Author Archives
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Everyone Is Heard—Until They’re Not
“Any decent poet can use words to stop the bleeding.” ― Serhiy Zhadan, Месопотамія Start Times, Lawsuits, and the Quiet Drift Away from Public Schools At this week’s Metro Nashville Public Schools board meeting, members once again took up… Read More ›
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MNPS Is Still Losing Students—and the Data Is Clearer Than the Talking Points
“Let’s take a diveTorpedo girl, and feel aliveTorpedo girl, let’s take a diveTorpedo girl, and feel aliveCome on, get your feet wet!” ― Vini Poncia / Ace Frehley Enrollment, Evidence, and the Stories We Tell Ourselves Last week’s column… Read More ›
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Where the Students Are Leaving—and Who Is Left to Absorb the Cost
“You’ve learned that every good lie is threaded with truth and every accepted truth leaks lies.” ― Dennis Lehane Capacity, Crawly Things, and 1,481 Missing Students As I’ve mentioned before, the fourth quarter is an extremely busy time for me…. Read More ›
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Swimming Below The Surface
“Your friend professes belief yet I’m not convinced. What about you? Are the gods real?” “They are real,” says I, “And you’re a prick.” ― Ferdia Lennon, Glorious Exploits I must admit, the world has given me a bit… Read More ›
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The Acting Jobs in Public Education Pay Better Than the Teaching
“One of the reasons The Avengers is among the highest-grossing films of all time is that it’s filled with people who act for a living. They don’t care whether the dialogue makes any sense! For the correct fee, they’ll pretend… Read More ›
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Known Doesn’t Mean Protected
“It was not so much what Vicki did that night: it was what she said. It was not so much her behaviour: it was her vocabulary!” ― Patrick Hamilton, The Slaves of Solitude Every Child Known… But Are They… Read More ›
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“Every Child Known: The Slogan That Says Everything and Means Nothing”
“She knows about men, knows a good deal of the world’s character. But it is hard, whatever you have endured, to give up on love. Hard to stop thinking of it as a home you might one day find again…. Read More ›
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Parenting, Politics, and Private Bathrooms
“You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don’t ever count on having both at once.” ― Robert A. Heinlein The Illusion of Mastery I envy those who have mastered the art of parenting.The ones who navigate the… Read More ›
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“Grift, Grit, and the Great Voucher Grab”
One has to walk through the fields of knowledge to pick its flowers. Run, and you will miss the best blossoms. — Miyuki Miyabe, The Book of Heroes Fall Break just wrapped up here in Nashville, and like clockwork, my… Read More ›
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Work Hard, Burn Out, Repeat: The Culture Schools Won’t Quit
“When you realize someone is trying to hurt you, it hurts less.” “Unless you love them.” ― Shirley Hazzard, The Transit of Venus I started in the service industry in 1981. And let me tell you—what passed for “normal”… Read More ›
Dad Gone Wild 