No Girls AllowedDid you know that there are "boy" movies and "girl" movies? No, I'm not talking about the "What's happening to your body?" education films, I'm talking about the regular old multiplex films like Star Wars. Which I, personally, have seen 50 times. But if I attended high school in Dallas, instead of just up I-35 in Oklahoma, I would not have been allowed to go on a field trip to see a movie of that nature because it would most likely be considered a boys-only adventure.

Even in 2012 5,700 Dallas area boys were taken to see Red Tails, the film about the African-American pilots, known as the Tuskegee Airmen, who fought in World War II. But the girls were not allowed on this particular -- and incredibly expensive -- field trip. You know, because girls aren't into history and stuff. Major fail, Dallas Independent School District. Major. 

I've heard some nutty ideas for school dress codes over the years. No hoodies. No Uggs. No sneakers. No personality. But the Virginia school district that's debating a ban on "crossdressing" by students has just crossed into dangerous territory.

The Suffolk school board is talking about banning "clothing worn by a student that is not in keeping with a student’s gender." While they're at it, why don't they just say "hey kids, go ahead and pick on the kid who's different" while they're at it. After all, to put a dress code like this in place would put on record that a school is officially discriminating against kids based on some nebulous societal description of gender.

Lady Bird Johnson visiting classroom

“Childrens [sic] do learn when standards are high and results are measured.” -- George W. Bush, in a speech made to schoolchildren back in 2007. 

We have been in an education crisis for decades. Even before Jimmy Carter enacted No Child Left Behind, our schools were failing our children. Since then, what’s been done? What improvements have we seen? We continue to test students, to increase the education budget, but are we seeing improvement? No.

There are still too many failing schools, too many classrooms that are overcrowded and lack the basic resources, and teachers that are underpaid and not vested in their students’ learning. We still have children that fall between the cracks or families that rely on a lottery system to see if their children have any chance at a future.  

11 years after it was signed into law, President Obama is giving 10 states waivers from the requirements of No Child Left Behind. These states in turn promise to improve the way they prepare and evaluate students. In addition to those 10 states, another 28 states have said they plan to seek waivers from NCLB. New Mexico's application for a waiver was not accepted, but the administration is working with the state to get approval.

Through these waivers, little by little, states gain more flexibility and authority to decide how they will educate students. At last, complaints by educators, leaders, and parents that NCLB's requirements were too rigid and led to teaching to the test have been heard.

After the jump, see the list of states who get the NCLB waiver. Is your state on the list?

The question of whether the U.S. Dept. of Education should be eliminated is probably not a question that should be answered by looking to the "top" of the pyramid, where getting rid of it makes a sexy soundbite in this 2012 election, but to the "bottom" where students, teachers and parents are experiencing its effects. 

Little Red School HouseThe Department of Education was established as a cabinet department in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter. For the Children! Except, only it wasn't. It was basically a pay-off to the teachers' union as well as a way to further enshrine The State's control. Once huge albatrosses of departments and programs are created, we can never sever the ties from around our necks. The surest way to ensure control and power is to create a bureaucracy for life. Leave it to Jimmy Carter to use our children for such an end.

Ah, President Carter. When the high point of one's presidency is 'malaise', you're totally doing it wrong. The only thing he did right was to attempt to hide his brother Billy. And he even failed at that; he couldn't even stop him from foisting off "Billy Beer" on an unsuspecting public. Still, some really bad beer was nothing compared to the huge keg of waste and fail that is the Department of Education.

Whatever your kid did in school today, I'm going to bet fifth grader Clara Lazen has them beat. She made a brand new explosive molecule in science class recently. And now Clara's getting her name in a fancy pants science journal with the title of "co-author" for an invention that could change how scientists store energy or even create large explosions!

Score one for chicks in science! And while we're handing out applause, a little is due to 10-year-old Clara's science teacher, Kenneth Boehr. He's the kind of teacher every parent dreams of, and we could learn as much from him as we can from her.

My bloomers twist into a bundle when I hear threats of shutting down the Department of Education. Wake County, North Carolina, where I live, recently faced a heated school board election where incumbent school board members and their candidate cronies were jockeying to dismantle our education department. There were candidates who served to benefit financially from the dismantling of the school system, and incumbents clearly had a conflict of interest based on their service to boards of private and charter schools. The Tea Party had taken over our local school board.