-08-27T12:45:00.002-04:002011-08-27T12:46:15.810-04:00

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-13382608779497682922011-07-04T16:07:00.000-04:002011-07-04T16:07:36.626-04:00

Once the Berlin Wall fell there were few challenges left for our military leaders. And about that same time the politicians began a "War on Drugs". This opened the floodgates of opportunity for the militarists to retire and establish a front for the *war* in our schools. School Principals, Superintendents, and administrators soon required a military background as well as a few education

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-54340304428818453232011-06-28T00:44:00.000-04:002011-06-28T00:44:16.424-04:00

A number of years ago I studied the class size issue by examining national and international studies on the subject. The most interesting are locked behind the walls of academia and require JStor access. It was not and is not hard to understand why - the studies, one by one and cumulatively refute the veracity of the argument that small class size is a primary factor in the success or failure

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-76940368411907974132011-06-04T00:15:00.001-04:002011-06-04T00:21:47.330-04:00

These days as union teaching jobs become ever more threatened on a daily basis, teachers unions and teachers are raising their voices, rattling their pencil cases, and running with scissors. What they aren't doing is demanding more efficiently run schools, right-sizing of staff, better curriculum, diversity of learning rather than centralised conformity, nor a host of other things that might

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-81424753192140777842011-04-12T23:55:00.000-04:002011-04-12T23:55:03.054-04:00

A recent entry on Slashdot caught my attention. The Walking Randomly blog does a cost analysis of mathematical calculators that are often used in schools and finds them to be oddly technically deficient and profoundly expensive for what they do. Furthermore the blog observes: I (and many students) also have mobile phones with hardware that leave these calculators in the dust. Combined with

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-44671743318352575552011-03-27T12:42:00.002-04:002011-03-27T12:44:38.975-04:00

The educational community, such as it is today, is split about the use of high-stress, high-stakes testing. I've met a teacher or two in the past few years, who have helped develop and who have profited from preparing the testing regiments that are in use today. And behind them stand an army of companies whose very existence is owed to the process of standardized tests. My conversation with

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-25588933000275064272011-03-22T22:54:00.000-04:002011-03-22T22:54:43.493-04:00

To understand CT's bloated public spending, one needs a tool like this: http://www.ctsunlight.org/PayrollBranching/tabid/72/Default.aspx. Connecticut Sunlight org is a very interesting site, enjoy.

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-7638348288926862352011-03-09T23:21:00.000-05:002011-03-09T23:21:26.015-05:00

EO Smith's own Douglas Melody has joined the ranks of bloggers. I couldn't be happier or more proud. I'm actually a bit late to the grand opening of two blogs. One called Learning Matters and the other called Guidance Matters. Who said you can't teach veteran educators new tricks?

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-59927845133389438392011-03-06T15:59:00.000-05:002011-03-06T15:59:02.294-05:00

Diane Ravitch has a guest blog on Edutopia that once again reinforced my perception of her educational opinions as opportunist pandering. Her thinking is neither original nor thought-provoking but it is annoying. Here's some of what she asserts: Myth #2: Achievement Will Soar With Younger, More Enthusiastic Teachers A second, related narrative asserts that teachers who work in the poorest

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-59713218408443361572011-02-27T02:21:00.002-05:002011-02-27T02:25:44.020-05:00

The Orwellian opera that is taking place regarding Unions, collective bargaining rights, and paying a fair share is sheer farce. A few weeks ago the Region 19 Board of Education met with Bryan Hurlbert, Tony Guglielmo, and other state representatives. It was a sobering meeting involving the potential loss of traditionally dependable funds. To a man, these elected officials declared that

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-47603183073179655342011-02-05T19:43:00.001-05:002011-02-05T19:47:10.925-05:00

A new special interest group has emerged to join the misguided education conflict. It's called Parents Across America and on it's home page is a posting that explains; Why I Am Not A Defender Of The ‘Status Quo’ In Education. The post is written by a fellow blogger, Sue Peters. She says, Help bring parents’ voices to the education debate and support progressive, positive, constructive

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-69977716267746170902011-01-30T01:34:00.000-05:002011-01-30T01:34:39.541-05:00

The election of the Obama administration signalled a death knell for enlightened public education. That much is clear. The Federal Dept. of Education ramrodded the States into passing some of the most perversely regressive education legislation ever conceived by man. And now, the ability of enlightened communities to break the totalitarian grip of federal interference in local education issues

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-77250142141831732062011-01-18T22:34:00.002-05:002011-01-18T22:42:42.887-05:00

A few months ago Wes Volle, Julie Amero's husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He was given but a few months to live and died yesterday. Juie Amero, of course, was a substitute teacher whose life, Wes and Julie's life, was forever violated by procession of a demented judicial system that allowed disingenuous parents, magic accusations, bad cops, lazy judges, incompetent journalists, a

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-14319221106186768212010-11-28T02:09:00.001-05:002010-11-28T02:23:46.554-05:00

You may be wondering why I post more infrequently about education issues and the reasons are actually more complex than the following explanation may imply. I'm hypnotized by Diane Ravitch and Leonie Haimson. Ravitch is a lifelong bureaucrat/educationalist who spent decades serving the conservative think tanks from Reagan until just recently on educational matters. And Haimson runs or is

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-24274220426186783782010-11-07T19:20:00.000-05:002010-11-07T19:20:03.541-05:00

At Tuesday's BOE meeting, we received a letter from a minority parent who objected to the school reporting racial breakout data to the government. The parent was actually concerned about potential profiling and, predictably, what gives the school the right.... At the Saturday retreat, Lou reported that the government requires the data. I asked what would happen if we didn't report it and

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-75257887199737000702010-09-26T09:29:00.002-04:002010-11-28T02:28:13.973-05:00

The last time this vote was taken the communities of Ashford, Mansfield and Willington voted No. And they did so largely because the project was too expensive. Although much has changed since then (the matter of a national economic meltdown that's politely called a 'recession'), relatively speaking we can still not afford to go forward with this. Some personal insights: After the last vote,

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-8492335477826800372010-09-26T00:04:00.000-04:002010-09-26T00:04:42.088-04:00

I've known Susan Eastwood and her family for a long time. The last time Susan ran she lost by just a small number of votes. Afterward she went through a period of time believing she should have knocked on a few more doors. She was tireless in that campaign as it was. Susan and I have honest differences of opinion. That's the sign of an political integrity. She listens and isn't afraid to

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18858638.post-77638939480112192792010-09-19T00:01:00.006-04:002010-09-19T12:07:56.611-04:00

While it's true that Obama's education policy is wholly asinine, that's not why I'm endorsing Linda McMahon for the CT Senate seat. Fact of the matter is that Obama has treated Democrats and Liberals like dogs for the time he's been in office. It's our own fault that we were had. We spent years trying to rid this country of what had been the dumbest and meanest federal administration of our

Frank Krasickihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01484416897999464357noreply@blogger.com0