Apt. 11D

The Money Pit

If other people can blog about their cats on Fridays, then I can blog about our house.

My friend, Sally, took some pictures of the interior of our new house last week. I thought I would share.

This is the entrance way to the house. When we moved in, the entire backwall was a closet which covered that window and the oak staircase. Our friend, Andrew, pulled it out for us three weeks ago. (Thanks, Ace!) We've pulled down some of the wood paneling, but the rest needs to be done this weekend. Then the spots of glue need to be sanded down and the walls skim coated with plaster. The wallpaper might have been the latest in 1916, but it's looking pretty sad now. It has to be scraped off.

Check out the oak floors. They had been covered with wall to wall grey carpet that was sodden with cat pee. After Andrew and I pulled out the carpeting in that area, my family helped pry up the linoleum and plywood that was nailed on top of the floor. That was a big job. The entire house was covered in carpeting or linoleum or both. In a couple of rooms, the linoleum was printed to look like hard wood. I guess it was considered very modern at one time.

The entrance way will be an extension of the living room, so we'll paint it all the same color and place an arm chair there. The bench in the picture has been polyurethaned and put on the porch. We'll have to keep our coats in the basement, but that's okay. How long am I going to be able to stand that ceiling fan? And of course the staircase needs help.

Here's the living room, which mostly just needs a good coat of paint and some decent shades. Eventually, we'll have to remove the drop ceiling.

Of course, we're not going to be able to do all this at once. Time and money. But it doesn't stop us from sitting on the sofa and planning. It also doesn't stop me from surfing around to get ideas. I stumbled across this blog chronicling a couple's obsession with home renovation.

So far, I've found all this work very satisfying. We've made the place look so much better in just a month. And it's good to step away from the computer and the books and do some handy work that you're proud of. I have a friend who has a PhD in philosophy, but instead of getting a teaching job has become a cabinet maker. I think I get it.

I've also been learning more about the area and its history, but that's for another post.

Charter Schools, Part 2

The New York Times article that pointed to the flaws in charter schools is generating more heat in the blogosphere. Dan has a link-fest on his post on the topic today. Check it out to read the blogosphere's reaction.

William G. Howell, Paul E. Peterson, and Martin R. West dispute those finding in today's Wall Street Journal. They write that charter schools take in far more minority students than public schools, and are usually only set up in areas that are rife with problems. In addition, most charter schools are just starting up and face a range of problems that plague any new start up. It is unfair to evaluate them and their students so early on.

I'm not going to get into a critique of the numbers here. Howell et al. are pros at that. Instead, I'll respond to Wendy's comment, which deals more with the politics of education. Why are bloggers so hot to defend charter schools? Doesn't this study just indicate that it's the student population, rather than the teachers, who determine the success of a school? Aren't there lots examples of innovation happening at public school, too? Good questions.

Bloggers are hot to attack these numbers partially because of ideology. A good number of bloggers are libertarian, Friedman supporters. And bloggers just tend to like any idea that seems to challenge the status quo. Even non-libertarians, like Harry Brighouse of Crooked Timber and myself, like the idea of charter schools and even vouchers because they may hold some opportunities for urban populations who are not being served properly in city schools.

Yes, environmental factors have a huge impact on performance. Ethnicity, location, and poverty result in huge differences in test scores for a variety of reasons. First, let me just say that that is a travesty. Second, it doesn't explain everything. Schools in poor areas that are administered well outperform other schools in the same area with the same students. Third, this kind of thinking can lead to a certain fatalism that is destructive. (I have been guilty of this sort of thinking from time to time.) Why make any changes or increase funding, if it makes no difference anyway.

And, yes, in some instances public schools do great things. Particularly, in white suburban school districts where the parents are involved, funding is not an issue, the administration is on the ball, and the population is homogeneous. There are also lots of instances where public schools could be doing a better job.

Let me throw out another question. Why are the unions, the New York Times, and others so happy to tear down charter schools. There are many examples of good charter schools. The KIPP Academy in the Bronx is doing a great job working with the toughest, urban population. There is no evidence that charter schools syphon money from public schools or detrimentally affect their performance. There is plenty of room to have two forms of schools happening side by side. The unions and the Times have their other reasons for tearing down charter schools.

Meanwhile, check out this proposal by Kerry for providing merit pay for teachers. The New Republic calls his proposal "quietly radical."

The plan focuses almost single-mindedly (and wisely) on recruiting good teachers with a whole new pot of federal money. The catch is, most of the cash can only be used for standardized, merit-based salary increases, and only in concert with a streamlined process for firing bad teachers.

Sound interesting?

UPDATE: More links and thought on charter schools from Brayden King.

The Politics of Blogging

I just sent over the final draft of my paper on blogging over to my co-author for review, and now I'm free to return to the blogosphere.

For the past several months, I have plugging away with my friend and co-author, Toni Pole, on a paper on the politics of blogging for the American Political Science Conference which will be in two weeks in Chicago. Our panel should be great fun. In addition to myself and Toni, Dan Drezner and Henry Farrell will be presenting their own paper on how blogging influences the media. Their paper should be a great complement to our own which looks at a different angle of blogging. We were interested in the political dialogue that results from blogging between other bloggers and their readers. Is blogging a new form of political participation, similar to attending a political rally or signing a petition? We found that it was. Bloggers link obsessively to each other within posts and on their blogrolls. Most had comments sections which allowed for further dialogue. And there was some movement by bloggers to more directly influence politics by encouraging their readers to vote, to contact an elected official, to attend rallies, to contribute to a political campaign, etc... I'll have a link up in a couple of weeks, so that everyone can take a look at the paper and give us feedback.

And since my last name will no longer be a secret, let me post it here first. It's McKenna.

In addition to our papers, the panel will also feature commentary by other esteemed bloggers, Ana Marie Cox of Wonkette, Mark Kleiman, and Andrew Sullivan. Cass Sunstein will be the voice of reason as the discussant of the panel. And there will be sure to be other bloggers in the audience, as well.

UPDATE: Dan has a post today on how the White House staff are blog fans.

sorry, under the gun here to finish a paper by tomorrow afternoon. No post until I finish the conclusion.

Charter Schools Disappoint

According to an article in today's Times, charter schools are failing to live up their promise.

The data shows fourth graders attending charter schools performing about half a year behind students in other public schools in both reading and math. Put another way, only 25 percent of the fourth graders attending charters were proficient in reading and math, against 30 percent who were proficient in reading, and 32 percent in math, at traditional public schools.

Because charter schools are concentrated in cities, often in poor neighborhoods, the researchers also compared urban charters to traditional schools in cities. They looked at low-income children in both settings, and broke down the results by race and ethnicity as well. In virtually all instances, the charter students did worse than their counterparts in regular public schools.

I am disappointed. I could easily imagine that alternative schools would attract some talented, younger teachers. What is going wrong? Are these alternative schools just attracting faculty who don't like supervision?

Of course, the 30% proficient rate in 4th grade reading in public schools is hardly something to crow about. Perhaps what this data suggests more than anything is that educational reforms don't make much difference at all. It's all environmental. In a sidebar in the Times article they break down the data by ethnicity, location, and income. This is where the real differences lie.

UPDATE: Mickey Kaus (and Wendy to the rescue). In today's entry, Kaus points out that the differences between public and charter schools are not statistically significant. The UFT hesitated to make unqualified judgments about the differences between the two types of schools, but the Times had no problem with it.

NYC and the Republican Convention

Instead of taking the 11C bus (no, it's not the 11D) into Manhattan to work today, Steve drove to the mirror office outside of the city. The financial firm that he works for set up another office outside of the city after 9/11. No firm wants to be totally wiped out like that bond company on the top floor of the World Trade Center. Everyone wants some personnel and files in a safe place.

He and his colleague are going to rotate commuting to this outer office for the next few months. There is a lot of worries about the Republican Convention and the November election. Also, security has stepped up. Bomb dogs sniff briefcases outside of his building. Delivery men are photographed. Garbage cans have been removed.

All these measures make me nervous and secure at the same time. The city will never be the same.

Digging a Grave For Ma Bell

Tomorrow is a big day. The cable guy is coming to hook us up to the internet, cable TV, and a phone. We're bypassing the phone company all together, because it is much cheaper. We should save about $100 a month by having a phone system through cable. We only need one phone jack in the whole house. The internet connection should be much faster. I hear the death toll of phone companies.

The main reason we're switching is because of the cheaper cost. Cable is not subject to the same taxes as the phone company. About 40% of our phone bill has been taxes. I believe that cable was able to prevent Congress from applying the same taxes on them. Not sure why. It might be a free speech thing.

It's funny how technology does not obey any Darwinian law. The best technology does not always succeed. Macs were always much better computers than PCs. Betamax worked better than VHS. And governmental laws are going to give cable an edge and dig a grave for Ma Bell.

Russell's Got a Brand New Blog

Russell Arben Fox has a new blog, In Medias Res. Russell has started blogging about his position at Arkansas State University, his kids, religion, and family. It's very good. Check it out.

Only 13 Minutes to IKEA

Only forty-five minutes from Broadway,
Think of the changes it brings;
For the short time it takes,
What a diff'rence it makes
In the ways of the people and things.
Oh! What a fine bunch of rubens,
Oh! what a jay atmosphere;
They have whiskers like hay,
And imagine Broadway
Only forty-five minutes from here.
- George M. Cohan, 45 Minutes From Broadway

Yes, I am 45 minutes from Broadway. Too bad that I haven't made it into the city in the past two weeks. We've been too busy with home improvements and birthday celebrations. I'm feeling a bit cut off though, and am anxious to plan a shopping trip downtown. Maybe next weekend.

I am also 13 minutes from IKEA. 13 minutes from a shiny, happy place where one buses one's own tray in the cafeteria, and inexpensive tables and chairs are made in third world countries for pennies. Oh, don't go there, Laura. Happy, environmentally conscious IKEA with colorful napkins and useful storage containers. I picked up some pegs for the Billy bookcases that were lost in the move and a few other odds and ends.

I am 17 minutes from Paramus, NJ and vicinity which is home to 4 shopping malls, Crate and Barrel, Hold Everything, Staples, you name it. Douglas Coupland, author of Generation X, once drew a map of the United States set sometime in the future. Paramus, NJ was identified on the map as "The Walled City of Consumption."

I am 5 minute from K-Mart that is limping along with Martha in house arrest. How much did I want to jump up on a shelf and draw an electric monitor bracelet on the poster of Martha smiling above her linens? Still, she makes a good soap dish. Bought a couple of those.

I am 4 minutes from Demarest Farms that sells baked goods and fresh corn. We're so gleeful to have access to fresh corn that we've been living on the stuff.

With all this local shopping, I might not not have any casheroo left for city shopping.

Not to get all sentimental about the benefits of outsourcing, but it sure is nice to spend $5 on a set of green cereal bowls that pretend to be socially conscious and $3 for a tasteful, elegant soap dish.

Am I in Louisiana?

Governor McGreevey of my fine state of New Jersey resigned today and announced (with his wife at his side) that he was a gay American.

Well, that's not why he really resigned. Rumor has it, that his lover got paid by the hour, and government money was used to cover up the affair from the public and his wife.

What are other bloggers saying about this? Drudge? Not much. Wonkette? This should be her thing. Bingo. Three posts: here, here, and here.

This is why I like state politics. It's small, it's quirky, it's full of scandal. State politics makes Washington look like a church social. I like the states where the legislature only meets every other year, and most decisions are made over bourbon in the local pub. Too bad my copy of V.O. Key's State Politics is still in a box somewhere, because it would be fun to read over the chapter on Lousiana's upstanding governors.