What's next, mug shots?

Generally you will find me agreeing with the ACLU about as often as often as Homer Simpson passes up a free doughnut -- infrequently.

But here's an idea that the educrats have dreamed up in the name of efficiency; fingerprinting students. The ACLU is not amused and neither should you.

It's happening in Akron, Ohio: http://www.woio.com/global/story.asp?s=2885663&ClientTpe=Printable

Take a look at the story. This is being touted not only as efficient (Hmmm, what type of societies value efficiency over common sense? Oh yeah, oppressive ones), but eliminates stigmatizing low income kids.

That makes perfect sense. A kid who lives in dire circumstances and may not have enough clothes to wear or food to eat really cares that he has to present a card to get some food in his belly. I bet he has other concerns besides being stigmatized.

So the kill-the-fly-with-a-hammer solution is to fingerprint all kids and use that system to track their meal purchases. Certainly such information could only be used for good and never for anything nefarious by a government bureaucracy, right?

The really scary part is that this is will not be limited to Akron. Districts nationwide have been looking at this technology. It may be coming to a school system near you.

Has there ever been a school named after George Orwell?

New Age PE... or not.

There's a big debate going on about how much time there ought to be for recess or, in the case of middle and high schools, PE classes.

The problem is that we're turning into a nation of butterballs, and it's not just you and me; it's the kiddos. Little Johnny gets plenty of stimulation for his fingers while shredding to Guitar Hero or the latest abomination on the Wii, but that's about it.

Instead of having six-pack abs one day, their bellies will look more like a keg.

But the latest exercise fad may have some flaws. See here: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j0i6-DJeEQpXKJiVx2054FBCPnlQD8VLOI802

Yeah, let the kids whale on each other for a while. That'll burn off calories and teach conflict resolution.

To be truthful, I'm not sure this is all bad. If you're a teacher with some of these kids in class, maybe they're so pooped out they can't give you grief.

At least, as one mother says, it keeps her kid off the streets; you know, where he might get into a fight.

Isn't it about time?

In 1517, Martin Luther did the unthinkable for someone in his position -- he rebelled. A Roman Catholic priest, he was fed up with the abuses of the church in that era. But rather than grumble about it, he did something.

The first shot in his revolution was to pound 95 "Theses" on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. These 95 paragraphs were critical of many church practices, explained some good ideas for reform and set in motion the Protestant Reformation.

Wow... How's that for grandiose comparisons?

Just so you know, I'm not comparing this blog to anything Martin Luther ever did, but you've got to start somewhere.

Here goes...

Public education in this country is cherished, and with good reason. We so value the idea that our children receive a decent education that we spend hundreds of billions of dollars every year to set up a massive system to accomplish that goal.

But does it really work?

Certainly, there are many examples where this system works pretty well. But, sadly, there are far-too-many stories of flaccid curricula, bored teachers and unmotivated students.

Just as many of the people of the Roman Catholic church of Luther's day were honorable in their intentions and practices, there are many hard-working, dedicated professionals in education. But the system is broken. It hasn't really changed much in, oh, about 100 years.

Sure, we have computers in many classrooms, there are more essential services for special needs kids and maybe the cafeteria food is less noxious than before, but these are just marginal changes. The way we teach kids hasn't much changed. And where changes have occurred, they have been disastrous experiments. More on that in the days to come.

I don't have all the answers. Heck, I may have very few, but you may have an idea or two.

I would love to hear your take on why public education isn't working right. I don't want to hear mere griping, I want to hear ideas and solutions.

You see, the best-kept secret about public education is that it is controlled by people; you and me. We elect district and charter boards (for those of you fortunate enough to live in states with charter schools). We send our kids to these institutions, and we sure as heck pay for all of it.

We should be able to get some ideas of our own put into play. And we definitely need to kill a few of the educrats' ideas before they either get started or get out of hand.

We need professionals to run schools, but not to overrun them. (And I mean overrun in every possible context).

So here I am.

I'm ready to listen.

Ready to react.

Ready for reform.