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CAT Tracks for March 20, 2015
ELEPHANT HUNTING |
From Education Week
Elephant Hunting and the Question of 'Scale'
CAT Tracks Editor's Note:
That's the elephant in the room when it comes to NCLB, RTTT, and whatever they choose to call the re-write...
...should they ever finally come up with a re-write.
As Shakespeare's Hamlet put it:
There is no "silver bullet", no magical "one size fits all" solution to what allegedly ails public education, a "fix" that should be forced upon one and all.
If fact, that's what the founding fathers realized over 200 years ago when they established their grand experiment in democracy...
...that the states would be laboratories of experimentation...
...not dictated to by a King George (whether he be the III from England or that W. Bush fellow from Texas...
...or his even eviler "twin", named Barack from, sigh, Illinois!)
So, should Arne Duncan really be surprised by the "opt out" revolution against high-stakes testing, as even the children join the effort to refresh that proverbial tree of liberty!
Okay, it's time for the musical interlude...
...the obvious being Revolution by The Beatles.
But...
...all this talk of elephants and bullets (silver or otherwise) put me in mind of a more obscure composition...
...from the White album:
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill... (YouTube Video)
Of course, if it were left to me, I would update the lyrics...
"Aye, there's the rub..."
What did you kill, Arnie Duncan?
Hey, Arnie Duncan
What did you kill, Arnie Duncan?
He went teacher hunting with his elephant, the test one
In case of accidents he always took his mom
He's the all American bullet-headed Saxon mother's son
All the children sing
Hey, Arnie Duncan
What did you kill, Arnie Duncan?
Hey, Arnie Duncan
What did you kill, Arnie Duncan?
Deep in the trenches where the opposition lies
Arne and his elephant were taken by surprise
The opt-out children zapped him right between the eyes, zap!
All the children sing
Hey, Arnie Duncan
What did you kill, Arnie Duncan?
Hey, Arnie Duncan
What did you kill, Arnie Duncan?
The children asked him if to kill was not a sin
But when he looked so fierce, Obama butted in
If looks could kill it would have been us instead of him
All the children sing
Hey, Arnie Duncan
What did you kill, Arnie Duncan?
Hey, Arnie Duncan
What did you kill, Arnie Duncan?
What did you kill, Arne et al...
...the love of learning.
