On June 5th, in an amazingly simple move guided by my computer-savvy son (although I soon realized I could have done it alone), I began to comment on line about the "South's Oldest Daily Newspaper." Clearly, a certain amount of arrogance might have driven me to such an extreme, but actually, it was annoyance.The P & C's coverage of various items had been driving me crazy ever since I moved back to the Charleston area from Texas. The Caller-Times had been such a horrible excuse for a newspaper that I looked forward to better journalism. Well, the P & C probably is slightly better, but either it improved in retrospect, or it has declined in quality since I last read it on a regular basis. So, that first posting, prompted by an article like many others to come, presented my questions (and opinions) concerning the ParaPro and TAs in CCSD.
People write because there is something that they find important enough to write about. Over the last year my postings have ranged from CCSD to traffic to NCAA high school diploma mills to illegal aliens to global warming to Anglicans, but my focus and commenters keep me coming back to education.
What has pleased me the most is finding a community of like-minded people. I would hope that the Newsless Courier can continue to function for its community as (in no particular order) lessons in history, bulletin board, listening post, call to action, place to blow off steam, and force for positive change. What has happened so far reminds me in a small way of the Russian Revolution--of 1989, not 1914. Opponents of the Soviet regime found each other and successfully coordinated their information and actions through access to fax machines!
Let's do it with the Web!
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17 comments:
Today is also the anniversary of the end of the still remarkable popular Chinese uprising and protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Though it ended tragically, it proved that "The whole world IS watching!", as it should be. Happy 1st birthday. Thanks for giving us this opportunity to vent, rant and even rave, but mostly to advance education reform in Charleston.
Congratulations Babbie! I'm sure this blog has turned into much more than you ever expected it to be. We appreciate what you have done. Maybe one day we will see racial equality in District 20. Perhaps this blog will improve the behavior of Gregg Meyers, Sallie Ballard, Janet Rose, Toya Hampton Green and all of the other people that have neglected the children of downtown Charleston.
...and isn't it strange that Sallie Ballard lives downtown? Where is her sense of community? By protecting the fake address parents she has really hurt many of her neighbors. Each time she let in a child with a falsified address she doomed another child to this separate and unequal downtown system.
Occasionally an underprivileged minority child somehow made it into Buist. Did she go the extra mile for those vulnerable children the way she did for the girls that threatened the lives of a teacher and other Buist students?
I'm confused. Is this blog about the CCSD or the P&C? Do you now anything about either subject?
To 8:44 pm:
Please tell us, you MUST know more than you're telling. Educate us.
I think it's great that your blog keeps "coming back to education," Babbie...and Happy Birthday, as well.
We should ALL be more concerned about the lack of education taking place in our schools AND in our newspaper.
Okay, what happened to 8:44? I was hoping to hear from you by now-
In the meantime, maybe some of the others on the blog could help educate you on CCSD...
So what's the answer to my 8:44 questions?
I would suggest that 8:44 pm do some reading. Certainly the context found within this blog should help answer those two questions and many more. This blog is about both P&C and CCSD, among other things. Those issues intersect when the local paper fails to do investigative reporting. CCSD spends a lot of public money on a job that will determine how competative this community is in the future. That's a subject that should be of critical importance to the general public. There is considerable doubt that CCSD is doing its job properly and the city's only daily newspaper is not covering the issue very well. The collective knowedge of those reading and contributing is expanding everyone's knowledge. Any contribution 8:44 might make is welcomed, but be aware that this is a wide open debate and not a closed one-way lecture like county school board meetings. That's the only synopsis I'm giving. Now start reading on your own. That's our problem in Charleston, we've become too comfortable with so-called experts telling us only what they think we need to know or will understand. On this blog we're doing our homework, sharing the results and, like good scholars, we're questioning authority, especially when it's assumptions are wrong or it's power has been abused.
So what's the answer to the second question?
To 9:43 (and 8:44) Most of the people who have posted on this blog have demonstrated that they are informed and experienced users of both the P&C and CCSD. That makes them qualified. You sound like an obtuse member of the current county school board. What is it about an answer that you don't understand? Frankly, this is exactly how Gregg Meyers questions people. He isn't interested in the answer. He just badgers the witness. What's your next question?
Thank you. Your answer makes perfect sense: you're clearly not qualified to criticize anyone.
Hey, 6:27 - maybe Gregg is the questioning one! Ha!
That would be quite comical to think Mr. Meyers is reading this blog. If you're out there, Mr. Meyers...where DO you live?
I'm confused Mr./Ms."What's this blog about"-
You didn't ask if we were qualified to criticize anyone, yet you clearly believe you are. Does your mommy know you're on her computer? What are you? Twelve?
Uh-oh. Rev. Darby is not going to be happy this morning. I wonder how many days it will be before the P&C gives him another spread on the commentary page. 3 days? 4 days? He's writing his rebuttal to Sandi Engleman's letter to the editor as I type this. Hell, he's probably already on the phone with the editors.
Either way, thank you, Sandi!
I couldn't make it through Diette's article this morning. Did anyone finish reading it?
I skimmed it. It was so sweet it was nauseating. I had to quit when I read how she "saved Burke".
I know this sounds like a backhanded compliment, but when I read Sandi Engelman's letter in the paper this morning I found myself in full agreement as I was reading it. I was totally floored when I read who wrote it. I'm a card carrying Democrat and I still agree with it 100%. Well said, Sandi! My apologies for not realizing sooner that you are in tune with the issues and shame on Joe Darby for his bigotry.
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