“Nonreality TV, exemplified by the debauchery in Boston Public, has soured the district on ever doing anything with Hollywood again.”
—Boston schools spokesperson John Dorsey on why his district declined a recent request from NBC to feature the Boston Latin School in the television series Crossing Jordan. Parents and teachers have complained about the racy plot lines at the fictitious school in Boston Public, a Fox show that the city initially assisted.
“Education will always do whatever makes the parents most uncomfortable; that’s their forte.”
—Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura criticizing a proposed four-day week at schools in his state’s Osseo district. Ventura’s daughter Jade attends school in the district, which considered the change last month to cut costs but decided against it in January.
“I just feel like our schools aren’t safe at all.”
—Elaine Tzourtzouklis, president of the Salt Lake City Teachers Association, on the fear of terrorism that prompted her organization to ask the school board to close the city’s 38 schools during the Winter Olympics. The board decided to shut only two schools near sports venues.
“It can be argued that since World War II, no other region in America has worked harder and more deliberately than the South to improve education.”
—Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, cheering the news that his state has the highest percentage of kids enrolled in state-funded preK programs and the seventh highest number of certified teachers in the country. Other Southern states’ education achievements also compared favorably with the rest of the nation in a study conducted by the Southern Regional Education Board.