Well, I got a message from the RJ eForum webmaster. He is ALL upset that I would post and defend myself. He even says, I am the problem. Hey, I keep telling those dimwits DON'T READ MY STUFF, but, they can't stay away. They hang on every LETTER I type. Send me an Email = LVKen7@gmail.com

Was it in the RJ?

Desert Plastering has agreed to pay $1,147,921 in back wages to 1,060 current and former employees following a U.S. Dept. of Labor investigation. Investigators found that lathers, finishers, plasterers and estimators worked as many as 58 hours a week without overtime pay.

Why isn't THIS in the RJ? Send me an Email = LVKen7@gmail.com

Today's RJ letter to the editor about - Hiring illegals. I'd like to ask - A. Feodorov and S. Colshaw - why they didn't write about jailing those that hire illegals. Stop the jobs and they will quit coming. I sent an Email to John Stossel to ask HOW MUCH DO YOU PAY FOR YOUR HEALTH CARE INSURANCE? What does it cost YOU? He won't know, therefore won't answer. Send me an Email = LVKen7@gmail.com

Letters to the Editors - THE RJ SHOULD INCLUDE THE EMAIL ADDRESS OF THE WRITER, IF THEY WANT IT INCLUDED. That way we could get more information from them, and continue the discussion. But I guess the RJ would feel - if they did, they would LOSE CONTROL. Send me an Email = LVKen7@gmail.com

Growth - China economy grew 12% - First quarter 2007. Why does BuSh HATE China? There are 6 MILLION autos, in the world, that run on Natural Gas. China is converting Taxis and Buses, to cut pollution. Send me an Email = LVKen7@gmail.com

The RJ was ON A HATE ROLL TODAY. 1. SHERMAN FREDERICK: 'Mob hate' over Libby He doesn't believe in - Trial by Jury. 2. THOMAS MITCHELL: Digging for numbers on illegal immigration WE SHOULD HAVE A NATIONAL ID CARD. 3. The WEEDMAN - VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: Helping students become 'responsible citizens'? "early 1900s, when America embarked on our current imperial/mercantilist adventure -- that is, to churn out little soldiers and factory workers with mindless obedience drilled in and with the higher critical faculties burned out of them through the process of feeding them learning in small unrelated bits like pre-digested gruel, till they neither know how nor feel any inclination to discern higher patterns, which might lead them to challenge the "party line." Nobody can question the RJ quest to DO AWAY WITH THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. And replace it with ????? They never say. Send me an Email = LVKen7@gmail.com

UPDATED - BUSH GETS AN F OTHER LVKen7 Bloggers - you will LOVE.

BuSh gets an F http://f4bush.blogspot.com/ LVKen7@gmail.com

Bloggers are 19 years old today. DO YOU HAVE ONE? What is the address? Send me an Email = LVKen7@gmail.com

2 Things Health Care For ALL - The FIRST QUESTION to ask in ANY HCare discussion - How much to YOU pay for YOUR health care. THEY WILL NOT KNOW. You can decide which side of an issue to be on, but looking at WHO opposes it. HCare 4 ALL - BuSh and the RJ oppose it, SO WE KNOW IT IS SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE GOOD FOR THE PEOPLE. 2. Watch for Vin - the WEEDMAN - to Write a - Boo Hoo!!!! people hate me because I own a gun - article on Sunday. Send me an Email = LVKen7@gmail.com

RJ talks out of BOTH sides of their mouth. They SAY they want LESS Gov't, but they want to set up a whole new department to handle School Vouchers. VOUCHERS TAKE $$$$ away from PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Public Schools are one of the things that has made THIS THE BEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. Vouchers will destroy it. Send me an Email = LVKen7@gmail.com

RJ QUEST TO END PUBLIC SCHOOLS CONTINUES.

Same old – School Vouchers are good editorial,

with a new name.

EDITORIAL: Merit pay and the teaching profession

'You can't ignore which teachers are moving their students along well'

Performance-based pay and

advancement are routine in most industries.

In the armed forces, you don't become a sergeant or a captain based simply on how much time you have in or how many lectures you attend. Superior officers carefully document actual performance.

Salesmen on commission –

even cocktail waitresses vying for tips –

can tell from a quick glance at their take-home pay whether their work is pleasing their customers and thus their employers.

*** IT SHOULD READ –

Salesmen on commission –

ANYONE vying for tips –

can tell from a quick glance at their take-home pay whether their work is pleasing their customers and thus their employers.

EXCEPT DEALERS AT WYNN CASINO.

But teachers have long contended they're different.

"They're looking at this as if we're manufacturing automobiles," says Tennessee high school teacher Sandy Hughes, referring to those who would subject teachers to the kind of evaluation necessary to award raises and promotions based on merit.

"With children, you're working with unique individuals, all of whom have unique qualities. Our variables are so extensive," Ms. Hughes told The Associated Press at this week's convention of the National Education Association in Philadelphia.

In the past, kids and parents could tell you whether they "liked" an individual teacher. But the taxpayers are not funding a contest of popularity and charm.

The question was whether you could control for differences in student ability and background to determine how far children advanced while in the charge of a single teacher.

*** HUH????

With modern computer tracking of standardized tests, the answer is yes.

But rather than embrace this form of measurement, Nevada's teachers unions have fought tooth and nail in Carson City to bar this digital trail of student achievement from being used to backtrack and measure the relative impact of individual teachers.

It's not that way everywhere.

"It is expected that the No Child Left Behind law will be changed to require school systems to monitor the performance of individual students over time," The AP notes. "Right now, the law requires students in certain grades to be tested and then compares their scores to students in that grade the year before. Teachers say they would prefer a system that tracks individual students."

But once you measure that, "You can't ignore which teachers are moving their students along well," says Ross Wiener, who oversees policy issues at Education Trust, a Washington-based

group that advocates for poor and minority children.

"You have to be able to look at growth measures at the classroom level, so principals and other administrators understand which classrooms are accelerating student learning and which ones aren't," Mr. Wiener explains.

There's one group of teachers at the Philadelphia convention who not only support merit pay, but have helped put it in place, The AP reports. They teach in the

Denver school system, which just fully implemented a district-wide merit pay system.

Kim Ursetta is president of the Denver local of the NEA, and she reports the system works in Denver because

it's based on student test scores and

several other factors,

such as

teachers' annual reviews.

*** What are these – SECRET “other factors,”

She said in addition to relying on the reading and math scores used under No Child Left Behind, the merit pay system

also measures whether students

met other

goals set out by

teachers and administrators.

That's led to greater collaboration and more of a focus on raising student achievement, Ms. Ursetta says.

In the end, the real solution is competition.

If parents have the option of moving their children to schools that are producing better results, administrators not anxious to retire to the rocking chair will embrace performance measurements that enable them to upgrade their product, fast.

Send me an Email = LVKen7@gmail.com

In the RJ EDITORIAL: Medicare fraud - they had = "Thousands of elderly and disabled beneficiaries in those two regions have received power wheelchairs, walkers and other items they did not require. In other cases, sham businesses billed Medicare for equipment never ordered by a doctor nor delivered to a patient." Got it? The RJ believes items can be "received" that have NEVER BEEN "ordered", "nor delivered". The ONLY way that can happen is using RJ LOGIC. Send me an Email = LVKen7@gmail.com