Poor Elijah is a traditionalist. It took him years to accept miniature lightbulbs on his Christmas tree, and the cash he drops in the Salvation Army kettle is as much charity as it is guilty penance ...

Finger pointing is one of our national pastimes. This is especially true when it comes to public education, where the sign on most officials’ desks is “The Buck Starts Here.” Of course, sometimes it’s ...

Poor Elijah was a Superman fan. He devoured D.C. Comics and raced full tilt through the neighborhood with his arms out in front of him and a makeshift cape flapping from his neck. He also had a ...

Gifted programs aren’t new to public schools. Poor Elijah’s 1950s school PTA roster included a “gifted students” advocate. She didn’t actually do anything, except give birth to one of the “gifted” ...

Getting stuck on the title page when you’re reading an education article is easier than you might think, especially if you’re as cranky as Poor Elijah. The title itself, “Top 10 Challenges Facing ...

You’ve undoubtedly heard the old saying, “Those who can’t remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Poor Elijah adapted this maxim for the education world: “Those who can’t remember the past call ...

Gimmick means an attention-getting “trick” or a “concealed, usually devious aspect or feature.” The education world specializes in gimmicks. The campaign to boost graduation rates attempts to advance ...

If a baseball team were as poorly managed as American public education, and its players as apathetic and unfit physically as many American students are scholastically, nobody would be surprised by a ...