From the Silly Seat; Navigating the Twists and Turns of Public Education

In 2016, two former Detroit Public School students sued Governor Snyder and the state of Michigan in a case claiming that their constitutional rights had been violated.  They alleged that they were unable to effectively participate in the democratic process due to what amounts to a lack of functional literacy.  Recently, a federal court ruling has given credence to their case; American public school students DO have a right to Free and Appropriate Public Education, and that there had been a violation of 14th amendment rights.  (FAPE is a real acronym in education y’all, (just like WRC and IMSA are real racing series even if you haven’t heard of them)....it is  guaranteed by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).) Now, as you know from my introductory post, I am a rally codriver.  You may also have noticed the following picture; But you might not have known what it was.  (I know you know what the i...

Education in America was in trouble, constantly swerving and veering off the road...(go home school, you’re drunk) and that was back in the good old days of overcrowded classrooms, outdated textbooks, decrepit buildings, and cell phones in the classroom. Then, along came the global Covid-19 pandemic. Now, instead of simply making the occasional wrong turn, school has hurtled off the road, landed in the ditch on its side, and is leaking fuel.  What’s up with the car analogies? This might take a minute. I am a high school science teacher in my 13th year of teaching. I began my career as an educator at an alternative high school which had:  a day care for student’s babies AA meetings twice a week a self-paced curriculum executed primarily through Google Classroom a free PB&J station in the cafeteria for kids who didn’t even really have enough of their own information to qualify for free and reduced lunches (how can this happen you might ask??? Imagine a ...