Cartoon of the Day

Totatly on point. Click to enlarge, via.

Gay student & developmentally disabled sent to fake prom

By GottaLaff

So many words come to mind after reading this: Cowards. Discrimination. Hate. Ignorance. Pain. Shame. Wrong. Segregation. Tears. Reprehensible. Deception. Sneaky. Bullies. And several others that are unprintable....

To avoid Constance McMillen bringing a female date to her prom, the teen was sent to a "fake prom" while the rest of her class partied at a secret location at an event organized by parents.

What must this be doing to Constance? I can't even imagine, even though I can actually relate somewhat, because I went through a lot of bullying when I was a teeny, skinny, shy teen. But she seems to be one strong kid, stronger than most:

McMillen tells The Advocate that a parent-organized prom happened behind her back — she and her date were sent to a Friday night event at a country club in Fulton, Miss., that attracted only five other students. Her school principal and teachers served as chaperones, but clearly there wasn't much to keep an eye on.

This next part will add to your current nausea:

Two students with learning difficulties were among the seven people at the country club event, McMillen recalls.

I work with special ed kids all the time. They are wonderful, sweet, and do nobody any harm. These are people, with feelings, who are being treated as if they have none, who are being looked on as less important, as something so offensive, so contemptible, that they have to be hidden away.

I can't imagine how "branded" these seven students must feel, and what an indelible imprint this has made, regardless of how courageous they may seem to us, or how big her smile is in that photo (go read the whole piece; Constance is an amazing, positive teen).

They hurt.

And I hurt for them.

H/t: BetseyB, Greg Ostravich

TPC EXCLUSIVE: Sarah Palin snubs teachers at school event

By GottaLaff

This poll will be meaningless if Grabby McEarmarks continues to behave through 2012 as she did at the school event described further down:

According to The Mudflats, Iowa and New Hampshire voters are already getting phone calls asking for their impressions about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R).

One interesting question is whether respondents in the two early presidential voting states thought it was important that Palin was re-elected as governor in 2010.

Meanwhile, Commenter Marti sent me an e-mail that reveals what we here at TPC already know about Miss Congeniality:

After hearing about Palin saying she wants to turn down about one-third of the Stimulus dealing with education, special ed, extended unemployment benefits I emailed some AK teacher friends since I retired from teaching in Juneau awhile back and continue friendships there. I was curious about the teacher reaction to her announcement. I found out she announced it as the teachers were going on Spring Break and many didn't hear about it. I think they call that Political Timing.

I did see that there was a demonstration on the Capitol steps on Saturday. [I posted about that here] I think the governors turning down the Stimulus know that it can be instated without them so aren't worried about public outrage.

I mentioned her comment about Pres. Obama's whoopsie Special Olympics remark and how it seemed hypocritical to me that she would turn down the special ed funding. My friend said Gov. Palin doesn't even support the Special Olympics in AK.

My friend told me that several weeks ago they were holding Read Across America in their school and since Piper goes there that they asked Gov. Palin to come and read to the children. My teacher friend and another teacher friend were asked to greet Gov. Palin at the door and escort her to the gym. She told me the blow for blow description of how Palin walked through the door and didn't make eye contact with them as they greeted her and made friendly comments. She neither looked at them nor spoke to them while they walked alongside her trying to be welcoming. In fact she ignored them and took out her Blackberry and started doing business. My friend was amazed at her rudeness and she said that since her high public profile she would probably win a re-election there if she ran again.

We'll add that to our archives to be mined in 2012.

Cash-strapped teacher sells ads on tests

Man, teachers really are unsung heroes in this country. Good on him for the ingenuity.

(CNN) -- In tests for teacher Tom Farber's high school class, students can demonstrate their mastery of calculus and find out where to get braces or even a haircut.

Squeezed by classroom budget cuts, the Rancho Bernardo High School teacher is selling ads on his exams to cover the costs of printing them.

"It raises money for the teachers and it's amusing for the kids, so it seems like a win-win," said Luke Shaw, 18, a student at the suburban San Diego, California, school.

Parents and administrators also praise Farber, 47, for his creative classroom funding, but he doesn't want it to become the norm.

"My intention is, [selling ads] is a stopgap measure," said Farber. "I don't want to be doing this year after year."

Instead, he says, government must do more to help educators provide what students need.

Obama Accepts NEA Endorsement