TabbyCat

You use the phone? Vote for Scotty!

Really? 'Cause I thought Jordin pretty much screamed it. I'm hoping Scotty brings it home!

Methinks LG should consult a dermatologist about that giant black thingie on her face!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFd39ogKITE She does it justice, but I don't agree with your comparison.

Haley's second number was AWESOME!

Me too! And may I say--I am just NOT FOND of Lady Gaga. Though I really do like the song "Born This Way." I just don't get all the hype around her.

The competition is amazing this season! I didn't think Haley sounded as bad as the judges seemed to think. But unless she rips it apart on the second song tonight, I don't think this will end well for her. (Edit for spelling!)

I thought Lauren sounded great!

Scotty!! I can't wait until he gets to start singing some songs that are HIS! Oh, and I WANT J-Lo's outfit!!

While I agree, that doesn't address why the numbers of kids who don't pass has quadrupled.

If Newt Gingrich is the best the Republican party has to offer and there is even any remotely serious talk of making a choice between him and Trump, then there aren't enough available votes on the planet to prevent Obama's reelection.

This is not a new thing. It didn't start with this administration. In too many ways, "public education" has become "public daycare." We want to demand that the state teach our kids nothing but academics. But we can't escape the fact that our kids learn more than academics in public schools. I don't think there is any way to keep things "purely academic" at all times. But it is possible to keep them primarily academic, and yet our public schools have become places where kids learn less of what we sent them there to learn and more where they learn the things we never wanted them to

And I think that, while school should be "fun" for the younger ones, we do them no favors by telling them they still get the cookies if they don't eat their vegetables.

Not EXACTLY.

Consequences. Do they start at 14? Should there be no accountability until kids enter HS? It's not an isolated thing...it's a continuum. Accountability starts way before they're old enough to have cell phones and dates and a social life.

I have a problem with the label, but I would have no problem with ensuring that our students attain what would be considered an "education" anywhere else in the world. The US is so behind other countries in primary and secondary educational achievement. It ought to be as if not more important to anyone with kids in public school as the national debt. How is that debt ever paid if our young people can't compete in a global market?

If it's a "minimum standards" test, the test doesn't need to change. That would be a tragedy. But perhaps the curriculum does need to change. There are no easy answers. Certainly, a percentage of those who can't pass can be attributed to not trying, excessive absences, economic and/or family hardship...but the increase is just staggering. I do not advocate changing the standards. At all. Especially if they are "national standards." How embarrassing would it be if PC schools had a different test because national standards were "just too hard" for the kids who go to school there?

I have no child in PC schools, so this isn't a personal issue with me. But as someone who has taught for many years, I am concerned about it. What I don't understand is why so many folks are so willing to blame the students when the failure rate has more than quadrupled in just 3 years? I would be questioning the quality of the education the kids are getting if they can't pass this supposedly "minimum skills" test at least as much if not more than I would be questioning the motivation of any individual student. Maybe the standards have been raised, and it's time for the curricu

I think some parents ought to show a little more compassion for the concerns of other parents, even if they don't completely agree. Oh, and learn to write grammatically before they poke at other people's intelligence or that of their kids.

I vote for Loving You. Really, really LOUDLY. Loud enough to shatter glass (theirs) when she hits those horrid, out-of-tune high notes!

Or is pcom reaaaaaaallly draaaaaaggging tonight? (I mean navigating and posting--not the volume of posts!)

I'm ignoring mine. I silenced it by burying it under a pile of junk mail and unread magazines. Shhhhh. I don't want you to stir it.

Tilapia tacos on corn tortillas with chopped onion, avocado slices, cilantro, and tomatillo salsa. Mexican rice and frijoles charros.

Obama and Gingrich would be evenly matched in regards to their hubris.