INNOVATIVE THINKING CONDEMNED -- OF COURSE

A millionaire has announced plans to "bribe" parents and children in one of the poorest parts of England to regularly attend school. Irvine Laidlaw, who has a personal fortune of o500 million, intends to offer affordable restaurants, healthcare and adventure training courses to persuade people in Newcastle to back his plans to fund a controversial new city academy. Lord Laidlaw said that he wants to create "not just a school, but a community centre," and "to give something back" to children with a less fortunate start than himself. His plans have been condemned by union leaders and Jim Cousins, Labour MP for Newcastle Central, who said that he feared the scheme would exacerbate social exclusion and hand the community's control of its education to a "benevolent dictator".

City academies are a controversial government scheme to replace failing schools with high-tech, multimillion-pound ventures, backed by private-public sponsorship. Each school costs about 25 million pounds to build, double the cost of a comprehensive, and is beyond council control once set up.

Lord Laidlaw, 61, had hoped to fund a similar project in Scotland but was thwarted by hostile teaching unions concerned about the influence of private sponsors over public schools. Now his focus is West Gate Community College in Newcastle, where 33 languages are spoken, 60 per cent of pupils get free school meals and 43 per cent are registered as special needs. "I'd like to give something back to a community which has not had such a fortunate start and I feel that a city academy is a good way of doing it," he said. Lord Laidlaw aims to regenerate the community with the 1,750-strong school by providing a restaurant with healthy, affordable meals and healthcare facilities on site. School uniforms would be mandatory, teachers would do exchanges and pupils go on adventure training courses. "They may not be able to fund all that from revenue grants, so as a sponsor I'd be prepared to help. In taking on a school you take on more than just providing education, you must ensure they're on healthy diets and so on," he said.

In four years, Jim Farnie, the headmaster of West Gate College, has turned it around. About a third of pupils this year have achieved an A-C grade in five GCSEs compared with just 8 per cent in 2000. He is a hesitant supporter of the changes which will mean closing his school and moving to new premises in September 2008.

Today parents will receive a letter spelling out the offer, but Mr Farnie says that most seem happy with the plans. "I have talked to a couple whose view is that if a state-of-the-art school is to be built in the west end of Newcastle, they would like their kids to be part of it." The plan for an IT business enterprise academy to prepare students to run their own business as well as following academic courses will be debated by the city council next month.

Mr Cousins fears the loss of community control over the new school and that the vocational emphasis may duplicate the work of a local further education college. "I don't write the script, I look at the script given and this script is not good enough for me or Newcastle. It will compound social division, not help it," he said.

This summer, the Government committed itself to building 200 city academies by 2010. However, in a recent survey, more than half the 113 councils not involved in a city academy project said that they would not wish to take part. Last year four of the twelve academy heads left their posts citing too much pressure to get results. The Government has spent about 425 million pounds on 17 academies. Private sponsors invest around 2 million pounds, which gives them the right to half the seats on the board of governors and a say in how the school is run.

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Mental Health Trumps Individual Accountability

Large numbers of teachers believe themselves incapable of meeting the learning expectations placed on their institutions by the No Child Left Behind Act. Like the characters in Atlas Shrugged, they find themselves having to deal with problems they did not create within the constraints of a system designed to fail. In order to remain in their chosen profession, those caught in the middle must place blame elsewhere in order to find an "out." Those who refuse to "work within the system" disappear. Mediocrity rises to the top and excellence disappears.

Public education has cried "wolf" one too many times, claiming that lack of money is what is wrong with our schools. The public is not voting for tax increases. School districts have had to resort to other means to assure that their increased public funding habit is met. Lawsuits have been filed against state governments for not providing the financial means necessary for an optimal education. "Activist Judges" who use rule based on research generated by the very mouths this research is designed to feed, have ordered governors and legislators to come up with more funding.

Educational Mandatory mental health testing not only provides an "out" for academic failure by providing labels that excuse individual actions; it generates more funding to provide special services for those labeled with deficiencies. The New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (NFCMH) represents a massive victory for those activists and lobbyists who champion the cause of pharmaceutical companies who produce medication for those deemed "mentally ill and unable to function in `normal' capacity." It is a blow against those fighting to preserve the rights of individual liberties guaranteed under the US Constitution. With individual liberty comes individual responsibility, but that is not expected of someone excused from the standards that apply to everyone else.

The NFCMH has made it easier to justify irresponsible behavior such as impulsiveness and other unrefined character bi-products of the "me first" and permissiveness era, heralded in by Dr. Spock. Today's children are granted adult rights while retaining minor status, for example; having an abortion without parental consent and being guaranteed their right to privacy in other areas, as well. Judicial activism selectively emancipates minors. Those who behave irresponsibly while accepting no responsibility can site a variety of mental disorders as their "modus operandi" and dismiss the consequences of their actions!

Just look at the liberals who can't get over Bush's reelection. They're not bad sports. They have Post Election Selection Trauma as a result of losing the election. Their inappropriateness is justifiable given that they cannot help themselves. The therapists are making beaucoup bucks helping them adjust to reality and these blowhards don't have to be responsible for their disregard for civility.

Rather than address the real problem which is inadequate teaching and classroom management stemming from poor pedagogy, children can be labeled with a mental disorder that excuses their academic performance and behavior. Public education, seemingly forced to account for their performance, has been dealt the ultimate trump card. The Orwellian conclusion to legislating away accountability is that whether or not a child performs is no longer up for discussion. What matters ultimately, is the excuse given for not meeting expectations. A label changes everything.....

Behavior disordered children who aren't expected to achieve and do not adopt a moral code are perceived as victims of their upbringing. But in the long run, misbehavior and disrespect for authority in the classrooms translates to crime in the streets. How many parents are afraid to spank a child for fear of being cited for "child abuse?" "Tolerating" a child's excessive behavior is seen as a positive parental trait. Educators, not students, are supposed to adapt to any given situation. Given these circumstances, everyone in the whole village is needed to take responsibility for the child except for the family.

Judicial Activism, bad pedagogy, and labels all erode the individual rights and responsibility necessary to maintain our system of government. We are sacrificing the freedom to pursue life, liberty, and happiness by shirking our responsibilities and giving the decision making power to the government and not the people. One must play the cards that are dealt and make the best of a given situation. Excuses do not keep the trains running.


More here

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

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