One more push for NCLB Reauthorization before the Election

The rumors are starting to swirl again on NCLB Reauthorization. It seems Sen. Ted Kennedy and House Education Committee leaders are interested in giving NCLB Reauthorization one more push in the coming months before the election. While many still feel it is unlikely, including myself, Sen. Kennedy has amazed in the past and given his alliance with Sen. Obama, the possible Democratic nominee may not stand in the way if Sen. Kennedy wants to push forward. Certainly it seems that Sen. McCain would likely not stand in the way as education reform is not one of the central issues of his campaign and does not even appear as an "issue" on his website. The candidate most likely to stand in the way of any reauthorization effort is probably Sen. Clinton as she has been especially critical of Sen. Kennedy and NCLB (even thought she voted for it). So, depending on how the Democratic nomination fight plays out, reauthorization may be a possibility.

Personally, at this point, I would rather see it wait for next Spring. I know there is value in making changes as soon as possible, but I would rather the new leadership in the Whitehouse have a chance to make a big change in education policy rather than just tinkering with the existing framework. If we wait, just as with President Bush, the new president will have a chance to make education central to their domestic policy agenda goals in the first 100 days and I would look forward to that national conversation instead of the likely backroom deals that will be necessary to pass reauthorization in the next couple months.

We'll see what happens and there is no reason yet to get excited about reauthorization, but keep an eye on it especially if Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain are the nominees.

The Other Side in Educational Law: College President Removed in Religious Dispute

Perhaps a question I get asked more than any other by educational leadership practitioners is where to draw the line between following the black letter of the law and following the wishes of the community when they don't conform with the law. Of course, as a lawyer, I would never (or at least close to never) advocate a school leader disregard the law. The law is but a democratic expression of the people's will and as such does represent the views of the community in itself. But, occasionally, the views of the narrowly defined community (your local district) conflict with those of your more broadly defined community (the nation or state). Well, that seems to be the case at the College of William and Mary where the president of the university has resigned over a controversy surrounding his ordered removal of a cross from the college's chapel ( William and Mary is a public university). Here is some commentary from Hannity and Combs which introduces you to the story:

I am not going to weigh in on the controversy, but the point is that at some time in their careers every school leader comes face to face with the line between legally correct and socially correct (as defined by their employers, school boards or boards of trustees). This university leader was faced with such a decision and decided that as a lawyer, he would side with the law. I respect his decision, but the decision did not come without consequences and the ultimate consequence for any school leader is removal from their job. The question of crossing the line is not one easily answered and requires as much internal political and ethical considerations as it does black letter law considerations and it is a question I cannot answer for any student or school leader. Suffice to say that this is one of the many perils of leadership in a democracy and the kind of decision our school leaders need to be prepared to make when they leave our leadership preparation institutions.

A Little on Leadership Preparation and Employment (While it Lasts)

It's not very often that my little group of researchers on educational leadership preparation makes the news, so when they do, I want to point it out. Ed Fuller, who works for UCEA at the University of Texas, is quoted in an article in the Austin-American Statesman, and his research on principal movement out of the profession is presented in the article. Here is a bit of the article:

School districts nationwide are finding it harder to hold on to
principals as standards get tougher and the list of demands from the
state and federal governments gets longer.

Statewide, high turnover is particularly apparent in high schools.
About 61 percent of high school principals leave their schools or the
field within three years; by the fifth year, that figure increases to
76 percent. Austin's turnover rates are slightly higher: 64 percent
after three years and 82 percent after five years.

The district's annual high school principal turnover rate
is just over 25 percent, a figure that is on par with other urban
districts, where yearly turnover tends to average 18 percent to 25
percent.

When the principalship is a revolving door at a school, experts say,
it trickles down to teacher retention efforts and school reform
initiatives, which have vast implications for a district like Austin,
where the 11 traditional high schools are in various stages of reform,
with middle schools soon to follow. Local changes have included
redesigning high schools to resemble colleges.

"We know that school reform takes time — much more than one year's
time," said Ed Fuller, associate director of the University Council for
Educational Administration at the University of Texas. "If a principal
leaves within three to five years, the principal's vision for reform is
left incomplete. Over time, teachers become jaded and simply ignore the
reform effort. ... Teachers believe the principal will leave and all of
their efforts will be wasted."

More pressure

The accountability system has changed expectations.

"While principals put stress on teachers to improve outcomes,
teachers often do not lose their jobs over low accountability ratings,"
said Fuller, who has analyzed cumulative state turnover rates.
"Principals do."

I am not going to go on a whole expose on this topic (believe me I can - here is a link to my Indiana study), but I do think there is something significant developing here. Ed's point that principals are under increased pressure to perform under the accountability standards and that that may be contributing to the increase in principal movement is a very good one. I just had a meeting with a state official last week that reiterated this point to me that it is the principals and the other school leaders that are the easiest to change when schools do not perform. The state official and I talked at good length about what to do about it and we both suggested possibilities (there is a greater role for universities here), but the fact of the matter is that when a team is losing it is always far easier to get rid of the coach than it is to change the players. This is probably just a developing fact of life for school leaders in the future. There are lots to ways to help alleviate this reality and the article mentions some, but it is probably a developing reality in the accountability age. Sometime to think about for all you aspiring principals out there.

New Award for Students Writing in Educational Law

Just wanted to pass along word that the Education Law Association has announced a new award for students writing in educational law: The George Jay Joseph Education Law Writing Award. The award is in conjunction with the Journal of Law and Education and the winning entry will be published in that legal journal. Essentially, any student (law or education) studying educational law will write a 35-55 page article (with footnotes in BlueBook) that is not under consideration elsewhere. If you win, you get the article published, free attendance at the conference where you will present the paper, a plaque and the vita bump (no real $$$, but the other stuff is worth quite a bit). People interested in Ed. Law should attempt this because it is a good way to get a publication and a good deadline to help you do so. Even if you don't win, there are other educational law publication opportunities the paper may work in or you can always publish it at the Educational Law and Policy Forum at Georgia. This is a good opportunity and I hope a lot of people take advantage of it.

For more details, I made a pdf of the award announcement because I did not see it on the ELA website.

Blogs on the Rise

As I mature in my blog use, I try to keep up with research on the increase of the use of blogs in the law. Well, the Law Librarian Blog has posted some statistics on the increase in the citations to blogs in Law Reviews. I know some of my readers are legal bloggers themselves, so keep up the good work. We are beginning to have an impact not only on the teachers and administrators that read our blogs regularly, but we are also beginning to enter the mainstream legal literature.

Hat tip:  The Adjunct Law Prof Blog

False Imprisonment: Teacher tapes student to chair in Chicago

Well, it continues to happen. When I teach intentional torts and false imprisonment to my
students I can see them sitting there thinking ... who would ever do
anything like that to a kid? And I tell them, you know, it happens all
the time (unfortunately). Well, a rookie teacher in Chicago taped a special education student to a chair using masking tape -- and was fired, of course.



I
can't help but think this is exactly the type of incident that could
have been prevented had the rookie teacher had educational law in her
pre-service preparation program. Clearly, any teacher should know that
it is wrong to tape a kid to a chair. But, teachers that have taken
educational law know why it is wrong and know how they are liable.
There is less debate in their mind concerning the legality of their
actions. I
understand that pre-service teachers need lots of classes to get ready
to enter the classrooms, but seems like a class that clearly informs
teachers of
what is legally right and what is legally wrong and why, would be a
good idea. There is a reason we have laws against these things, but we
are just assuming that teachers will miraculously know this on their
own. Why are we doing that? We could make a lot of little things like
this go away. Not all of it, but a good deal of it. I am tired of
reading about this stuff in the papers.



Crossposted At the Schoolhouse Gate

Thoughts on Misconduct and Police in Schools

I just wanted to point you all to a thoughtful post at Teaching in the 408 on police patrolling in schools. TMAO reflects on the first year of the police presence in his school. I am going to post a lot of it here (with my thoughts after) because I want you to read it, but do me a favor and click over into his blog and finish it. I think a lot of my teacher-readers will really like his blog.

The myopic, seemingly p.r.-driven decision was made to install police
officers on middle school campuses this year. About this atrocity, I wrote:

When
you bring an officer onto campus, you undermine [the teachings of
inclusion and full adult control]. Rather than sending the message to
kids that adults expect your best and are fully in control of the
school environment, the patrolling presence of police sends the message
that we expect your worse and are not in control. Rather than sending
the message that you will do the right thing because strong, successful
people do so naturally, we are sending the message that you will do the
right because we will punish you otherwise. We once used the phrase family to describe the school environment we sought to create. External controlling agents are no part of any family
I know. Instead of kids hearing a message of inclusion and warmth, one
that softens that self-defeating mantle of hard so many reach for, we
are sending a hardening message that this is a place for thugs, a
ghetto place where the kids are so bad actual armed police officers are
needed to ensure control.

Every word of that has been
born out and proved accurate this year. Every word has been driven home
not only by the presence of the police, but through the actions of an
unsettled first-year administrator, who has consistently and
obstinately brought a police presence into areas of school function in
which they can serve no beneficial purpose. This isn't even about the
absurd rate of suspension, the removal of dignity in discipline
situations, or just the daily unpleasantness that has arisen on campus.
This is about how the police have been used to undermine and chip away
at the very core of what it was that made our school a successful and
special place.

This year, officers have been brought into
discipline scenarios time and time again in defiance of our norms,
understandings, and wishes, but apparently in compliance with the
wishes of district leadership. The inclusion of police represents a
continued gross escalation and over-reaction. We're not talking about a
kid selling drugs or using a weapon in an assault. Those are crimes.
Our kids are being put into the system, cited and arrested over actions
that, while unacceptable, are nevertheless not criminal. A playground
fight is not a crime. Yelling things at someone is not a crime. Being a
jerk to a 6th grader is not a crime. Having a Sharpie in your posession is not a crime.

Students at my school have received citations and court dates for all these actions.

It's
awful. We do not need more black and brown kids in the criminal justice
system. We do not need kids with booby-trapped cumulative files, rigged
for explosion the first time they step out of line, because suddenly
it's a pattern and a repeat offense. We do not need to set so many kids
up for failure in navigating legal whitewater (as if it's so out of the
realm of possibility that we're handing out court dates to families who
lack the money, social capital, immigration status, or plain
with-it-ness to get themselves through something like that in an
acceptable way). We do not need to function this way to have an
orderly, safe campus.

This is what we do now. Kid gets sent to
the office, there's almost no chance they escape interaction with a
police officer, no matter how piddling the offense. Citations are
written at such a mind-boggling rate that teachers have been told
officers are too encumbered with paperwork to remove trespassers from
campus. I hate it. I see the reliance on, and the acceptance of, a
police role in routine matters of discipline and I want to vomit. But
this is what we do now.

This is never what we have done.

Continue Reading ...

These are very legitimate points and something I struggle with in teaching ed. law. Just because you can legally have police in the hallways, doesn't mean it is a good idea everywhere (or possibly anywhere). I also think Kilian has a good point regarding the role of the administrator. I don't know the situation in question so I am not going to speak specifically, but the reason we give administrative discretion to administrators ... is to use it. We (and the law) want administrators to use their judgment. I think when some people think of the law, they think of cut and dry and black and white. Commit offense X and there is a 3 step discipline process ... kind of thing. That is not really accurate. The law actually builds quite a bit of discretion in the system on purpose because we want educators to use student discipline as a way to help students learn. Ninety-five percent or more of student discipline is fairly innocuous. When student misbehavior arises to the level of a crime, I agree the police should be involved. But, otherwise, the primary purpose of the discipline is to help the student learn. Police, and most of the criminal justice system, are not trained for the purpose of learning, especially student learning. So, why are they there?

Special Education Dispute Resolution Series at the Special Education Law Blog

Just wanted to point all of you to the special education dispute resolution series of blog posts at the Special Education Law Blog. Jim Gerl and I have worked together in the past and I really respect his knowledge on special education law having long served as a due process hearing officer and now a consultant to states on special education due process issues.

Here are the posts in the series:

1. Dispute Resolution: When Parents and the School Disagree  -  This post provides a basic overview of IDEA and the possible resolution mechanisms it contains.

2. Dispute Resolution Methods: Part II  -  This post outlines changes to the dispute resolution process brought about by the IDEIA 2004 revisions and the subsequent regulations and OSEP interpretations.

3. Dispute Resolution Methods: Part III  -  This post talks about the changes to the mediation option of dispute resolution under IDEA.

4. Dispute Resolution Methods: Part IV  -  This post begins to address the due process hearing itself, including the qualifications of hearing officers and the statute of limitations.

5. Dispute Resolution Methods Part V  -  This post continues on the due process hearing itself, including notice of a hearing, amending the complaint/raising new issues, and pro se (unrepresented) parents.

6. Dispute Resolution Methods Part VI  -  This post continues on the due process hearing itself, including the new stay put provision and the IDEIA 2004 procedural/substantive rulings issue.

7. Dispute Resolution Methods Part VII  -  In this final installment, Jim provides a tie between IDEA and NCLB, throws in a lot of miscellaneous issues and provides links to additional resources.

Nebraska Legislature Passes Anti-Bullying Bill

The Nebraska Legislature has passed an anti-bullying bill, which will be sent to the governor. The Lincoln Journal Star has a small story on it. If passed, Nebraska would join over 30 other states in taking legislative action to try to stop bullying in K-12 schools. You can find a link to the laws in other states here.

ELA Deadline Time Again

For all you out there that REALLY love educational law ... the ELA conference submission deadline is coming up on Feb. 15, so you have less than 10 days to get those proposals in. This years conference is at the Sheraton Gunther in San Antonio, a nice hotel I have been in before (their breakfast buffet was not the best, however, and there is not a lot of open seating space for those cool conversations we get to have with other educational law scholars and practitioners) from Nov. 19-22. I am happy that the ELA convention is back on U.S. soil (and I get to check out the riverwalk again) and it also does not conflict with UCEA, which is 2-3 weeks prior to ELA this year in Orlando. I am debating whether to submit a proposal on integrating educational technology into educational law instruction, or whether to submit a proposal on why I think Morse v. Frederick was a pro-student case (ELA likes you to submit only 1). I will make my decision in the next couple days, but if you think one route is better than the other let me know.

Kill all the School Boards? ... Maybe. Nationalize Education? ... Maybe Not.

I read this article a week or so ago when my Atlantic Monthly came and I almost wrote a critique of it then, but I also listened to this interview on NPR the other day and I needed to point out what I see as a serious flaw in his argument. Here is the article ... it is not bad and raises some interesting questions so it is worth the read.

First, Kill all the School Boards ... by Matt Miller.

But, here is a couple of quotes to give you the gist if you are not in for reading the whole thing:

When you look at what local control of education has wrought, the
conclusion is inescapable: we must carry Mann’s insights to their
logical end and nationalize our schools, to some degree.

and ...

[Local Control] has spawned several crippling problems:

1. No way to know how children are doing.
2. Stunted R&D.
3. Incompetent school boards and union dominance.
4. Financial inequity.

I am not going to argue with the connections he makes between local control and the problems he mentioned above, although I do think there are ways for local entities to engage in such research and R&D as technology becomes more available and if it becomes a central component of preparation programs. But, on points 3 and 4 ... yeah, you are going to have some of that with local control. But, based on those critiques (alone) this is his solution:

I asked Marc Tucker, the head of the New Commission on the
Skills of the American Workforce (a 2006 bipartisan panel that called
for an overhaul of the education system), how he convinces people that
local control is hobbling our schools. He said he asks a simple
question: If we have the second-most-expensive K–12 system of all those
measured by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development,
but consistently perform between the middle and the bottom of the pack,
shouldn’t we examine the systems of countries that spend less and get
better results? “I then point out that the system of local control that
we have is almost unique,” Tucker says. “One then has to defend a
practice that is uncharacteristic of the countries with the best
performance.

“It’s an industrial-benchmarking argument,” he adds.

Horace Mann wouldn’t have used this jargon, but his thinking was
much the same. In his time, the challenge was to embrace a bigger role
for the state; today, the challenge is to embrace a bigger role for the
federal government in standards, funding, and other arenas.

Okay? Um, wait a second ... how did we get from problems of local control to national standards? Especially when the author himself acknowledged that Horace Mann was interested in a bigger role for the state? Just because Finland has a centralized control system over education does not mean the U.S. should. New York is very different from New Mexico. Probably more different than Northern Finland is to Southern Finland. Sure, you can cite OECD countries for examples of national control working ... but the U.S. is a much larger country than many of these places. The U.S. has 28x the landmass of Finland (list of country landmass). You know who has a similar landmass to Finland? New Mexico (list of state landmass). Maybe New Mexico would be a good place to locate the major authority over schools in New Mexico? But, what makes it harder for New Mexico to serve that role is a decentralization of power both above and below them. They are getting mandates like NCLB from above and board decisions to ban books from below. It makes it sort of difficult for New Mexico, even if it wanted or had the capacity to, to function in a role similar to that of Finland.

Let's just not throw the baby out with the bathwater here. Are there problems with local control? Yes. Does that mean we need national standards? No. Each of problem 1-4 listed above (if they are problems) can be equally if not better solved at the state level. When you are dealing with a landmass as large as the U.S. and a diversity in population and community desires as diverse as there is in the U.S. (compare Oregon and Idaho, for instance, and those states are neighbors), a centralized set of national standards can not be responsive to local needs. Alternatively, there is some truth to the point that local control cannot be responsive to issues of equity and research. Perhaps there is a happy medium somewhere in between local control and national standards ... oh yeah, that's right, there is ... the states. Perhaps that is why Horace Mann proposed a bigger role for states in the first place.      

The 9th Circuit Rehearing Redding v. Stafford (13 Year Old Strip Search Case): Congrats Savana

I was sort of happy to see Mark Walsh's scoop at the School Law Blog that the 9th Circuit has decided to rehear the Redding v. Stafford decision en banc (as a full court - or at least more - instead of just 3 judges, essentially setting aside the 3 judge's decision). The Edjurist sort of has a personal interest in this case. I disagreed with the 3 judge panel's decision initially when they ruled that strip searching the 13 year old Redding was constitutional (read the facts here). Later, Sarah Redding herself (the student that was searched) posted a comment on the blog post thanking me and directed us to her compelling editorial in the Eastern Arizona Courier.

At the time I had this to say about the case:

How can a strip search of a 13 year old be considered reasonable in
scope when searching for Ibuprofen? Sure, having and passing out
prescription drugs is wrong and the search of the backpack was fine.
But was it necessary to strip search her? How about searching her
locker first or calling her parent ... or calling the cops? Any of
these methods would have been more reasonable in scope and likely more
productive in obtaining any illegal drugs and/or reprimanding the
offending student. I personally feel this is clearly outside the bounds
of the Constitution and even further outside the bounds of common sense.

Well, congratulations Savana. It is not a win yet, but I think their decision to rehear the case bodes well for you. If nothing else, it shows the delicacy of this issue of strip searching young students. It should only be used, if at all, as a last resort and only in the most dire of circumstances (weapons, perhaps). Ibuprofen, the equivalent of 2 over the counter Advils, hardly qualifies as a dire circumstance to stretch the bounds of the Constitution this far.

Kiss and Expel

My South Carolina readers will love this one. Two students were expelled for kissing (or allegedly perhaps more) on a school bus in Columbia, SC. We don't have all the facts so it is hard to form an opinion on this one, but if it was just kissing ... it does sound a bit severe for what appears to be otherwise stand-up students.

Any readers in the district or around there care to share the latest rumors (and/or facts) floating around this one?

UPDATE: According to the ABA Journal, the parents of the expelled students are going to challenge the school board's decision in Court. So, we should be hearing more from this case.

Bong Hits Sketch

Here is another video from AfterEd. I thought some of you educational law professors out there would be interested in this one. I think I may use it this semester when teaching about student expression rights to my pre-service teachers. Of course, ironically, because the video has references to drug use, I don't suggest showing this video in K-12 schools based on the ruling from this case.

Here is the LooseLeaf Report (check it out there are some other ones that might interest you too) on Bong Hits for Jesus (Morse v. Frederick) and it gives a little analysis of the future of this Supreme Court. Fun Stuff.

Ohio the Next to Ban Corporal Punishment?

A bill in the Ohio General Assembly would do just that. The bill has bi-partisan sponsors and may have a good shot at passage. If it is passed, it would make Ohio the 30th state to ban corporal punishment and would be the first new law on this issue since Pennsylvania banned it in 2005. As the map below shows (thanks to the Center for Effective Discipline), a clear majority of states are now on the side of making corporal punishment illegal in schools. Perhaps this bill will cause some other states (ahem, Indiana, Florida, Colorado I am talking to you) to also consider legislation banning corporal punishment. I can't tell you how appalled my pre-service teachers are here in Indiana when I tell them spanking children is legal in this state. The momentum of the 1980's for this prohibition has long since passed, but in the 20 subsequent years many of the older teachers that were fond of this practice have retired. For the current generation of teachers corporal punishment is an embarrassment to the teaching profession. It is time the legislation reflected the morals of the majority of teachers.

Crossposted: At the Schoolhouse Gate

Things You Didn't Know About the Pledge

Here is a short video showing you 10 things you didn't know about the Pledge of Allegiance. It has some cool facts in it and of course refers to Newdow. I also want to use this opportunity to point out AfterEd, which is a channel on education broadcast out of Teacher's College, Columbia University (anyone want to know why they are the top ranked school of ed in the U.S. - it's because they do innovative stuff like this). It is a great Web 2.0 idea and they also welcome user generated content. Kudos there to everyone working on this project and perhaps I will submit some legal content in the future (wouldn't it be cool to have a monthly educational law chat with leaders in the field and policymakers?).

Anyway, enjoy this video on 10 things you didn't know about the Pledge. I certainly did:

Testing for Steroids in High School Athletes

Texas has finally decided to invest 6 million dollars into steroid testing for high school athletes. News of the testing policy has been circling since ...  Also, in the last month, the Illinois High School Association has voted to start testing student athletes for steroids.   Estimates put the number of high school athlete steroid users at 2 percent.

The short
history of steroid testing in public schools has yielded little, if
anything. In the handful of local school districts that already test
for steroids, no positive test has been reported. The same is true for
limited state programs in Florida and New Jersey.

"It's
like looking for a needle in a haystack," said Lloyd Johnston, a noted
researcher at the University of Michigan. "My guess is that the payoff
relative to the cost won't be high."

Some critics also
question the state's policy decision to go after steroids when the use
of other illegal drugs, including marijuana, heroin and prescription
drugs, is far more common among teenagers. The state's steroid tests
will cost up to $140 each, compared with $15 for most other drug tests.

But state lawmakers who championed the drive to test up to
50,000 athletes over the next two years say catching users wasn't their
main goal. They hope the state's investment pays off as a powerful
deterrent.

"The momentum is there," said state Sen. Kyle
Janek, R-Houston, Senate sponsor of the steroids bill that passed last
year. "With all the attention to the professional athletes and steroids
use, it's out there for everyone to see. It won't be tolerated." Continue Reading...

So, the point of the testing does not seem to be actually catching students, but rather sending a message. Seems to me to be a pretty expensive message. Steroids have been a hot, hot topic lately and it seems everyone wants to "send a message." For the second time, Congress has decided that it must investigate professional sports and steroids. Now, the Texas Legislature

Evaluating Teachers by Test Scores

Its coming. Like it or not.

The Congo: The Saddest Story on the Planet that No One Knows About

It is not very often that I allow myself to get off topic on this blog, but I am going to make an exception today.

5.4 million.

5,400,000. That is the number of people that have died as a result of conflict in the Congo in the last decade. Averaged out, that is 45,000 people a month or roughly 1,500 people a day. One thousand, five hundred people a day...dead. Unnecessarily.

"Congo's loss is equivalent to the entire population of Denmark or the
state of Colorado perishing within a decade," George Rupp, president of
the aid group, said in a statement.

Staggering. Staggering. If you have 11 min., take the time to watch this video about the plight of the Congo and why so many unnecessary deaths are occurring.

I have a personal interest in the plight of the Congo. When I was younger I lived with Jose Kabeya, a Congolese Refugee, in Colorado (I would tell you his amazing story, but I can not put it on the Internet for fear of possible retribution against him). We became quick friends and I had the honor of being in his wedding. He and I (with most of the credit going to him) had the audacity to think we could do something about it. We were young and naive and bold ... and sat down over pizza one night and came up with a plan and a name, the Morning Star Center for Social Progress. Well, since that night in 2004, we have had over 30 students graduate from our technical school with certificates in information technology and computers (with another class on the way - we have actually already doubled our initial operations in this area), we have shipped medical supplies to local doctors with the help of Project Cure, and we have started construction on an elementary school and have formal approval from the government to begin offering classes in September of this year. We (well, mostly Jose) have also built two teams of members, one that runs the U.S. operations and one that runs operations in Kinshasa, DRC. Not everything has been roses and we are constantly operating on a shoe-sting budget (please donate or become a partner if you are interested), but we are trying and I think that counts for something.

The plight of the Congo, and Africa generally, is largely overlooked, or worse, intentionally ignored. The U.S. is spending 5 billion per month on military activities in Iraq and Afganistan. That is roughly equal to the entire yearly Gross Domestic Product of the D.R. Congo (for comparison, our GDP is 13 trillion). In other words, a little could go a long way in the Congo. I have seen this personally. The total amount our organization has raised would be about enough to get you a moderately used car in the States. Yet, with that relatively small amount, we have managed to affect hundreds of lives in a positive way. The people there are hungry for change. Much of the construction on our elementary school has been volunteer work. We have volunteers working in our technical school as well. People there just want to see things improve. So, keep the Congo, and Africa in general, in your mind from time to time. If you can find little ways to help, I encourage you to do so. To help the Congo and Africa, it is going to take the efforts of ordinary people around the world. The problem is almost bigger than political leaders, which is perhaps why they don't touch it. It is going to take small efforts by everyone and effort number one is recognizing the severity of the problem.

Okay, thanks for indulging me, back to regularly scheduled programming.

Tonight on Frontline: Growing Up Online

If you have time tonight, check out your local PBS station. Frontline is airing a special on Growing Up Online. It is going to deal with a lot of legal and technology issues that are challenging us these days and should be really interesting.

UPDATE: Here is a link to the entire program viewable online.

Here is a preview: