Another Kansas Teacher With Criminal History

Surprise, surprise. No, not really; should anyone be surprised to hear that another Kansas public school employee, a building administrator, this time, has resigned because his criminal history came to light? Mike Burgan, USD 350, in St. Johns, Kansas, was found to have a criminal record for indecent solicitation of a child in 1988. Oddly enough, he was employed by the school district in 1985, which places his offense three years into his illustrious career. Since 1988, Mr. Burgan has lied to the Kansas Department of Education numerous times about his criminal past. In a community that only has about one thousand people, it seems almost impossible that no one heard about a conviction for something as serious as sex crimes against a minor, even in 1988.

A retired teacher from the same community still appears to defend Mr. Burgan. Either the retired teacher has failed to grasp reality, or the retired teacher has other reasons for denying the truth. Either scenario should truly scare any parent who loves his children.

Another Day In Court For Kansas Christians

Citizens for Objective Public Education, in Kansas, are at it again. After being told by the Honorable Judge Crabtree, of the Kansas Supreme Court, that there is no merit to their lawsuit and it's claim that teaching evolution to students in Kansas public schools has created an inordinate number of atheists among the Kansas youth, they have decided to appeal Judge Crabtree's ruling.

These folks need not only to learn about science, but also about the judicial system. Their revised complaint is that atheism is a religion and that teaching science to children is exposing them to a religion.....!Where's the eye-rolley when I need it? Atheism has never been listed in any library of religious beliefs anywhere in the world, and will never meet the criteria for such a thing.These cuckoos are the same ones who teach about Judaism by showing the Charleton Heston movie, The Ten Commandments in sixth grade social studies, and openly teach children at the same grade level that President Obama was not born in America.... another topic that should be given a rest. Atheism is not a religion, and science is a necessity in order for Kansas children to compete with students, and eventually marketplaces, in the rest of the world.

Enrollment Fees In Public Schools

If you are a parent of a child who attends public school, and you were pressured or harassed to pay enrollment fees, this was never legal and never constitutional. Federal law clearly maintains that public school districts must provide free and equitable education to all students. This includes activities and materials, as well as the right to attend school. Some educators and school administrators in California didn't believe that, and the ACLU got involved. Now, those schools no longer attempt to extort money from parents, and all of the school districts named in the lawsuit were audited. A bill was even drafted to consider punitive fines and other actions against the offenders. How interesting. Dean Dalinghaus, at good ole' Frankfort High School, thinks that parents owe his so-called school monies in addition to their taxes, too. He will even stoop to the level of bullying and threats to force parents to pay him money. If you live in Frankfort, Kansas, and have been pressured by the school board of USD 380 to pay enrollment fees, just say no.

Insight

 

 

Mike Pompeo Preparing To Strike Again

Oh boy.....oh joy. Mike Pompeo, the proud republican proponent of lots of crazily worded legislation supporting fracking in Kansas, is running for Congress again in Wichita. This time his catch phrase has to do with Congress reducing the amount of "spending" two years in a row, and how that hasn't happened since WWII, and how it wouldn't happen if Nancy Pelosi were still Speaker of the House. He says he wants to "restore the American Dream". (where's the eye-rolley when I need it?)

Mike Pompeo's contributions to restoration of the "American Dream" really support the dreams of a couple of businessmen in the top financial one percent, namely, the Koch Brothers, rather than any dream that might be conjured by a mainstream American. He also fails to explain exactly what he means by "reduction of spending" by Congress for the first time in two years. If he means that Congress is failing to pay it's bills, or spend on education, or spend on the well-being of our military personnel, then failing to spend is actually counter productive, and will cost the American population a lot more in the long run. Refusal to make the proper investments in the middle class, or in what was once the middle class, is not a viable method of restoring the elusive American Dream. The Koch Brothers and their ilk actually don't need a thriving middle class anymore, but are threatened by it. Education reveals answers, and knowledgeable conclusions demand critical thinking. Unfortunately for the energy industry, answers and critical thinking have the potential to end the profitability of the oil industry, and interfere with the dreams of the Koch Brothers. Their Dream is not the American Dream, and runs contrary to the American Dream. They want to control almost all of the resources and money, while Americans only have the choice of working and living for them. And they have effectively bought and paid for the services of Mike Pompeo in Congress to protect their rape of Kansas.

The American Dream, such as it is or was, never truly existed. Before the partial repeal of the Banking Act of 1933, the American middle class was deemed a worthy investment by elected leaders and by the entrepreneurs among the population. Women, African Americans, and other minorities; however, experienced enough discrimination to effectively prohibit them from participating in the game, and when over fifty percent of all segments of a population is prohibited from playing, the game is tightly controlled. When we stopped discriminating against minorities and allowed a bigger volume of players in the game of American Dream, we changed the rules of the industries that control all the money. Those industries became internationally "too big to fail", and when they actually do fail, there is no remedy. Now, there are not anywhere near as many investments made in the population in general, and the American people suffer as a result. If Mike Pompeo truly wanted to restore the American Dream, he might enjoin a statewide or national discussion of banking laws from the end of the Great Depression until Today, and examine and reveal the support of his major campaign contributors, especially the Koch Brothers, to changes in banking law that have made the American Dream inaccessible to many Americans. Mike Pompeo uses smoke and mirrors instead of honest discussion. Refusal to invest in the middle class will not restore the American Dream.

Favorite Commercial Of The Year

In 2013, I didn't really have a favorite commercial, so I dug up my favorite from 2012. It was the commercial for the Obama campaign, calling out Mitt Romney for his attack on Public Television and Sesame Street. Some of this years big headlines in the news, such as Edward Snowden and the NSA spying techniques and Obamacare's misalignment into practical use, have distracted our attention from those who have used elected and appointed position, social or judicial power, invested or borrowed money, and public trust to rob, abuse, and deceive. Any bites taken out of education or learning can only make easier victims out of members of the general population. Shame on anyone who wants to limit or control educational broadcasts for children. While Sesame Street only allowed the Obama campaign to use Big Bird for a couple of days in order to make a point, I think we all need to turn our attention back to the white collar criminals who have real potential to destroy local and national economies and ruin lives. This spoof on Romney remains my favorite commercial.

 

Charles Ponzi, inventor of Ponzi Schemes.

 

Abbie Hoffman Moment

 

 

Paul Davis And His Running Mate, Jill Docking

Jill Docking spends a lot of time on the discussion of public schools and education in Kansas. Maybe some of us should put together a list of our own questions for her, and see if she has time to answer them, the next time she and Paul Davis are is this are together.

 

 

Abbie Hoffman Moment

 

 

When Government Can't Tolerate Truth

As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in such twilight that we must be most aware of change in the air - however slight - lest we become unwitting victims of darkness.

Justice William O. Douglas

 

 

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!

 

Mitt Romney Has Reasons For Not Wanting Lots Of Teachers

Here's a possible reason why Mitt Romney wants to cut the number of teachers and limit education:

Anyone who is intelligent and educated is of no use to Romney, whether he becomes president or not.

Kansas Failed In Attempt To Dodge Accountability In Education

Kansas does not want to bother to educate it's children.

Today, Kansas was told by Washington DC that it has to teach children according to national standards. Kansas had sought an exception to this. From reading the news articles and talking to teachers and educators involved, I am given to understand that it is mostly test scores in math and reading. Now; I have six children in Kansas school, and while my husband's kids, who have always lived in Kansas, struggle greatly to meet Kansas standards, my own children are not challenged enough. My children used to attend school on the East Coast.

I think I can shed some light on this. While children in Kansas schools struggle to read, they all seem to know that everything the bible says is literally true, even if they do not understand the context of the given scripture. My son's sixth grade teacher, a wonderful teacher in many ways, actually teaches Jewish history and culture by showing the kids the movie, The Ten Commandments, every year. There has never been a single student so far, except my own child, who has watched that movie in her class and been able to report which Jewish holy day that movie is about! Not very educational.

There is a lot of controversy here in Kansas about teaching creation in science instead of evolution. If Kansas switches over to that, they way Governer Brownback wishes, I will home school all of my children. I want my children to be prepared for college. Brownback wants my children to be trapped in Kansas, with no options in life and no chances of studying at a decent university.

The former director of the Special Education Department of our school system here also got extreemly upset with me for my insistance that my gifted and talented daughter learn a second language. Her exact words were: "I don't know why it's so important to learn any language besides English". If that does not speak for itself, then I probably cannot convince you that Kansas has a few problems with it's education of children.

Perhaps it is time for me to write a letter to Washington, and send it, along with copies of every letter that yours truly has sent every person or agency every time a problem has come up that has adversely affected one of my children. I don't think these people are aware that I have a hard file consisting of documentation of all of these items. I am overjoyed to hear that Kansas has gotton it's engraved invitation to start teaching it's children.