Jefferson, it seems, was cognizant that “genius,” as he called it, must be cultivated and developed.  Furthermore, he asserts, that talent is something “nature has sown as liberally among the poor as the rich …”

These words and ideals, expressed by a founding father, oh, so long ago, form the crux of the ideas embodied in the law of the land, as it pertains to gifted and talented education.  Section § 8-202, of the relevant section of Maryland law unequivocally states, “Gifted and talented students are to be found in youth from all cultural groups, across all economic strata, and in all areas of human endeavor. ”

The perceived failure of gifted and talented education to equally identify “genius” from “youth from all cultural groups, across all economic strata, and in all areas of human endeavor,” is not a rationale for dismembering gifted and talented education.  Instead, it should gird us with the determination to do it right. 

It is a national shame that we have embarked on a voyage of dismantling the vestiges of a challenging education and replacing it with a soufflé of little substance.  In Montgomery County, Maryland, the exercise has taken the form of replacing middle school honors courses with courses that fail to meet their stated goals. 

For example, Honors Earth Space Systems A/B Grade 8, has been replaced with Investigations in Earth Space Science (IESS).  According to a memorandum issued by the then superintendent Jerry D. Weast, “As part of the Middle School Reform initiative, OCIP staff members have redesigned the middle school science curriculum to create two courses, Investigations in Science 6 and Investigations in Science 7, which lead to Earth Space Systems in Grade 8.”  He goes on to assert, “The courses integrate STEM concepts, technology, research, innovation, and multiple solutions. Students generate questions and develop plans for solving problems and evaluating solutions. They record their findings in design-folios and science journals. Classes analyze progress toward possible solutions throughout each unit and students have multiple opportunities for reflection and revision.” At least in one school, in a co-taught IESS class, teachers don’t seem to have the time to accomplish these objectives

It is time to change course. 

(c) 2012, Kumar Singam.  If you would like to receive email notifications of columns by the DC-Gifted-Examiner please use the “subscribe” button at the top of this article to sign up.

You may also receive notifications by RSS feed. Receive tweets of new articles by following the DC-Gifted-Education-Examiner on Twitter @DC_GT_Examiner.

Jason Wilson-Maki

What is a farrier? What do they do?

A farrier is a skilled tradesman who maintains horses’ feet. Often protective devices (horseshoes) are required to allow a horse to perform his duties; a farrier builds and applies these appliances. The shoes can be as simple as a basic shoe to any apparatus imaginable to support, protect or alter flight and weight bearing in a horse’s foot.

Why does the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) need its own farrier?

My role at the CVM is multifaceted, and ancillary to many of the other equine services. I trim and maintain the horses that are used in the teaching process. I also fill shoeing prescriptions for client horses to help alleviate lameness and am often called upon to create supportive shoes and devices for post-surgical animals. I am involved in teaching laboratories which are aimed at teaching students safe handling of horses’ feet, shoe removal and other physical skills involving the hooves of horses. I am also able to bring a farrier’s perspective to discussions about specific cases and hopefully assist in fostering better veterinarian/farrier relations. The farrier position at the CVM, in my opinion, allows for a more complete educational experience for the students and provides a full service facility for client animals.

Is this a lost skill or is there still a need for farriers?

The demand and need for trained farriers continues to grow. In recent years, through the work of local associations, national organizations such as the American Farriers Association and outreach programs by the American Association of Equine Practitioners and increased communications between individual farriers, the level of knowledge and skill has increased.

What do you like most about this career? 

Whats not to love? I am involved with horses and people on a daily basis. I am in a trade that demands a continual upgrading of skills and knowledge. I also get to fabricate intricate, individual animal-specific appliances from straight stock. I love the physical and mental challenges and the opportunity to help horses and horse owners.  The best component of my private career was the independence the work provided. Currently, the top aspect is the interaction with and education received by working with the veterinarians and other professionals at the CVM.

What kind of training/certifications does one have to go through to become a farrier? 

Wilson-Maki shoes a horse at the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences.

In a strictly legal sense in the USA, any individual at any time may trim or shoe a horse and claim the title of farrier. However, the American Farriers Association (AFA) has a series of voluntary certification examinations. These range from an intern exam, a Certified Farrier (CF) all the way through Certified Journeyman Farrier (CJF). Testing for Specialty Endorsements is also provided. Many professional farriers attend farrier schools ranging in length from a few days to two years. The AFA examinations are stringent and exacting enough that most farriers who pursue the certifications serve some form of apprenticeship. These range from highly informal help sessions to contractually bound apprenticeships. I would guess that the farrier trade is one of the least regulated, yet complicated crafts in existence.

What equipment/techniques do you use on a daily basis?

Somewhere I saw a T-shirt with an interesting description of a farrier. Paraphrased, it stated: farriers are the masters of sharp knives, biting rasps, cutting tools, horses, hot steel and heavy hammers.

I will utilize multiple knives designed for specific detail work on a horse’s foot. I also work with many different rasps (a big fingernail file) and nippers for clipping feet. Ill use a forge for heating metal and an anvil for shaping or manufacturing various shoes. Myriad tongs for holding different stock dimensions, and more hammers than you would think one person would need. Ill sometimes use band saws, grinders, buffers, a mig welder, a jigsaw, and the list is endless.

The most important technique, in my mind, is using as much information as can be provided and thinking through your goals, options and probable outcomes before diving in: think before you do.

Is there anything that you would like to add about this special career?

Farriery is a mentally challenging, physically demanding trade which requires myriad and disparate skill sets. Knowledge of horses and multiple equine disciplines is required. The willingness to ignore aches and pains to accomplish your goals is paramount. I think communication skills are also important. In order to be successful, one must continually question what he or she is doing and accept failures as readily as successes. The willingness and ability to self-educate is invaluable. One must not only educate their mind, but master and refine their forging and trimming skills. Your hands must be able to produce what your mind dictates. This trade is not for everyone, but for the right people, it is the greatest (and one of the oldest) crafts in the world.

Heres just a taste of what folks at Knewton have on their shelves these days:

1. by John Kennedy Toole

David Ingber, Master Teacher

I find myself unable to read as many pages in one setting as I used to. Thats why Im almost glad that I ride the subway its at least an hour a day that I cant be distracted by the internet and my phone.

2. by Suzanne Collins

Will Fleiss,  Senior Marketing Associate

If you love gripping young adult novels (think) and muse about the effects of pop culture and entertainment on society, dont miss this story about child gladiators.

3. by David Foster Wallace and  by Hunter Thompson

Jayson Phillips, Software Engineer

“Its (Infinite Jest) a pretty meaty book and makes for a challenging yet enjoyable read.

“From what I gather via conversation and observation the reading culture is pretty alive and very diverse. People seem to be reading all the time and in many different genres/forms.”

4.  by Ben Mezrich

Andy Huang, Content Developer

If you enjoyed Bringing Down the House (the inspiration behind the Kate Bosworth movie 21) be sure to check out what Kevin Spacey calls the next addition to Mezrichs formidable canon of lad lit.

Trevor Smith, Software Engineer

6.  by Candice Millard

Charlie Harrington, Business Development Associate

During the perilous journey chronicled by Millard in this non-fiction thriller, three men died and Roosevelt himself was brought to the brink of suicide. For a taste of this adventure story, check out Charlies favorite quote from the book:

“Far from its outward appearance, the rain forest was not a garden of easy abundance, but precisely the opposite. Its quiet, shaded halls of leafy opulence were not a sanctuary but, rather, the greatest natural battlefield anywhere on the planet, hosting an unremitting and remorseless fight for survival that occupied every single one of its inhabitants, every minute of every day. Though frequently impossible for a casual observer to discern, every inch of space was alive from the black, teeming soil under Roosevelts boots to the top of the canopy far above his head and everything was connected. A long, linked mat of fungi under the soil consumed the dead and fed the living, completing an ever-changing cycle of remarkable life and commonplace death which had throbbed without pause for millions of years and of which Roosevelt and his men, knowingly or not, had now become a part.”

7. by Marcel Proust and by Jonathan Franzen

Hyunjin Kim, Associate Product Manager

Hyunjins two cents on reading in the age of tech:

“I think its becoming increasingly easier to become used to digesting information in smaller bits (from short articles to <140 twitter blasts), which, while useful for certain types of information/communication, often precludes (or make it more difficult to want to seek out) substantial analysis and engagement with thoughts, arguments, and issues.”

8. by Colson Whitehead

Nina Reed, Research Coordinator

Be sure to check out this post-apocalyptic Zombie horror novel, which GQ describes as glory, lyrical and human if brainy thrillers and full-throttle prose are your thing

9. by Dr. Seuss

Eric Garside, Software Engineer

10. The Queer Art of Failure by Judith Halberstam

Christina Yu, Marketing Associate

If you want a serious academic treatment of Little Miss Sunshine, Pixar movies, and Spongebob SquarePants; or if youre ever given serious thought to what it feels like to come in 4th place at the Olympics, check out this witty treatise on the art of failure, forgetting, and passivity.

One of many insightful moments from the book:

For Walter Benjamin the cartoons depict a realistthough not naturalistexpression of the circumstances of modern daily life; the cartoons make clear that even our bodies do not belong to uswe have alienated them in exchange for money, or have given parts of them up in war. The cartoons expose the fact that what parades as civilization is actually barbarism. And the animal-human beasts and spirited things insinuate that humanism is nothing more than an ideology.

His talent has gotten the attention of some big names in basketball.

Jalen Howray is special in more than one way. He is autistic, and he has an amazing talent when it comes to basketball.

A superstar let Jalen know just how special he is when he dropped by his school in Galena Park on Tuesday.

“He touches my heart because he spins a basketball like nobody has spun a basketball before,” Harlem Globetrotter Kenny “The Blenda” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez isn’t just being nice. Jalen is really doing something that most people can’t, including professional athletes.

He can spin a ball on his thumb. Most athletes have to start the ball spinning on their finger, and then transfer it to their thumb.

“I think I need to work on that myself to spin the ball right on the thumb instead of transferring from the finger to the thumb,” Rodriguez said. “So I think that’s pretty cool. When I first saw it I was like wow this guy is special. He’s unique. There’s no body on the team that can spin the ball the way Jalen spin’s the ball.”

“The Blenda”, as Rodriguez is called, came by Jalen’s school, Green Valley Elementary, to tell him just how amazing his trick is.

The basketball star put on an interactive show for all 700 students. He gave Jalen a brand new ball and tickets to the Harlem Globetrotters game in Houston on Jan. 28 at Toyota Center.

Jalen’s parents said he developed autism when he was a toddler.

“He was developing like a normal kid; then all of a sudden it just stopped,” Carla Howray said. “When it stopped, we, his parents, saw him regress to nothing. Zero words, zero speech, zero eye contact.”

A year ago, a basketball became more like a magical key, unlocking speech in Jalen and peeling away a layer from him that seemed to have him trapped inside himself.

“All of a sudden, his father was spinning a ball, and he saw it and it was like something just clicked, and he started spinning the ball with him,” Carla said. “So to see him come back, to see everything that was locked in come back, it’s just, I attribute it to God. It’s a miracle.”

“I don’t want to get emotional here on TV,” Wilford Howray added.

All of the attention made more than one little boy’s dream come true.

“I always wanted to be in the basketball spotlight myself,” Wilford said. “I’m 6’7″, almost 6’8″, so to have my son do it for me it’s a big excitement.”

“I think he’s more excited than Jalen is,” Carla said, laughing.

“I’m the happiest father in the world right now,” Wilford said, with tears in his eyes.

The Original Harlem Globetrotters —

FOX 26 Reporter John Donnelly contributed to this report

Several B-Schools accept GRE instead of GMAT. Still several students take GMAT for MBA admission.

Stanford University (CA)3897281Harvard University (MA)9037242Yale University (CT)23172210Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)4017183University of California—Berkeley (Haas)2437187University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)8177183Dartmouth College (Tuck) (NH)2807167New York University (Stern)31471510University of Chicago (Booth)5797155Northwestern University (Kellogg) (IL)6477145

• GMAT scores range 200 to 800.
• 2/3  of test takers score between 400 and 600
• 10% of test takers score 700+

Now, you know to get into Top 10 Ranked B Schools, aim to 650 and above in GMAT.

Starting June 5, 2012 New GMAT Format comes into effect.

New Integrated reasoning section is added to Next Generation GMAT.

GMAT Test takers have to spend more time preparing for the New section with same time limit as current GMAT Test format.

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Filed Under: GMAT Tagged With: average gmat

Naturally, each type of party is going to be different, but Christmas parties aren’t too much different from any other kind. As the old saying goes, there’s an app for that. As cliche as it may sound, a Christmas party is a complex matter, and that mandates several apps.

Image via Flickr

Plot Out Every Detail You Can

Naturally, there are going to be last-minute things you didn’t plan for. However, your Android will be able to help you significantly. Christmas party planning on your Android phone starts with the Christmas Party App, which will allow you to plan out things like your timeline—your priority actions like purchasing non-perishable foodstuffs—and to keep you on track if you start to fall behind.

Food, Decorations, and Other Stuff

Image via Flickr

December is supposed to be a snowy month—there isn’t a snow-making app, unfortunately, but if you have any problems related to making sure your food is sufficiently delectable, try the Recipe Quest app to get some great recipes in a hurry. Maybe it’s intended to be a gift or it’s just a showcase of your cooking prowess, you can get Recipe Quest for free. If you think your guests will enjoy drinks, you might also want to download the Mixologist Drink Recipes app, which has a few thousand drinks of both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

Keeping the Memories Alive

Nothing makes July more enjoyable than relieving how drunk and bundled up everybody was at Christmas time. So the Camera Zoom FX app will give you plenty of laugh-out-loud all next summer.

Now, you have Android phone as your pocket-sized personal assistant with lots of apps to showcase, so what are you waiting for? Get the party started!

Image Via Flickr

Being organized allows you to enjoy the little things in life more. By taking time to organize your home, you give yourself a clutter-free home that is easier to clean and find things you need. You can also teach your child how to remain tidy in the process. By making household organization a habit of nature, you will never worry about picking up a cluttered home again.

Delegate Responsibilities

Keeping things tidy takes responsibility. Delegate a room to each member of your family. That person is responsible to ensure that everything is in its place at the end of the day. For example, if someone has the kitchen, he or she is responsible for putting all the dishes in the dishwasher, for any clutter to be put where it goes, and for any trash to be disposed of.

Do Household Errands At Home

Keep yourself organized in terms of time by utilizing little snippets of time, five or 10 minutes, for a chore. Online faxing with Metrofax allows you to save time and space. Simply upload a document to the database and fax it away. You can save a copy of the file to your computer (no paper!) and be done with the chore.

Create An Easy-To-Read Schedule

When children know what is expected of them, they follow orders. This means if a child knows he has a Boy Scout meeting at 7 p.m., he will begin to clean up ahead of time and put his toys or school-related things away beforehand. By taking his own things into account, he becomes responsible for his things and helps you to keep your clutter-free home clean.

Image Via Flickr

Organize Each Room

Purchase organizational tools such as shelves, toy boxes or bins in which to place things. Make sure your children know where everything is to be placed. This allows them to clean up each day and also know where their things are when they need them. By having an organizational process in your home, you cut time spent searching for things you need and can use that time enjoying your family.

Ultimately, keeping an organized home doesn’t have to be difficult. Make it a family effort to clean the home each day and have an organizational process. This teaches your kids to value their possessions and also to focus on more important things, such as their chores, homework or just spending time with their family. In the end, the time spent organized is an investment toward the happiness and success of your family.

Photo Courtesy of Flickr

Lying right under the states of Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky is the Marcellus Shale, a wealth of natural resources that can be used to produce an alternative form of energy. Discovering this alternative energy source has caused many alternative energy companies to spring up all along the east coast. With the development of these companies comes the chance to pursue a career in alternative energy.

Many people are reluctant to pursue a career in alternative energy but there are many great benefits that can come from choosing this career path. Here’s a look at some of the benefits that can come from choosing a career in alternative energy.

Chance to be a Part of Something New and Exciting

There are still many things that are being discovered and unveiled in the alternative energy industry. Whether you decide to become an engineer who develops new sources of energy, or you decide to work in marketing for an alternative energy company, pursuing a career in this field allows you to be a part of something that is new and exciting, and could potentially change the way the world looks at energy.

Job Flexibility

When you pursue a career in alternative energy there is never a chance that you will feel “stuck” in the job, or feel as if you have to keep doing the same old thing because of the amount of flexibility involved with a career in this field.  There are careers available as engineers, finance directors, miners, marketing executives, and public relations. This job flexibility allows people to still stay in the same career field but possibly pursue a new interest or career path.

Photo Courtesy of Flickr

Chance to Improve the Environment

Alternative energy companies, like those that work to produce Marcellus gas, are creating forms of energy that has a smaller impact on plant and animal life, and the environment in general. Many of these alternative energy forms are being developed in hopes of replacing other harmful forms of energy production. People choose to pursue a career in alternative energy because it allows them to improve the environment and feel as if they are making a difference.

Careers in alternative energy are relatively new, but there are many great benefits that can come from choosing this career path. Pursuing one of these new careers allows you to make a difference, have increased job flexibility, and become a part of something new and exciting.

Image Courtesy of Flickr

It’s most prevalent and obvious in politicians. Instead of just admitting they don’t know something, they come out with a wild, improper, and often inane answer to even the simplest question.

These people are all victims of Male Answer Syndrome. Despite the name, it is a problem shared by both men and women. It was first discovered in men back in prehistoric time and has appeared in every generation since. The reason that it’s so hard to catch and cure is that no one will admit they have it. If directly asked, sufferers will often spin a wild rambling yarn that usually ends with a tale of how they became the hero in high school because they caught the game winning touchdown. It’s quite sad really. Especially when there is ample proof that they never played football in high school.

Diagnosing the Male Answer Syndrome in the Workplace

In general, it’s a harmless syndrome only requiring emergency intervention when a person suffering from the Male Answer Syndrome gets locked into a conversation with a child who constantly asks “Why?”

Where it becomes highly problematic is in the workplace. Too often, when you asked someone if he/she knows how to do something, he/she will merely give a knee-jerk positive response. The consequences can be quite harmful. It is especially damaging when it comes to the IT department.

Image Courtesy of Flickr

In smaller companies, too often the IT duties are thrust upon an employee who has a “knack” for computers. He will happily run the IT department with little to no-true knowledge of how IT really works or how important it truly is. It’s only when servers fail and infrastructures crumble that the reality of the problem becomes apparent.

Avoiding Male Answer Syndrome

To protect your company, find a trained and certified IT professional before it’s too late. IT recruiting services can help you find the right person or people for the job. They specialize in placing IT professionals in industry-specific jobs where their experience will minimize training and maximize results.

You can find staff for every IT duty, from the help desk up to project management.

Protect yourself from Male Answer Syndrome and let IT recruiting services find the right candidate for you.

Image via Flickr

Your Hardware

If your hardware isn’t together, you’re going to regret it. While your gaming rig might not be enough to impress anybody, it has to let you play without noticing it. That means your screen has to be big enough to see what you’re doing, your power supply has to be solid enough that you aren’t worrying about it instead of how to play and your controller has to be responsive and comfortable enough that playing is as natural as walking or… anything else you might do.

Image via Flickr

Your Software

Software is essential to the gaming world and not just to the game itself. If your operating system isn’t working properly, neither is your game. You need to keep your software protected at any cost, even if it doesn’t cost much like Zugo. Just because a means of protection is inexpensive doesn’t say anything bad about its performance. Just make sure it actually works, or you’ll end up “saving” your way into having to buy a whole new rig and hoping you saved your progress on a server or a flash drive.

Your Time

Your time is your most important ally in the world of playing for keeps. Whether you consider yourself hardcore or not, without time, you can only fantasize about gaming while you sit in your boring job, drive your boring commute or hang out with boring people who happen to be related to you. Some good ways to keep your time in check are to work as little as humanly possible, not date anybody and try to have as few friends as you can. This way, you can maximize the time you spend staring at a glowing box while rhythmically twitching your thumbs.

Any great ideas on how to play for keeps?

Image via Wikipedia

Becoming a physical therapist is a job that takes a lot of dedication, and it isn’t just about the physical aspects of working with the sick and injured. While the physical component of dealing with serious health problems is substantial in itself, the mental side of physical therapy is also extremely important. While the physical therapist naturally handles most of the mental work, even his or her assistant has to be fairly knowledgeable in matters of the body, and how to help someone retain their dignity. Those may even be the most important skills a physical therapist’s assistant has to master.

Doing No Harm

While physical therapy assistant jobs don’t require the assistant to take the Hippocratic Oath, they do require a very caring attitude. Not just anyone can do a job of this nature, and not just because the work involves a lot of carefully lifting and moving people who can barely do so on their own. It also involves caring enough to move people not as though they were objects, but in a far gentler fashion. A person who just wants to finish the day and get home won’t do well as a physical therapy assistant, as this is a job that requires going the extra mile to help people.

Going the Literal Extra Mile

Image via Wikipedia

Sometimes, being a physical therapist’s assistant, you’ll be required to work outside the confines of the office. While that would be lovely, some people are too physically encumbered by their handicaps to get to the office in the first place. For this reason, a good physical therapy assistant is a mobile person who can roll with the proverbial punches. Taking some things as they come is a large part of the “challenge” when dealing with the physically challenged.

Taking Direction Well

The physical therapist runs the show, and the assistant’s role is to help. For an egocentric individual, this could be hard to swallow. So if you want to be a physical therapist’s assistant, you have to put your ego on the shelf and do as you’re instructed. As with most of the health professions, the people who gravitate toward this type of career tend to do so because they’re extremely helpful by nature. If you aren’t helpful, you’d be wise to try another profession, because there are a lot of instructions to follow when you deal with the physically challenged.

It would be great if you could consider the information mentioned earlier before you embark on a search for physical therapy assistant jobs. Just like any other profession, a physical therapy assistant position requires dedication and determination. Do you have what it takes to be successful in this field?

Image via Wikipedia

Army tuition assistance is available for those who are active members of the Armed Forces. There are a number of education benefits to choose from – just find the right program for you. Take the time to learn about all of the educational programs available and then choose the program that best fits your current needs. There are educational assistance programs available for those on active duty, in the reserve, and veterans. You’ve done your part to serve your country – now take the time to do something good for yourself and your family.

Montgomery Bill Benefits

For those actively serving in the Army, the Montgomery Bill is the army tuition assistance benefit to take advantage of. This bill is only for active duty personnel and allows for service members to receive as much as 36 months of education funding. There is a lot of flexibility in this bill, allowing you to choose the educational program that best suits your needs. You can choose to attend a technical school, vocational school, or flight training. Every active member of the Army contributes to this fund during the first 12 months of service.

The New GI Bill

Those who joined the Army after September 10, 2001 are entitled to the benefits of the New GI Bill. Servicemen and women have to serve for at least 90 days to receive reimbursement for tuition and fees at a college of their choice. The bill also allows for housing costs. Those eligible for this bill receive the full cost of tuition, as well as

Image via Wikipedia

housing, books, and materials costs. You can take advantage of this bill if you are in a program that leads to a degree. It’s not available for certificates.

Army Tuition Assistance Program

This is a wonderful program for those who want to take courses on a voluntary basis. Those Army personnel who want to take educational courses for personal or professional development can take advantage of this benefit, even when off duty. This benefit is available for Army personnel enrolled in a degree program or working on a certificate, as long as the courses are taken at an accredited institution. It can even be applied to online courses.

You’ve served your country; now take the time to improve yourself. Gaining an education will be the best move to make to better the future for you and your family.

With your training to become an EKG specialist, your course will include study mainly on the electrocardiogram, EKG equipment and supplies, anatomy and physiology of the heart, taking the patient’s vital signs, electrocardiogram interpretation of results, and the study of security considerations. You would need to perform electrocardiograms before and after surgery, in case of routine physical examinations of patients, if patients susceptible to heart disease, etc.

To become a successful ECG technician, you should be able to work under tough conditions as well. It is necessary when you deal with patients who suffer from life-threatening problems. If you can manage the emotional stress well, you should enter a career that is in high demand. Your dedication to your work and genuine concern for patients can help tremendously to become a competent professional. A professional in the ECG can put patients at ease and works fast and calmly.

More than 30 people spoke at a district school board meeting Monday night in Coon Rapids that was set up to address the topic. There was no consensus from the public on how the board should act, and board members themselves seemed just as unsure.

The meeting was the board’s second to hear from the public ahead of a possible final vote on Jan. 23. Such was the contentiousness of the debate that in the end, even that vote date was thrown into question.

“I think it is hard to pin down a date when there are so many questions, relative to what the right decision is,” said school board chair Tom Heidemann towards the end of the meeting.

At issue is a curriculum policy that requires Anoka-Hennepin teachers and staff to remain neutral if the subject of sexual orientation comes up. Critics say it’s confusing and contributes to a hostile environment for gay and lesbian students. Lawsuits filed by two national civil rights groups — the Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Center for Lesbian Rights — seek the policy’s removal.

The board is considering getting rid of that sexual orientation policy, though officials say the lawsuits are not the reason. Another policy requiring neutrality on religious matters would also go, and a new “controversial topics” policy would instruct teachers to withhold their personal views during class discussions on controversial topics.

Supporters and opponents of the current policy all seemed to take issue with the proposed policy.

“It just doesn’t make sense why you would change a policy that didn’t work in the first place with a new one that’s even more unclear,” said Anoka High School student Kira Weinmann.

Mary Jane Milless, of Coon Rapids, said she sent her children to a parochial school through the eighth grade so they would be educated in keeping with their family’s faith. She said she doesn’t think it’s the role of their public high school to teach them things that conflict with those values.

“I don’t want my kids educated on morality at Coon Rapids High School. I want them educated on the basics,” said Milless, who works in an elementary school cafeteria.

But the Rev. Margo Richardson, a Christian Church-Disciples of Christ pastor from Coon Rapids, said teachers need the tools to stop the bullying of gay students.

“There is no neutral or middle-of-the-road position here,” said Richardson, who is openly gay and in a committed long-term relationship. “You either believe it is OK for some students to die so others won’t be made uncomfortable, or you don’t. Gay students deserve the same respect for who they are that every other student in this district gets. Craft a policy that protects students’ lives, not a policy that protects prejudice.”

Anoka High School seniors Rachel Hawley and Emily Hall presented the board with petitions that they said were signed by more than 350 students in favor of dropping the existing policy and scrapping the proposed replacement.

The district’s teachers’ union, which represents more than 2,700 teachers, also took its first official stance on the proposal. President Julie Blaha said members find the current policy confusing and support getting rid of it.

“But we don’t believe a new policy to replace it is needed,” she said. “Now, if they have to have a policy, we think with a few changes it could better reflect what we do in the classroom.”

Blaha said the union wants clarification on matters like who decides what’s controversial. Members also want the board to clarify that “controversial” should only be applied to issues, not individual students.

The Parents Action League, a group that supports the current neutrality policy, presented 10 demands. Since the district’s website includes a section on LGBT matters, the group argues there should also be a section for “students of faith, moral conviction, ex-homosexuals and ex-transgenders.” Other demands include district-provided seminars for staff on overcoming sexual disorders and a mandate that all staff be provided information from several “pro-family, ex-homosexual, and ex-transgender” websites. The group’s Laurie Thompson, of Andover, said the board is retreating from promises to stick with the current policy and that LGBT advocates using lawsuits to get their way.

“If you appease them now, they will only be back with another lawsuit to gain more advances into our public schools,” she asserted. “They will not rest until they have completed their goal of ‘queering the curriculum.’”

Later, after most speakers had left, members had their first discussion of the policy change as a board since it was proposed last month. Scott Wenzel said he’s not sure his fellow board members and he know just what they ultimately want to accomplish with a new policy.

“It seems as we try to make it more clear, we’re only making it more bureaucratic and less clear, which is quite amazing to me,” Wenzel said.

School board member Michael Sullivan, who attended the meeting by phone, also expressed frustration.

“We seem to have watched this issue erode to the point where you have, essentially, two camps: One that wants to leave it the same and one that wants to get rid of the policy altogether, while both seem to be, at the same time, claiming that they’re confused,” he said.

Board chair Tom Heidemann said he personally didn’t think the proposal had succeeded so farin clearing up confusion. He predicted the board will do one of two things: Leave the current policy in place, or adopt the new policy with some clarification. He called a third option — to just drop the current policy with no replacement — unlikely.

“I think that that’s not a position the board will go in. So, there will be a policy, the question is ‘what’s the best policy?’ And so that’s, I think, what we’re struggling with,” he said.