Author Archives: Netmom

A Loss for Education

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Tennessee will suffer a significant loss on Feb. 1, when Commissioner of Education Lana Seivers leaves that post to take a job in Mississippi.

Word on the street is that Deputy Commissioner Tim Webb is her likely replacement.

Working through the first five years of No Child Left Behind and other challenges, Commissioner Seivers has guided our state through steady improvements — in accountability, in funding, in a variety of ways.

Lana served previously as the Superintendent of Clinton City Schools, and at one point, was Principal of Oak Ridge’s Linden Elementary.  She has been open and accessible to those of us who approached her about improving education, and she will be missed.

Bizarre

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I’ve occasionally pondered the plight of adopted children, who may or may not wonder about their birth families.  Never — not once — had I ever thought about this possibility.

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On an unrelated note, I realize I haven’t done so well with my New Year’s resolution to write more often, and of greater substance.  However, with the beginning of the legislative session and the school budget process picking up steam, I expect to do better soon.

Higher Expectations

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The Sentinel carries a story this morning about increased graduation requirements on the horizon for Tennessee students, as I’ve written about previously. A fourth year of math, a year of either chemistry or physics, an extra semester of PE and a personal finance course will all be required for today’s 7th graders to graduate.

I think the higher math and science requirements are a good thing, but do have some concern about further increasing the schedule compression — requirements are added, but nothing is taken away. The result is that students are allowed fewer and fewer elective options; it will likely be impossible at that point for a student to take four years of foreign language (two are usually required for college admittance) AND four years of band, orchestra, or art.
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Not all electives are "cush" classes. Smitten with physics as a junior, Alpha used her remaining electives to take AP Chemistry, Calculus, and AP Physics C as a senior. That led to an engineering scholarship for her freshman year at UT, and due to her grades (boosted by the foundation she’d built in high school), she was awarded a second, more generous scholarship this year.

When UT moved the Computer Science program into the College of Engineering at the beginning of this year, she switched from Electrical Engineering to Computer Science. I still laugh when I remember how apprehensive she was about that first required programming course — C++ — but by the end of the semester, she’d fallen in love with it.

As the program’s move between the College of Arts and Sciences and the Engineering school was rather abrupt, they hadn’t yet had time to set all the non-CS course requirements, leaving students in this year’s catalog with maximum latitude in elective offerings. Alpha loaded up on math classes, considering that she might be able to double major in both computer science and math. Not a bad foundation for grad school, which is already in her plan.

This week, she learned that she’s been accepted into the Math Honors program, which carries additional scholarship funds, as well as a paid summer research experience. MathMan (my future son-in-law) is also a Math Honors major, and his research from last summer at Texas A&M is scheduled for publication.

Alpha figures that a math degree would be helpful in the field of theoretical computer science. I’m both proud and amazed.

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Not all students are destined for the hallowed halls of geekdom, I know. However, I agree with the findings of the American Diploma Project that students today need similar skills to go straight to work as they would need to go straight to college. Higher standards are necessary and good. That doesn’t mean that every kid will or should take on the same courses that Alpha chose, but at least a basic course in the physical sciences would benefit everyone, and continuing to study math throughout high school simply ensures that they don’t forget everything before they graduate.

Yet, some requirements have got to ease, or there will be no opportunity for students to either pick up additional academic electives, or continue their studies in language or fine arts. Although Alpha has determined her career path to be something other than fine arts, she makes time in her rigorous schedule to continue her viola studies with private lessons. It serves as a release from the demands of her books and lectures. If not for her four years in the high school orchestra, would that even be a viable option?

The new standards are welcome, but as requirements are added, something must be taken away.

Iowa

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Wow — Iowa brought some semi-surprises.

I wasn’t so much shocked as disappointed in the Republican results; Iowa is known to have a strong evangelical Christian base, and therefore, voted with the Baptist preacher. What did really surprise me was their endorsement of Obama. The media are calling it a "desire for change," which gave the young, relative newcomer the nod.

New Hampshire will be a new day. Historically, the state has been more concerned with fiscal than social issues, so I’m guessing that the results will be somewhat different.

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However, I found a neat electoral map with each state’s electoral votes and primary dates.  Enjoy.

Primary Colors – a first look

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Waking up at 3 a.m., I used the expanse of free time to begin some serious research on the presidential candidates.  Our primary is only about 35 days away, and it’s been years since I waited this late in the process to begin my analysis of the choices. 

The issues that I feel are most urgent are our energy policies, strong but smart national defense, education, and intelligent fiscal policy.  The social conservatives tend to disown me because I really don’t see abortion or marriage definitions as the issues that have the greatest impact on our well-being as a nation, or things that the federal government ought to be distracted by.

Immigration policy is on everyone’s list, but that’s a post of its own for another day.

Energy Policy
Fred Thompson says "America must rise to the challenge and take the steps necessary to become more energy independent before this becomes a crisis."  In my mind though, it’s already a crisis — every time some towel-headed fool blows himself up, gas prices jump a dime.  That increases the cost of getting kids to school, of groceries (which must be delivered to the stores), of virtually everything we do.  Although he states a commitment to promoting alternative fuels and other energy sources, the word "nuclear" or other details are glaringly absent.

Mitt Romney rightly ties energy independence to national security, and specifies detailed research areas for which he would promote federal investment:

  • Basic research in key technologies like improved energy storage
  • Bringing clean energy technology to market through commercialization of large-scale renewables and advanced nuclear technologies
  • Improved smart-grid technology for power distribution
  • Clean, efficient uses of existing fossil fuels, e.g. clean coal, coal-to-liquids, carbon sequestration

Mike Huckabee also makes the correlation between energy dependence and terrorism and lists a few technologies (nuclear, wind, solar, hydrogen, clean coal, biodiesel, and biomass) that he wants to support, but what shook me was this:

The first thing I will do as President is send Congress my comprehensive plan for energy independence. I’ll use the bully pulpit to inform you about the plan and ask for your support. I’ll use the bully conference table to meet with members of Congress until I have the votes.

Please don’t tell me "I have a plan…" unless you’re prepared to tell me, here and now, what that plan is.  First of all, I question whether there really is a plan (versus a plan to make a plan, which is much different than actually having one), and secondly, I’m afraid to vote for a man with a plan if I don’t know what the plan is.  What if I don’t like it?

On this issue, Romney gets the edge, although I still feel that Fred would still have some connections at ORNL from his Senate days that would help out.

Whew — kids are up and making their morning demands, so the next batch will wait for another post.

Fresh Start

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On the first day of the new year, I feel satisfied — though I haven’t accomplished any extraordinary feats beyond getting the living room cleaned up and vacuumed before the start of the Outback Bowl, and getting the Christmas tree un-decorated and taken outside to be planted.  I made minor repairs to a couple of oft-used quilts, worked a bit more on a scarf I started knitting on our way home from Michigan, and put on a pot of homemade soup for supper.

The real challenge comes in the next 12 hours: can I get my children, now with their days and nights quite backward, in bed and awake on time to be ready for school tomorrow?  Delta slept until 3 p.m. today… it’s going to be tough.

I’ve given little thought to resolutions this year, but there are a few.  I want to keep house better (not my strong suit); to write more often, and to write more about relevant issues.  Lastly, I want to encourage others, because without the people who have done the same for me over a number of years, I would be a decidedly lesser person.

Get to bed early, because tomorrow starts the longest stretch of the year without a break. 

Inky

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Last night, we said goodbye to Inky… a little black cat who’s been part of our family for 14 years.

She’s always been the caregiver  — the one who, when someone was ill, would curl up beside them as though to comfort and heal.  She survived a close call a few years ago when she got into some antifreeze that my brother-in-law spilled in the driveway, but somehow pulled through it. 

Last Summer, she began losing weight at an alarming rate, despite eating and drinking normally.  We took her to the vet, but the blood tests revealed nothing (although it did rule out liver or kidney failure, as well as feline leukemia).  The doc told me in November that it was probably cancer, and I knew then that it was up to me to watch for the signs of pain, to know when it was kinder to just let her go peacefully.

Just before winter break, she was still leaping to the top of the refrigerator, where she basked in the warmth and watched all that went on.  In the days after Christmas, she could no longer jump to the island, but still behaved normally in all other ways.  By Saturday evening, it seemed that she had some neurological problems — she singed her tail on a candle, and appeared to walk with difficulty.  Yesterday, she seemed more frail than ever, and for the first time, did not finish her lunch.

Last night as she lay in front of the woodstove, I knew from her labored breathing that the time had come, and planned to take her to the vet for the last time today.  She didn’t make it through the night.

The Audit

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This afternoon, the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office posted the FY07 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for Anderson County.  While I haven’t thoroughly examined all 277 pages, I did skip to the "findings" beginning on p. 274.

Expenditures exceeded Commission’s appropriations in six major categories, and the Trustee’s office invested $1,454,042 in a mutual fund, which is a no-no.  Local governments (and school systems) are rather strictly limited in where they’re allowed to invest the public’s money, and while the mutual fund may have had a much sweeter rate of return, it’s also possible to lose money in a mutual fund (just like anything else in the stock market).

I might be able to write this off as a rookie mistake for a new trustee, but I do have some questions.  I’d like to know through whom the fund purchase was made, and whether the person who made the commission on this transactions (yes, securities dealers work on commission, and a $1.4 mil investment would undoubtedly trigger a good one) has any relationship to the Trustee or any other elected official in Anderson County.

More as I find it.

Merry Christmas!

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Santa had a bit of fun at our house last night, yes he did.  The girls decided that a glass of milk and homemade fudge would be better for him than the recommended scotch and popcorn; maybe it was the sugar rush that made him feel impish.

The stockings were stuffed, wrapped packages stacked carefully nearby, but there was a dearth of the usual Christmas morning shrieking when I awakened this morning.  As I wandered out to make coffee, Beta thrust a gift into my hands, not to be deterred: it was a bottle of my favorite Starbucks peppermint syrup for my morning jolt.  The younger two were calm, though.

Between the emptied stockings (chocolates, a new toothbrush, art supplies, etc.) and new pajamas though, was a small unopened box, yet unnoticed on the floor.  They were hoping for a Wii bit bigger box, but there was none to be found.  I inquired about the lonely little box, addressed to Gamma and Delta, so they obliged by opening it.

Inside were some random glass fishbowl rocks (for weight and sound effect), and a note:  "Look where it’s cold, icy like the North Pole."  First they looked outside on the back porch, then the front, before someone thought to check the freezer, where they found a box of soap.  With another note: "Delta’s chore." 

Everyone here knows that Delta’s job is to empty the dishwasher and put the clean dishes away, but there wasn’t anything in the dishwasher but clean dishes.  After a few moments’ frustration, they began putting away the dishes, and found yet another small box with a note: "Where Delta reads, look for the invisible ink."  Now this could have been a real goose chase, since Delta devours books, but they soon figured out that the kitchen computer has a printer above it that’s out of ink… and on that printer was yet another box.  This clue read, "Brush your teeth."

Near their toothbrushes was a slightly larger package, containing a Wii nunchuk, and yet another note: "There’s a basket in the living room with things to be put away."  Upon putting away the the clean folded towels, they discovered Zach and Wiki, followed by squeals and excitement when they looked into the farthest reaches of the linen closet, finding a shiny wrapped package of the proper dimensions to be the coveted, most wished-for item.

Peace on Earth, goodwill to all, and thanks to whatever stroke of luck allowed this to happen.  I hate that there’s another video game in this house with already too many electronic distractions, but there’s nothing like happy children on Christmas night.