Monday, January 17, 2011

The Nation's Schools: The Gap Is Widening -- Nothing To Do With the Bakken

I enjoy movies, and I really enjoy watching Robert De Niro on the big screen (at least in the past. I seldom go to the movies any more). They say Robert De Niro is a shy person and doesn't say much, but his "thank you" speech last night after receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award was enlightening to say the least. I'm sure the entire speech will be available on YouTube at some point.

This was the biggest takeaway I took from his "thank you" speech. Robert De Niro said that he and his fellow actors keep making movies so they can keep their children in private schools. It was a joke and not to be taken out of context.

Meanwhile this from the DrudgeReport: Detroit, Michigan, may have to close half its schools (from 142 to 72) and increase class size to 62 students/classroom/teacher at the high school level.

Two comments:
  • With regard to the "thank you" speech -- the gap between the elitists and the "have-nots" continues to widen.
  • As a substitute teacher, I know there is a way to manage classrooms at the high school level with 62 students/classroom, but it takes some "out-of-the-box" thinking. After all, college professors have upwards of 100's per classroom.
Robert De Niro, in his short speech, also had time to note that Homeland Security would be checking the IDs of all those attending the Golden Globes. He assumed that half the waiters had already been deported. Yes, the gap between the elitists and the "have-nots" i s  w i  d   e    n    i    n    g    .

Now that GM (Government Motors) and Ford are returning to profit, I wonder if they are helping the Detroit school system. Oh, that's right -- talking heads more and more refer to Dearborn, Michigan, not Detroit, for one of the car companies.  Dearborn and Detroit share a common "border."

No comments:

Post a Comment