Wednesday, April 23, 2008

DOE ANNOUNCES BAN ON COMMON SENSE

April 23, 2008 (GBN News): Fresh on the heels of an appellate court ruling upholding the City Department of Education ban on possession of cell phones in schools, Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein announced today that effective immediately, the DOE will now prohibit the use and possession of common sense in the schools. In announcing the new ban, the Mayor contended that common sense is “overrated”, and can actually interfere with children’s education.

“Defenders of the status quo always say we should use common sense,” the Chancellor added. “But if they had their way we never could have reformed the schools the way we did. We’d have less testing, smaller classes, more school buildings, fewer consultants and no-bid contracts, parents would be sticking their noses into school business. Who’d even want to send their kids to charter schools if all that happened? Why, I probably wouldn’t even be here because people might actually insist that the Chancellor have some education experience.”

The common sense ban drew immediate criticism from parent groups and City Council members. “What sort of message does this send to children whose parents are actually trying to instill some common sense in them?” one parent demanded. When asked for comment, the Mayor said simply, “Nothing in the ruling says parents can’t use common sense at home or on the way to and from school. It just can’t come into the school building.”

Despite the criticism, the practical effects of the new ban may not be as dramatic as some might fear. As one DOE staffer told GBN News on condition of anonymity, “Actually, there’s been no common sense in the school system since Bloomberg and Klein took over. So really, I wouldn’t expect much to change.”

1 comment:

NYC Educator said...

The DoE will be pleased, then, with the old Spanish saying, "Common sense is the least common of all the senses."