School Walkout On March 14

In response to loosely translated and barely enforced laws in America concerning the ownership and uses of firearms, students in American public schools are planning a seventeen minute walkout on March 14, to recognize the loss of seventeen students in Parkland, Florida to a mass shooting at a school and to protest the current interpretation of the Second Amendment of the Constitution. Well and good; the First Amendment applies to students in public schools, along with everyone else in this country.

Schools have responded to this idea differently. Some schools have allowed it, some schools have discouraged it, and other schools are threatening to impose unconstitutional sanctions to students who exercise their First Amendment rights and walk out for seventeen minutes. A lot of schools are making threats of inappropriate sanctions, seemingly without contacting the attorneys that represent their school boards. Beyond counted the seventeen minutes of missed class time as an unexcused absence for each student who walks out, a school really does not the legal authority to back up their claims of having children arrested for walking down hallways and through doors. Further information can be accessed here, though a list of protocols published by CNN.

Something public schools should recognize, prior to criticizing children for demanding change is that because of our leaders, Trump in particular, advocating the notion teachers should carry loaded weapons to class, children feel even less safe in school than they did before the last mass shooting at a school. In Kansas, schools actually began the 2013-2014 school year without insurance  because of lax gun laws in Kansas. 

The Ten Million Dollar School

Perhaps that title should read, "The Ten Million Dollar School District." USD 380, in Northeast Kansas, actually has two so-called "schools", one in Nemaha County, and one in Marshall County, a mind boggling division that is the result of gerrymandering, done in an ongoing effort to resist Brown v. the Baord of Education. The school board (a tiny, unprofessional collection of persons who do not have degrees or experience in education) has issued a request for a construction manager to upgrade their buildings and it also wants ten million dollars. Both of the two buildings babysit less than three hundred children per year; why should taxpayers foot the bill for this project, when consolidation with other schools is the obvious answer?

Since 1980, the population of Frankfort, Kansas has steadily declined, as has the population of Centralia, Kansas. At this writing, Frankfort has a population of about 700, and Centralia's population is about 500. That gives us about about 1,200 people, adding the populations of both towns together. Both of the schools that serve this demographic, Frankfort and Centralia, have less than 500 students, combined, from kindergarten to twelfth grade. Your blogger graduated from a high school that had a bigger student body than both of the entire towns of Frankfort and Centralia, put together; so it seems quite natural to wonder why ten million dollars would be requested for such a small student body.

Instead of new buildings for a declining population, shouldn't USD 380 look at saving money by making sure that there is only one school board and administrative staff for each five hundred high school students? In fact, if Marshall County consolidated its public schools into one high school, one middle school, and three or four elementary schools, that would cover the needs of Marshall County children nicely. Sports would be more competitive, and the dead weight of multiple superintendents and principals could be jettisoned in favor of hiring foreign language and math teachers. If schools were consolidated this way, USD 380 could dissolve and there would be no need to beg for more bucks. Students would be better off, too.

Petition To Oust Brownback

Governor Brownback, (R) of Kansas has at least inspired some creativity. He has also inspired a petition for a recall. Beyond getting the attention of the appropriate people, an online petition to recall a governor in Kansas doesn't really accomplish anything by itself, which is why your blogger ignored it until now. Brownback probably knew there would be mass disapproval of his performance. He does not show any signs of actually caring. The voters in Kansas really shouldn't be surprised.

People In Kansas Boo Governor Brownback

Surprise, surprise. The republicans who thought Brownback was nifty when he led some silly-assed public prayers (some people will fall for anything) are now disenchanted with his Republican approach to the educational needs of children. The only reason the grownups here can be blamed is because they were all warned that the education budget would take a big hit if Brownback were re-elected; the real victims are the children.

A solution that has been resisted, so far, by Northeast Kansas is consolidation of all the public schools in Kansas. Instead of a bunch of small, largely disenfranchised and independent school districts run by uneducated morons with more interest in downloading porn than in educating children, school districts could be divided by counties; the way other states manage schools. All counties would answer to the state for all matters, from curriculum to finances. Academic requirements would be the same at all schools, rules would be the same for everyone, and there would be no push to keep tiny, under-performing schools open for nostalgic reasons, despite their inefficiency. Requirements for teachers would also be the same at every Kansas school; no more hopping from one "independent school district" to another when a license or qualifications to teach are lacking in one district, but not another. We could also eliminate any unnecessary positions held by untalented former teachers, such as "curriculum adviser". (What the hell is a curriculum adviser, USD 380? Just fire the dumb bitch!) because every school would teach the same subjects. Think of all the money that could be saved if every county just had one school board, instead of three or four! Marshall County Kansas has two and a half school districts and school boards! Half of USD 380 is in Marshall County, the other half in Nemaha County, for a county with less than ten thousand people! Just cut off the dead wood and employ one school board.

Rather than booing Brownback after voting for him, maybe Kansas should look long and hard at the way other schools in the nation are run. Stepping out of the comfort zone of doing things that don't work and amount to nothing, such as public prayer and multiple school districts in each county, will probably help a lot more than blaming a politician who's been bought and sold by the Koch Brothers, for the problems in Kansas public schools. Maybe someone will start picketing Kansas Department of Education to stop answering to politics and make some of these changes for our children.

Arkansas Teachers Can Go Commando

An Arkansas school board actually issued an edict requiring that all of it's teachers wear underwear. No spandex, either. And underwear was not to clash with clothing, or reveal panty lines. The question that apparently was not asked when the school board in Little Rock voted on this nonsense has to do with what the author of the edict was actually thinking when he wrote it! Probably not academics!

So anyways, the teachers all got mad and complained, and now the school district in is receivership. The state has stepped in and taken over, and now teachers are free to choose their own underwear again. Or go commando. Greg Adams, the president of the Little Rock School Board, is disappointed. Some of the high schools in that district were also found to be under "academic distress", and the imposition of non-spandex undergarments did not promise enough improved learning for the board chairman, Sam Ledbetter, who, despite Adams's disappointment, stated, "At some point, you just have to go in a new direction."

Looking at all the problems experienced by public schools nationwide, and all the reasons a school district could go into receivership, it amazes your blogger that a state would actually take over a school district over teachers' undergarments! Are bra straps really that important? Geesh!

Insight

In Case You Skipped Church This Sunday

The churchgoing teachers in Frankfort, Kansas, have a message for you if you skipped church on Sunday. They want you to know that as long as you are white and christian, Jesus doesn't mind if you ignore the laws of the land and act like a bigot!

Private Message

Knowing one's rights is NOT gaming the system. In fact, no one in my house has ever "gamed the system". There is not a thing wrong with standing up for one's self in court, and demanding a jury trial, and that is what the defendant did. He also won. If you had graduated from a school that teaches the basics and employs decent teachers, you would know that.

Teachers and county attorneys who sit on the internet all day and collect paychecks for surfing social media sites actually do game the system. Their jobs do not include recreational internet play and games. If you are so upset about the disposition in the above mentioned case, why not take the county attorney to task for gaming the system by spending all of the taxpayers' time online, rather than doing her job? Or if you are angry that you don't understand your rights when faced with injustice or false accusations, why not insist upon public schools staffed by teachers who teach, rather than gaming the system by doing things other than teaching. Outside of Northeast Kansas, most children understand the judicial system by third grade.

Kansas Public School Teachers Protest

Governor Brownback, of Kansas, was met by a small group of protesting teachers in Hays one day last week because he recently signed a bill into law that he hopes will help redistribute funding for Kansas public schools more equally among school districts. The bill has some language and clauses that allow tax credits to those of us who do not use local public schools, and strips public school teachers of their tenure and due process if they happen to get fired from their jobs. Normally, I would be inclined to sympathize with the teachers, but not here in Kansas. My children do not attend the local public school, Frankfort, part of USD 380, because a teacher abandoned my fourteen year old daughter four miles away from school, and when he realized she was lost, did nothing to find her. He went home and had dinner, thinking she could find her own way back to Frankfort. No worries about my daughter being slowed down by an accidental injury, a bee sting, asthma, or an unsavory stranger. The school responded by failing to fire this teacher, and failing to make any changes to ensure safety at school. For this reason alone, I find the tax credit for families that home school and removal of tenure for Kansas public school teachers only fair. Another reason why I think public school teachers in Kansas do not deserve tenure is the way some of them treat children and parents. Below is a rather ugly message sent to me by a teacher who thought she could remain anonymous online. She was attempting to pressure me to vote for a candidate she favored in the 2008 presidential election, and in the 2012 presidential election. She also got very angry with me for enlisting the assistance of the ACLU in the enforcement of Abington School District v. Schempp, which gives children the right to learn in school, unhindered by religious pandering.

"Oh Miss Juli! Once again you just crack me up :) If Mitt doesn't win this election you can pretty much kiss the USA goodbye, but then, you would really like that, wouldn't you? You are the type that doesn't really give two shits about the flag, thinks God doesn't belong....ANYWHERE"

Nowhere else have I had interactions with public school teachers who engage, unsolicited, in disagreeable discourse about politics and elections! A post on this site and a bumper sticker revealed my political leanings to this teacher, and she was unable to stop herself from harassing my children and me! This is actually in conflict with the Constitution, which allows me to vote for the candidate of my choice, and for this reason, it pleases me greatly to see teachers a little bit closer to the unemployment office when they fill their salaried hours with activities other than teaching.

Note: Lemme clarify something about my last picture right here; there isn't a problem in bearing a love child. The problem arises when we pretend to be holy, when in fact, we are not.

Kansas Board Of Education Dude On Drugs

I'm a little late in mentioning this interesting Kansas incident, because it happened earlier this month, but here's what a Kansas board Of Education president looks like on drugs. John Reeder, of Trego County, was arrested on charges of possession and intent to distribute with one thousand feet of a school. Because of his position, he really should have known better. There was also a handgun involved, but isn't this why Governor Brownback allows teachers in Kansas to take guns to school? Reeder resigned immediately, so that his district could carry on with it's "business" without distractions; gotta wonder what is meant by "business". He doesn't look the slightest bit upset by all this in his booking photo, does he?

Update On The Morals Taught By Frankfort Kansas School

Not too long ago, I mentioned the spouse of a teacher at the small public school in Frankfort Kansas, because she embezzled a bunch on money from her employer, an insurance company, and from her clients. About half a million dollars. On Monday, January 13, Monica Smart was sentenced in federal court to twenty-one months in prison. Her mother tried to buy home confinement and an ankle bracelet by paying $50,000 toward restitution, and there were some greatly exaggerated claims about an illness on the part of a family member who supposedly needs Monica's care, (ha! that's simply not true) but the judge gave her prison time, anyway. Sometime within the next month or so, Mrs. Smart will get notified that there is space at one of the womens' prisons in the country, and she will be chained up and flown to it, unless it happens to be within driving distance. That's simply not supposed to happen to frankfurters! Especially Christian frankfurters.......Jesus is supposed to protect them from getting caught when they commit crimes!

There are several reasons why this bothers me. First of all, not only Monica Smart, but her husband, Larry Smart, a public school teacher, was found to be compromised in the investigation. At this writing, he does not appear to have any charges lodged against him, but he is the subject of civil complaints connected to his wife's conduct. While she is serving time in a federal prison, he will obviously maintain sympathies toward someone who held others in contempt by stealing half a million dollars from them. If she escapes or fails to report to federal marshals, and becomes a fugitive, federal marshals will rip through everywhere to which she has a connection, in desperate and feverish pursuit. The first places they normally check, in those situations, are the family residences of fugitives. If her big poofy blond head is not found at home, they will probably try to find her husband. They may or may not care about the fact that Larry is employed at a school. I, personally, would not want a teacher to put some fugitive's interests and well being ahead of any child's, but Larry Smart is married to a convicted felon.

The moral message passed along to students is disturbing, as well. Frankfort School has had run-ins with the ACLU and federal agencies in the past concerning the disturbing habit of interfering with the cultures and religions of others; only to try, unsuccessfully, to argue that forcing religious activities is "teaching morals". Is the Smarts' complicity in embezzling, and the act of welcoming the Smarts and their crime, with open arms and no caution, an example of "teaching morals"? They used their stolen money to pay for expensive school trips and other frills that I could not afford for my children. My daughter, unaware of the embezzling, truly thought that she was not loved by her family because we do not embezzle or steal to gain such an advantage. Why would the school even play along? Why did teachers and school administration tell my children that if I loved them, I would have enough money to pay for vehicles for all of them and for trips, just as the Smarts and other teachers? (yes, the Smarts' ample provision for their childrens' luxuries was thrown in my face by angry children more than once.....only my angry children didn't realize how deeply criminal their community can be, at times) Some of the teachers at Frankfort, as well as the principal, have gone out of their way to make sure that all of my childrens' classmates knew that while others can occasionally work freely and happily from home at freelance projects, it was morally wrong for yours truly to do so. For me to take advantage of such an option made me lazy, and put my life in the category of welfare fraud, (even though I have never been on welfare) according to the frankfurter folks, and that's exactly what the sixth grade teacher told my children! It seems that being a stay at home mom is something that is afforded to those sweet Christian women who usually have open legs to go along with their open bibles; but not to me. It's not okay with Frankfort Kansas if I stay home and take care of my children. But it is okay with Frankfort Kansas if an insurance agent steals half a million dollars. She is, after all, doing something to benefit her family!

On Monday, a relative of Alice Jones, the library director who lets children bring booze and illegal drugs into the library, was still defending the Smarts. I can only guess that this woman was not a victim of the fraud and embezzling; however, speaking of Alice Jones, perhaps Monica's motive was to keep up with the Jones's. But to keep up with these particular Jones's, stealing half a million dollars needn't have been Monica's special crime: she could have just hired some high school students via Heartland Works and let them come to work drunk, straight from school, and bring some recreational prescription pills with them, right Alice Jones? Safety in the school is compromised by the husband of a convicted felon on the premises, and teaching the whole disgusting lesson that violating federal law is acceptable, as long as one gets away with it, is simply wrong. This is not the kind of example teachers should set.

In a rather glaring example of dereliction of duty, Laura Johnson-McNish attended the sentencing hearing, rather than attending to the duties of the office of Marshall County Prosecutor. She did not prosecute this case, and lost the only case she ever tried, all by herself, before a jury. Had the citizens of Kansas actually been forced to rely upon the legal expertise of Johnson-McNish, Smart would still be robbing insurance customers blind. Johnson-McNish is only effective when a defendant who has been caught red handed is willing to cop a plea, and even then, she is only marginally effective. Why did I, as a taxpayer, have to pay her salary for a day's galavanting as a spectator in proceedings to which she had no viable contribution? Taxpayers should not have to pay for Laura Johnson-McNish to satisfy her curiosity any more than they should have to pay for her to go to the movies. And why did Laura Johnson-McNish address the press on this matter?

"I would like to thank Chief Todd Ackerman, the Marysville Police Department, FBI agent Scott Gentine, and Christine Kenney, attorney with the U.S. attorney general's office, for their efforts in securing justice in this case."

Not only did she have the gall to thank those who actually are qualified to practice law and dispense justice as if they had actually done her a personal favor; she does not, and has never, cared about securing justice. No one should be fooled by McNish's pandering. Her position, as county attorney, is elected.

Frankfort Kansas Teachers

A few years ago, a holiday program at the public school in Frankfort, Kansas not only spoke, unlawfully, about Christianity being the only valid religion on the planet, but also invited members of the audience to "get saved". There was even an inserted reference to Judaism, Chanukah, and a twisted statement expressing the need for Jews to "accept Jesus". This school serves all grade levels from kindergarten to high school graduation, and apparently, it also serves Christians, exclusively.

When questioned about the nauseating and unlawful Christian references in his dinky holiday program, Dean Dalinghaus, the principal, told a discerning parent that it was "his job to teach appropriate Christian morals" to all the children at Frankfort School. Over the objections of the parent, he stated that Christians are the only people in America with good morals, and that religion is also the purveyance of school, not just home. He also did not see any potential conflict with encouraging children from nonchristian families and cultural backgrounds to "be good Christians". He denied that any court case, such as Engel v. Vitale ever was won, in favor of keeping religion out of public schools, and persisted in teaching filth to all the students in Frankfort School.

While all these good Christian morals are being taught at Frankfort School, there are at least two Frankfort teachers who have allowed children to drink alcoholic beverages, either in their homes or on school sponsored trips. There is also a guidance counselor, whose crimes against a student, one afternoon, ranged from unlawful restraint and kidnapping to child abandonment, yet the student's parents were harassed for taking action, and told that their daughter's safety was not anywhere near as important as the guidance counselor's continued employment. No changes to any policy concerning child safety have occurred at this school, by the way. And the teacher who allows children to drink on school sponsored trips even went as far as telling boldfaced lies about it. One might ask if these are truly Christian morals, but then; all one needs to do is remember the number of molesting priests and the antics of the Tea Party in order to understand that the answer is, "yes"; these are very Christian morals.

There have even been better examples of wonderful, Christian, moral behaviors taught to students by Frankfort teachers since this exchange between Dalinghaus and the parent took place. In 2010 and 2011, a Frankfort female by the name of Monica Smart did some stuff that resulted in federal charges of embezzling about half a million dollars from her employer, an insurance company. In and of itself, this has nothing to do with Frankfort School, until one reads the documents connected to the case. It appears that Monica's husband, a teacher at Frankfort School, is also named as a defendant in the FBI investigation, and the ensuing federal case! No letters, explaining exactly how a teacher became a co-defendant in a federal case, ever reached the parent who pleaded with Dalinghaus to observe the law while administrating her childrens' school. We are left to ponder the ways a spouse might become compromised enough to face identical charges, given that such a large sum of money was involved. Is this another example of Dalignhaus's school-sponsored lessons in "good Christian morals"? School safety was never even considered in the retention of such a teacher, considering the tendency of federal agents and other cops to descend upon targets as if they were fighting on the day of Ragnarok. Swat team tactics do not create a safe educational atmosphere any more than embezzling creates a strong economy or theft creates good character.

The American Civil Liberties Union determined, after a DVD of Frankfort's holiday program was mailed to them, that the offending holiday program lacked pedagogical value, and told the Frankfurters to cease and desist. Children in Frankfort are still encouraged to drink and use recreational drugs; as the Frankfurters, who have no problem with showing total disrespect for the cultures of others, hold their own cultural heritage of drunkenness dear. As for Christian morals, Dean Dalinghaus can keep them. It is not his job to teach morals; that responsibility belongs to parents and families. It is his job; however, to set a better example than the one set by him and his pack of Christian thugs. Anyone who truly loves his or her children will not expose them to the brand of "morals" encouraged at Frankfort School in Kansas.

 

Once A Kansas Teacher, Always A Kansas Teacher

There is a push to start fingerprinting teachers in Kansas while performing criminal background checks, in an ongoing effort to curb the renewals of licenses of those teachers who have committed serious crimes both before and after starting their careers. But what good will that do? As has already been noted, in addition to criminal background checks for new hires, Kansas already has a law mandating that law enforcement and county prosecutors report any known criminal activity on the part of an educator to the Kansas Department Of Education, yet, during the past two years, only fourteen of the one hundred and five county prosecutors in Kansas reported such incidents as directed by law!

The problem does not lie in identification of these cases, it lies in proper documentation and reporting of same. In a more heavily populated or multi-lingual area, communication could present a possible problem in reporting and documentation, but here in Kansas, the problem with renewal of teaching licenses for criminals is much more likely to be cover-up and protection of cronies. Since this is probably not going to change without the help of citizens who care about the quality of the education received by our children, the most logical step a parent can take, after making sure that appropriate police reports are made, is to report any legally defined child endangerment incidents directly to the Kansas Department Of Education. This would relieve the political burden on the shoulders of the elected, and thereby recallable, county prosecutors. The telephone number one would call is 785-291-3678.

 

Insight

Has Your School's Insurance Been Canceled?

Has your local public school's insurance been canceled? If you live in Kansas, the answer might be "yes". EMC Insurance Companies, the Iowa based backer for most of the insurance companies used by public schools in Kansas, has refused, this year, to underwrite a policy for any public school that allows guns on school premises, except in certain instances, such as when police officers happen to visit a school for some reason, in the line of duty. In July of this year, Kansas lawmakers decided not only to extend de facto permission to allow guns at school to  students who hunt in the morning, before school starts; but to also allow teachers to carry concealed weapons to school!

In the tiny public school that is closest to my home, all six of my children have been bullied by oversized, pink, blond children, and when that has not been enough to satisfy the lust for violence among the inbred population that was waiting for us when we moved here, teachers began to bully me and send nasty emails to me, for such infractions as failing to support their favored candidates during elections and failing to attend their churches! The ACLU was forced to step in on my behalf! No loving parent sends a child to Frankfort School in Kansas if another choice is available. Should any of the teachers who stoop to bullying tactics experience a momentary lapse of reason while carrying a gun, the closest child would probably be the first to take a bullet, and the child with the darkest hair and skin would probably be the first at whom the bullet is deliberately aimed.

In response to the new law, allowing teachers of all levels of sanity and intelligence, or lack thereof, to carry weapons to school, EMC has decided that the risk is unworthy, and about ninety percent of Kansas public schools did not have insurance when school started. Because public schools in Kansas are not consolidated, but run by small, "unified" districts and ridicules local school boards, school boards are scrambling to appease insurance companies with newfangled "policies" about guns in schools, in an ongoing effort to convince underwriters that their buildings will be safe. If schools were consolidated and all under the control of the state of Kansas, one decision could be made for all Kansas public schools, and the insurance companies would not have to deal individually with many different school districts. In the mean time, school has started with no insurance for most public schools in Kansas. Failing to carry insurance is against the law in most states for drivers, and most businesses must carry insurance, so I can only wonder how public schools in Kansas get away with this. Also, why has this been largely ignored by Kansas media? Are parents seriously not concerned about children attending uninsurable schools?

It should also come as no surprise when the unified districts that do manage to procure insurance find themselves doing so at a higher rate than they formerly paid. The climate of Kansas schools has already been shown to be unsafe. Shouldn't the local school boards on the unified districts have seen this coming, and begged their representatives to vote otherwise on this law? Now there will be even less money for actual education, such as it is in Kansas.

Some time ago, the local school board thought I was jesting when I explained to them that allowing guns at school in the hands of students is foolish, and that if they did nothing about the guns that were taken to school by certain students, I would make their oversights public. I called the school's insurance company, and was told that under no circumstances should a weapon be taken to a school by a student or a teacher, and that the information I had just given them would be shared with their investors. I suppose those who provide the school's insurance had hoped that the school board folks would wake up and smell the coffee before a tragedy forces their eyes open, but Kansas, instead, has compounded the issue.

In other news, Iowa has begun to grant permits to carry concealed weapons to blind applicants.

Mom And Dad Fight Back

This video features Russian immigrant parents who live in California, and have a sick baby, who has had heart surgery. The mother was concerned about her baby's care, and transferred him to a different hospital. Then, after the baby was discharged from the second hospital, the first hospital sent child protective services to visit the parents! Child protective services took a bunch of arrogant cops along, and one of them even began to pull his gun out of the holster when the mother asked to see a warrant for the visit. Then  they proceeded to grab the baby and take him to an undisclosed location, telling the mother that it was "irrational" for her to want to know where! Now a lawsuit has been filed against child protective services and the hospital.

Meanwhile, back in Northeast Kansas, a young couple who happen to be the parents of two active toddlers recently got a knock on their door from child protective services. The couple told child protective services that they wanted to see the warrant before they came inside the house. The social worker did not have a warrant, but pretended to call someone, to get a warrant. Unfortunately, the couple fell for the bluff, and it most certainly WAS a bluff; no judge in his right mind would actually grant a warrant for the reason child protective services visited this family. It seems that someone had called child protective services on these parents because their children often go about barefoot!

What really happened in the "case of the barefoot children" was that someone felt like picking on the childrens' parents and called child protective services. Child protective services knew that this couple is not rich, and as they are both very young, possibly did not know their rights. Also, the family is white, and many perspective adoptive parents ask specifically for white babies and toddlers. Had Kansas gone ahead and snatched those children, their parents may never have seen them again. It's a big moneymaker in Kansas. And that's why certain teachers and school administrators should really stop calling child protective services every time they decide they do not like a parent. Since Affirmative Action is almost meaningless in Kansas, most of the chronic CPS callers are white, and have white children. And since white children are exactly for whom most perspective adoptive parents in Kansas place orders, guess who could also be targeted......? That's right; the next time a fair skinned blond child belonging to a chronic CPS caller gets a sunburn, or plays in the park or in the street unattended, as per the habit of Northeast Kansas, the parents of the barefoot toddlers may pick up their phone! After all, if it works for one vindictive jerk, it can work for another. Income, age, education, and experience with life may or may not make a difference if you enrage innocent parents enough by attempting to engage child protective services because the parents change health care providers or allow their children to go barefoot. It's only a phone call.

 

One More Reason Religion does Not Belong In Public School

 

Northeast Kansas. The land of academic sighing. The place where sixth grade teachers use the movie, The Ten Commandments, starring Charleton Heston, as source material to teach about middle eastern cultures..........(these kids did not even know which religious holiday the movie was about) The place where children in school are told how to get to heaven or hell, but not how to find the Dominican Republic, or any other country, on a map. The place where children are not encouraged to become fluent in any language at all, including their native language(s).

 

There are alternatives, thank the Gods. Cyber districts have become much more sophisticated in recent years, and some are free. They have the same title programs for students who need assistance in reaching certain goals, and they have excellent teachers. There are also many more choices in foreign languages and other electives. The online schools that charge fees are often less expensive than enrollment fees that are extorted from parents in places where public schools are unconsolidated. Students are also much more free to personally investigate locations discussed in online classes.

 

Cyber schooling is a godsend for the student who is academically ahead of the other students in a geographic location more given to intolerance and below average thinking. A gifted and talented child is usually miserable sitting a classroom, day after day, with students whose skills are several grade levels behind the level of the gifted student. In some instances, cyber schools will even allow dual enrollment, in cases wherein there is a reason to send a child physically to a local school, as well.

 

As for bullying, it is much harder for the strata of bully cultures to flourish in online schools. It is also nearly impossible for religious discrimination to play the role it plays in person by tormenting a child whose parents do not conform socially to accepted religious and meaningless hierarchy or conform physically to the genetically unvaried phenotypes found within an isolated and undersocialized population.

 

Of course, the fewer children personally enrolled in the public school system of a locale, the less money that locale will garner from state and federal agencies to run their public schools. So this eventually affects the quality of education for the children whose parents do not care about education enough to remove their children from negative influences. It also reduces the need for public school teachers; and as teachers for cyber schools are usually better educated and more qualified than many public school teachers, especially in Frankfort, Kansas, the need for public school teachers becomes reduced, as well, as a result of alternative choices. What a quandary for the local school! It might have been a more strategic choice to simply resist the urge to force religious conversion upon students in a public school!

 

Resume Of A Teacher/Preacher/Lecher

 

Below is the resume of Hugh Cranford, Lutheran vicar and youth pastor of Topeka, Kansas, who got into some trouble last year for sexual assault of two boys in the congregation. He and his attorney are planning to be in court this week to file motions in his case. Something that is worth notice about his resume, which Hugh had publicly posted on the internet,(a lot of silly details, such as "counting change", and "ability to use multiline phones", has been deleted) is that he, like many other individuals who get charged with sexual assault of minors, took jobs at schools and daycares whenever he could, and ingratiated himself to parents at almost all times when he was not working. Noble Rick Pendland, also of Kansas, did the same thing, and got away with it for almost a decade. So did Eric Toth, who used to be on the FBI's most wanted list, until the found him in South America. Beware of teachers, preachers, or other adults who seem incredibly eager to volunteer around children and of those who ingratiate themselves to school faculties and leaders of youth groups.

 

 

Hugh Cranford's Overview

Current

• Intermittent Summer Help at Shawnee County Public Works

Past

• Sales Associate at Cracker Barrel
• Vicar at Faith Lutheran Church
• IT Help Desk at Concordia Seminary St Louis

• Assistant Manager at Lane 4 Swim & Run
• Teacher at Humble ISD
• Bus Driver at Durham School Services                            
• After-School Childcare Worker at YMCA of Greater Houston
• Delivery Driver at Pizza Hut                            

see all

   

Education

• Texas Tech University
• Concordia Seminary           

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Hugh
Cranford's Experience                

Shawnee County Public Works                                 

June 2013 – Present (1 month) Topeka, KS

- Worked with road and bridge crews transporting materials, cleaning equipment and using hand tools in general maintenance work.
- Operated tractors and mowers.
- Acted as flag-person
- Performed other duties as assigned.

Sales Associate

Cracker Barrel                                                               

November 2012 – April 2013 (6 months) Topeka, Kansas Area                                     

Stocking items to sale
Assisting cashiers
Packaging sales

Vicar            

Faith Lutheran Church                                 

July 2011 – July 2012 (1 year 1 month) Topeka, Kansas Area                                     

Planning major evangelism projects.
Planning, teaching and maintaining Bible studies.
Assisting and teaching confirmation classes.
Managing mileage, hours, and time schedule.
Preaching and leading worship.
Assisting with funerals and weddings.
Assisting choir and musical worship teams.
Visiting shut-ins and people in the hospital.
Assisting with local Lutheran Schools; teaching and leading chapel.

IT Help Desk            

Concordia Seminary St Louis                                                      

Educational Institution; 51-200 employees; Religious Institutions industry

August 2008 – May 2011 (2 years 10 months) Greater St. Louis Area

Answered phone calls from students and faculty at the school.
Trouble shooting technical questions both with PC and Mac.
Worked in tangent with other IT workers.
Basic hardware networking.
Worked with both hardware and software side of computers.
Contacted computer companies when needed.
Was the liaison to the Student Government Association for one year.

Assistant Manager            

Lane 4 Swim & Run                                 

March 2008 – July 2008 (5 months) Kingwood, TX       

Sales Person.
Maintained Supplies .
Ordered special items for customers.
Set-up Work Schedule.
Supervised sales representatives.
Maintain money account; deposits, checking cash register daily.

Teacher            

Humble ISD                                                        

June 2004 – June 2008 (4 years 1 month) Kingwood, TS       

Teaching Middle School (6th-8th) Mathematics, Computers, Study Skills.
The Faculty Advisor for the Student Council. The School was the Vice President and President School for the Texas Association of Student Councils District 7/13.

Bus Driver            

Durham School Services

Public Company; 10,001+ employees; Transportation/Trucking/Railroad industry

August 2003 – December 2003 (5 months) Lubbock, Texas Area

School Bus Route Driver
Teaching In Class training to New Drivers

After-School Childcare Worker            

YMCA of Greater Houston                                                        

September 1999 – July 2001 (1 year 11 months) Kingwood, TX

Delivery Driver            

Pizza Hut                                                        

October 1998 – October 1999 (1 year 1 month) Kingwood, TX

Hugh Cranford's Volunteer Experience & Causes      

Volunteer Experience

• Volunteer/Coach

  Christ Community Lutheran School                        

• Education - 6th Grade Boys Basketball Coach

• - Leading Chapel Services

• Actor

  Concordia Seminary St Louis                       

Coach/Board Member

HAK LAX                         Children

Coaching Middle School Lacrosse

- Maintaining the Website for the organization
- Liaison to near-by Schools       
 

Illinois Students Suspended For Possession Of Caffeine

Yes, you read that correctly! It is not against the law to drink or possess caffeine. It is not against the law to drink or possess tea or coffee. One may also eat chocolate, which contains caffeine, and also consume and share the confection at school. Yet......four high school students in Illinois were suspended for "consuming unfamiliar mints" in the cafeteria! Instead of simply asking the students what they were eating, the drama queens who run the school in Peoria, Illinois hauled the students into the office, confiscated the package, which, by the way, lists all the ingredients, suspended the young people, and called their parents! Let me remind everyone at this jucture that if a crime had actually been committed, the school would have had a responsibility to notify law enforcement. Law enforcement would have had to pack up some doughnuts and COFFEE for the road and go arrest these naughty children. But that didn't happen, because the children did nothing unlawful. But did the drama queens at the school "unsuspend" the children and apologize for accusing them of criminal behavior? (I'd sue the school over that if it were my child) Did they give the students back the instructional time, which is their right? Did they even abide by federal law, which states that children must attend school until the age of sixteen? No they didn't. After the successful dramafest, the school decided that they should continue to deny these children instructional time at school!

"According to EnergyFiend.com, each mint contains 101 milligrams of caffeine along with guarana, green tea, ginseng, acai, mangosteen and goji.

McMichael's father said school officials later admitted they did not know if the chewable, unmarked mints were, in fact, illegal drugs, but upheld the suspensions anyway, saying the teens displayed "gross misconduct for taking an unknown product."....Yahoo News

The Food And Drug Adminstration actually takes all the mystery out of these "unknown products" by requiring a list of ingredients on all foods marketed commercially in the United States. That includes mints, gum, candy, coffee, and tea. Imposing discipline in a school is a very serious thing, especially a suspension. The principal, teachers, and any other faculty involved has the reponsibility to find out what has actually taken place before depriving a child of the right to an education.

Quite a few of us actually drink coffee in support of world peace! Can anyone imagine what would happen if everyone with a caffeine habit was suddenly denied? Another question that deserves an answer here involves the teachers' lounge at this school: how much coffee is consumed there? Had the teachers involved in this incident abused anything stronger and less legal than caffeine before they suspended these children? Had the teachers involved in this incident had their coffee yet?

 

Mints and candy will not be tolerated in Illinois schools! So says the Furor!

 

Omit Mitt Instead Of Getting Rid Of Teachers

Instead of getting rid of teachers, suppose Mitt Romney proposed eliminating some of the positions and legal vehicles that truly don't have an historic track record of providing any actual assisitance or value to the comunity or the population at large? Say, perhaps, those probation officers or DWI monitors that get paid to monitor cases after offenders have been paroled, or in some cases, when they have been given probation in instead of jail time? So many offenders reoffend; why not stop paying the salaries of those who do not prevent this, and find some other way to discourage recidivism? If we did not have high rates of recidivism, we would not need probation officers, so it does not really help to keep a probation officer employed if he maintains a good track record. In the probation officer's case, productivity is counterproductive.

While discussing the blissful elimination of ineffective probation officers, why not eliminate an entire legal vehicle, such as prohibition laws? We should probably continue the prohibition of drugs that are truly dangerous, such as certain prescription medicines, and we should certainly never allow drunk driving, but why is marijuana illegal? Since 1937, when it became illegal, whose life has been enhanced by keeping it unlawful? Hmmm? This prohibition law has not aided the average citizen in any way. It has, however; made gangs and drug cartels quite rich. Prohibition laws have also helped make the Mafia powerful. Oh....lets not forget, it also helps keep those ineffective probation officers employed.

The abolishment of prohibition laws would also free up our judicial system and allow it to be an actual judicial system, instead of a babysitting service for wayward adults. Taxpayors spend lots and lots of money on judicial stupidity every year on nonsense that involves..........drum roll..........marijuana. If we could save all this money and spend it on teachers, instead of doing what Mitt Romney wants to do; specifically, get rid of teachers, firefighters, and policemen, we would be investing in ourselves and our own communities. Bishop Romney wants to tell us that we cannot have those assets, and that we cannot use our own resources to invest in ourselves, and in our children. What would he do with our money? He hasn't told us. He is a bishop in his church, so it isn't really a big stretch to wonder if our money would probably bolster his church a lot more than it would bolster our nation.

If Mitt really wants to help America's economy, why not change the pay scale for elected positions? Do some of our elected officials make more than we, the people, can afford to pay them? Why isn't Mitt looking at that, instead of eyeing our schools from the standpoint of a vulture? Perhaps the position of president can even be served on a volunteer basis. We wouldn't have so many career politicians! The bishop really needs to start looking at ways to invest in the middle classes, rather than ways to eliminate the middle classes.

Here's a serious question: if Mitt really wants to cut the number of policemen, yet keep victimless crimes on our books, who is going to carry out the resulting and ongoing arrests? The FBI? The Coast Guard? His own elite bunch of Mormon goons? And, if he becomes president, will he serve the American people? Or does he see us all as potential employees or parishoners? Oh...wait a minute...certain minorities cannot become Bishop Romney's parishoners, can they?