Addis will be without a major newspaper this weekend and for some time to come. In yet another blow to the private press, one of Ethiopia’s largest Amharic language newspapers, Addis Neger, has closed down.
The paper halted its publication after its founders and editors fled the country to avoid persecution stemming from legal charges being prepared against them.
The managing editor of the paper, Mesfin Negash told the Amharic service of the VOA last night they could longer function here as a private press.
“We have found it impossible to endure the pressure that is coming from different corners,” he was quoted as saying.
Mesfin said his paper filled with young staff has strived to establish a truthful and objective press.
Over the years, the government and its supporters have often alleged hate speech in response to critical news reports. The government-owned Amharic daily Addis Zemen has been publishing a series articles attacking Addis Neger and Awra Amba Times, another private weekly, for their “biased and non-factual reporting” and for producing articles that “destroy Ethiopia’s social and political fabric.”
Addis Neger which was published weekly on Saturdays had been in circulation for three years, and had earned a solid reputation for providing alternative news and opinions.
The news has shocked the country’s media industry. An editor of another private paper said “This is a blatant and unjustified attack on freedom of expression. [...] Addis Neger has been such a good and moderate paper. The staff, like all of us, has been trying to work within the limits of the laws which are already highly restrictive. An important source of independent and alternative news is cut off.”
Independent news coverage in Ethiopia is minimal due to business woes and government interference. Many journalists are fined for their reporting, are brought to court on minor offences, and even some claim they are under the regular surveillance of security officers and their telephones are bugged. The international human rights organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) chronicles many arrests as well as continuing threats to an independent press in Ethiopia.

It was a sunny and scorching day. Yet more than 33, 000 runners wearing green colored T-shirts flooded the streets of Addis yesterday, Sunday, 22 November 2009.The ninth edition of Ethiopia’s international 10 kilometers road race was exciting to watch. As usual runners, joggers and a few walkers took some of the city’s well-known landmarks such as the National Theatre, the National Palace and the Addis Ababa Hilton and Meskel square.
For many, it was running with a friend- with lively talks, mutual support and time flying practically unnoticed. Here are some shots.

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British athlete Paula Radcliffe will take on a new role this weekend in Addis when she acts as race starter for the Great Ethiopian Run on November 22. The marathon world record-holder will share the task with Haile Gebrselassie and Derartu Tulu as a record entry field of 33,000 takes to the streets of Addis for the 10kilometre race.

Derartu defeated Radcliffe in the recent New York Marathon where the Briton finished fourth. It will be the 35-year-old’s first visit to Ethiopia and, as well as supporting the race, Radcliffe will have an opportunity to renew friendships with many Ethiopian athletes.
They include Derartu and Gete Wami against whom she has competed during her 17-year international career. According to Haile, the announcement of her presence at Ethiopia’s annual running festival has already sent ripples of excitement through the athletics community in the country.
The greatest distance runner in history has been instrumental in the race’s success and development since its inception in 2001, and he said: “Paula is a great athlete and a wonderful person. We want to give her a great experience of the race and of the running scene in Addis Ababa.”
Race Director Richard Nerurkar expressed his delight at Radcliffe’s trip to Ethiopia by saying: “For many years Paula has promised that she would one day come to the race. She is so well-known to the Ethiopian public who will be so excited to see her here for the race. I’m sure that Paula will also enjoy the chance to meet so many of her Ethiopian athlete friends in their home city.”
Since its inception in November 2001, the 10 kilometers race has become an established fixture on the international athletics calendar and has also attracted a growing number of participants from abroad. More than 33,000 runners are expected to take part this year, representing small increase from the 31,500 who participated last year but a massive growth from the 10,000 who took in the race’s first edition eight years ago.
The 10 kilometers course in the centre of Addis takes in some of the city’s well-known landmarks such as the National Theatre, the National Palace and the Addis Ababa Hilton and has the perfect start and finishing area in Meskel Square.
For more Great Ethiopian Run

As I’ve said before (here, here, and elsewhere), I can’t understand the enthusiasm of education reformers for national standards and testing.  Advocates for the status quo and/or pure nonsense are much better positioned to control the process of national standard-setting and test-writing than are advocates for meaningful reform grounded in evidence-based approaches.

In case you had any doubts, the current round of national standards and testing craze is once again being hijacked by the Dark Side.  My colleague, Sandra Stotsky, has an excellent piece in the current issue of City Journal ringing the alarm bells:

A distinct lack of interest in allowing mathematicians a major voice in determining the content of the high school mathematics curriculum isn’t confined to educational research publications or presentations. A new effort is under way to develop national math standards for K–12. The two organizations running the effort—the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, with support from both the Department of Education and the National Education Association—have not yet invited a single mathematical or science society to ensure that the high school mathematics standards and “college-readiness” standards they propose in fact prepare American high school students for the freshman calculus courses that serve as the basis for undergraduate majors in engineering, science, and mathematics (as well as other mathematics-dependent majors and technical/occupational programs). The effort, which is being pushed very quickly, seems determined to do an end run around the country’s mathematical and scientific organizations and the panel’s recommendations on the major topics for school algebra.

Who controls this process?  Advocates of “constructivism” and  “cultural-historical activity theory” do.  If you don’t know what this gobbledy-gook means, Sandy helpfully explains: 

Two theories lie behind the educators’ new approach to math teaching: “cultural-historical activity theory” and “constructivism.” According to cultural-historical activity theory, schooling as it exists today reinforces an illegitimate social order. Typical of this mindset is Brian Greer, a mathematics educator at Portland State University, who argues “against the goal of ‘algebra for all’ on the grounds that . . . most individuals in our society do not need to have studied algebra.” According to Greer, the proper approach to teaching math “now questions whether mathematics as a school subject should continue to be dominated by mathematics as an academic discipline or should reflect more fully the range of mathematical activities in which humans engage.” The primary role of math teachers, constructivists say in turn, shouldn’t be to explain or otherwise try to “transfer” their mathematical knowledge to students; that would be ineffective. Instead, they must help the students construct their own understanding of mathematics and find their own math solutions.

We need to stop this national standards train before we all go off the rails.

Full article here.

In the City Journal,  you know some of what to expect:  we’ve moved away from our best moral and intellectual traditions in favor of excessive egalitarianism.   Some of the culprits are on the political left and they need to be stopped.

“Some influential educators sought to dismiss the traditional curriculum altogether, viewing it as a white, Christian, heterosexual-male product that unjustly valorized rational, abstract, and categorical thinking over the associative, experience-based, and emotion-laden thinking supposedly more congenial to females and certain minorities.”

This, of course, has some truth to it.  There are a large mass of educrats and vague-thinking do-gooders who can end up seeking a set of political, social and educational goals instead of well…math:

“The math educators’ rising influence over the last few decades is reflected in the content of, or response to, two influential national reports.”

You’ll have to click on the link for those reports.

I would also argue that there seem to be a set of social, cultural and economic reasons that at least India and China (and at least right now) have an advantage. These reasons tie learning mathematics (as the basis for the sciences at least) with a good job and social respect…money…family and national pride…a way out of poverty…a way to get married…etc.

Some will doomsay, but these are very real and difficult problems.

Also On This Site: A Shortage Of Skilled American Workers At Microsoft?

Ethiopian football fan’s wish to see their country participating in football’s most prestigious international competition hasn’t been translated into reality yet but a consolation of some sort is coming home soon.
It has been reported that the FIFA World Cup trophy will be coming to Addis on Tuesday night, November 17, 2009 as part of its 53-nation African tour. The trophy, a solid 18-carat gold depicting two athletes at the moment of triumph holding up a globe, will land in Ethiopia as it continues with the journey through Africa.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and President Girma Wolde Giorgis are expected to receive the iconic trophy at Bole International Airport on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, fans will flock to Millennium Hall where the trophy will be on full display.
Ethiopia becomes the sixth nation in East and Central Africa and the 36th African nation to carouse with soccer’s most valuable prize that is on a 70-day tour across 53 African nations. The trophy tour is significant in drumming up support for the 2010 World Cup finals that will be held in Africa for the first time.
According to local media reports, Somalian hip-hop star K’Naan will be here, too. He has specially recorded an uplifting African-inspired track, a remix of ‘Wavin Flag’, as the anthem of Coca-Cola’s 2010 FIFA World Cup programme. The track will be used as the music element throughout the entire campaign including as the soundtrack on all TV commercials, played at FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola events, featured on the online digital platform and more.
K’naan, 31, is a hip hop artist, rapper and poet born in Mogadishu, Somalia. At the age of 13 he left for New York City with his mother and brother and finally settled in Rexdale, Ontario, Canada. Wavin’ flag is a single of his latest Album Troubadour released in 2009. He has worked with artists like Damian Marley, Adam Levin, Nas and Nelly Fartado.
Find the video here.

(Guest Post by Matthew Ladner)

William Voegeli joins the fun in City Journal.

Money quote:

Bill Watkins, executive director of the Economic Forecast Project at the University of California at Santa Barbara, has calculated that once you adjust for population growth and inflation, the state government spent 26 percent more in 2007–08 than in 1997–98. Back then, “California had teachers. Prisoners were in jail. Health care was provided for those with the least resources.” Today, Watkins asks, “Are the roads 26 percent better? Are schools 26 percent better? What is 26 percent better?”

BOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UPDATE: Great minds think alike as Kotkin brings the pain in Forbes.

Warren Throckmorton’s blog continues to bandy around the Kevin Jennings controversy, despite some sniping gay comments calling such concerns “silly” and “anti-gay.” Bull feathers. As I said on that blog earlier today, “What is silly is that Kevin Jennings asks us to take him seriously, given all the skeletons in his closet.”

Jennings, in case I need to reintroduce him, is the Department of Education’s Safe and Drug-Free Schools gay “czar,” as well as being a gay activist. I have talked about him several times here, which you can easily find by searching. “Safe,” by the way, is an activist euphemism for gay-affirming.

The conservative blogosphere is awash in twitterings about Jennings’ questionable associations, from the late Harry Hay (a radical, Marxist-leaning, NAMBLA-support gay activist) to Bill Ayers, Barack Obama’s domestic terrorist pal who became a liability to him during his presidential campaign. Jennings has said he was inspired by Hay and he and Ayers shared prominent billing in a book called Queering Elementary Education. Jennings wrote the foreword while Ayers provided the top-most cover blurb.

For those — especially you folks with children or grandchildren in public schools — who really want to get a good look at Jennings’ philosophies, here is a stunningly excellent, comprehensive article written by Marjorie King for City Journal (“the nation’s premier urban-policy magazine” published by the Manhattan Institute and called “the best magazine in America” by Peggy Noonan) back in 2003.

Jennings recommends a questionnaire for students in his book, Becoming Visible. One of those questions: “If you have never slept with someone of the same sex, how do you know you wouldn’t prefer that? Is it possible you merely need a good gay experience?” Queering education? How dare we accuse him of such a thing?

Marjorie King connects the dots to show that Jennings’ ideology is clearly rooted in Marxist, New Left thought of the sort brought to America from Germany during World War II by the Institute for Social Research, which eventually spread its tentacles out into our institutions of higher learning from coast to coast. He uses his cover of New York’s Union Theological Seminary well.

As I already said once today, Jennings is a dangerous wolf in sheep’s clothing. He is banking on the “silly” masses to let him slip right into the pasture.

A new prize named after the acclaimed Ethiopian playwright and poet Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin was launched in Addis at the National Theater on Monday, September 7. Established by the playwright’s family members and friends, the Institute of the Language Studies of Addis Ababa University Poet Laureate Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin Memorial Prize is intended to encourage literature and theater arts students to study hard, pursue senior honors and contribute to the art world.
The prize intended to be an annual event would be given to the best contribution by a student member. Berhanu Asfaw from the Department of Ethiopian Languages and Literature and Tegegnto Sinshaw from the Theaters Arts Department were winners of the first prize. Certificates were handed to the winners by Institute of Language Studies Dean, Dr. Gessese Tadesse and chair of the Theater Arts Department, Belayneh Abune, who both talked about the contribution and legacy of Tsegaye to each of their respective departments. Belayneh talked about Tsegaye’s contribution to the theater arts department
Dr. Gessese talked about the plan to broaden up the Memorial Prize through administrating trust funds that, among others, would provide scholarships to students.
As way of remembering one of the country’s greatest poets and playwrights, a group of volunteers led by Dr. Heran Serke-Berhan had begun a permanent annual Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin Theater Festival. Involving Abate Mekuria who previously produced and directed ten of Tsegaye’s productions in Ethiopia and abroad, excerpts of the playwright’s works, Ha Hu Besedest Wer (ABC in Six Months), Inat Alem Tenu, “Othello” and “Theodros” were presented on the occasion as part of the festival celebrations.
Abate who in his younger years studied at London’s Opera House has produced numerous stage plays, including “Kitet Wede Adwa Zemecha” which required the participation of 4,000 people.
Audiences were thrilled with his re-productions of Tsegaye’s plays for which he spent no less than three months. His studio, Mekuaria Studio designed the settings and provided the costumes. It was highly successful. Tadesse Mesfin’s illustration for one of the plays was found and used for the occasion.
On the occasion it was also announced that four of Tsegaye’s plays, Theodros, Petros Yachin Seat, Zeray Be Rome Adeababy and Minilik (a historical play about King Menelik that was never staged) would be published by the Addis Ababa University Press shortly. The announcement was greeted warmly.
Tsegaye was born in Boda, a village near Ambo, on 1934.He wrote his first play at Ambo Elementary School where one of his audiences were Emperor Haile Sellassie. After doing high school at Wingate and college at the Addis Ababa Commercial College, he has studied theatre at the Royal Court Theater in London and Comédie Française in Paris for two years. Exploring elements of power, justice, love, and death in his tragedies, Tsegaye achieved widespread and lasting recognition for his work.

I love her, I love her, I love her, I love her. Her being, Zora Neale Hurston. Click here for an article from City Journal’s summer 2009 publication discussing ZNH’s life, legacy and impact.

According to sources in the church, the establishment of Entoto Maryam came through prophecy. Long before the reign of the Emperor Menelik, there was prophesy about a king who would build a church in honor of the Virgin Mary on Entoto Mountain. At around 1880 the then king of Shewa Menelik waged a war against Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam at Embabo which he won easily.
It was then that he decided to bring the ark of Entoto Maryam to Shoa which he kept at first in a small house in Entoto, the location for the present church. Subsequently, the ark was moved to its present location after the church was built with financial contribution by Empress Taitu. The Empress took it upon herself to take care of the church and even became its first administrator. During the next years, the church exhibited growth and development.
On 3 November 1889, Abuna Matewos, the bishop of Shoa, crowned Menelik II the emperor of Ethiopia at this church. As the venue for his coronation, Menelik gave Entoto Maryam the title of Ri’se Adbarat (first among its peers and head of all churches).

In Fasil Giorgis and Denis Gerard book “Addis Ababa, The City and its Architectural Heritage”, it was stated that after the foundation of Addis Ababa, during the church’s annual celebration in the month of October, the emperor and the empress, accompanied by their entourage, used to travel to Entoto to attend the ceremony and spend the night there. That period was considered the golden era of the Entoto Maryam Church. To show their respect, notables such as Ras Wolde Giorgis, Ras Tessema Nadew, Fitawrari Habte Giorgis. Kegnazmatch Kifelew and others organized banquets for the clergy.
When Empress Taitu passed away she was buried there. The tomb still exists but her body was later taken to Baeta church in Arat Killo to join her husband’s. During the Italian occupation, Entoto Maryam was one of the places that faced potential demolition. It fortunately survived with minor damage. In fact, many people took refuge in it. Nonetheless, the golden crown of Menelik II, which he wore when he became Emperor, and large cannon that he had captured during the battle of Adwa was taken by the invaders.

Photographing inside the museum isn’t allowed but in the palace we were able to take as much photo as possible. Visitors could view the entire arena.

The palace which used to be Menelik’s and Taitu’s residence is a humble wooden house with mud-walled huts and high ceiling. It was built under the direction of Menelik’s Swiss advisor Alfred Ilg. It consisted of clusters of rooms with different functions, bedroom balcony, assembly and banquet hall, podium for the king and the queen, store where raw meat was hanged, princess Entrance, “Dejazmatch” entrance, guest house, and dining room.
We were told some restoration works to shore up the outer walls and foundations have been made but it is there to see the passing of the years have taken its toll on the building. The walls are crumbling.

Outside the palace, we have seen an eucalyptus tree which our guide said 120 years old. The guide said it was the first eucalyptus that Menelik imported from Australia.

Another old tree in the nearby St. Raguel church, was cut down by its new proprietors, the guide told us. In spite of recent effort of reforestation, the days of abundant eucalyptuses are long gone.
With Addis’s accelerating deforestation, much of the forest has gone, cut down for firewood and for house construction.
But it will always be a place worth coming. I promise to myself to come to this upper part of Addis more often.

Emperor Menelik II is regarded by many as one of the greatest Ethiopians of all time. He was often, simultaneously soldier, politician, king, raconteur and some-time brick-layer. This can be seen at the church of Maryam (St. Mary) on Entoto Mountain, in which he has taken part in the building work.
The great modernizer of Ethiopia Menelik was born on 17 August 1844 in Ankober. He would have turned 165 today. Befitting the occasion, this weekend I set out to explore Entoto Mariam Church, the Emperor Menelik and Empress Taitu Memorial museum and former palace located in the church’s very compound.

For anyone who wishes to trace Atse Menelik’s legacy, visiting the church is important as it was here that Menelik was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in November 1889, and his image hangs on its walls. The monarch himself personally played the leading role in establishing the church as part of his effort to build up his new capital Addis Ababa which in English meant New Flower. Today looking at it, the area’s image is partly defined by its past, the church’s and the palace’s buildings representing 125 years history.
Taxi is available to go Entoto Maryam and the road from Shiro Meda to Gusqaum and Entoto Maryam isn’t in bad shape. However, given the speed of change in other parts of the city, the area doesn’t seem to have changed much from the Emperor’s time. It is a sad, stagnant part of the city.
The outside building of the museum isn’t very attractive either and in fact it looks more like a conservation unit than a museum.It was only opened in 1987, yet looks old.
The inside is rich with the Emperor’s and his consort queen Empress Taitu’s furniture, items, photographs, textiles and even rifle used in the battle of Adwa.
The museum grants the visitor passage, as well, to an enchanting moment in a far-off place or time. Gifts, bequests, purchases, trades, and expeditions have filled this reservoir to the brim.
Among items of particular interest are mirror given by Princess Victoria for Empress Taitu in 1878, Dirsane Mikaele used by the Emperor Menelik, gold tainted clock given to Menelik from France, Icon of St. Mary given from the Russia, Negarit (communication drum) used to call for war, photographs of the Entoto Maryam church at the inauguration day, the Emperor’s bed used for relaxing, a fancy robe worn by the Menelik’s when he was crowned Emperor, an Indian made plate used for Holy communion.

A tomb inside the church
(Second part tomorrow)

The Ethiopian Television has just announced that popular singer Teddy Afro has been released from Kaliti jail at 6 PM today after serving 16 months of a two-year sentence.
“I would like to express my respect and gratitude to all the people of our country,” Teddy told ETV after his release.
“I was able to meet many good people in prison, from the lowest-ranking policemen to the highest administrator. I had a nice time. My relations with other prisoners were also good,” he said.
His mother Tilaye Aragie was relieved and excited at his release.
“Teddy is at home. It is good news today,” she told reporters.
It was revealed that Teddy headed to his mother’s house found in St. Gabriel Church in Haya Hulet area right after his release.
After his arrival, the house was filled to capacity with fans, friends and members of his family celebrating his release.Renowned athlete Haile Gebreselassie whom Teddy eulogized in one of his song was one of the first people to show up at the house.
Singer Kuku Sebsebie, a long-time friend and admirer of Teddy, was also there.
The singer was first sentenced a six-year on December 5, 2008 but the term was later cut to two years.
Teddy has pleaded not guilty to causing the death of a young man in hit and run accident, a charge many of his fans believe was politically motivated.
As news of his release spread, Teddy Afro’s songs are being heard in many parts of Addis.

Howard Husock wrote a book review in the latest issue of City Journal discussing Wrestling with Moses: How Jane Jacobs Took on New York’s Master Builder and Transformed the American City, by Anthony Flint, and Genius of Common Sense: Jane Jacobs and the Story of The Death and Life of Great American Cities, by Glenna Lang and Marjory Wunsch.

Jane Jacobs was the great self-taught urban philosopher and activist who wrote the Death and Life of Great American Cities, in which she took the lessons she learned from Greenwich Village to expound upon the value of organic urban life, where planning and government have  a limited but instrumental role.  This stood in direct contrast to the most powerful man in New York, the unelected Robert Moses, who built many of New York City’s highways and housing projects.

Husock makes many notable points, including this one:

But good cases can make bad law, and the successful defense of Washington Square Park and the West Village can lead too easily to the conclusion that neighborhood preservation, by whatever means necessary, is always correct—and that opponents of development, by definition, occupy the moral high ground. Thanks partly to their efforts, New York City has not opened a new subway line since 1942, has no easy transit link to its airports, and enforces a system of legally dictated rents that allow affluent tenants to stay forever in cheap apartments and insulate themselves from neighborhood change. Some would even extend such rent controls to commercial properties, thus interrupting the cycle of decline and rebirth that marks dynamic cities.

Neither Moses nor Jacobs had a perfect philosophy.  Any transportation advocate recognizes the need for eminent domain at some minimal level and that good transit can help organic growth.  Think about how commercial and residential centers grow around particular subway stops or how other areas decay when city planners choose to move a bus line or close a light rail stop.  In this day and age there is no such thing as truly organic transit.  The days of paving over old walking and cow paths are over and transit now is a matter of government and the community working to make transit systems and routes that work with and for the community.

Moreover, Moses and Jacobs stand as historic examples of the long-lasting effects of making (or not making decisions in planning).  Moses radically changed the city and Jacobs prevented some of his other attempts and set the tone to make sure that other Moses-like projects would never occur.  In this day and age of 24-hour media we forget that our policy decisions have a longer lasting effect than the day or week they are put into place.  A policy decision, especially one as large as where or whether to build a highway or subway can have ramifications for decades if not centuries.

As we finally begin to give transportation infrastructure its due in the 21st century, we are best served to remember that any decision on transit–whether it is high speed rail, improving our highways, investing in more subways, efficient cars or something else we are bound to imagine–those decisions do not solve only current problems.  Those decisions will have ramifications today and for centuries to come.  Transportation grants should not be handed out for efficiecy’s sake or for mere stimulus effect, but to establish and preserve productive, creative, economically thriving centers of American life.

The Executive Director of the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA), Mahdere Paulos has reportedly gone into hiding.
According to Ethio-Chanel, a pro-government newspaper, Mahdere is currently in Kenya and might have fled the country after the government accused her organization of providing ‘false information’ to American State Department, whose human right record report enraged the Ethiopian government.
The paper disclosed that Mahdere sent one of her family members to EWLA’s office on July 6 to present her resignation letter and to give back the office vehicle that she has been using. EWLA called an emergency meeting on the next day and has replaced Mahdere by the Legal and Counseling head, Woizero Shewaye.
The former High Court judge Mahdere has served the Association for three years.She was appointed judge at barely twenty three years of age.
EWLA is an independent woman’s organization working to defend women’s rights and improve civil society throughout Ethiopia. In September 2001, the government abruptly terminated EWLA’s work and froze its bank accounts. To date, the government has not provided any substantive reasons for suspending the organization.

Translation:  I have an article in the special summer issue of City Journal on special education vouchers.

Here is a taste:

Rather than compelling families with disabled children to contend with obstinate public school systems, we should give them the option of purchasing the services they need for their children from a private provider. That is, we should give them special-ed vouchers—good for the same amount of money that we already spend on them in the public school system—that they could then use to pay for private school. Not only would this bring better services to disabled New York students; it could also save the public money.

Many parents of disabled students have a lot of trouble ensuring that public schools give their kids an appropriate education. The parents have to know what they’re entitled to, and most do not. They must negotiate services from the local schools—but the schools are experienced in these negotiations, while the parents generally aren’t, so the schools often get away with minimizing their responsibilities. And even if parents win at the negotiating table, getting the schools actually to deliver on their promises is enormously difficult.

In the end, the only way to compel schools to keep their promises is for parents to engage in ongoing legal battles with the same people who take care of their kids each school day. Most parents have neither the resources nor the stomach to do that. Schools, on the other hand, see little downside in promising few services and delivering fewer. The worst that can happen is that courts will step in and order them to do what they were originally supposed to do; there are no punitive damages in special ed. Research by Perry Zirkel at Lehigh University also shows that courts tend to sympathize with school districts and that schools win most legal challenges from parents. And since children age, delays work to the schools’ advantage.

For all these reasons, most parents of disabled kids simply resign themselves to whatever the schools deliver—or fail to deliver.