[N orfolk, VA.--It's hard to tell exactly when the Norfolk Public Schools hit rock bottom, but 1998 was particularly dismal across the board: Just 38 percent of third graders passed the state's Standards of Learning, or SOL, test in English; 26 percent of eighth graders were proficient in mathematics; and a mere 18 percent of high schoolers passed Virginia and U.S. history. For John Simpson, who took over as superintendent that same year with a mandate to boost achievement for all of the district's 37,000 students, the only solution was to completely shake things up.] When I arrived, people were unhappy, but many of them had the attitude that given a fairly poor and high-minority population, that might be all that they could do, ... There was no room for excuses anymore. |
a scene from hell. |
Dying To Tell The Story |
Europe is reasonably well prepared for a pandemic, and probably better prepared than it was 18 months ago. |
He was so very pleased. He said he'd built so many rifles up, and the only time he heard about it was when there were problems. |
I think that he is probably one of the most knowledgeable experts on firearms, certainly in this state, and probably in the country. He just has an amazing memory, and it's all he's done since he was a kid. |
I was very pleased with it, ... There are always little glitches, but I thought it all went smoothly, for the most part. |
I'm gonna go dancing anyway. I would have gone to the counter-prom if there was one, but now we need to just deal with it. |
If they aren't careful, they are going to be seen as selling out to biotech. |
It is tremendously encouraging to see that it was done in public. |
It smacks of selling access and influence to well-heeled donors. |
It was horribly frustrating. |
It's a really lovely feeling and we're both absolutely delighted. Dee is sitting up in bed and is feeling fine. |
It's taken off in a space of 10 or 15 years. |
My job is the perfect excuse for watching action films, soaps, quiz programmes -- where the language is busy right now. |