The Right Doctor has an exciting guest for the evening - me - and we’ll be talking about all sorts of topics related to education: a bit of legislation, some teaching, some local school administration/governance.

You can listen to the show by going to www.rfcradio.com and clicking ‘Listen.’

There will also be a live chat as the show airs - I’ll be in the room, along with the Doctor and many others, to discuss elements of the show or any related topic that comes up. You can access the chat by going to www.rfcradio.com/chat .

See you there - and if you can’t make it, I’ll link to the podcast [which includes about 15 minutes of additional content] when it’s available.

SpendOnLife.com describes their scholarship program for the ‘credit challenged‘ as follows:

“It’s our desire that every young adult has access to higher education. Unfortunately in today’s society, students are finding it tougher to secure financing because of the credit crunch and past credit issues.

In an effort to assist students affected by the stricter lending practices for student loans, SPENDonLIFE is proud to offer our college scholarship program to those denied a student loan due to the recent credit crunch or their personal credit history.

We will award up to 10 college scholarships a year ranging from $500 to $5000. We hope this program will help to educate young adults about both the benefits and pitfalls that using credit can pose.”

They’ve got the usual information - FAQ, Guidelines and the Application - at the links below.

• Credit Challenged Scholarship FAQ
• Credit Challenged Scholarship Guidelines
• Credit Challenged Scholarship Application

Pass it along if you know someone who can use it. In this climate, we can all think of a few.

And don’t forget - there’s always someone out there willing to give money. The blue-eyed, the kid with that unique Eskimo/Botswanian heritage, the 7th best cornhole player in Western/Southwestern Iowa, etc. All you’ve really got to do is find’em and ask nicely.

I still manage to do that too often, though I wouldn’t be so bad if the rest of the world spoke and read Latin.

Bothering those Italian or French or Russian experts takes up valuable currency, so I use online resources - forums, translators, etc. - when I can. I came across CorrectMyText.com and bookmarked it for those non-emergency foreign language needs.

The format is quite simple. You submit your text and someone fluent in that language corrects your mistakes or affirms what you’ve written. You can do the same thing for others. Here’s an example, a passage written in English about learning at school:

“People are learning at any time when they are awake. From they are born to when they are death, people never stop learning, maybe they do not realize it. A infant learns the world by touching things he can reach or biting everything he can get. When we read book we see a world describe by the writer and it is the world that we never know.”

Not too far from accurate, and I’m sure that some of you teachers out there wish you got paragraphs that solid.

So, we’d sign up to CorrectMyText, log in and post the following correction:

“People are learning any time they are awake. From the time they are born to the time they die, people never stop learning. Maybe they don’t even realize it. An infant learns about the world by touching things he can reach or biting everything he can get. When we read a book we see a world described by the writer, and that is a world we otherwise would never know.”

There ya go, folks. Correct some text or be corrected - it’s handy either way. Very neat site.

Check out the video below to get a sense of the people and setting.

Individual teachers, however, shouldn’t be punished for their union’s misgivings. That’s why the NEA-sponsored Thank a Teacher website is worth a moment:

On May 4th, NEA unveiled the [teacher thanks] mural at The Cannon House, the oldest congressional office building in Washington, DC. NEA and national leaders joined hundreds of local public school students, their teachers and teachers of the year for the event.

It’s a simple thing - a mural of thank you notes and cards to our teachers, specific and general. Leave one for a teacher you know or for teachers in general.

Praise is a funny thing. I don’t think much of effusive praise for the simplest, most mundane achievements. Teachers shouldn’t be patted on the back for pulling in $60,000 + full benefits, as many middle-of-the-road teachers in my local district do, for showing up to work [summers not included, obviously] and fulfilling the obligations of their contract. As professionals, they shouldn’t want praise for doing the bare minimum. Teachers aren’t heroes for choosing the profession; they’re heroes when they do their job well.

But everyone needs a ‘thank you’ or show of appreciation now and again, no matter the profession. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a parent who thanks his kid’s teacher for communicating well or for your kid having an all-around good day, or you’re just a taxpayer who appreciates that your school taxes are paying the salary of an asset to your community. It doesn’t need to be much - just thank a teacher now and again.

And you can start ye olde thank teacher project by hopping over to the NEA’s site.

And when was the last time we saw any sort of civil rights crowd that didn’t have a well-coifed Al Sharpton at the front - or trying to muscle his way to the front - with one eye searching for the media and the other eye searching for a mirror?

Get used to Al in Education, folks. That ‘Strong Schools’ bit last year was the calm before the annoying, prolonged, ineffectual drizzle that’s a Sharpton storm.

Here’s a press release/e-mail I got the other day. I’ll parse it.

Hi Matthew,

Did you see that Al Sharpton, Mike Bloomberg, and Newt Gingrich came together today — and at the White House of all places?  The meeting was to discuss education equality and how to improve our nation’s schools.  It was a remarkable gathering and you can read about the event here: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/05/07/gingrich_bloomberg_and_sharpto.html?wprss=44

Trios are good. Sometimes individually great men combine to make something greater - like the Three Tenors, or even Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting singing “All for One [and All for Love]” on The Three Musketeers soundtrack.

This combination - unlike the two cited above - has a weak, embarrassing link. Gingrich could be a classic Kenny Rogers and Bloomberg one of those successful but ever-evolving David Bowie types. Sharpton, however, is not to be taken seriously. He’s a bit like the ukulele player Tiny Tim, God rest his soul.

Can you imagine what song we’d get from Kenny Rogers, David Bowie and Tiny Tim?

And you can see footage of the event here: http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0509/unlikely_trio_at_the_w_h_444542bd-4539-431b-abf6-f06fca3f1f77.html or here http://www.edequality.org

I’d rather hear the song.

The meeting was in advance of education equality day, which will feature thousands of people coming together to demand education equality in Washington DC on May 16th:  http://edequality.org/page/s/eepday

Let me know if you have any questions.

Here’s one: Why does anyone in education take Al Sharpton seriously? How quickly we’ve forgotten his actions in the Tawana Brawley case, his outright racism and his lifelong defense of his actions. Don’t bother Googling for Sharpton’s apologies to Stephen Pagones, the others he accused of rape, defilement and hatred, New York State or the public. He’s never uttered any.

And how spineless we’ve become, especially in public education, not to hold a man like Sharpton to account. Sharpton’s prominent involvement in education issues shows how weak the field of education leaders really is - and how badly we need some respectable, heroic leaders.

I’m getting tired of scoundrels like Al Sharpton, but I’m more tired of the milquetoasts who let it slide. I’ll pass on “Education Equality Day” in lieu of celebrating “High Standards and Integrity Day.”

Some of us celebrate that one every day. Do you?

WIntU, like others, offers a long list of degree programs and online degrees as well as individual courses that may or may not be transferable. They’re a larger operation with campuses from Arizona to India.

As I’ve written before, whether you personally are interested in online or distance education makes no difference. It doesn’t even matter whether it’s good or bad. What matters is that as a teacher, parent, student, or generally responsible person, you understand what’s out there - and especially what’s being sold to willing consumers.

Read the ads, pitches and websites for places like WIntU, regardless of your stance, if you want to keep on top of education. Tens of thousands of consumers do - and for their sake, you need to understand what these schools/businesses are about.

Greg Lippman and Jennifer Andaluz together provided the brains, muscle and elbow grease to found Downtown College Prep, the subject of Joanne Jacobs’ “Our School: The Inspiring Story of Two Teachers, One Big Idea, and the School That Beat the Odds”. To get the ball rolling, they created a small summer institute that would establish and test the themes that would drive DCP. From page 25:

“To connect with potential students and parents and try out their ideas, Lippman and Andaluz organized Summer Bridge, a free skill-building program for underachieving middle schoolers. Lippman’s parents donated the money for the program; San Jose State provided classroom space. Middle school counselors in San Jose recommended students, mostly Hispanic, who were struggling in school.

Expecting the usual summer snooze, Bridge students found themselves sweating through reading and math skills in an academic boot camp with Lippman and Andaluz as their drill sergeants. But, once they got over the shock, students got hooked on the attention and the sense of purpose. Their parents wanted more. Bridge parents began meeting with Lippman and Andaluz to discuss a charter high school.”

They did that without a fat, taxpayer-driven bank account. Makes you wonder what a public school with a $27,000 per-pupil budget is capable of - and why were aren’t seeing it.

Chapter 1 of Joanne Jacobs’ “Our School: The Inspiring Story of Two Teachers, One Big Idea, and the School That Beat the Odds” introduces San Jose’s Downtown College Prep, a charter school serving mostly Mexican immigrant families. DCP takes underperformers and develops them to succeed at a 4-year college or university. From page 9:

“”At DCP [Downtown College Prep], low achievers aren’t told they’re doing well; they’re told they can do better, if they work hard. The school doesn’t boost self-esteem with empty praise. Instead, Lippman and his teachers encourage what is known as “efficacious thinking,” the belief that what a person does has an effect. If you study, you’ll do better on the test than if you goof off. Work hard in school, and you can get to college. You have control over your future. So, stop making excuses and get your act together. The complete lack of sugarcoating may seem harsh to outsiders, but students seem to appreciate the honesty.”

Kids are the best fraud detectors alive. Honesty shows love and sincere concern. It’s no wonder that students at DCP - or anywhere, for that matter - prefer respectful honesty as they develop.