Looking back at the last seven days or so, there’s a lot of stuff I haven’t written about.
On the political front, there was controversy over Mayor Nagin’s comments to a conference in DC, and Governor Blanco announced she will not seek re-election. Also, Congress passed the Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act, which local housing activists are celebrating as a victory.
At work we interviewed a candidate who could potentially be my new boss, and who is intimately connected to another local blogger. I probably shouldn’t say anymore at this point since negotiations are ongoing and I wouldn’t want to jinx it.
Schools across the state spent the week administering the LEAP and iLEAP. The LEAP is Louisiana’s high-stakes “No Child Left Behind” test, administered in the 4th and 8th grades. Students who don’t pass it can’t move on to the next grade. Students in other grades take the iLEAP, which is merely diagnostic. This means Xy didn’t have to plan any lessons all week, but it was no cakewalk. Stress and behavior problems hit an all time high and she had some really tough days. She feels her students were well prepared for the subject matter, but the questions were phrased in such an arcane manner that she fears they’ll score poorly. Michael predicts the LEAP results will be used to justify the further privatization of our public schools. (Xy works at a public charter school which shut out the union. Imagine our surprise when a union rep stopped by our house a few days ago. I guess they’re trying to reorganize.) Today I saw the Fyre Youth Squad marching down Canal Street, just a block from our house, to demand that LEAP scores in New Orleans be used for diagnostic purposes only, at least this year.
I attended the usual mix of meetings: MCNO Communications Committee, FOLC Board, a confab between Urban Conservancy and FOLC regarding a Bikes Belong grant, a conference call for Think New Orleans. I was elected FOLC Chair, which means that I will run the board meetings. I’ve had a little experience facilitating meetings over the years, so I figured this responsibility would not be too onerous, but I should probably review my copy of the Democratic Rules of Order.
The weather continues to be beautiful. Last weekend we went to the art museum to see Femme Femme Femme, a collection of French paintings of French women. Apparently half the city had the same idea because it was crowded with more cars parked along Lelong than I’ve ever seen. Good thing we rode our bikes.
And today I did my taxes, which are more complicated than ever but still only took a few hours.
And I thought I was busy, I hope you get some relief on your upcoming getaway.
Bart………
We haven’t met …..YET….. But reading your post and following this journey we are all on has been a treasure. When we first moved to this city we lived just a few blocks from you…. then we bought a house in the Irish Channel
Since I have never met you I can’t call you friend….. but I do anyway …. you have been instrumtal to our rebuiliding
When we have our next neighbothood BBQ You and Xy are most invited
We’ll let you know
Craig amf I both look forward to meeting you both
TBK ( aka Kimmie)
[…] A couple week ago I mentioned that we had interviewed a candidate who could be my new boss, and I alluded to the fact that said candidate is the spouse of a local blogger. I didn’t want to say any more at the time because there were still some negotiations underway. Everything has been resolved, though, so there’s no need to make a mystery of it any longer… drum roll please… […]