Educational travesty in Texas

Just a couple of weeks after blogging about New York schoolteachers asked to give students partial or passing grades for getting math problems wrong, I am pretty irritated to find that right here in my beloved state of Texas a similar travesty has occurred.

The difference is that a judge has ruled that eleven school districts must stop doing this. The districts, most of them in my county and at least two of them fairly affluent in terms of socioeconomic demographics, are all upset. They don't want their teachers reporting any numerical grade lower than a 50, not even if such detail might actually be useful.

Not even if such detail is the truth.

They WANT to lie to their students, you see, because supposedly giving a kid a failing grade for crappy work will somehow damage his self-esteem to the point that he drops out of school altogether.

No word yet on what the dropout rate would be without this hokus pokus but last I checked, the state already has a pretty appalling rate of attrition when it comes to high school students.

The more cynical among us are less inclined to believe districts are lying to failing students to keep them happy because the districts genuinely want to help. Au contrare, we suspect that telling failing students it's all gonna be fine makes it easier to shuttle them through the system, let 'em screw up the test they have to take to graduate, tell them they've passed anyway, and then send them on to the local community colleges to be educated to the tune of $200 million in taxpayer monies a year. (See previous 'blog entries to learn more about this phenomenon.)

But, read excerpts from the actual news article and judge for yourselves, dear readers. Are the school districts in question truly altruistic in their zeal to convince failing students that what is, in reality, failure should be viewed as only sort of failure? I'll be interested to read your thoughts, so please comment at your convenience.

And now, for the educational travesty as reported by Ericka Mellon of the Houston Chronicle, June 28:

AUSTIN — A Travis County judge ruled today that Texas public schools are required to give students truthful grades on class assignments and on their report cards under a 2009 state law that 11 school districts were challenging in court.

The school districts — most of them in Harris County - argued that the law applied only to grades on assignments, noting that the statute didn't specifically mention report cards, semester grades, or six- or nine-week averages.

But state District Judge Gisela Triana-Doyal ruled that the statute is "not ambiguous" and clearly means districts cannot require teachers to give students grades they did not earn. The bill's author, Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, has said she intended it to apply to all grades.

Richard Morris, the attorney for the school districts, said he would ask his clients whether they wanted to appeal the decision or to try to lobby for a change in the next Legislative session.

The school districts suing state Education Commissioner Robert Scott were Klein, Fort Bend, Aldine, Alief, Anahuac, Clear Creek, Humble, Deer Park, Eanes, Dickinson and Livingston.

The districts argued that their policies prohibiting teachers from awarding grades lower than a certain number - typically a 50 - helped keep students from getting discouraged and dropping out of school.

Without the policy, Clear Creek ISD Superintendent Greg Smith, said, "I think you close the light at the end of the tunnel for some students."

But the Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, which intervened in the case on the side of the state, countered that the minimum failing grading polices were dishonest and didn't prepare students for college or the workforce.

"I feel like it's unethical," testified Mary Roberts, a teacher in Humble ISD.

Gee, do ya think?

Look, I'm all for encouraging students to do their best and for helping them untangle whatever has them all balled up when it comes to academics. I do this sort of thing on a regular basis with my own homeschooled bunch. But one thing I don't do is tell my children they've done great when they've done just okay, or that they've done okay when, in fact, they've really screwed up an assignment. I don't berate, badger, name-call, or otherwise humiliate them, but I do tell them that whatever they've done needs to be redone because A or B or C is incorrect. If they need help, I help them. If the mistakes are careless with no pattern to suggest an underlying genuine lack of understanding, I advise them to attempt the corrections on their own. One way or another, we figure out what went wrong and then I watch for a repeat in the days ahead just to make sure there's no residual confusion.

Granted, I'm dealing with only three kids and not three hundred but my point is that schools that prevent their teachers from being honest with students and parents are not doing those children any favors. While a 50 and a 30 are both failing grades, as a parent I'd want to know whether my child was consistently scoring one or the other. Sometimes a lot can be learned from identifying patterns, and severely failing grades at the 6 or 9-week mark would be a definite red flag.

I understand the argument of the districts' in this story that a failing grade is a failing grade and that driving home the degree to which a student is failing might, in fact, prove discouraging. But honestly, folks, if you're already making an F of any sort, aren't you likely to already be discouraged? Will getting a 50 versus a 39 really make you feel better?

Truth in public education is sorely lacking these days. We see it in the failure of teachers and students to report abuse of students by peers or other teachers. It's in the drive to preserve the status quo of the educational bureaucracy by fudging standardized test scores. It's in the testimonials of teachers who want to speak up about abuses within the system but who dare not for fear of losing their jobs. It's in the countless children failed by a system that told them they were fabulous when, in fact, they were failing. It's in the students who pass the standardized test required for high school graduation who still can't read, write, or do math at grade level.

We shouldn't expect students to love the truth, much less tell the truth, until we began behaving in ways worthy of emulation ourselves. I'm glad the Texas judge had the nerve to shut down the practices of the districts involved in this debacle.

I'm sorry the districts didn't have enough intelligence to do it themselves.

Who's Eric Duquette and why does he give me hope?

Eric Duquette.

Google the name and see what you find.

He's not famous, but he oughta be.

Duquette just graduated high school in Rhode Island as salutatorian in a class of about 200 and gave a speech that will leave you wondering whether to laugh at his keen sense of humor or to cry in sheer joy and amazement at his accomplishment.

He didn't begin to speak until he was five years old.

Autism.

His parents were told he'd wind up in an institution.

According to Duquette, the doctors were right -- in a way.

He's been accepted into every institution of higher learning to which he's applied.

Never ever, ever give up.

Thanks, Eric.

Ace is the place for the homeschooled hardware man

Last weekend, I made a trip to our local Ace Hardware to buy a fan. I wanted to install it alongside my treadmill so that even in the most brutal Texas heat I can exercise in comfort.

My sons and husband elected to go along with me because, well, the husband and older son have this weird affinity for things with moving parts and my toddler wants to do whatever they are doing.

We were standing in the aisle of fans or, as my five-year-old likes to say, the "Palace of Fans," when a store employee approached me and asked if I needed any help.

I was a little taken aback when I looked up. The salesman was really more of a sales boy, he looked so darn young.

Now, I know as I get older lots of people are going to start looking younger. But this person looked really young, too young to be wearing the store shirt and i.d. badge that said his name was Matt.

Not wanting to be rude (but figuring this kid couldn't possibly help me decipher the gazillion fans on display to find the one that had the most blowing power), I explained my situation and waited for the "oh, let me go ask So-and-So because he'll know more about it."

Instead, Matt smiled and said, "The fan you'll want is this one right here made by Stanley. It has a blah-blah-blah-blah and a frimfram for the gee-gaw" -- at least that's what I heard him say as he blew me out of the water with his technical know-how. My husband, on the other hand, was able to keep up and they engaged in a lively discussion about the pros and cons of the Stanley fan versus another one I'd picked out. Matt admitted he'd researched the subject and had bought one of the Stanley-made fans for his father for Father's Day.

"Do you research a lot of the things Ace sells?" I asked. He nodded. "Yeah, I like to know what everything does so when people ask me questions I can answer them," he said. I commented that he must really like his job to take the time to do that, and he said he did.

Looking at Matt more closely, I said to him, "So are you still in school?" (My way of finding out just how old he was.)

"Yes ma'am, I'll be a junior next year," he replied. "A junior in college?" I asked, thinking that would account for his incredible knowledge of makes and models of fans and pretty much everything else in the store.

"Oh no, in high school," he replied.

The plot thickened. How in the world, WHY in the world, would someone so young be so keen about researching products.

"What do you want to do after you graduate?" I asked.

Without skipping a beat he replied, "I want to start my own small business."

Ah.

Anyone who's read as many homeschooling magazines as I have -- and I think I've read them all -- has also ingested plenty of stories about young people free to explore their own entrepreneurial tendencies, often in a family-owned business. It's not uncommon among homeschooled teens to begin work early and often and, in fact, they can often be seen working right alongside their parents at book fairs and homeschool conventions selling, stocking, talking to customers.

The small-business remark, his manner, his ability to hold an articulate, informed conversation, his eye-contact, his politeness, the fact that he is so young and yet so capable, that he was working in a hardware store instead of screwing around wasting his summer like so many boys his age, that he was comfortable in a discussion with adults whereas most teen boys would rather cut off a body part than look you in the eye -- all those things combined prompted me to ask The Question.

"Matt, are you by any chance homeschooled?"

With a sheepish grin he said, "Yes. How'd you know?"

Sweet.

When children want to study astronomy

Astronomy. Around here it's not just another subject in science, it's a way of life. I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised when my five-year-old son piped up the other day and say, "Mama, I want to study astronomy, too. When can I start? Can I start today after lunch?"

(Cue sound of screeching brakes)

Wow. I admit I was unprepared for such early enthusiasm. Sure, all little kids like to look at the moon, have their parents read "Goodnight Moon" incessantly to the point of making you want to burn the book, or learn the "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" song. Those are rites of passage for every child, the earliest efforts to awaken their interest in the natural world.

But the study of astronomy is so much more, even for kindergartners who, I'm betting, don't usually take on such a heady set of topics.

It set me to wrestling with how much or how little to present. I taught an astronomy class for our homeschool association's cooperative this past year and had a great time once I got past the shock of preparation and the barrage of questions from my 3rd through 5th grade level students.

If I'm going to present the subject to my son, I don't want to smother him with facts his mind is not ready to tackle. On the other hand, his mind already tackles big subjects -- turbines, electricity, God -- so I don't want to underestimate him, either.

It's both the joy and challenge of teaching one's own, this cycle of preparation and delivery that accompanies every new interest. Once again I find myself up late at night pouring over my materials from the co-op class, picking and choosing what can be reasonably used with a young child.

Tonight he begged me to start an astronomy notebook with him, so we sat down after supper and I began at the beginning of the story of modern astronomy.

"The first thing we're going to do is talk about a couple of big words," I said as I began to draw two pictures on a piece of scrap paper. "Geocentric and heliocentric -- do you have any idea what those mean?"

My son scrunched up his little face and began to ponder. After a few seconds, he shook his head and said, "The only thing I can think about that heliocentric word is that Helios was the god whose son took the chariot and tried to burn up the earth. It must be about that guy."

Close.

He was recalling a Greek tale I'd read with his older sisters awhile back about the sun god Helios and his mortal son Phaeton. In the story, Phaeton takes the chariot that carries the sun across the sky and drives it so erratically it either scorches the earth as it passes too low or turns the world to ice as it flies too high.

So I briefly explained the difference between geocentric and heliocentric and why it mattered. (Geocentric means "earth in the center" -- the opinion long held by ancient astronomers -- and heliocentric means "sun in the center" -- the structure of our solar system as proven by Galileo way back when.)

Next we talked about why the sun is important. My little boy was eager to list the gazillion ways he thought the sun helps us and I sat wondering how to fit the running monologue onto a sheet of notebook paper, especially since he can't write much yet and I'd have to take the dictation.

As he started to get sleepy, he asked me, "Mom, who was the first man to walk on the moon and are we going to put him in my notebook?" I told him Neil Armstrong's name and promised I'd get a picture of him to paste in the notebook.

Getting ready for bed, he said, "I just love astronomy so much I don't want to go to sleep yet. I can't stop thinking about it."

I smiled to myself because that's the way I've felt about it most of my life, too. And as any die-hard autodidact knows, when the mind turns its focus to something new and fascinating it seems a shame to waste time in sleep.

Especially when you could be flying among the stars.

American students CANNOT hope to succeed if this is the standard

The following report out of New York via the New York Post is actually more upsetting to me than one I discussed a couple of months ago involving the illiterate superintendent of Detroit's public schools. Look it up if you don't believe me, let the smoke seep from the top of your head, and then dare to wonder aloud why public education in this country is far less than it ought to be.

Today I offer you an even more astonishingly hideous example of what passes for education in some of our nation's schools. It explains perfectly why students in other countries -- such as Belgium -- outperform our kids in the critical subjects of math and science.

Please note that parts of the story have been enlarged by me to make sure everyone reading doesn't miss them.

NY passes students who get wrong answers on tests

By CARL CAMPANILE and SUSAN EDELMAN

Last Updated: 11:32 AM, June 6, 2010

Posted: 1:40 AM, June 6, 2010

When does 2 + 2 = 5?

When you're taking the state math test.

Despite promises that the exams -- which determine whether students advance to the next grade -- would not be dumbed down this year, students got "partial credit" for wrong answers after failing to correctly add, subtract, multiply and divide. Some got credit for no answer at all.

"They were giving credit for blatantly wrong things," said an outraged Brooklyn teacher who was among those hired to score the fourth-grade test.

State education officials had vowed to "strengthen" and "increase the rigor" of both the questions and the scoring when about 1.2 million kids in grades 3 to 8 -- including 450,000 in New York City -- took English exams in April and math exams last month.

But scoring guides obtained by The Post reveal that kids get half-credit or more for showing fragments of work related to the problem -- even if they screw up the calculations or leave the answer blank.

Examples in the fourth-grade scoring guide include:

* A kid who answers that a 2-foot-long skateboard is 48 inches long gets half-credit for adding 24 and 24 instead of the correct 12 plus 12.

* A miscalculation that 28 divided by 14 equals 4 instead of 2 is "partially correct" if the student uses the right method to verify the wrong answer.

* Setting up a division problem to find one-fifth of $400, but not solving the problem -- and leaving the answer blank -- gets half-credit.

* A kid who subtracts 57 cents from three quarters for the right change and comes up with 15 cents instead of 18 cents still gets half-credit.

* A student who figures the numbers of books in 35 boxes of 10 gets half-credit despite messed-up multiplication that yields the wrong answer, 150 instead of 350.

These questions ask students to show their work. The scoring guidelines, called "holistic rubrics," require that points be given if a kid's attempt at an answer reflects a "partial understanding" of the math concept, "addresses some element of the task correctly," or uses the "appropriate process" to arrive at a wrong solution. Despite flubbing the answer, students can get 1 point on a 2-point problem and 1 or 2 points on a 3-pointer.

The Brooklyn teacher said she and peers who had trained to score the tests were stunned at some instructions.

"Everybody in the room was upset," she said.

The teacher had scored tests with some "controversial questions" for several years, but "this time it was more outrageous," she said. "You feel like you're being forced to cheat."

Scorers joked about giving points to kids who wrote their names, brought a pencil or shared gum.

However, score inflation is not funny, the whistleblower said.

"The kids who really need the help are just being shuffled along to the next grade without the basic skills to have true success. They are given a hollow success -- that's the crime of it. The state DOE is doing a disservice to its children."

Some testing experts are also troubled.

Ray Domanico, a former head of data analysis for city schools, said kids deserve a little credit for partial knowledge but agreed the scoring system "raises some questions about whether it's too generous."

State Education Department spokesman Tom Dunn defended the scoring.

"All teachers who score exams receive clear training and rubrics that detail scoring criteria for every question on the tests," he said. "Students who show work and demonstrate a partial understanding of the mathematical concepts or procedures embodied in the question receive partial credit."

But a few extra points can let a failing kid squeak by.

A year ago, Chancellor Joel Klein boasted that the city was making "dramatic progress" when 82 percent of city students passed the state math test and 69 percent passed in English, up sharply from 2002. And fewer kids have been left back in recent years.

What officials didn't reveal was that the number of points needed to pass proficiency levels has, in most cases, steadily dropped.

The state Board of Regents, which oversees the tests, has postponed the release of results until late July, but let the city Department of Education set its own "promotional cut scores" to decide which kids may be held back. The DOE will release those scores in the next two weeks, a spokesman said.

So here are my thoughts on the above train wreck.

First, like I tell my own children, math is THE most unforgiving, inflexible subject they'll ever encounter. In writing, a person can pick and choose from a variety of words to communicate their ideas. "Blue" can be "azure," "lapis lazuli," "marine," or some other variation.

In math, there is only one right answer to the problem given. Only one. It means that 8 x 2 can only be 16. It can never be 12 or 27 or 3,550.

Second, while I'm always glad when my children begin to demonstrate their understanding of a math concept, partial understanding WILL NOT CUT IT NOW OR IN 8 YEARS WHEN THEY SIT FOR THEIR COLLEGE ENTRANCE EXAMS.

Would you want a brain surgeon who knew partially where stuff was in your skull before he began operating or would you want someone who possessed a complete map of all your cranial contents?

Would you want an auto mechanic who had the knowledge to fix one component of your engine but none of the others? Or how about a lawyer who knew just enough law to get you into court but not enough to get you out?

See, partial understanding is just that and it's not enough!

It's okay to teach kids this, it really is. I've done it with mine and so far they show no suicidal or anti-social tendencies as a result. They DO show an ever-growing aptitude for mathematics and basic concepts in science, specifically astronomy. Are they hardwired geniuses? As their mother, I'd love to believe this is the case; however, as a realist I'm more inclined to chalk their successes up to diligent work, a structured routine, and a teacher who doesn't bullshit them into thinking that mediocrity is acceptable. They know I'll be checking their work and that as much as I love them and want to keep their little self-esteems intact I'll also tell them if they've made a mistake. Then I'll watch to make sure they correct it. It's non-negotiable.

The Founding Fathers knew the value of education and they used theirs to secure the freedoms we enjoy today.

What will become of those freedoms as our population gets dumber and dumber remains to be seen. It's awfully hard to preserve and defend what you don't understand because you've never been taught you ought to.

Children too good for public school

A dear friend of mine has, in the past, experienced a disdainful attitude among relatives who either don't understand or don't agree with her decision to homeschool her children.

"They think I think my kids are too good for public school," she said ruefully.

Maybe they are. And maybe the ones who are really too good are those who are so completely vulnerable that they cannot fend off whoever tries to torment them.

A group of Pennsylvania parents who sued on behalf of their children with autism have agreed to settle for $5 million in a case involving a Scranton-area elementary special education teacher. It's the fifth largest award of its kind in the country and it sends a powerful message if only school districts everywhere will sit up and pay attention.

The parents alleged their children, who ranged in age from 5 to 11 at the time and who are all non-verbal, were beaten, bound with duct-tape, and tied to chairs with bungee cords. Additional abuse allegations included children being slapped or dragged by their hair and having their insoles stomped upon by their teacher.

Beaten
Bound with duct tape
Tied to chairs with bungee cords
Slapped
Dragged by hair
Insoles stomped

The attorney for some of the families is quoted in the May 29 Philadelphia Inquirer saying of the parents, "They were sending their children to a virtual torture chamber for two years."

Rita Shreffler, executive director of the National Autism Association, said although she wasn't familiar with the Scranton case, she was sure that duct tape and bungee cords were never appropriate.

Shreffler also said cases of overrestraint in schools are surfacing with greater frequency nationwide. "It amounts to torture," she said. "These kids are being tortured."

The teacher was put on probation and subsequently elected to retire.

The only thing worse than being attacked and abused as a child is not having a voice to cry out for help.

Lest you think this was an isolated incident -- and this 'blog posting is in no way meant to malign the many excellent and dedicated special education teachers in the field -- the following list should serve to educate you to very real and ongoing problem of schools ill equipped and teachers poorly trained to handle the many variations of autism presented to them:

Akron, Ohio in 2009: Akron, Ohio school leaders placed a school aide with a troubled past on paid leave following allegations that he dragged a child with severe disabilities through a hallway by his ankles. The student, who suffers from severe autism, cannot speak and functions at the level of a toddler, according to his mother. He fell to the hallway floor Jan. 14, and that's when the aide, 50, allegedly dragged him by his ankles 50-100 feet back to his classroom.
Wake County, NC in 2008 -- A disability rights group says Wake County, NC school resource officers at Carroll Middle School handcuffed autistic students to restrain them while in class.

According to the lawsuit, students claim they were encouraged to wrestle each other to "let out their aggression."

The lawsuit was brought by a watchdog group for persons with disabilities.

The group simply wants the names of special needs students and parents so it can investigate the allegations, but says Wake County schools won't provide that confidential information.

In New Britain, Conn. in 2008: "This was putting children in a closet in the dark, holding them in the closet, holding the door, not letting them out," said spokeswoman for the alleged victims' families, Lisa Nkonoki. "Waterboarding if you will -- taking the child, putting water up their nostrils and face so they couldn't breath."Nkonoki said that the teacher also strapped the children to chairs and yelled in their ears.The spokesperson said that the allegations were substantiated by the Department of Children and Families, but that the district never notified the families about the allegations."I'm angry at the school. I'm angry at the system," said parent Arelis Kinard.
From Jackson, MS in 2009: The family of an autistic boy told WAPT that he was abused at school and they want someone held accountable.“We noticed bruising by his left eye socket down on his cheekbone and scratches on his neck,” Bill Wilkinson said of his son Samuel.Wilkinson said Samuel was held down and beaten by teachers after the boy had a tantrum.
From Port St. Lucie, FL in 2008: There is a pattern of abuse, neglect and humiliation.That's what more than 100 parents of autistic children in Florida are telling the state attorney general's office and anyone who will listen.The parents and others claim children with autism are being mistreated.

Straight from the horses' mouths, so to speak

The following story from the Philly.com website for June 8, 2010 is far too long for me to cut and paste in. I urge my readers to click the link, however, and read the WHOLE story for themselves. It's about schools in the largely poor, urban neighborhoods of Philadelphia and what passes for education AT TAXPAYER EXPENSE.

http://www.philly.com/philly/education/95837384.html?page=2&c=y

Before you link, though, here's a quote to whet your appetite. From the story comes this gem (large type emphasis mine):

Ray Fisher, a family therapist at the Council for Relationships in University City, has worked with district youth for a number of years.

"The sense that I often got at the schools where I worked is that the kids didn't matter," he said.

"The parents are the ones with all the power, but a school system banks on the parents thinking they're powerless."

It's also convenient for officials not to respond, because a lot of parents don't know what their rights are, or to whom to turn to hold officials accountable, he added.

The parents are the ones with all the power?

A radical notion indeed!

Those pesky special ed. kids

Honestly, I don't know how parents of children with disabilities do it -- send their kids to public school, that is.

I belong to a couple of different online groups in which members whose children range in disability from cerebral palsy to autism share their experiences with public education. It's heartbreaking to read about their daily, weekly, and yearly struggles to ensure their children get the minimum they're supposed to from school bureaucracies that make the IRS look like an ice-cream shop.

One group to which I belong is made up of parents who decided to homeschool after they got fed up with mounds of paperwork, broken promises, and children who still couldn't read, write, demonstrate basic life skills, or identify colors and numbers after YEARS in special ed. classes.

This last group of parents brought their children home only to find that within six months to a year their kids were doing many things the public schools never seemed able to teach them -- despite saying they would and could.

Go figure.

So it was with great interest that I read an article from the LA Times in which the superintendent of the financially strapped LA school district was quoted as saying, "When you fund some of the special-ed things, you're taking from regular kids."

Let that sink in for just a minute, will you?

Special education -- the education that is most needed for the most vulnerable and challenged among us -- takes away from the "regular" kids.

Of course the answer is to cut special education programs so that the handful of children who admittedly require the most intensive teaching will be left even further behind and the dollars that might have made a world of difference to their educations will be frittered away, lost in the tar pit of general public ed where, as we all know, so many students do so well.

Sounds like a plan to me.

Sometimes it's hard for me to decide who really needs special ed. -- the children whose lives so desperately need the enrichment parents either can't or won't provide, or the idiots who run the school systems.

And the rest of the kids in the LA schools, the so-called "regular" students? They get to enjoy fewer art and music classes, shuttered libraries, and larger classes.

Looks like a lose-lose for everyone.

Public education is failing our children at an alarming rate (see my previous post on Texas' schools failure to prepare its high school grads for college if you don't believe me) but its inability to provide the "free and appropriate" education to children with special needs as required by law is even more problematic.

Maybe the LA superintendent doesn't think special ed students will amount to much so that's why he thinks cutting their programs is acceptable. I'm betting on the parents of those children to teach him differently.

The offense of a "no-shoes" house

It's been brought to my attention that a longstanding rule in our home -- that of wearing no shoes past the immediate front or back door area -- is offensive or rude or inconvenient or whatever descriptor you want to apply.

I have three things to say about this:

First, if it's really a huge, insurmountable problem for a guest to remove their shoes then they need to say so. We can accommodate within reason.

Second, if a guest just doesn't like the insinuation that his or her shoes are nasty on the bottoms then they are welcome to not visit. Ever. Because the bottoms of their shoes ARE nasty and I don't care to have that tracked all through my home and over my expensive and expensive-to-clean oriental rugs.

Third, the EPA issued a study a few years back proving that households in which shoes are not worn have up to 60% less LEAD residue than those in which shoes are worn. Let's see, now. I've got four young children who, along with their friends play and roll about on my floors repeatedly on any given day. Guests' self-esteem (with shoes) vs. children's health and safety (no shoes) -- you decide.

No, wait. I'll decide for you.

We love to have friends come over and are blessed that so many do so often. We are also blessed with friends who value our company and fellowship enough that taking off their shoes inside the front door is no big deal.

If you want to track through your house the following substances, then feel free to do so. But, please, leave them out of mine:

Feces (think public restrooms)
Urine (think public restrooms)
Animal feces and urine
Pesticides (no, we don't use these in our yard so our kids aren't tracking them in on bare feet)
Oil
Gasoline
Pool chemicals
Spit
Dead animal residue (think roach guts or similar yuck)
Snot (ever seen someone inhale their own nasal mucus and then spit it out?Yeah, real nice)

I get the occasional patch of sand or the crumpled dead leaf. I also get pine straw. It's all good. Organic, compostable, easily vacuumed.

But pesticides and crap ground in to my wool rugs will be there until I scrape up $350 or more to have them cleaned. Meanwhile, my children will track this junk room to room and into their beds or mine.

Thanks, but no.

If, after reading this, someone is STILL offended by our no-shoes policy, please let me know and I'll be happy to take you off future guest lists until you agree to take off your shoes upon entering my home.

We'll miss you, but we won't miss the disgusting stuff you'd otherwise be tracking in.