elbales

So the US Dept. of Ed has these two lovely rules. To wit:

The U.S. Education Department has just issued a new rule saying disabled students who must use a calculator or other device when taking a test will be marked absent and their exam won't count under the nation's sweeping school reform law dubbed No Child Left Behind.

At the same time, schools are required by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to let students use such tools if they have a disability that impairs their ability to read or do math.

You just have to love our government.

Asshats.

OTOH, I ♥ Jon Carroll of the SF Chron. Today's column made me all happy.

Well, so this law says this, and the other law says that, which is a quandary. The apparent solution: You're the teacher; you figure it out. Now some school administrators are using the technique of trying to persuade disabled kids that they're not disabled. Oh heck, throw away that calculator, get up and walk! Faith-based education at its finest.

I have another solution: lying. If this administration has taught us one thing, it's that lying in pursuit of a higher goal is permissible. If they fake the science on birth control devices or clean air standards, it's not really a lie; it's voluntary distruthfulness. I think teachers should say, "Calculators? What calculators? I see no calculators." I think they should do that until someone sues someone, and we have a test case, because that's the way things are done these days. Y'all ready for some rigorous voluntary distruthfulness? Go to it.

I think we should hand out copies of this column to every K-12 teacher in the country. Yep.