Thank You, CAPE; Thank You, Joe!

Make no mistake.  At its root, politics is all about power, understood as the ability of one individual or group to cause others to accept, or reconcile themselves to outcomes they would not otherwise have chosen. Some finesse power by offering various inducements, trade-offs, and compromises intended to garner voluntary compliance from would-be opponents. …

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Time, Space, and Schools

John receives a phone call from his doctor.

“I have your test results,” says the physician, “and they contain good news and bad news.  Which would you like to hear first?”

“Why don’t you give me the good news first,” says John.

“Well,” responds the physician, “the good news

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Hall of Famers

It was a very pleasant late summer evening. My parents were away in Chicago, and it had been three months since I obtained my driver’s license.   Hours earlier, in what later might be thought of as something of a Ferris Bueller moment, I had phoned a couple of friends and told my younger brother,…

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My Return to St. Genevieve

When I was in 8th grade, a friend of mine from Little League invited me to accompany his family to an event at his school.  At the time, I attended Robert Fulton Junior High School in Van Nuys, and he went to St. Genevieve, in neighboring Panorama City.  The occasion marked the first time…

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The All-Important Ombudsman

Although the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed into law nearly half a year ago, many of its key provisions won’t take effect until August, 2017.  For private school students and educators, the most important feature of the updated federal education law may well come in the form of a newly created position…

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