When we were in Bali in February we purchased a set of “Hear no Evil, See no Evil, Speak no Evil” figurines. When we got home we realized we had been given two “Speak’s” and no “See’s”. This led me to ponder – should we really endeavor to see no evil? I suppose in the Buddhist tradition one would
The Mystery of the Black Box
The black box is usually associated with tragedy. However, this post is not about airplane accidents. It is about wasted opportunities and undefined steps. There is a cartoon that shows a blackboard full of calculations. The calculations on the left hand side are, presumably, Step One and those on the right hand side must be Step Three. Between
Reasons and Excuses, Bali Edition
My grandfather used to say “reasons are not excuses,” meaning that just because you have a reason, don’t expect that to function as an excuse to relieve you of the consequences of your actions. I used to plan our family vacations down to the gnat’s eyelash. For each trip I would make a binder that functioned as a
Reasons, Excuses, Rationalizations
My mother recently had a fence replaced. The “Fence Guy” was a self-employed franchisee for a national chain. When he did not show up on the appointed day my mother left three unreturned messages before complaining to the franchisor. Fence Guy eventually called back and said he was behind and he would be there in three weeks.
Fave Five
A message presented with humor and imagination is the common theme in these wonderful blogs. A brand new blog that immediately drew my attention is Movie Hugs Will Kill You. Tim’s charming and engaging wry humor is launched at those things in everyday life made worse by unrealistic expectations. The Idiot Economist explains economics to the rest of us.
Billion with a “B” for iPads
I highly recommend the following commentary in the LA School Report: If iPads are the answer, what’s the question? The author interviewed tech savvy LA Unified students, who also happen to be in the target demographic for the iPad purchase (students of color in south LA and Watts). One of the student responds: “What I’m struggling to
Resources for Aspiring School Business Leaders
Continuing my series for future school business leaders, I offer short commentaries on some of the most useful technical and policy resources for California school business aspirants. In no particular order, here they are: 1. School Services of California. This is a subscription service. If you are in California it is likely that your school district is a
Not Usual
He is a senior silicon valley executive. She is an analyst in a governmental agency. Their third grade daughter cannot read. He is an abusive deadbeat dad who hides his assets and pays no child support. She is a low wage earner barely scraping by. Their eighth grade daughter is one of the top students in
Size Matters
In the course of my career I have occasionally heard some unsavory “us versus them” talk. Teachers versus non teachers Certificated versus classified Management versus non-management School versus district Parents versus school administration Some discussions of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) resort to this rhetoric, most notably the “school versus district” polarity. I have previously mentioned the