Author Archives: schooldog

School Bureaucracy: Beating the System Too

Posted on July 3, 2011 by schooldog

As promised a couple of weeks ago, here be a couple more examples of consciousness on part of both grass roots workers in schools, and of upper level district administrators, that can be critical to countervailing the rotten wood of … Continue reading →

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Schools and Politics: Corollary to Labor, Capital, and the Public Good (5/30/11)

Posted on June 25, 2011 by schooldog

The long term historical assault on protections for the working man is corollary to the health of public schools and stems from the urge to aggrandize capital. This does not mean that our schools (or our health care) flounder solely … Continue reading →

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School Bureaucracy: Beating the System

Posted on June 21, 2011 by schooldog

The multitudes of you reading out there may start to weary of my apparently incessant whining about bureaucracy, politics, and the inadequacies of our youth. Me, too. It is well enough to identify problems – if we do not clarify … Continue reading →

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Schools and Culture — The Laying of Blame

Posted on June 13, 2011 by schooldog

As the class I have been tracking over the last three years prepares to enter its senior year, and prepare for graduation a year from now, I begin gearing up for the frankly onerous task of managing the complex process … Continue reading →

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Schools and Culture: The Decline of the Masculine Principle

Posted on June 6, 2011 by schooldog

The day is overcast, but thankfully the rain has held off, and for now the greatest worry is that the top of Mt. Index will be socked in by the lower reaches of the cloud cover, and rob us of … Continue reading →

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Schools and Politics: Labor, Capital, and the Public Good

Posted on May 31, 2011 by schooldog

My daughter has given me for Christmas a history of the American labor movement by Philip Dray, There is Power in a Union. My reading of Dray has caused me to reflect on struggles within American politics and culture that … Continue reading →

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School Bureaucracy: It’s the Little Things That Get Ya

Posted on May 22, 2011 by schooldog

Here be another rant. Though regarding a detail seemingly limited in its significance, the frequency of such events as that below over time deadens the initiative of school building based personnel. As I have a dysfunctional habit of doing, I … Continue reading →

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Schools and Culture: The Politics are Another Story

Posted on May 16, 2011 by schooldog

The frustrations of staff in schools do not all stem (by any means) solely from the stultifying effect of bureaucracy, or even the oft encountered lackadaisical (or frightened) attitude of too many entitled kids. Some of the frustration, I suspect, … Continue reading →

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Schools and Culture: Whither Personal Accountability?

Posted on May 5, 2011 by schooldog

Schedule change time at the end of one semester and the beginning of another. I gird myself. If there is one request for change I hear more consistently than others, three to four times a day at this particular juncture, … Continue reading →

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Schools and Bureaucracy: Tutoring Bites the Dust

Posted on April 21, 2011 by schooldog

We had for years lamented that kids didn’t make it to after school tutoring, whether peer or teacher provided, and which many needed. Particularly our targeted at risk kids didn’t make it, certainly not of their own volition. Finally our … Continue reading →

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