Hello again- just back from a week's vacation camping in the Adirondacks. We had a lovely time, thank you.

One of the first things to great me was the WSJ headline in the stack of newspapers and mail:

"Wide Racial Gap In State Schools\ Disparity In Students' Reading, Math Scores Exceeds National Average Gap"

Results from the 2007 NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) show that Wisconsin has the largest gap in performance between minority and white students. Wisconsin's large achievement gap isn't news, we have been aware of this issue for some time. But the NAEP results frame this result in national terms and will hopefully spur some statewide discussion and action. While other states have been making significant progress on this issue, Wisconsin seems to be falling behind.


The decision to eliminate the board committees has generated some discussion here, on Doug Wood's Blog and in the Herald-Independent. It's been repeated that committees contribute to "factionalism" but my experience on this board has been that the board does its best work on committees - issues are more thoroughly examined and have wider support when they have been through the committee process and don't come directly to the board.

BTW, the H-I's website has been significantly updated. Adam and the staff are doing a good job making it a much more current and interactive resource for the community. Check it out!