Unsafe-schools watch

"Police are investigating an Oklahoma elementary school teacher who hosted a tree-trimming party at her home attended by several third graders whom the educator videotaped wearing Christmas-themed bras and panties she provided to the girls," The Smoking Gun reports. This third-grade teacher has resigned, but perhaps she can find employment at the OU Women’s Outreach Center, which has a "sexpert" program and on Monday hosted a "Coffee, Condoms & Cocoa" event.

In other news, it turns out the Catoosa school district has its own police department.

New school is helping autistic children

In The Sooner Catholic, Ray Dyer reports on a new school for autistic children believed to be the first of its kind in the nation. Di Smalley, president and CEO of Mercy Health System of Oklahoma,

credited the Oklahoma Legislature with helping to make the school a reality. The lawmakers supported the creation of the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship that allows public funds to be used by parents to send their children with special needs to private or parochial schools.

Already little Lindsey, and her parents, are helping to improve the lives of special-needs children. 

White Johnny can't read

Nearly one in five middle- and upper-income white 4th graders in Oklahoma can't read.

Unsafe-schools watch

The Oklahoman reports that an Edmond student was beaten unconscious in a school restroom. He

was knocked to the floor, kicked and stomped, and could have been killed, prosecutors said. He suffered a fractured skull, a severe concussion and head lacerations, along with a seizure.

'Online high schools attracting elite names'

Like Stanford.

So rest easy

A superintendent who is paid $17,500 a month to oversee a school district in which half of the sixth-graders can't read at grade level, and in which the math achievement of the average student is at the 25th percentile relative to an international comparison group, would like you to know that he believes in accountability.

American schools not getting the job done

How NEA PAC spends Oklahoma teachers' money

Dues-paying OEA members are opening up their wallets for NEA PAC. Is this how they want their money spent?

Special-needs student bullied -- by teachers

Hey, it's a start

The Tulsa World thinks it's important that low-income people not lose their vouchers.

On the bright side, the little girl wasn't sued

If mama ain't happy -- tough luck

Tahlequah Public Schools superintendent Shannon Goodsell, who is paid $124,858 annually to oversee a school district on the federal needs-improvement list, is not a fan of school vouchers. Among other things, he raises the issue of accountability:

The only entity the private school is held accountable to is Mom. If Mom is happy, the money stays with the school. If Mom is not happy, then Mom has the right, if she wants, to pull them out and put them back into the public schools ...

That is very well said, though, oddly, Mr. Goodsell appears to think it's an argument against vouchers.

In any case, let us contrast this private school's accountability with the accountability faced by Mr. Goodsell's public schools. Let's say Mom sends her children to a Tahlequah public school, and is not happy that Tahlequah produces students with math performance worse than that of the typical student in the average developed country. Indeed, let's say Mom is downright embarrassed that the math achievement of the average student in Tahlequah is at the 32nd percentile relative to an international comparison group. Let's say Mom is appalled to discover that if one picked up the Tahlequah school district and dropped it into Canada, the average Tahlequah student would be at the 23rd percentile in math achievement. Or that if it were relocated to Singapore, the average Tahlequah student would be at the 17th percentile in math achievement. Or that if it were relocated to Finland, the average Tahlequah student would be at the 16th percentile in math achievement.

In short, let's say everyone acknowledges the obvious: the Tahlequah Public Schools desperately need improvement. To whom are these educators accountable? Ah yes, and how is that accountability to distant bureaucrats working out for Mom, who can only watch as another year goes by and her son's childhood continues to slip away?

As the late Steve Jobs once said: "I remember seeing a bumper sticker with the Bell [telephone] logo on it and it said 'We don't care. We don't have to.' And that's what a monopoly is. That's what IBM was in their day. And that's certainly what the public school system is. They don't have to care."

No, they're going to get paid whether Mom is happy or not. They're not accountable.