“Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice.”
Barry Goldwater never met MeMe Roth. The New York Times (HT: Joanne Jacobs) has a piece about the Upper West Side Manhattan mother who is waging war on junk food in her child’s school. But it’s not the school lunches that have MeMe’s knickers in a knot.
What sets her off is the junk food served on special occasions: the cupcakes that come out for every birthday, the doughnuts her children were once given in gym, the sugary “Fun-Dip” packets that some parent provided the whole class on Valentine’s Day…When offered any food at school other than the school lunch, Ms. Roth’s children — who shall go nameless since it seems they have enough on, or off, their plates — are instructed to deposit the item into a piece of Tupperware their mother calls a “junk food collector.”
Ms. Roth, who runs a group called National Action Against Obesity, has something of a record on this issue. “The police were called to a Y.M.C.A. in 2007 when she absconded with the sprinkles and syrups on a table where members were being served ice cream,” notes the Times’ Susan Dominus. ”That was Ms. Roth who called Santa Claus fat on television that Christmas, and she has a continuing campaign against the humble Girl Scout cookies, on the premise that no community activity should promote unhealthy eating.”
When the Roths lived in Millburn, New Jersey, MeMe (Me! Me!) waged a similar campaign against bagels and Pringles in school lunches leading to an e-mail from a PTA member that counseled “Please, consider moving.” Sounds like P.S. 9 is thinking the same thing. School safety officials have reportedly suggested the Roths request a health and safety transfer.
A commenter on the Times’ message board sums up the issue neatly and economically: “Obesity is unhealthy. And so is belligerence.”
The 15,000 pupil Stamford, Connecticut school system, ”among the last bastions of rigid educational tracking,” is abandoning the practice, which the New York Times describes as ”an uncomfortable caste system.” But if the Times is so concerned about tracking, asks Will Fitzhugh, why are they silent on “the complete dominance of athletic tracking in schools all over the country?” As unbelieveable as it seems, deadpans the editor of The Concord Review, there is no real movement to eliminate it.
Athletes in our school sports programs are routinely tracked into groups of students with similar ability, presumably to make their success in various sports matches, games, and contests more likely. But so far no attention is paid to the damage to the self-esteem of those student athletes whose lack of ability and coordination doom them to the lower athletic tracks, and even, in many cases, may deprive them of membership on school teams altogether.
Fitzhugh observes that the elimination of tracking is a product of educators who are ”more committed to diversity and equality of outcomes in classrooms than they are in academic achievement.” I would also add that mixed ability grouping on sports teams is not unheard of. The New York Mets have been doing it for years.
If I have three apples, and give you one, how many apples will I have? Better ask someone in the math department.
The traditional one-teacher elementary school model is giving way to a middle school format, with different teachers for reading, math, science and social studies in Palm Beach County, Florida. Some schools will have subject-specific teachers as early as kindergarten, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports. Parents and teachers are reportedly ”steamed” about the plan, and are demanding to see research demonstrating the move will help improve performance.
Administrators say there are numerous benefits for the teaching model, such as morphing teachers from jacks-of-all-trades to subject-matter experts. Officials say departmentalization will help schools respond to new state standards and new versions of the FCAT beginning in 2011, resulting in higher achievement among even the most-struggling students. “They are going to have to trust that we as educators are doing what’s right for their children,” Chief Academic Officer Jeffrey Hernandez said Monday. “We are constantly reforming our schools to meet the needs of our students.”
But Robert Dow, president of the Palm Beach Classroom Teachers Association, dismisses the move as a “fad” without anything concrete to back it up. “Departmentalization?” Dow asks. “Seven syllables. Gotta be good. No research, but hey! All elementary teachers will be departmentalized whether they like it or not, whether what they do now works or not.”
I can see some benefits to the plan, not the least of which is the tendency to give short shrift to subjects like science and social studies that are not tested. That said, very young children almost certainly benefit from the security and continuity of a relationship of a single teacher.
Recent Comments