In Birmingham, England, demonstrators fought each other in a racially charged incident. Article here.

Jonathan Kozol Lectures San Diego

Jonathan Kozol, a critic of social inequality in education and the No Child Left Behind education law (NCLB, which is up for reauthorization), lectured a teacher-packed St. Paul's Cathedral this week, on Monday. And lectured he did indeed.

Kozol covered three main topics: NCLB & testing, segregated urban schools, and pre-Kindergarten, which are covered in this latest book, Letters to a Young Teacher. As for NCLB and testing, he said there has been no real increase in student achievement, and that the law is a failure. If Congress reauthorizes the law, he would like to see some drastic changes written into the law.

One such change to NCLB Kozol would like to see is on the stick, or the sanctions side. Before any school or school district is penalized for failing to make AYP (Annual Yearly Progress, or lack of), the state must certify that all third graders in the school or district have had two years of pre-Kindergarten.

Kozol believes that pre-Kindergarten, which many kids of the middle and upper classes receive, determines student success in high stakes standardized tests.

Kozol spoke often about race and inequality of education. Download my lecture notes:
KOZOL_LECTURE.txt

Race, Positions, and the NFL

Donovan McNabb took a beating; six times by a single player, in a one-sided game in which I almost felt sorry for him.

The latest in the McNabb debates have been reactions towards his comment regarding how black NFL quarterbacks have to work harder than their white counterparts.

While watching an average Giants team totally manhandle a Westbrook-less Eagles last night, I was reminded of an overheard conversation on the dearth of white NFL cornerbacks. Foxsports.com actually wrote about it recently, and read it with amazement.