For Seniors and Parents of Seniors

David Brooks Columnist NY Times: Stressed for Success?: "Many of you high school seniors are in a panic at this time of year, coping with your college acceptance or rejection letters. Since the admissions process has gone totally insane, it's worth reminding yourself that this is not a particularly important moment in your life.

You are being judged according to criteria that you would never use to judge another person and which will never again be applied to you once you leave higher ed.

For example, colleges are taking a hard look at your SAT scores. But if at any moment in your later life you so much as mention your SAT scores in conversation, you will be considered a total jerk. If at age 40 you are still proud of your scores, you may want to contemplate a major life makeover.

More than anything else, colleges are taking a hard look at your grades. To achieve that marvelous G.P.A., you will have had to demonstrate excellence across a broad range of subjects: math, science, English, languages etc. This will never be necessary again. Once you reach adulthood, the key to success will not be demonstrating teacher-pleasing competence across fields; it will be finding a few things you love, and then committing yourself passionately to them.

The traits you used getting good grades might actually hold you back. To get those high marks, while doing all the extracurricular activities colleges are also looking for, you were encouraged to develop a prudential attitude toward learning. You had to calculate which reading was essential and which was not. You could not allow yourself to be obsessed by one subject because if you did, your marks in the other subjects would suffer. You could not take outrageous risks because you might fail.

You learned to study subjects that are intrinsically boring to you; slowly, you may have stopped thinking about which subjects are boring and which exciting. You just knew that each class was a hoop you must jump through on your way to a first-class university. You learned to thrive in adult-supervised settings.

If you have done all these things and you are still an interesting person, congratulations, because the system has been trying to whittle you down into a bland, complaisant achievement machine.

But in adulthood, you'll find that a talent for regurgitating what superiors want to hear will take you only halfway up the ladder, and then you'll stop there. The people who succeed most spectacularly, on the other hand, often had low grades. They are not prudential. They venture out and thrive where there is no supervision, where there are no preset requirements.

Those admissions officers may know what office you held in school government, but they can make only the vaguest surmises about what matters, even to your worldly success: your perseverance, imagination and trustworthiness. Odds are you don't even know these things about yourself yet, and you are around you a lot more.

Even if the admissions criteria are dubious, isn't it still really important to get into a top school? I wonder. I spend a lot of time meeting with students on college campuses. If you put me in a room with 15 students from any of the top 100 schools in this country and asked me at the end of an hour whether these were Harvard kids or Penn State kids, I would not be able to tell you.

There are a lot of smart, lively young people in this country, and you will find them at whatever school you go to. The students at the really elite schools may have more social confidence, but students at less prestigious schools may learn not to let their lives be guided by other people's status rules — a lesson that is worth the tuition all by itself.

As for the quality of education, that's a matter of your actually wanting to learn and being fortunate enough to meet a professor who electrifies your interest in a subject. That can happen at any school because good teachers are spread around, too.

So remember, the letters you get over the next few weeks don't determine anything. Picking a college is like picking a spouse. You don't pick the "top ranked" one, because that has no meaning. You pick the one with the personality and character that complements your own.

You may have been preparing for these letters half your life. All I can say is welcome to adulthood, land of the anticlimaxes. "

Teachers Found With Fake Online Degrees

"A county school board may demand that six teachers repay nearly $30,000 in pay raises they received after obtaining fake degrees from an online school in Liberia.

St. Regis University, which claims to be recognized by the Liberian government, grants master's degrees and doctorates based on 'life experience.' A master's degree costs $995 and a doctorate costs $1,500." More

And in a related story

College Head's Online Degree Questioned
"A college president who serves on a national accreditation board is among several Georgia educators who received questionable degrees from an online school in Liberia.

Michael Davis, president of Gwinnett College of Business in Lilburn, received a doctorate from St. Regis University, which grants master's degrees and doctorates largely based on "life experience.

Davis said his decades in education counted 60 percent toward his doctorate at St. Regis, for which he paid $3,000. The other 40 percent was earned through 10 months of course work and a 65-page thesis.

"I did think it was a short amount of time, but I said OK," he said." More

The world's flags given letter grades

Flag Listing with some great insults: "Some time ago, browsing through my friend's atlas, I realised that there are significant differences in quality between the flags of different countries. Some are good, some are bad. Some countries have clearly taken care in the choice of colours, layout, and design. Others have been lazy, stolen the flags of their neighbours, or just designed flags that are clearly supposed to cause pain to those who look at them"

Home-schooler wins 25th annual spelling bee

Article: "Athena Deren Heck, a 12-year-old home-schooled sixth-grader, carried the home-schooler's standard Friday night when she spelled vexillary, a standard-bearer, to win the 2004 Berks County Spelling Bee.
This year marks the 25th year for the spelling bee, sponsored by Reading Eagle Company, in cooperation with the Berks County Intermediate Unit.
The bee was held at Hamburg High School.
Terri Deren Heck, Athena's mother, will accompany her daughter on an all-expense-paid trip to the National Spelling Bee May 30 through June 4 in Washington, D.C., where Athena will represent Berks County.
Athena said she studied for the bee on the flight out to Ecuador where her family did missionary work, but did not study again until after their return March 16."

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE AGENDA

agenda 040202: "COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE AGENDA
MARCH 29, 2004
7:00 P.M.

I. BOARD OF DIRECTORS REPORT
A. Berks County School Directors Convention ? 4/22/04 ATTACHMENT 1
B. 2004-05 School Calendar TO BE HANDED OUT
C. 2004-05 BCIU Budget INFO ENCLOSED

II. BUDGET/FINANCE/TRANSPORTATION REPORT
A. Budget 2004-05

III. SUPERINTENDENT?S REPORT
A. Paraprofessional Assessment
B. Conference Attendance - ShawATTACHMENT 2
C. Conference Attendance ? Kremm ATTACHMENT 3
D. Request for support from Indoor GuardATTACHMENT 4
E. Strategic Plan Mid-Point Review Approval ATTACHMENT 5
F. Middle School Waiver Approval ATTACHMENT 6

IV. PERSONNEL REPORT
A. Learning Support position at District-Topton eliminated (enrollment)
B. Grade 1 at District-Topton ? new position (enrollment)
C. MS Life Skills position transfer to HS Learning Support position (enrollment)
D. Autistic Support at District-Topton ? new position (enrollment)
E. Transfer Grade 5 position to Grade 6 position (enrollment)
F. Co-Curricular Resignation
1. Adam ATTACHMENT 7
2. Graber ATTACHMENT 8
G. Change of Status ? Graham
H. Paraprofessional Resignation - AlbrightATTACHMENT 9
I. Family Medical Leave/Contractual Leave
1. LaForgia ATTACHMENT 10
2. Thierer ATTACHMENT 11
3. Stauffer
J. Professional Resignation ? G. WilsonATTACHMENT 12
K. Co-Curricular Appointments
1. MS Asst. Softball ? Guldin
2. Asst. HS Boys Volleyball ? Szabo
3. HS JV Coach and Asst. ? Hoffman, Savino

V. PROPERTY REPORT
A. High School Athletic/Maintenance Garage
B. Athletic Equipment Addition - 2003/04
C. High School Warranty Issues
D. High School Soccer Field Maintenance

'Fab Five' Make Rare Appearance in Night Sky

Like a busy urban family, planets rarely get together all at once. Later this month, however, the five so-called naked-eye planets -- Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn -- will reunite in the night sky, giving spectators a unique chance to see Earth's closest companions in one easy sitting.

The gathering will be visible every night for an hour after sunset, beginning around March 22 and lasting about two weeks. While other viewing opportunities will take place over the next few years, both at dawn and dusk, this one is not to be missed. " NASA

Why is the Roman Numeral IIII Used Instead of IV?

Leaving the auditorium at the high school one may notice the clock over the door. On closer observation you will see "IIII" instead of the more correct "IV" at the four position. This is not a blunder on the part of the school or the contractor. Seems that watchmakers and sundial makers have been using this since the Roman times. One reason given is "Most watch and clockmakers were just ordinary folks, but it would have taken a doctor or a registered nurse to give an 'IV.' " [ELGIN] Why is the Roman Numeral IIII Used Instead of IV?

No Banners for These Sports

Cronaca: Weird Olde England:
From the Sunday Times Travel section, a short list of 'Britain?s weird world championships', including:
Shin-kicking: part of the Cotswold Olimpicks, staged since Jacobean times at Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire. . .
Snail racing: more than 200 snails slug it out over a 13-inch course at Congham, Norfolk. . .
Flounder-tramping: for the uninitiated, that?s treading on fish. Underequipped anglers gather at Palnackie, in Dumfries & Galloway, and proceed to stamp in the Urr estuary until a flatfish passes by."

Cheerleader's Mom Sent to Anger Classes

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) - A judge ordered the mother of a junior high school cheerleader into anger management classes after the woman admitted that she harassed the sponsor of the cheerleading team.
Melissa Leach, 33, was also fined $500 and given a suspended 30-day jail sentence for pushing and shouting at Lincoln Junior High cheerleading coach Helen Campbell last August.
Campbell had disciplined Leach's daughter for skipping practices.
Leach, who pleaded guilty in Bentonville District Court on Tuesday, must attend anger management classes and perform some public service. My Way News:

Church of Scientology have become the I.R.S.'s chosen people

Court Case Poses Challenge to Scientology Tax Break: "OS ANGELES, March 21 - A trial is to begin here on Wednesday morning to determine whether a Jewish couple can deduct the cost of religious education for their five children, a tax benefit they say the federal government has granted to members of just one religion, the Church of Scientology.
The potential ramifications are huge, for a ruling in favor of the couple could affect the millions of Americans who send their children to religious schools of all types. At stake is whether people of all religions can deduct the cost of religious education as a charitable gift, as Scientologists are allowed to do under an officially secret 1993 agreement with the Internal Revenue Service. "

Be Cool Stay In School

It wasn't Oregano

"MIAMI -- Police say a 5-year-old boy brought a bag of marijuana to school and was sprinkling it over a friend's lasagna at the school cafeteria before a monitor intervened.
Police say it is unclear whether the kindergartner at Gratigny Elementary School even knew he was carrying the drugs on Monday.
The lasagna was confiscated before the other boy had a chance to eat it." More

THE SENILITY PRAYER

Grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to
tell the difference.

One Nation, Enriched by Biblical Wisdom

"Tomorrow the Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether it is constitutional for public school teachers to lead the Pledge of Allegiance, including the phrase "one nation under God," in their classrooms. So tonight's reading assignment is "A Stone of Hope" by David L. Chappell.

"A Stone of Hope" is actually a history of the civil rights movement, but it's impossible to read the book without doing some fundamental rethinking about the role religion can play in schools and public life.

According to Chappell, there were actually two camps within the civil rights movement. First, there were the mainstream liberals, often white and Northern. These writers and activists tended to have an optimistic view of human nature. Because racism so fundamentally contradicted the American creed, they felt, it would merely take a combination of education, economic development and consciousness-raising to bring out the better angels in people's nature.

The second group, which we might today call the religious left, was mostly black and Southern. Its leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr., drew sustenance from a prophetic religious tradition, and took a much darker view of human nature.

King wrote an important essay on Jeremiah, the "rebel prophet" who saw that his nation was in moral decline. King later reminded readers that human beings are capable of "calculated cruelty as no other animal can practice." He and the other leaders in the movement did not believe that education and economic development would fully bring justice, but believed it would take something as strong as a religious upsurge. Because the experiences of the Hebrew prophets had taught them to be pessimistic about humanity, the civil rights leaders knew they had to be spiritually aggressive if they wanted to get anything done.

Chappell argues that the civil rights movement was not a political movement with a religious element. It was a religious movement with a political element.

If you believe that the separation of church and state means that people should not bring their religious values into politics, then, if Chappell is right, you have to say goodbye to the civil rights movement. It would not have succeeded as a secular force.

But the more interesting phenomenon limned in Chappell's book is this: King had a more accurate view of political realities than his more secular liberal allies because he could draw on biblical wisdom about human nature. Religion didn't just make civil rights leaders stronger — it made them smarter.
Whether you believe in God or not, the Bible and commentaries on the Bible can be read as instructions about what human beings are like and how they are likely to behave. Moreover, this biblical wisdom is deeper and more accurate than the wisdom offered by the secular social sciences, which often treat human beings as soulless utility-maximizers, or as members of this or that demographic group or class.

Whether the topic is welfare, education, the regulation of biotechnology or even the war on terrorism, biblical wisdom may offer something that secular thinking does not — not pat answers, but a way to think about things.

For example, it's been painful to watch thoroughly secularized Europeans try to grapple with Al Qaeda. The bombers declare, "You want life, and we want death"— a (fanatical) religious statement par excellence. But thoroughly secularized listeners lack the mental equipment to even begin to understand that statement. They struggle desperately to convert Al Qaeda into a political phenomenon: the bombers must be expressing some grievance. This is the path to permanent bewilderment.

The lesson I draw from all this is that prayer should not be permitted in public schools, but maybe theology should be mandatory. Students should be introduced to the prophets, to the Old and New Testaments, to the Koran, to a few of the commentators who argue about these texts.

From this perspective, what gets recited in the pledge is the least important issue before us. Understanding what the phrase "one nation under God" might mean — that's the important thing. That's not proselytizing; it's citizenship. Op-Ed in NY Times by David Brooks

"

What Does the Research Say? | By Request...December 2002 |

From glancing over several articles on the subject full day vs half day Kindergarten it appears to be a mixed bag. The only group it appears to help for at least the first 3 years is "low income or others with fewer educational resources ". This is total BS they should say from parents that don't give a damn. Low income parents can provide the resources and motivation beyond putting them down in front of a TV set, if they choose . The one consistent factor that determines a child success is parental involvement. It always outranks factors like class size, teacher's ability, funding. Instead of all day kindergarten maybe we should offer classes for parents in ways to help their children succeed. Even if it only helped a relatively few could be far more beneficial.

One factor the studies don't show is why with the comparative advantage of full day kindergarten the effects don't last much beyond first or second grade? Is it because everyone catches up quickly or are the students being effectively held back from building on their initial advantage.

"Students participating in full-day kindergarten consistently progress further academically during the kindergarten year, as assessed by achievement tests, than students in either half-day or alternate-day programs.

There is tentative evidence that full-day kindergarten has stronger, longer-lasting academic benefits for children from low-income families or others with fewer educational resources prior to kindergarten.
There is not current, strong evidence that the academic achievement gains of full-day kindergarten persist beyond first grade for all students.

There is no evidence for detrimental effects of full-day kindergarten. The full-day curriculum, if developmentally appropriate for five- and six-year-olds, does not seem to overly stress or pressure kindergarten children. " What Does the Research Say? |

*****************
" Schools currently offering full-day kindergarten deal with funding issues in a number of different ways. Many schools that serve low-income and language minority students use Title I money to support their programs (Nelson, 2000). Other schools rely on private or state grant funding, and still others charge parents partial tuition to offset the cost of the extra hours added to the kindergarten day (Lofthouse, 1994; Long, 1997). " Funding

If you want more information just Google "Full Day Kindergarten" it is a hot topic all over the country.

Today's Reading Eagle: All Day Kindergarten

"Many Berks County educators have dreamed for years about establishing all-day kindergarten programs.
But now $6.5 million in state block grants for various educational initiatives, including all-day kindergarten, is available to Berks County schools to pursue that dream.
That money, coupled with ever-increasing research supporting the format, has given districts the incentive they need to make a push for all-day programs.
Most Berks County school districts currently operate traditional half-day kindergarten classes.
But administrators from Conrad Weiser, Daniel Boone, Exeter and Oley Valley said the wheels are turning to establish all-day pilot programs for the 2004-05 school year." More

Brandywine is listed as beginning to discuss the possiblilty in April. The will increase the cost to the district by hiring more teachers but will be offset by the block grants. Now what happens next year or the year after if this source dries up? Does an extra few hours really make that much differnce? It would be more convient for working parents without having to worry about the logistics noon time pick-up or delivery. Can it be made voluntary for kids that are not quiet ready for all day immersion into organized education.

Are They Athletes - A cynical ESPN reporter investigates

"I come from this school of thought: If you can ring a doorbell, you can be a cheerleader.
But then again, I'm a jock. You won't find my picture next to the 'best legs' category in the yearbook. But if you flip to the back, there I am, winner of the 'most likely to have scraped knees' superlative. I'm more Sue Bird than Jessica Simpson ... more Sporty Spice than Slinky Sandy. I'm an athlete, not a cheerleader.

It's an important distinction. There are inherent differences between people like me and people like them. Cheerleaders lack the competitive craze -- that do-or-die drive -- that athletes have. So you can't blame athletes for their cynical sneer at all things pompom. " ESPN.com - PAGE2 - Buckheit: Cheer factor:

Your Dictionary

100 Most Often Mispronounced Words

T
tact	tack	If things are ot going your way, do not lose your tact—that would be tactless—but take a different tack.
take for granite	take for granted	We do tend to take granite for granted, it is so ubiquitous. But that, of course, is not the point.
tenant	tenet	A tenant is a renter who may not hold a tenet (a doctrine or dogma).
tenderhooks	tenterhooks	Tenters are frames for stretching cloth while it dries. Hanging on tenterhooks might leave you tender but that doesn't change the pronunciation of the word.
Tiajuana	Tijuana	Why make Spanish words more difficult than they already are? Just three syllables here, thank you.
triathalon	triathlon	We don't like [th] and [l] together, so some of us insert a spare vowel. Pronounce it right, spell it right.

Time, at Last Discovers Stay At Home Moms

" The cause of women's liberation just took a huge step forward. The mainstream media, in the form of Time magazine, has finally recognized as legitimate the choices of those women who decide to stay home with their young children.

In a cover story headlined 'The Case for Staying Home,' the magazine reports, without sneering or condescension, the trend toward more new mothers leaving the work force. This is an important cultural benchmark, because until now, the media, feminist leaders and other opinion-makers have tended to portray stay-at-home moms as a regrettable throwback to what should be a long-gone era of child-rearing. Now, perhaps, we are ready to honor the full range of choices made by women struggling with how to balance career and family.
The workplace participation of married mothers with a child less than 1 year old has dropped for the first time ever, reversing a 30-year trend. It fell from 59 percent in 1997 to 53 percent in 2000. "
Review of the Articles:

Time Cover Story

HAPPY LAST DAY OF WINTER - SCHOOL CLOSED

Looks like they gave in to the inevitable. HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND

Saturday
Partly cloudy. A 40 percent chance of rain showers late in the day. Highs in the mid 40s. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph

Sunday
Mostly cloudy. Highs in the mid 40s. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph.

Right now they are sticking with a 2 hour delay

Looks awful lot like a closing.

Article

"No Wilson School District residents showed up Wednesday night at a public hearing to gather feedback on a planned $15.4 million elementary school in Lower Heidelberg Township.
Dr. Lee T. Fredericks, superintendent, said residents realize that the school is needed, and he thinks that is why no one attended the hearing or previously voiced concerns to district officials.
The project required a 0.2-mill property-tax increase that has already been implemented.
?I believe the community, in general, recognizes that the school board and superintendent are doing a pretty good job of managing the growth, providing the schools and keeping the taxes at a minimum,? Fredericks said." Article:

To put this in perpespective if Brandywine School District real estate market valuations of 474,071,600 . Wilson has real estate market valuation of 1,779,440,900 or 275% greater. They have around 5000 students to our 2000 or about 150% more.

The Real Truth Behind No Child Left Behind

This article from Forbes is one of the best criticism of th NCLB Act. The Democratic leadership have been criticizing the bill since they wrote it and were instrumental in passing it, with President Bush and the Republicans encouragement and blessings. This article is from a conservative publication that has an entirely different slant on why this is an unworkable piece of legislation. Congress should take the same oath as doctors "First Do No Harm" when they set out to do good.

"The No Child Left Behind law, which sailed through Congress with overwhelming majorities two years ago, has a giant problem--one that will cause the act to fail. But no one discusses this problem in public.

Even the law's fiercest critics--who now include just about all our country's prominent Democrats--seem not to have noticed the real problem. And it certainly will not be pointed up by such longtime enthusiasts as the Business Roundtable, the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and numerous high-profile chief executives. They like the "accountability" the law promises to deliver. They like its incentive system, which steers funding to successful schools (as measured by test scores) and penalizes the failures. They like the higher standards for teachers, and the threat these pose to the teachers' unions. They are even learning to love the U.S. Department of Education, which now spends $55.6 billion a year administering No Child and other federal programs, and they are presumably pleased that Ronald Reagan welshed on his 1980 campaign promise to ax the agency.

"And yet the law's main problem continues to be unrepresented in the news stories. The problem is that some students are not smart enough to do well on tests. This might be considered too obvious to mention but for some astounding details about No Child. For openers, it proposes to eliminate--not reduce, eliminate--the "achievement gap" between prosperous and impoverished students. " MORE


The original article is on Forbes web site but they have such a convoluted method of registration it was down loaded to this site to make it more accessible. Would appreciate it if nobody told Steve Forbes. There is a link to the original article if you want to anser 10,000 and 1 questions. I don't know why they bother you know everyone lies and picks the first answer off the dropdown menu.

Pluto Loses Out

"What a bum deal for Pluto: Yesterday, it either lost its nifty distinction as the most distant planet in our solar system or it got kicked out of the planet club entirely.
That's because astronomers have announced the discovery of Sedna, a ball of rock and ice currently about eight billion miles from here three times further from the sun than remote Pluto and about three quarters as large as its frigid little friend.

In the early 1990s, astronomers came to realize that there were a lot of objects zipping around the sun outside the orbit of Neptune in what they called the Kuiper Belt. Many of them began to suggest that Pluto was simply the biggest of these — more "planetoid" than "planet."

I always found this irritating. First of all, Pluto wins my sympathy as the runt of the litter — it's dinky, it's super cold, and I feel sorry for it. Hey astronomers: Does it really pain you that much to let the poor thing be a fully certified planet? Were you mean to small animals as children? Also, there's a certain aesthetic appeal to a solar system that concludes with miniature Pluto, a tiny flourish after a series of enormous gas giants." John J. Miller on Pluto on National Review Online

Pluto finally got what he deserved. He was supposed to be smart but walked on all fours, couldn't talk and was just a basic dog. Goofy on the other hand was supposed to be dumb but stood upright, could talk and was smart enough to be a member of the school board. Always was a mystery.

Since nobody seemed to be in favor of giving the cheerleaders their rightful due the banner policy has been modified and will be resubmitted to the board.

Banner Policy Version 2.0 Requires Adobe Reader

Today's Reading Eagle

"If music soothes the savage breast, then Berks County should be a more peaceful place in a few weeks.
That's when the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office will begin distributing more than 7,300 music compact discs to libraries and schools who asked to be made part of a settlement with the music industry.

Berks Catholic schools, the Reading School District, several private schools and 10 of 18 public school districts in the county who responded to the settlement will split those CDs based on the population served by the school or district. " MORE TODAY ONLY :

Does anyone know if we were a part of this settlement?

Banners And Awards

A policy for displaying of banners and other awards was presented at the property meeting for review and revisions.


Banner Policy Requires Adobe Reader

School Board Member Defends Dousing Exec

"ST. LOUIS (AP) - A school board member arrested after dousing an assistant superintendent with ice water called the move justified, likened herself to Rosa Parks and threatened to attack anyone who questioned her mental fitness.
'From this day forward, anyone who brings that issue up, I am getting violent,' Rochell Moore told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in Friday's edition, accusing Charlene Jones - the recipient of the previous day's dousing - of plotting to derail her political career." More

Looks like a great way to liven up a dreary meeting.

Crime Does Pay

At Steal It Back, especially if you are in the market for grow lights and digital scales. A site where police departments sell items from their property room. Stealitback.com

James Gilmartin - Named Acting Superintendent

James A. Gilmartin a 42-year education veteran has been appointed acting superintendent of the Brandywine Heights School District. Gilmartin, 68, a former superintendent of the Hamburg School District, was unanimously chosen by the board Monday night to fill in as the district's chief. Gilmartin, whose first day on the job is March 15, will be paid $375 a day, plus $15 a day for expenses.

“We interviewed multiple people, and we selected him (Gilmartin) because of his experience and credentials,” Mabry said.

Gilmartin has worked as an acting superintendent about a half-dozen times at several Berks County school districts since he retired from Hamburg in 1992. He began teaching in 1962.

“I am going to do things as if I was there full time,” Gilmartin said. “The school district needs to move ahead, and you can't wait for someone permanent to take over.”

Also at the meeting, the board agreed to hire the Berks County Intermediate Unit to conduct a superintendent search for a cost not to exceed $5,000.

The BCIU also will help the board conduct first-round interviews and conduct reference checks, she added.
More Today Only

We Could Always Join Delaware

KILLINGTON, Vt. -- Residents of Killington, frustrated by high property taxes, voted Tuesday to try to become a part of New Hampshire.

After years of what residents call unfair tax rates and lost legal battles with the state, the resort community took an extraordinary step, voting to secede from Vermont in the hopes of joining New Hampshire, 25 miles away.

The town of 1,100 said switching state affiliations could save taxpayers $10 million a year.
....
"We send $10 million to the state of Vermont and get $1 million back," Selectman Michael Miller said. "I think we'll be treated better in New Hampshire."
,,,,

Trying to secede may be difficult. First, Killington must go to the New Hampshire Legislature and get approval. Then, it must go to the Vermont Legislature and get approval, which isn't likely to happen. Town officials now hope to get approval in Concord, N.H., in the next legislative session. New Hampshire Gov. Craig Benson said he isn't sure exactly how the town can realistically switch states. MORE

HAPPY NO NAME CALLING WEEK

"The No Name-Calling Week Coalition aims to create safer schools by making bullying, harassment, and name-calling unacceptable through public education campaigns that motivate youth to change their behavior and mobilize students and educators to take school-based action around the problem of name-calling and verbal harassment. " MORE :

Election Season

Western Civilzaton may depend on the elections this November. It is March 1 and is anyone else totally bored with it already? Picking a name out of the telephone book keeps looking like the best option.

In Alaska, Getting There Is Half the Fun

No more compalints about riding an uncomfortable school bus to games.

"BETHEL, Alaska ? It took 90 minutes at sea in a small boat, five hours driving in two vans and 75 minutes on a commuter jet before the boys and girls basketball teams from Seldovia reached Bethel, a remote town in western Alaska."
...
"And so went another typical week in Alaskan high school sports, where to play something as routine as a basketball or volleyball game, hundreds of teams habitually crisscross a mammoth state on jets, marine ferries, vans and even caravans of snowmobiles." MORE NYT requires free registration