Corda says the glass is half full but he’s pouring. He was referring to the NCLB test results, and chose an odd metaphor to describe what can only be considered putting lipstick on a pig. Corda is stuck on level one of Donkey Kong and hasn’t figured out that he has other moves available to him other than pouring metaphors out over the lackluster performance. Corda should be angry and demand better. Starting with his water boys on the third floor.
“Obviously, we’re not happy about this, and obviously there’s a great deal of work to be done,” Corda said last night.
Discussing the upcoming review, he said some might think Norwalk is a failing district that needs direction, but that’s not the case. There will be an objective assessment of what Norwalk does well and where it needs to improve, he said.
Shown in context, the testing data is encouraging, he said. Corda displayed charts on a screen showing where certain student subgroups met this year’s target in math or reading after failing to do so last year.
Uh yeah, some of us do think this failing district needs direction. Starting with the State who is sending down its evaluators and sending Corda the bill for it.
Meanwhile Tom Vetter is showing us he is either favorably disposed or unfavorably disposed to having advertisers spew commercials at kids on school buses while offering up platitudes of safety and “calming factor.” Seriously, do these people ever hear themselves speak? “Let’s tame the wild heathens with insert mass market crap here.” In the age of Ipods and cell phones, why are they bothering? Oh yeah, its a safety issue.
The company’s equipment features a global positioning system, a panic button the driver can push to phone authorities and an intercom that can be used to address students.
Besides music and up to eight minutes of ads, programming includes public-service announcements and contests, and can feature messages from the school district.
Why allow kids any chance of an un-programmed minute in their lives? Solve the emergency alert non existent problem by issuing cell phones to the bus drivers with GPS tracking built in. Otherwise, back off using Norwalk’s students as marketing guinea pigs for some corporate outfit that bundles safety and ads.
The last bit of BOE action in Matt “Mad Max” Breslow’s article:
In other business, the board unanimously approved extending its contract with Whitsons Food Group through the end of the school year.
Whitsons was hired last year to help implement healthy food and beverage regulations in cafeterias and to lower the Department of Food Services’ debt.
Meet the new deficit, same as the old deficit as the old deficit.
source: The Advocate, Corda: Schools ‘not there yet’ on NCLB standards, By Matt Breslow, September 5, 2007
