MichiBlogger

FAILING GRADE: Michigan schools report card: Not good

Fewer high schools in Michigan made adequate progress toward meeting requirements of federal No Child Left Behind laws, the state reported Friday.

In the last school year, 489 high schools didn’t made adequate progress, up from 399 in 2005-06. Fifteen of the schools have been closed by their local districts.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan said the results weren’t surprising because the state raised the standards to graduate from high school.

“We are seeing a momentary lag as we prepare for greater success down the road,” he said in a news release. “The reforms we’ve put into place need time to work.”

Let’s hope that’s the case. In any event, this merely reinforces my belief in homeschooling. Michigan is a great state to homeschool in.

Speaking of which, this week saw the 100th Carnival of Homeschooling. Check it out.

GR TO CHICAGO TRAIN: Amtrak train from GR collides with freight train

An Amtrak train plowed into the back of a freight train Friday on the south side of the city, seriously injuring five Amtrak employees in an engine car that hurtled to a stop atop a crushed boxcar. Most of the 187 passengers walked away.

HEADED TO IRAQ:

About 100 West Michigan Army Reservists left Thursday morning for their mission in Iraq.

They’re members of the 415th Civil Affairs Batallion out of Kalamazoo.

They’re scheduled to be there for a year.

Meanwhile: Army prioritizing 37,000 GIs for first combat tours

Over 40% of the active duty (not Reserve or Guard) US Army has never deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan.

THINGS WE COULDN’T SAY: Last night I had the pleasure of attending a presentation by Diet Eman, a member of the Dutch Resistance during World War 2. She currently lives in Grand Rapids and spoke to a packed room at the Homeschool Building in Wyoming.

It was quite something to hear about her experiences and exploits following the German invasion of the Netherlands in 1940. She helped hide Dutch Jews, she aided downed Allied pilots, she helped steal ID papers and ration cards for those in hiding, and she basically lived on the run until captured and imprisoned in 1944. Her fiance was killed. Canadian troops finally liberated the area in 1945.

She credits her Christian faith and God’s will for her success and survival. I believe that the things she did and the close calls she managed to escape were not mere coincidence or good fortune.

She refused an honorarium for speaking because of her strong support for homeschooling.

I bought a copy of her book Things We Couldn’t Say and it looks good. It was published by Eerdmans in Grand Rapids. Mrs. Eman was signing books, and I had her make it out to my wife who has read a number of WW2-era stories to our kids, including at least one on the Dutch Resistance. I’ll probably have some excerpts and additional comments once I get a chance to read it.

To hear her stories from her mouth in person was quite an experience. She told us that any of us would do the same thing in the same position, and I would like to believe it. But to hear her speak of what she did, I wonder.

OORAH: Pickpocket whupped by Marine pleads guilty

Jesse Daniel Rae, who was beaten up by a older Marine while he was trying to rob him, plead guilty to assault with intent to rob Wednesday.

Rae tried to rob Bill Barnes, 72, at a convenience store in Alpine Township in early summer. Barnes quickly got the upper hand on Rae, 27, and the incident was caught on surveillance cameras.

Rae will be sentenced January 28 and faces up to 15 years in prison.

BIG RAPIDS: 12-year-old pulls gun at school during dispute

A 12-year-old student at Crossroads Charter Academy allegedly pointed an unloaded gun on another student in a dispute over an iPod.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, MICHIGAN. Even though these aren’t exactly the best of times in our state, we’ve still got an awful lot to be thankful for.

Here’s hoping you’re able to have a great day of food, family, and fun.

INCIDENT AT THE PINEDALE SHOPPING MALL:

HOMESCHOOL BUZZ: Carnival of Homeschooling: Thanksgiving Week 2007.

And you don’t have to be a homeschooler to find these carnivals interesting. Lots of good informational stuff. Careful…you might learn something.

NOT GOOD: Detroit named nation’s most dangerous city

In another blow to the Motor City’s tarnished image, Detroit pushed past St. Louis to become the nation’s most dangerous city, according to a private research group’s controversial analysis, released Sunday, of annual FBI crime statistics.

Flint was third.

In today’s Detroit Free Press: It’s up to us to make city safer, group says