A Torch Kept Lit: Great Lives of the Twentieth Century By William F. Buckley Jr. Edited by James Rosen (Crown Forum, 357 pages, $22) Had there never been a William F. Buckley Jr., American conservatism would look very different—and so might the world. “A ...
License to Kill Opportunity
In Alabama, we expect—quite rightly—our fellow citizens to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. But what if there is a barrier between citizens and their boots, blocking them from reaching the straps? And what if that barrier is unwarranted, put th ...
Looking at the Lottery Math
"Which is the most immoral," Governor Robert Bentley mused philosophically to the press last week, "buying five lottery tickets with money you earned or allowing a child to die?" A state lottery in Alabama is "the only real choice," he warned ominous ...
Diplomas of Duplicity, Revisited
“That’s one of the things that gives me a great peace about leaving.” So spoke Tommy Bice, Alabama’s outgoing superintendent of education, about the graduation rate of public-school students in our state on a recent appearance on Alabama Public Television ...
Diplomas of Duplicity
Two weeks ago, Tommy Bice announced his plans to step down as Alabama’s superintendent of education. Reflecting on his tenure, Bice singled out one accomplishment with especial pride: the nearly 90% graduation rate of public-school students in Alabama. Th ...
The Cultivation of Our Children
Christmas is a time for rejoicing and reflection. Both are manifest in one of the last poems written by T. S. Eliot, "The Cultivation of Christmas Trees," a majestic work that deserves revisiting every Christmastime. "The child wonders at the Christmas T ...
The Curious Case of Alabama’s Teacher of the Year: Bureaucracy, Absurdity, and Perverse Policy
Ann Marie Corgill is, by all accounts and by almost any definition, a highly qualified teacher. It is regrettable that the modifier “almost” is necessary in that sentence, but its inclusion is instructive. From it, the people of Alabama can learn a lot ab ...