Ok, I can understand the occasional typographical error (also known as "typo") but why do people insist on putting "teh" in nearly every sentence? Are they trying to be cute or funny? Do they think it's rebellious to mis-type words? Or are they really that ignorant? And why does it bother me at all? Because I'm afraid this kind of behavior will continue to grow until we are all expected to be idiots.

My daughter is currently in 7th grade. When she complains that the work is too easy, I look into it. Tuesday she was plotting points on a number line. "Please place a circle around -5." She was right: this was too easy. Even for the beginning of the school year (she's been in for nearly a month now). I would rather she struggled in the more advanced math class than to excel in the easy class. There is no challenge, no push to learn a little more.

People talk about budget and state spending, and I know that has a bit to do with the issues but, damn it, I want my children to learn, not just get by. That's why I started taking their education in my own hands. As have many other parents.