The Daily News

 ...and that's the rest of the story.

1  So...Paul Harvey walks into a bar...

2  I've always enjoyed listening to the guy, thought he was reasonably charming. He was all over the radio for years, beginning with a small story and ending with the person the story was about: usually somebody famous.

3  Harmless, really. A classic American humorist. That's he and his wife on the streets of Chicago right after they named a street after him.

4  Ah, the guy will be missed. His son is okay, but the voice isn't nearly as distinct nor Midwestern.

5  So it goes.

6  I got an A my first go-round in college in around a hundred years. It shoulda been an A+ because it was a 98.5%, and I even question the 1.5%, which was on one of my best papers, but meh. We have to get by with a B or we flunk. Don't ask me how THAT works, but that's the state of education nowadays.

7  I have a life credential that isn't really a life credential at all, suddenly.

8  The entire course is a fiasco. It's absolutely ASTOUNDING what No Child Left Behind has done to teachers. They have chased all sensibility out the window and created a madman palace of people being bitch-slapped and abused beyond anything I EVER witnessed at YB.

9  It's a real eye-opener. YB would be considered a palace compared to some of the schools other people have to endure. I am counting my blessings beyond belief. YB is like the Fairmont, I'm telling you.

10  I have teachers writing and telling me that principals walk in their room, and if they are not on the right PAGE, they'll get called into the office and reprimanded. I kid you not. They are starting to demand that teachers teach exactly the same thing, and that they be on the same page on the same DAY as the other teachers!

11  I have teachers reporting that they have 39 to 40 students in a class, and that buildings are trashed. Districts are scrambling to prove they can save every child around by dummying down everything, but also telling the teachers that they need to raise their standards. HUH?

12  I have NEVER seen education this screwed up, ever. And NOW the budget cuts are hammering down on everyone. Our own district just cut all water sports, which is sinful. They SHOULD cut a billion other things, and okay I won't even go there. All other sports are demanding $100 per participant, which is illegal as all get out.

13  Yeesh.

14  And strangely, I'm not mad at our District; they're just trying to figure it all out, and that requires a lot of figuring. But swimming, water polo, etc. those are GREAT sports. We shouldn't be cutting any sports, but that's where it is.

15  I'm more amazed at these other teachers who are writing though. I can't believe the stories they're sharing. I'm very lucky indeed to be up at the Chill, and in fact, I was very lucky to have spent my career at YB!

16  My goodness...some of those stories...I'm tellin' ya.

17  Right now I'm just looking over my shoulder, and if that battle ax starts towards my head, I'm bailing. Who needs it? I've been thinking of getting a bucket and a fishing rod and making my way to Walden.

18  Pray for the schools.

19  I swear to you.

20  Pray for the children.

21  Meanwhile, smile, fly low.

22  Peace.

~H~

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