Teachers deserve a share of TPS success

9/4/2005

Eight molasses-coated Lemmon Drops to nibble on while waiting for the University of Toledo to have a home football game on a Saturday afternoon:

  • A letter from a teacher in Toledo Public Schools was published Tuesday in the Readers Forum. She complained that administrators, buildings, and students were given all of the credit for our success that is, the school district achieving continuous improvement status for the second year in a row.

    She made a good point: Teachers were blamed when the district was in academic emergency ; so they deserve credit for the recent success.

    You do deserve a pat on the back, TPS teachers. Good job.

    That being said, I remember when I criticized teachers for their role in the academic emergency morass, more than a few sent me harshly worded e-mails, in which they blamed everyone but themselves for the district s woes. Teachers can t have it both ways.

  • Little did we know what lay ahead when we read this headline in the Aug. 26 edition of The Blade: 2 people killed, 1 million lose power as Hurricane Katrina whips Florida.

    Three days later, the same hurricane almost brought our country to its knees.

  • Memo to those who attended Tuesday s four-candidate mayoral debate, which was televised by WTOL-TV, Channel 11: Thank you for not interrupting the engaging, fast-paced proceedings with partisan applause.

  • My scorecard had Carty Finkbeiner as the clear winner of the debate. He was Reagan-esque in using self-deprecating humor to his advantage.

  • With Mr. Finkbeiner practically lapping the field (according to a poll commissioned by The Blade and WTVG-TV, Channel 13), I m offering some free advice for the other three major candidates as they prepare for Tuesday s showdown on WTVG, the final televised debate before the Sept. 13 primary.

    Toledo Mayor Jack Ford? Lose the reading glasses and speak from your heart, not from your notes.

    Toledo City Councilman Rob Ludeman? Show us the fire in your belly, assuming you have any, and repeat your Put Progress Before Politics slogan often.

    Keith Wilkowski? Wipe the sweat from your face at 6:59 two words: Richard Nixon and continue to suggest that it will be politics as usual if Mr. Finkbeiner, Mr. Ford, or Mr. Ludeman is elected.

  • Too bad that $3-a-gallon gas prices are the motivation, but it s nice to see all the new faces on my TARTA bus rides to and from work.

  • Traffic flow through the city s busiest intersection, Glendale Avenue and Byrne Road, has been slowed considerably due to a construction project. Similarly, orange barrels are out in at least three other high-traffic areas of the city.

    Too many times, though, we drive past these projects and there s not a worker in sight. I don t know if it has anything to do with the amount of road work being done simultaneously, but the focus on individual projects does seem lacking.

    As our TARTA driver said Thursday as we made our way through the congestion, They re working everywhere, but they re not getting anything done.

  • According to the Farmers Almanac, our winter is supposed to be snowy but mild. I ve made it through eight Ohio winters without buying a snow-blower, but my resolve, which is rooted in bullheadedness rather than logic, may be weakening.