I’m writing to protest the school board’s recent adoption
of the consensus decision-making method to decide
grade promotion policy. this is not a situation where it
is appropriate to choose a course of action by finding
something that everyone can agree on. maybe everyone
agrees on a plan that makes no sense at all. decisions about
grade promotions should be made by administrators who
have responsibility and experts who have special knowledge.
we owe our students the best decisions, not just the most
principal

congratulations to the school board for choosing to make
their policy decisions by consensus! no longer will the
policies they adopt be the subject of bitter disagreements
and lackluster support. we parents will no longer feel like
cats who have left the mice to play. when the whole school
board unites behind a plan, then teachers, parents, and
students will unite behind it as well. a plan which has taken
into consideration the opinions and interests of all the
members—and survived extensive debate—is a plan that will
stand the test of time.
in a world with far too much strife and conflict, few leaders
seem to have the skills needed to compromise and work
together effectively. hats off to the school board for leading
by example.
parent

which claims in one letter are not directly refuted in the other letter?

Frequently the subject of blues songs has to do with some challenge or problem faced by the writer. everyone faces personal challenges. sometimes music us deal with these problems. do you know of times when music has you or people that you know cope with difficult situations? think about your life experiences and challenges or the experiences of someone you know. then write your own twelve-bar blues song that describes one such experience that you or another person has had. your blues song should have three verses. you may write a fourth verse for extra credit. each verse you write should have three phases and should be written in call-and-response form. the first two phases of each verse should describe the experience, challenge, or problem and should act as your “call” phrases. the third phrase should describe the solution to your challenge or problem, or the next step in your story, and should act as your “response” phrase. review “sneaker blues” to see an example of a call-and-response song with three verses. “sneaker blues” my sneakers got a hole and my feet are killing me; my sneakers got a hole and my feet are killing me; i’m gonna get my sneakers fixed just you wait and see. the man said twenty dollars; you have got to be kidding me; the man said twenty dollars; you have got to be kidding me; twenty dollars is what he said, i might have to let them be. the hole in my sneakers is getting bigger every day; the hole in my sneakers is getting bigger every day; twenty dollars is what he said, that’s what i’ll have to pay. write your song title and verses as the answers to the questions. after you have written your song, try putting it to music using one of the online music samples. original twelve-bar blues song (2 points) score 1. title(6 points) score 2. verse 1line 1: line 2: line 3: (6 points) score 3. verse 2 line 1: line 2: line 3: (6 points) score 4. verse 3 line 1: line 2: line 3: