Thursday, September 14, 2006
Corner Seats
So, other than trying to change the definition of science and cast unwarranted doubt on evolutionary theory, how has the Kansas Board of Education been doing the last two years? .
About as well as you might expect, as it turns out.
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Adequate Yearly Progress scores, a form of testing required by the No Child Left Behind Act, nose dived in Kansas this year. The disclosure came at a League of Women Voters political forum featuring Republican incumbent John Bacon, part of the creationist majority since 2004, and his Democratic challenger, Don Weiss.
Bacon did not reveal the number of school districts that failed.
"What we're trying to do is make sense out of the information that we get and not overreact," Bacon said.He disclosed more schools need improvement this year than last.
"We anticipate that there are going to be several more schools 'on improvement' this year," Bacon said.Weiss said up to a third of Kansas school districts may fail to meet federal expectations and laid the failure on Bacon's doorstep.
"I find it hard to believe that a change of this magnitude could occur in a vacuum," Weiss said.
Weiss may not be taking into account the magnitude of vacuum between some ears.
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The best early line goes to Weiss, though:
I'm a little nostalgic today for the days when people made fun of Kansas just because of 'The Wizard of Oz.
