Category Archives: Whimsy

Time waits for no one…

Posted on November 10, 2013 by axooms

I started blogging regularly in the Fall of 2008. When I set up this website I put a reminder note in my calendar: on my fifth anniversary, I would step back and reflect on this work, and decide if it … Continue reading →

Posted in Whimsy | Leave a comment

Colorado Education’s Little Man Complex

Posted on May 22, 2013 by axooms

Anyone who follows education policy knows that many programs are oversold. Initiatives and bills are touted as groundbreaking, landmark, and unprecedented — often well in advance of any ground broken, land marked, or precedent undone. This is generally part of … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiscal & Economic, Politics, Whimsy | 1 Comment

Michael Bennet and Educational Re-Gifting

Posted on January 5, 2013 by axooms

Current United States Senator and former DPS Superintendent Michael Bennet is the subject of a Maureen Dowd column in the New York Times.  One has to overcome Dowd’s unfortunate fetish for both absurd analogy (Vail’s ski cliffs) and odd personal … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiscal & Economic, School Performance, Whimsy | Tagged | Leave a comment

The mixed gift of time

Posted on December 7, 2012 by axooms

That Colorado was one of several states that will increase the time students spend in school was considered big enough news to make the front page of the Denver Post; luckily a more reasoned look detailed that this program includes just … Continue reading →

Posted in School Performance, Whimsy | Leave a comment

SchoolChoice and the Marriage Problem

Posted on October 16, 2012 by axooms

One of the biggest changes last year in DPS was the implementation of the SchoolChoice program, which matches candidates with schools by using an efficient algorithm so that there are no two students who would trade places. That this was … Continue reading →

Posted in Engagement, Fiscal & Economic, Innovation, Whimsy | Leave a comment

I Have Met Finland and It Is Not U.S.

Posted on September 6, 2012 by axooms

I’ve always been amused by the comparisons of the US Educational system with that of Finland. For starters, Finland has about 5.5 million people, about the same as Cook County IL — and a glance at Wikipedia notes that Finland … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiscal & Economic, Poverty, School Performance, Whimsy | Leave a comment

Graduation day poem

Posted on May 18, 2012 by axooms

Earlier in my life, I studied modern American poetry.  One of the contemporary poets I really like was Dorianne Lux, who wrote the following.  To all of Colorado’s high school graduates – congratulations. Books by Dorianne Laux You’re standing on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Whimsy | Leave a comment