*We all know – at least we all say – that everybody deserves a second chance. Having said that, I had a hard time reconciling Tony Dungy and Michael Vick together. Recall that nobody ever said Vick, who once signed a contract for $130 million, was an otherwise pleasant fellow who just made one, uh, mistake. I think it’s only healthy skepticism to consider that Dungy is being cynically used in Vick’s comprehensive public-relations strategy.
*Anybody else do a double take when looking at those recent FCAT statistics? I was hoping for a typo, but sure enough 38 per cent of Hillsborough County 10th graders passed FCAT reading. And it’s not as if it’s hard. Worse yet, the trend is down; it was 41 per cent last year.
*I know some folks will disagree with this, but I still cringe when I see Hillsborough County teachers and administrators taking a pie in the face as their part in some educational quid pro quo with students. A point, and it is a valid one, is to not take your adult self too seriously. Motivation and fun should be part of the pedagogic process. But another point is to take yourself seriously enough so that others will too. Especially when, as a society, we keep trying – too often ineffectually – to bolster the status of the teaching profession.