Send this to Rick Snyder!

Long time teacher cheerleaders Dave Eggers (What is the What, The Wild Things) and Ninive Clements Calegari (co-founders of 826 National) offer a solid op-ed, "The High Cost of Low Teacher Salaries," in Sunday's NY Times. To attract, and keep, better teachers, the US ought to model what Finland, Singapore, and South Korea do:

Turns out these countries have an entirely different approach to the profession. First, the governments in these countries recruit top graduates to the profession. (We don’t.) In Finland and Singapore they pay for training. (We don’t.) In terms of purchasing power, South Korea pays teachers on average 250 percent of what we do.

And most of all, they trust their teachers. They are rightly seen as the solution, not the problem, and when improvement is needed, the school receives support and development, not punishment. Accordingly, turnover in these countries is startlingly low: In South Korea, it’s 1 percent per year. In Finland, it’s 2 percent. In Singapore, 3 percent.

How do we pay for it? Same way we've paid for wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. We just do it.

He's American?!? What's left to dislike?

Tom Toles gets it.

Breaking News! Our president is an American!

Take that, Donald Trump and fellow wing-nuts. Want your own copy? Here it is.

Today in History: THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS and something else

Ladies and gentlemen of good taste: Today is They Might Be Giants Awareness Day. Don't let your loved ones go to bed this evening without seeing this important video:



Also, today marks the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl. No connection implied.

This is a D-Bag-Free Zone

Careful, kids! Don't refer to your principal as a "douche bag" (or even a hipster d-bag, I suppose). A federal appeals court in New York upheld a school's decision to discipline a student for referring to an administrator in this regard - on blog written off school grounds.

The upside to this is knowing a group of highly educated judges had a lengthy discussion about douche bags.

Inflated Grades? Or Inflated Course Titles?

Interesting read in today's NY Times: High schools that offer "honors" classes don't always provide students with a rigorous curriculum. On the other hand, in schools where official Advanced Placement courses are offered, the number of students who did not pass the AP exams jumped from 36.4 to 42.5 percent in ten years.

Why the significant increase? For one, more schools are encouraging "average" students to take these rigorous courses. In return, many students receive a "bump" that inflates their overall GPA. AP is reaching more minority students in urban settings, too, and many of these students take the exams at a reduced fee or at no cost. As a result, they're taking a more challenging class, but succeeding on the exams at the rate of students who've taken pre-AP courses.

Across Five April Concerts: Paul Thorn

Paul Thorn (right) and guitarist Bill Hinds at the Pepsi Stadium Club, April 15

I just don't know how this guy doesn't have a bigger fan base. Paul Thorn snuck into the Pepsi Stadium Club at Fifth Third Ballpark on April 15 and played a rock steady set for an enthusiastic, sold-out crowd. I happened to catch his act three years ago in Louisville, and have been a fan ever since. His latest CD, Pimps and Preachers, is a prime example of Thorn's soul-filled songwriting. Thorn tells great stories in his songs and on stage, with a bit of homespun wisdom added for good measure. Ever the gentlemen, Thorn and his band stuck around after the show to talk with fans and sign autographs.

If Paul Thorn shows up in your town, see him. Period.

Today's younger generation: "I'm so vain"

Just another reason to go back to your 1980s music collection. Today's college and high school students are increasingly narcissistic and, as a result, more likely to be lonely and depressed. How do we know? Why, look no further than the Billboard Hot 100, says Dr. Nathan DeWall of the University of Kentucky:

Now, after a computer analysis of three decades of hit songs, Dr. DeWall and other psychologists report finding what they were looking for: a statistically significant trend toward narcissism and hostility in popular music. As they hypothesized, the words “I” and “me” appear more frequently along with anger-related words, while there’s been a corresponding decline in “we” and “us” and the expression of positive emotions.

more after the jump

Florida responds: "Right back atcha!"

East Grand Rapids native - and possible inspiration for American Pie's Stiffler - allegedly killed a guy in Florida over a bar tab.

Thanks, Florida!

"Pastor" Terry Jones

Wing-nut Pastor Yosemite Sam (Terry Jones) is in Michigan to protest something that doesn't exist in Michigan: Sharia Law. He warned us that he'd be packing heat, too. Last night, his gun "accidentally" went off.

Pastor Terry Jones, Thursday night, in Southfield, MI

A Visit From the Goon Squad wins Pulitzer

Jennifer Egan's exploration of "growing up and growing old in the digital age" wins the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Well deserved. Buy a copy via this link and a wee bit of the proceeds goes to books for my students.

I had the same problem at Eastern Kentucky University

BYU's Jimmer Fredette has been asked not to go to class. He's too distracting.

Flip Flopped

Well, crud. Cisco announced it will no longer make the Flip video camera. Smartphones have killed another cool gadget.

Education Windbag of the Week: Tom Watson

Former Michigan Superintendent of Schools Tom Watson compares public schools to the Ford Motor Company, suggesting the schools need to change.

That's it. No details, just a need to change.

Well, duh!

Seriously, enough already comparing public schools to manufacturing. Schools, unlike manufacturers, don't choose their "raw materials."

And Watson held that position from 2001-2005. Funny how he doesn't mention what happened during his tenure that led public schools down this troubled road.

Across Five April Concerts, Gig Three: The Civil Wars

The Civil Wars: Joy Williams and John Paul White

Two years ago, Joy Williams and John Paul White performed for the first time as The Civil Wars. Last night, in front of a packed house at Calvin College, they celebrated their two-year anniversary with a superb set of original songs and covers that highlighted their gorgeous harmonies. They revived a rather lackluster Festival of Faith and Music.

Opening band The Sleep Experiments, winner of this year's Bandspotting contest, earned the right to open last night's show, and proceeded to live up to their name. Nice vocals, decent harmonies, but songs that drifted aimlessly. As with Thursday's artists, this Pittsburgh band made little connection with the audience, preferring to play with their looping effect boxes instead.

Thankfully, The Civil Wars hit the stage running, and were genuinely moved by the capacity crowd's enthusiastic response. Williams played the role of a sultry, flirtatious songstress while John Paul White countered with his crisp voice and supple guitar. In addition to playing their entire catalog, The Civil Wars breathed new life into covers of "You Are My Sunshine", the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back", and Smashing Pumpkins' "Disarm". As they sang "Disarm you with a smile," The Civil Wars did just that to their biggest audience yet.

Across Five April Concerts, The Second Gig: Matisyahu and My Brightest Diamond

Every other year, Calvin College holds its Festival of Faith and Music, always a great opportunity to hear up-and-coming bands in an incredibly polite atmosphere. This year, Jewish hip-hop rapper Matisyahu headlined Thursday's show, after opener My Brightest Diamond. Both acts had high spots, but never really reached a peak with the audience.

My Brightest Diamond at Calvin's Festival of Faith and Music

My Brightest Diamond (Shara Worden), occasional Sufjan Steven's collaborator, played a six-song set featuring bluesy vocals and plenty of looped guitar effects (a recurring theme this year). The highlight of her set was a gritty cover of Prince's "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" However, without any backing band, her set lacked the full sound of her recordings.

Matisyahu

The same was true of Matisyahu's two-hour set, featuring the rapper and two guitarists, both with plenty of guitar effects. Most of his songs fell into an opening verse - chorus - guitar solo/noodling ala Phish - beatboxing - uncertain conclusion pattern. Matisyahu's writing, freestyling, and beatboxing are awesome (listen to Live at Stubbs for evidence), but Thursday's set was aimless. There was no setlist, no passion. After just two songs, Matisyahu left stage to relieve himself, leaving one of his sidemen to perform. Not what the crowd really expected to hear.

Yesterday in History

Missed posting this by a few minutes. Still remember watching Al Downing give up this Hammerin' Hank blast in 1974. Hank Aaron: Baseball's true home run king. No asterisk necessary.

Another reason for teachers to follow Bristol's footsteps

The number of online classes offered in public schools is increasing. Some of these "virtual high school" offerings allow students to take courses that their school can't provide: an Advanced Placement Chinese Language class, for example. But many of them are now used as actual required classes. Michigan students must complete "at least one course or learning experience that is presented online."

However, there is no evidence that proves these online courses are comparable to face-to-face classes. Why should you be concerned? Follow the money:

Like other education debates, this one divides along ideological lines. K-12 online learning is championed by conservative-leaning policy groups that favor broadening school choice, including Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education, which has called on states to provide all students with “Internet access devices” and remove bans on for-profit virtual schools.

Public funds - our tax dollars - sucked out of the system so a handful can make a profit off an unsound educational practice.  I should've been a teenage mom.

My Next Career Move Will Be. . .

. . . pregnant teen daughter of a Republican VP candidate. Bristol "Do as I say, not as I did" Palin raked in over $260,000 in 2009 as spokesperson for The Candie's Foundation.

New from Boeing: The Convertible 737!

Boeing says they "didn't expect cracks" in their 737s so soon. I have a problem with them EXPECTING cracks! At any time!

Here's Tom Toles take:

Across Five April Concerts: Old 97's and Teddy Thompson

Mrs. PastaWall and I are taking in five shows this month. Yes, five. I will remember these fondly when I run out of retirement funds at age 66.

Show Number One will be hard to top. After a great steak dinner at St. Elmo's Steak House in downtown Indianapolis, we headed to the Broad Ripple district of northern Indy, just east of Butler University, to hear Dallas' Old 97's and London's Teddy Thompson.

Old 97's

In just over 90 minutes, Rhett Miller and Co. delivered a fast-paced, furious 28-song set that blew away everyone inside The Vogue. Opening with the title track from their latest, Grande Theatre, Vol. 1 (a second volume drops in July), Old 97's let the music do the talking. After all, as bassist Murry Hammond remarked, "It's a school night. . . less talk, more rock!" 

And they did. I admit I've arrived late to the Old 97's party and don't have as much knowledge of their back catalog as I should, but I haven't seen a show with such unbridled energy in years. "Here's to the Halcyon", "A State of Texas", "Mama Tried", "Champaign, Illinois", and "Every Night is Friday Night" simply rocked. Here's hoping they hit Michigan in the near future.

more after the jump. . .