# Burning Bush **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 3, 2002, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-bush/140109 "2002-12-03T01:52:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LadyAvalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6a8cbe/32.png) [@LadyAvalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LadyAvalonian)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-bush/140109/1 "2002-12-03T01:52:46Z")
According to Rod Paige, the U.S. Secretary of Education, > [@](#): > > “Every child can learn, and we mean it. And we want to act on it. It means excuses are not good enough, we need results.” [www.ed.gov](http://www.ed.gov) Okay, aside from the fact that Mr. Secretary began a sentence with “And…”, as well as using a run-on sentence, all published on the U.S. Department of Education website, I can overlook this to try absorb his message. However, I disagree with his execution of this plan (and the children of our nation). As an aside, I noticed that they edited the quote to incorporate an elipses. Someone must have seen how idiotic it was to have a grammatically incorect quote on the dept. of ed homepage. What the [www.ed.gov](http://www.ed.gov) site does not easily navigate to is the nuts and bolts of the legislation. That can be found here [www.ed.gov/legislation/ESEA02/](http://www.ed.gov/legislation/ESEA02/). This legislation details what Mr. Bush and Mr. Paige define as “accountability” in our educational system. You can download the 1.8 Mb document from this site in Adobe PDF. It is over 1000 pages. Basically, it definies how states are required to determine standards and assessments on an individual basis, then are required to show “acceptable progress” according to arbitrary national standards each year, or risk being put on and “improvement plan” that includes the introduction of government fiscal managers, staff turnover, loss of funding, and sending letters home to parents telling them their child is attending in a “low performing school”. With that letter comes the guarantee of parental choice to attend another higher performing school, with transportation, courtesy of the home school. It seems to me that this administration’s plan seems to think that the solution to a lack of improved test scores has the following formula: funding withdrawal + increased transporatation costs + staff reorganization = school improvement. All this is based on the fact that each school has to demonstrate growth each year, even though they test different groups of students each year (I smell annual testing fever). This is also based on the fact that every state, with their individualized plans, can meet a Federal standard. Is this really what Mr. Bush and Mr. Paige see as “flexibility”? They are also telling us that if we can’t do this, they’ll pull funding and send money with each child to attend a higher performing school (wasn’t this once called school vouchers?). > [@](#): > > Dear higher performing schools, > > Shall we send our desks and books with the kids? Will you be needing any lumber or drywall with that order? How about some “highly qualified teachers”? > > Sincerely, > Unemployed ---
**Author:** ![apotheosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@apotheosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apotheosis)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-bush/140109/2 "2002-12-03T02:15:57Z")
Well, at least it’s not a VD rant. ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-bush/140109/3 "2002-12-03T03:23:36Z")
I was half expecting one of Guin’s “big wet pussy” threads… ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-bush/140109/4 "2002-12-03T03:35:19Z")
Is it only because of the Bush association that [“No Child Left Behind”](http://www.nclb.gov/) sounds like a Federal Rapture-Preparedness Program to me? ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-bush/140109/5 "2002-12-03T03:57:59Z")
FWIW, many English teachers will tell you that starting a sentence with ‘and’ is acceptable. I am one of them. [http://www.ecoscribe.com/freestuff/sevenrules.htm](http://www.ecoscribe.com/freestuff/sevenrules.htm) ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-bush/140109/6 "2002-12-03T04:05:55Z")
I always wanted them to use a different Bush quote for the Dept. of Ed. homepage: > [@](#): > > “Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?”—Florence, S.C., Jan. 11, 2000 ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-bush/140109/7 "2002-12-03T11:37:03Z")
Er… Burning Bush… I dunno, can we? Seems a bit drastic, really. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b782af/32.png) [@The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Wrong_Girl)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-bush/140109/8 "2002-12-03T11:54:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by furt \* > \*\*FWIW, many English teachers will tell you that starting a sentence with ‘and’ is acceptable. I am one of them. > > [http://www.ecoscribe.com/freestuff/sevenrules.htm](http://www.ecoscribe.com/freestuff/sevenrules.htm) \*\* Word, **furt**. I don’t like Bush, but cut the guy a break! It’s okay to start a sentence with “and.” Psst! Sometimes you can put prepositions at the end of a sentence, too! ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-bush/140109/9 "2002-12-03T11:57:41Z")
Sentence fragments are okay, too. As long as you know what you’re doing. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-bush/140109/10 "2002-12-03T12:39:32Z")
Speaking to small and large groups, especially if you have to do it day after day and hour after hour, is not easy. And you end up taking many liberties with “proper” English, which is acceptable much of the time, so long as your message is clear. If you do it continuously, it calls into question basic abilities, or else points to a severe regional dialect. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-bush/140109/11 "2002-12-03T17:34:34Z")
From R.W. Burchfield (ed.), _Fowlers Modern English Usage_, 3rd Edition (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996): > [@](#): > > There is a persistent belief that it is improper to begin a sentence with _And_, but this prohibition has been cheerfully ignored by standard authors from Anglo-Saxon times onwards. An initial _And_ is a useful aid to writers as the narrative continues. The _OED_ provides examples from the 9c. to the 19c., including one from Shakespeare’s _King John_…It is also useful for other rhetorical purposes, and sometimes just to introduce an improvised afterthought.(p.52) And that’s all i have to say on the subject. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-bush/140109/12 "2002-12-03T17:36:07Z")
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggghhhh. _ **Fowler’s** Modern English Usage_ Gaudere’s Law claims another victim.