10 NOV 05: TAKE A DROP
Another report came out Wednesday on the quality of education in our area - and again it wasn't nice. The U.S. Education Department found both Alabama and Georgia rank among the worst ten states in high school dropout rates. This should make the job fair for that new T.G.I. Fridays restaurant very competitive....
The federal report shows as of the 2002-03 school year, Alabama ranked 42nd among the states in the percentage of high school students graduating on time. Georgia was even lower, placing 48th. But when it takes more than two years to figure this out, don't you wonder about the education of the researchers?
(These rankings mean Alabama has a higher graduation rate in Georgia - yet a study we mentioned here 4 Nov rated Georgia as a smarter state. How many physical education classes can Alabama students take?)
Both Alabama and Georgia have graduation rates between 60 and 70 percent. That means about one-third of all high school students drop out at some point. If this trend continues, Muscogee County may be able to move graduation ceremonies to the RiverCenter - and I mean something smaller than the Bill Heard Theatre.
But Muscogee County School District officials had a quick explanation for the high dropout numbers. For one thing, they say the Southern "lifestyle" is a factor. What's that supposed to mean? Are guys too busy detailing their pickup trucks to do homework?
Another excus - oops, explanation - by Muscogee County School officials is that there's no national method for checking transfer students. If students move to a new district and can't be tracked down, they're considered dropouts. As if some of these teenagers actually DON'T have wireless phones?!
Muscogee County School officials note a lot of students transfer out of the district, and that can inflate the dropout rate. But wait a minute here -- isn't Georgia one of the leading states in population growth? It's hard to believe that families tow mobile homes here, then shift them around every few months.
WRBL listed some of the things which can get a Georgia high school student declared a "dropout." Some of the reasons almost seem unfair, to both the student and the school district:
+ Going to an "adult school," such as a college. But going to Columbus Tech can make you a lip-syncing TV star.
+ Marriage. Talk about a slap, at a longstanding Alabama tradition....
+ Joining the military. Only in America can someone go from dropout to hero, after a few weeks of basic training at Fort Benning.
(Hmmmm -- if you join the military, you're considered a high school dropout? Which President came up with that idea, Bush or Clinton?)
E-MAIL UPDATE: Last Sunday's discussion of "Stupid Is" signs to stop Schomberg Road speeders brought this response:
Richard,
I have to agree with the speeder signs. So many people get in such a hurry they forget the tragedy that could be waiting around the corner. None of us are immune to tragic accidents, so anything that will make people slow down and be cautious is a good idea to me! It is "stupid" to speed like that, the life you could save by slowing down could be your own. In England, from where I hail, the drivers are notoriously awful. I always dread having to drive anyplace when I go home for the holidays. Anti-speeding laws are completely overlooked.
A little side note; My wife and I were having dinner last night at Houlihan's downtown and guess who we saw again? That beautiful long-legged woman we saw Bobby Peters eating dinner with quite a while back. She wasn't with Peter's this time though, she was with a military officer and another lady who was carrying camera equipment. From the looks of it they were celebrating the officer's return from Iraq. He was quite a lucky man! I wonder what happened to Peters?
Charles
There's an obvious question which springs to mind here, Charles. Are the English drivers "awful" because they're always driving on the left-hand side of the road?
I actually drove a rental car on a trip to England in the early 1990's, and didn't consider the native drivers that bad. But I felt like sticking a U.S. flag out my window, so they might have some mercy on me.
My biggest hassle with driving in Britain was all the one-way streets. It actually took me about 45 minutes to get out of central London on a Sunday afternoon, because a maze of one-way roads was almost impossible for me to sort through. Not to mention the distracting shops selling "Ohio Fried Chicken...." [True!]
Leave it to Charles to once again bring up one of Columbus's favorite spectator sports. You know, watching the women around Judge Bobby Peters....
A group of Fort Benning soldiers did come home from Iraq last weekend. So who knows, maybe one of Judge Bobby Peters's female friends went for someone in the military - and maybe a flak jacket is a more romantic outfit than a judicial robe.
"What happened to Peters?" Charles asks. Ooh boy - I'm tempted to mention something about the judge, which was passed on to me several weeks ago. But I've already been threatened with legal action once this week....
The only recent big discovery I've had about Judge Bobby Peters came a couple of weeks ago, when a "For Rent" sign was posted outside his First Avenue home. I'm not sure if he's offering office space to attorneys, while he's in court during the day - or if you can now take joyrides in his classic T-Bird.
Now for more items from a warm, wondrous Wednesday:
+ The "Great Safety Adventure" house arrived in Columbus. For some of us, a "great safety adventure" occurs every time we try to drive at the speed limit on the freeway....
+ Talbot County Commissioners closed a filthy and rundown recreation center, for an estimated two weeks of renovations. Or as they're saying at nearby Home Depot stores - jackpot.
(Some residents are wondering why Talbot County didn't use sales tax money to keep the recreation center in better condition. Perhaps commissioners were too busy buying flak jackets for bridge-building crews, so they wouldn't be shot.)
+ Blaine Stewart announced he's signed a new one-year contract to stay at WRBL. I will repeat in public what I wrote to him in an online comment: Yippee! Another year of material! Yippee!
+ Aruba's government filed a complaint with the U.S. State Department, over Alabama Governor Bob Riley's call for a boycott. You can understand why this complaint was filed - because only liberal Democrats are supposed to use this approach.
(OK, a show of hands here - how many of you had planned to visit Aruba in the next year? How many have ever BEEN to Aruba? How many didn't know where it was, until cable news channels started showing it every day?)
+ The Opelika-Auburn News reported Auburn University football player Kevin Sears has been suspended for this weekend's Georgia game, after he was arrested for drunk driving. Sears plays on the defense, so his court appearance will feel a bit familiar....
+ Former Alabama running back Shaun Alexander told "The 700 Club" it's easy to be a Christian in the National Football League. Step one: don't join your teammates on party boats. Step two: don't be greedy and.... oops, wait a minute. He DID stay away from Seattle's training camp for awhile last July, didn't he?
+ Atlanta's Bobby Cox was a landslide winner of the National League Manager of the Year award. He certainly earned it this past season - for seemingly winning a division title with more rookies than the Columbus Police Department.
(If only Bobby Cox had won the World Series! He might have been asked to pull a Bobby Howard - and become head coach of the Atlanta Hawks.)
+ Instant Message to KFC: Why do you call your bowls "famous?" I don't recall them being on the menu before this fall. And the board I saw Wednesday night didn't give the bowls famous names like Rose or Orange.
COMING SOON: A place in Columbus where doors have become tables....
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