I recently had the opportunity to sub in a 5th grade classroom. What fun!! The kids were nice and interested in what I told them to do. Really. They had to silently read for 25 minutes and they did it. They responded well to my questions (what's a good book for a boy who doesn't like to read?) and gave me no grief. Why are the kids in my own district such shits?

Schools everywhere are cutting back. Some good teachers are going to lose their jobs because the old crusty teachers have seniority over them. That really hurts education. Really -- it's time to recognize that the way we keep teachers (and I suspect the way teachers get hired) needs change.

Back in the day, the students in my home district were not bad. They've gotten worse. While the demographics of the community have changed, I believe that if the school were built on a more solid footing of what is important -- core values -- and less focused on popularity and sports ability, then we might see a step in the right direction.

the 5th graders in Garrison seem more grounded by what's really important. Maybe we could learn a thing or two from that community. If we'd care to listen to the lesson....