Expanded student demographic data now on ELC website

chart of funding weighted per pupilOver the years, Education Law Center (ELC) has become the “go-to” source where parents, policymakers and advocates can find high quality, in-depth data and other useable information on New Jersey’s public schools. This organization is committed to continuing to provide timely and relevant data in a highly functional and interactive format and is pleased to announce that visitors can now find an expanded range of student data on their website: racial/ethnic composition, poverty rates, limited English proficiency rates, and special education rates of NJ public school students, whether enrolled in district schools or charter schools. read more

The news is skewed – dig deeper for the truth

A West Indian friend writes to ask,

This country is becoming more like a 3rd world country. Why aren’t people demanding jobs instead of talking about racism. Sick and tired of hearing about racism. Everything is racism. Find some other excuse rather than racism. If anything is done wrong it’s blame it on racism. People need to stop blaming and stop looking for hand me out. It seems as though some people like to keep stoking the word racism and using the blame game too much. What about Solyndra all the billions that cost tax payers money. That money could have been used to help students pay for their school loans. The unnecessary spending while unemployment is still above 8%. read more

The correct word is . . .

It’s definitely time to start a proper word usage list. I just spotted the third statement about “peek interest” made by a college educated person. This is going to be a running list. I’ll add to it when I spot anything new that belongs here. If you have a suggestion, put in the Talkback section and I’ll add it.

Pique Something may pique your interest, but it cannot peek or peak it.

Apostrophes (‘) – words should only have them to show possession or when the word is a contraction, like can’t or don’t. Plurals don’t get apostrophes. Let’s make a concerted effort not to misplace this bit of punctuation . . because understanding each other is important.
Resources: Apostrophe Catastrophe, Wikibooks read more

Why Obama’s challenging GOP positions

Obama 2012While the Republicans keep dishing out lies, Obama has to keep reminding people of the realities. Otherwise the liars win. After Ryan’s completely lying performance at RNC, the GOP rose in the polls. People haven’t known what to believe.

Fortunately, since President Obama is consistent, can back up his assertions with proof and encourages people to check out what he says, the public is slowly learning that it’s possible to trust what he says and conversely, much of what the Republicans say is suspect, if not downright BS. read more

“The power’s in you” says legless maker of Cheetah Legs

Aimee Mullins with 12 pairs of legs she usesWatch the TED Talk with me: Aimee Mullins, the designer of Cheetah running legs, herself a legless woman, talks about combining form, function and value – and of the power of believing and unifying. Aimee’s an athlete, an activist, a woman’s advocate, a sports record-breaker and a completely awesome lady.

Amy quotes Shakespeare, “When you prick me, do I not bleed; and when you tickle me, do I not laugh?” and adds, “It is the humanity within us that makes us beautiful … Whimsy matters.” read more

Irish President Higgins Tells Tea Partier Off

Short version of audio interview

In this 2010 interview, Irish President Michael D. Higgins – then labor party leader – takes Megyn Kelly to task for attempting to spread Tea Party lies. President Higgins says, “(Your) tactic is to get a large crowd, whip them up, try and discover what is the greatest fear, work on that, and feed it right back in a frenzy.” He speaks of living and working in the United States in the 1970s in “Willie Nelson country,” and being astonished to discover that many decent, hard working Americans, the type of people, “…who are very proud, as they should be, of the man (Obama) they’ve elected president…” and continues read more

The guy trying to get the girl’s number – is a girl!

If you’re like 23 million other people plus my sons and I, you will love this humourous video clip. In it, Darrel (pronunciation stress on the “el”) tries to get a girl in the movie theater to give him her number. But Darrel is actually a comedy character portrayed by a girl named Nicole Randall Johnson. Nicole as Darrell is a very annoying guy who just won’t take no for an answer. “Work that updo, girl!” he tells his would-be romance. But she’s not having any of it, or him. Darrell’s persuasive antics are just fun. read more