Where are the fathers?

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In this Inquirer editorial Jane Eisner writes

How state officials charged with protecting the lives of endangered children could lose track of Williams’ three boys – and, it turns out, 277 others – is mind-boggling. Gov. McGreevey’s pledge to address his government’s many failures in these cases can’t be realized a moment too soon.

But to blame this tragedy only on overworked caseworkers and bureaucratic ineptitude misses the fundamental problem. And that’s why, despite my revulsion, I had to write this column.

Because somebody’s got to ask: Where are the fathers?

It’s unfashionable (has been for ten years or so) to ask that question. But giving your kids drugs is the new hip thing! Especially amongst the poor – who of course are less likely to have a father involved. Should take care of the problem nicely.

A turnaround plan for Philly schools

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Great interview with Paul Vallas, chief of the Philadelphia school system, posted at CSMonitor.

“It’s not that the schools got bad,” argues Vallas. “It’s that things changed around them. We’re preparing children for the economy of the future in the schools of yesterday.”

Politicians and education policy planners simply haven’t kept up, he says.

“You’ve got pregnant teens, more kids in foster care, more latchkey kids, less support at home, kids being exposed to far more violent images than 25 to 30 years ago, and more ready access to firearms.”

Add to that a changing economy that in recent decades has lured many women and minorities out of the classroom and into better-paying jobs.

The result, Vallas says, is a need to invest time, effort, and creativity into rethinking the way schools operate and how they hire teachers.

He also believes firmly in character education as a means of compensating for less parental support at home.

I like the plan to eliminate Philly’s middle schools. He’s made me a believer.

Voter News Service: What Went Wrong?

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Providing service to the networks for years, the VNS imploded the last to major elections. What happened? Now the story can be told. A must read article for system architects and project managers.

Lessons to keep in mind:

  1. Test early: Stress-test your system at least six months before launch
  2. Test heavy: Put it through at least 10 times as much activity as you really expect
  3. Trick yourself: Establish a deadline at least two months in advance of the “real” deadline and make all project managers and vendors comply
  4. Name one chief: Regardless how many partners, consultants and vendors are involved, give one person ultimate decision-making power
  5. Don’t reinvent the wheel: Make good use of existing personnel and technology, where possible

How to think about security – or any feature request for that matter

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This five-step process works for any security measure, past, present, or future:

  1. What problem does it solve?
  2. How well does it solve the problem?
  3. What new problems does it add?
  4. What are the economic and social costs?
  5. Given the above, is it worth the costs?

When you start using it, you’d be surprised how ineffectual most security is these days. For example, only two of the airline security measures put in place since September 11 have any real value: reinforcing the cockpit door, and convincing passengers to fight back. Everything else falls somewhere between marginally improving security and a placebo.

Read the rest at in the Crypto-Gram newwsletter. via Cafe au Lait.