There’s no doubt: tenure means you can’t be fired without just cause, that once you’ve got it, the job is yours for life–permanent unless you choose otherwise or do something outrageous. Mediocrity doesn’t count. Nor does ineptitude, callousness, or burn out. Enter Washington D.C.’s School Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, who’s prepared to change all that. She’s shaking things up down there in the capital and getting lots of flak and praise for her efforts to improve education. Here’s why:

This summer, Rhee proposed offering teachers more than $100,000 a year in pay and performance bonuses, but it wasn’t a one-way street. Her largesse came with a price tag: in return for such substantial salaries, veteran teachers must forego tenure for one year–thus risking dismissal–or retain tenure and take home less pay. New teachers would work on a probationary basis for four years, during which time they’d either prove their worth and be tenured or get the boot. Here! Here! But wait . . .

Rhee’s core message, writes Washington Post staffer Bill Turque, “is that children can learn no matter what economic or social conditions they face beyond the classroom, and that teachers should be held directly accountable for their progress through test scores and other measurements.” D. C.’s teachers are divided on the proposal. Said their union president, George Parker, “There is an overwhelming amount of distrust of the chancellor that she is going to have to address.” What about you? Do you sympathize with the teachers? Does Rhee have not just a right but an obligation to weed out bad teachers? Would you put your career on the line and sign up for this deal? Countless folks weighed in and responded to the Turque article on the subject; a sampling follows. Then it’s your turn . . .

• “The union is just pathetic. What Rhee needs to do is simply crush it, Reagan and PATCO style.”
• “The people who think this is about “union busting” are so far off-base it’s not funny. About 50-60% of ALL the teachers at my son’s school needed to be fired. The MAJORITY of those teachers were well below standards.”
• “I have two questions that I cannot seem to get answered: Just how many of these deadwood teachers are there and why should teachers trust that Rhee would be objective and fair?”
• Why should all teachers be punished to try to get rid of (some number) of bad teachers? I know that the other angle is to reward good teachers, but it’s not clear what ‘good’ would be. I wouldn’t sacrifice security in the face of that uncertainty either!”
• “Years ago, I was also the parent of two DCPS students. I complained as many of you do, and I wrote letters to express my frustrations as a parent. As fate would have it, I became a teacher at the same school that my daughters had attended. After walking in these teachers’ footsteps for a year and experiencing what these teachers go through every day dealing with the issues of student discipline, lack of support and/or involvement by the parents, and being called every name these students will call you, I apologized to every teacher that was there when my daughters attended this school.”

God, all this whining and hand wringing, as if parents have no say, no responsibility in ensuring that homework is completed–at home–let alone keeping abreast of grades. Take this mother, for example. Her October 1st email is unedited and quoted here word-for-word; her child’s name has been excluded. Then comes my response to her.

“My son’s resource teacher called me this morning and informed me that he is failing every class. He has not handed in any work at all. No homework or class work. I have had it with him. I even witched schools cuz he was not happy for 3 years at his old school. So ever since I changed schools he is so much happier. Did I forget that he still has to do the work rather he is a new kid or not lol . . . So now they are removing him from German class cuz he is failing all his other classes. And giving him another resource hour, and he will be staying after more often. What he doesn’t know is that at this new school he stays after until the work is done. I just don’t know what to do with him anymore. He is very smart he just doesn’t to use it.”

My response: “Most kids start off the school year with good intentions, but apparently not your son, as he’s chosen not to do any homework, classwork, or test prep to date–and that worries me. You can’t be surprised by his failing grades, though, since he does no schoolwork at home. I, therefore, have to wonder: do you ever ask him about his homework and tests, check his assignment book, enforce a homework/study schedule? You definitely need to start doing these things before it’s too late; you should also set up a meeting with his team of teachers to find out more about what’s going on, what they’re seeing in the classroom, etc., and ways that you can help. It shouldn’t be the school’s responsibility to see that homework is done by keeping him after school to do it. It should be done at home, supervised by you. If he needs extra help because the work is too confusing or difficult, that’s when the school should step in.”

Now that you’ve read both of these messages, what do you want to say to this mom? to me? Think it’s up to the school to oversee work? Am I being too harsh? too judgmental? If I walked in this woman’s shoes, would I be saying the same thing? What about you?

Texas has made headlines once again. First came news that its 110-student Harrold School District decided to allow employees–with a state permit and administrative permission–to carry concealed weapons on campus. Now comes Dallas declaring that “50″ is the lowest grade a student can receive in any one marking period in a move to prevent students from failing miserably, while giving them a chance to bring the grade up next time around. New marking period; new attitude. This is part of the district staff’s decision to move to an “effort-based” grading system, one that’s loaded with numerous opportunities for less successful kids to master the material at hand. Here’s more of their “fair-minded” failure solution:

• Teachers must accept all late work.
• Teachers cannot penalize students for missed deadlines.
• Low homework grades that would otherwise lower a student’s standing are to be discarded.

First off, effort implies motivation and hard work–the core of achievement and self-esteem–not contrived rules that disregard deadlines, responsibilities, and accountability. Homework, usually an extension of and opportunity to practice new learning, needs to be timely or the lesson is lost. Classwork doesn’t wait for anyone; more teaching follows, building on previous coursework. Not done? Not done thoughtfully? Too bad. Teachers may have to accept assignments whenever, but they’re not going to slow down. They have a curriculum to follow, and follow it they will. Giving kids an opt-out option simply insures the failure the “50″ is supposed to cure–and is definitely not one of the 21st century skills touted by educators and business leaders alike.

Leave it to Texas, well, more specifically its very small 110-student Harrold School District, whose trustees have deemed it necessary to change the rules and allow employees–as long as they have a state permit and administrative permission–to carry concealed weapons on campus. Really. Making reference to the violence that struck Virginia Tech and the Amish, Superintendent David Thweatt said, “When the federal government started making schools gun-free zones, that’s when all these shootings started.”

This move has already been suggested as a remedy for the troubles besetting college campuses, but never before secondary or elementary schools. Just consider the possible outcomes of this measure, and, while you do so, ask yourself if the weapons should be loaded or not and where best to conceal them–in desks, filing cabinets, purses, holsters, lockboxes? Whatever you come up with, how novel do you think your choice? Superintendent Tweat trusts that no one will know where individuals have stored their guns–that their secrets will be kept, no one will guess, no one will go seeking–hence no more unfortunate shootings. Honest.

Unsettling at best:

• Acknowledged a friend: “I let my kids call adults by their first names. None of that Mr. & Mrs. stuff for us. That’s just all so yesterday.”
• On a recent day in August at Epcot–96 degrees and cloudless–I watched a mother run up, snatch her daughter’s sun-shading parasol, and put it to her own good use. When the child dropped to the pavement and began to wail, said mother came back and whacked her with said parasol.
• Recently, I was second to come on board an airport courtesy van. In the first row of seats and seated close to the door, a youngish gentleman was busily texting someone, satchel lodged beside him. As he made no effort to move over, I climbed into the second row, which, after a couple of more stops, filled up. Meanwhile, my gentleman friend never batted an eye, never budged over, just kept texting, even when an elderly lady needed to climb on board.
• Listening as I often do to one of Philly’s teen-popular radio station, I stopped keeping beat to the tune long enough to take in the words to some of the music I love. First came the Pussycat Dolls: “I kissed a girl, and I liked it. Her cherry lipstick . . . It felt so wrong; it felt so right . . .” The next song included these lyrics: “I’ll have you naked by the end of this song.” That was followed by, “When I grow up, I wanna be a rock star, a movie star.”
• On another popular Philly radio station, “phone tapping,” is featured, whereby listeners come up with a scenario for someone they know, to be played out by a disc jokey. Yesterday, a mother-daughter duo conspired to “tap” dad, with the jokey claiming to be a boy’s father outraged when he found said daughter in bed with his son. As daughter’s dad hit ballistic, he was finally told it all was a hoax.
• Amanda Beard, American gold medalist, has posed naked for a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) ad that reads, “Be comfy in your own skin. Don’t wear fur,” as she stands in front of the American flag.
• Boston Medical’s radio ad is narrated by a guy on holiday with his wife, so mortified by his “sexual performance problem” that he even pretends to be too drunk one night, but after just one visit to Boston Medical . . .

Even kindergarteners need a backpack, lunch bag, a bunch of sharpened pencils, pencil case, eraser, crayons, colored pencils, and tissues. Elementary and secondary students should have these other items, too:

• a pen or two, preferably black or blue
• a few highlighters
• a 12″ ruler
• a 3-ring binder (zipperless and file-free)
• a package of lined 3-hole looseleaf (recycled) paper
• 3-hole punch (think Swingline’s portable)
• several packages of tabbed dividers
• Paper reinforcers
• a 2-pocket folder (for inserting and retrieving current homework)
• a weekly planner (suggest Ward Teacher’s Lesson Plan & Assignment Book, #18)
• several packs of ruled index cards
• book covers/book sox
• USB flash drive
• CD-R/DVD-R Blank Media
• dictionary
• thesaurus
• TI calculator for high school students

Now that you’ve gone shopping, here are some tips to get your child organized–and to keep him/her that way, starting with binder remedies. Notice that I sent you out to purchase not one but several packages of tabbed dividers and here’s why. Now your child can have one for each minor subject and four for each major subject, thus providing for their accompanying notes, returned test/quizzes, and homework. Now there’s a place for everything. Then comes the two-pocket folder I suggested. First off, punch 3 holes into it, so it fits into the front of the binder. Worksheets, etc. are gathered throughout the day in the left-hand pocket and transferred to the right one upon completion, easily retrieved in class the next day. Add the 3-hole pencil case and hole puncher, and the notebook is ready for duty. Adding the teacher’s plan book adds the finishing touch, as it provides plenty of space for recording assignments in every subject, every day of the week, week after week.

On the home front, once purchased, keeping supplies handy is a must, be it on a shelf, in a box, or a basket. After that, keep restocking as needed. You might also want to add construction paper and poster board to my list to avoid those night-before-the-project-is-due pleas. Then hang an easily seen calendar for recording long-term projects and reports, along with important engagements and activities.

Next, find a spot for storing completed units of study. Go with any good-sized box or over-sized binder, a tab for each subject, making everything easily accessed and retrieved for later referral and exam review. This also insures that schoolwork is valued and doesn’t end up in the dumpster.

Finally, avoid those panicky morning searches with a “Drop Spot,” a convenient, on-your-way-out-the-door location for piling up the loaded backpack, sports gear, musical instruments, and lunch money–or reminder that it’s in the fridge. Make sure this is always done the night before, with the exception of the free-reading book. That can be tossed in the backpack before breakfast.

Then, all that’s left to do is oversee it all and keep up the momentum. As 8th grader, Josiah Tam once said, “Learning is so much easier when I stay organized.” Help make it so for your child.

Recently, a National Institutes of Health report announced: “Teen pregnancies rose in the United States for the first time since 1991.” Here are a few more facts to ponder:

• In 2005, about 133,000 babies were born to girls, ages 15 to 17.
• In 2006, that figure jumped to 139,000 for the same age group.
• In 2006, 435,000 babies were born to girls between 15 and 19.

Says Brenda Rhoades Miller, executive director of the D.C. Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, “About 70% of the teenage mothers don’t graduate from high school, leaving them with few resources to prepare their own children for school. Plus, they can’t get a living-wage job.” She also notes that these children are more likely to be abused, neglected, and/or added to the foster care roles.

Nevertheless, we continue to make light of single-motherhood. Just the current “baby bump” term reflects our more enlightened views. Mothers-to-be used to hide said “bump” in smock-like garb; today, it’s sheathed in tightly-fitted tops–and sometimes is exposed altogether, uncovered and proud. Meanwhile, there are all those Hollywood unmarried moms and moms-to-be our kids can look up to . . .

And now, after Juno met with rave reviews as an “intelligent comedy,” comes ABC Family’s The Secret Life of the American Teenager, presenting us with Amy, a pregnant 15-year-old. Its creator, Brenda Hampton, calls the show, “7th Heaven with sex,” adding that the baby’s birth will be delayed until after the first season, with its ten episodes, is renewed. She has plans, obviously knowing what the American public is hankering for more of. Meanwhile, sprinkled along the way will be childhood sexual abuse, some sexually active teens–and even one committed to abstinence. How novel! But not to worry; Hampton reassures us that the show will handle sex “in a very clean way.” However, USA Today’s Bill Keveney writes, “Some topics may be too much for pre-teens.” Good grief, what was his first clue?! Am I the only one troubled by this growing trend both on and off the set?

Critics have hailed The Dark Knight as a “masterwork” and the hype has yet to die down, including talk of a Heath Ledger Oscar. So let’s take the kids, buy some popcorn, sit back and be entertained. Apparently, that’s what scores of parents continue to do, despite the film’s “PG-13 for intense violence and some menace” rating that accompanies reviews. That despite gazing at Ledger’s unsettling, white-masked Joker persona. That despite a title that should have given fair warning. Amazing.

One mother took her 11- and 14-year-old kids and, not surprisingly, lived to regret it, saying, “It should have been given an ‘R’ rating.” It’s always someone else’s fault, no?  She even went so far as to offer up her name to Scott Bowles who included it in his USA Today article, “Is ‘The Dark Knight’ Too Dark for Kids?” Another parent, also named in the article, was quoted as saying, “There has to be a way to tell parents that someone is going to get a pencil in the skull.” He brought his 12-year-old, and now says, “I’m not sure I would have brought him.” After all that and a pencil in the eye, too, and he’s still not sure?! Good God.

• “American writers have been complaining about the decline of literacy since 1874 when half of Harvard’s candidates flunked an entrance exam. There was no clear evidence of a decline then, and there isn’t one now.” ~ Stephen Krashen, professor emeritus, University of California, L.A.
• “Children today in our country, especially young children, are more prepared to enter school than at any time in our country’s history.” ~ Dan Owens, Natl. Assn. for the Education of Young Children
• “There ought to be more in determining students’ success than just one test score. Preparing a child for the 21st century means reading and math, but it also means science; it means civics; it means art.” ~ Reg Weaver, NEA president
• “If educators don’t embrace technology, we’re going to see more kids disengage with school.” ~ Michael Radday, assistant superintendent, West Hampton Beach
• “Parents do not need to be experts on the topics their children are studying. Instead, parents need to provide a place and time for children to study. They need to monitor progress on homework, and they need to develop a basic understanding of where their child should be at each grade level.” ~ J. L. Epstetin
• “My number one most important book is Go, Dog, Go, by P.D. Eastman. It sent me down the road to the absurd writing life. Dogs driving around in cars and having a party in a tree. That’s my kind of story.” ~ Jon Scieszka, named the first children’s literature laureate
• “The loss of the arts and all that is learned through participation in the arts, severely limits the kinds of skills and capacities children develop in school. In a word, students are learning less, and what they are learning is only parat of what is needed to build a strong workforce and vibrant citizenry.” ~ Stephanie Perrin, head of the Walnut School, one of America’s oldest secondary schools for the arts

Breakfast: A Big Deal

Study after study has documented the importance of breaking the fast. The State of Minnesota Breakfast Study showed that “children who eat breakfast before going to school perform better in math and reading, and increase their attention span.” Meanwhile, pediatricians at Boys Town Pediatrics found that breakfast eaters have more energy, suffer fewer headaches, and are less likely to feel fatigued, sleepy, restless, or irritable. They also think faster, perform better, and are less likely to feel anxious. And that’s just for starters. All this yet, according to the American Dietetic Association, more than 40% of girls and 32% of boys regularly skip breakfast.

The Morning Rush

I know; I know. Mornings are hectic. Sometimes oversleeping is the problem, and anyway, who wants a big meal that early in the morning? And diets notwithstanding, what kids need a breakfast sit-down when they’re rushing around searching for books and schoolwork, stuffing their bookbags, and flying out the door to catch the bus? They do, that’s who!

Skipping Breakfast: Risky Business

After going without food hour after hour while sleeping, come morning, our brains need a glucose fix in order to function efficiently. Without that, notes Duke University’s Dr. Terrill Bravender, “People have difficulty understanding new information, have a problem with visual and spatial understanding, and don’t remember things well.” And if all that, plus hunger pains, headaches, and irritability aren’t enough to convince you, it’s a proven fact that skipping breakfast means it’s next to impossible to get 100% of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of many nutrients, including calcium, dietary fiber, folate, protein, and a variety of vitamins. Is this really how you want to send your kids off to school?

Academic Benefits

Make no mistake about it; the well-researched facts bear it out. Children who eat breakfast . . .

• Have better memory recall
• Enjoy better math grades
• Are better behaved
• Make fewer mistakes
• Work faster in math
• Perform better on standardized tests—especially if they’re administered soon after breakfast
• Demonstrate more speed and better memory on cognitive tests
• Perform better on vocabulary tests and other demanding work

Food for Thought

The possibilities are endless when it comes to that first meal of the day, limited only by your children’s tastes. Part of the fun is mixing and matching, such as loading an omelet with veggies, tossing a variety of fruits into the blender with yogurt for a smoothie, or decorating French toast with berries. Fruit, veggies, bread, cheese, milk, eggs, spaghetti, pizza . . . There’s fun to be had. And for those rush-around, no-time-for-much mornings, there’s always cereal topped with some berries. Then all that’s needed is a splash of milk, and your kids are set to tackle the school day, belly full and ready to go.