Ramblings from a sick mind

I made a private vow several months ago that I would not subject readers to another lengthy diatribe about school accountability.

I think everyone knows my feeling on the subject. I don't like the current system used to rate schools. It makes no sense and does not show whether schools are actually making improvements.

My initial plan hatched last week was a lengthy column about how northerners cross the Mason-Dixon line to escape colder weather and be closer to family. These northerners then have the gall to complain constantly regarding all the things they can't understand about living in the South.

I have grown tired of being questioned about my insistence in pronouncing a local area as "Re-hob-oh-bahth" rather than Rehobeth, which I still maintain is a much cooler or more accurate way to say this Cherokee County name. My punchiness had continued last week with the annual office criticism about the wisdom in having a free South Carolina Peach Festival.

A former board member, I have always had a soft spot for the festival. I still have a lot of friends on the festival board, plus they are going to have a barbecue competition next year.

I had gone so far as to write in my head a column that suggested transplants should simply accept the virtues of Southern culture such as barbecue, sweet tea, and our slower pace of life. I reasoned anyone unhappy with the South Carolina where I grew up is always free to move to another part of the country.

The weekend cooled off my hostility, though not before a concerned Board of Public Works official called me at the office to make sure I really had no intention of stopping by the utility's rifle range. I decided to leave my inner redneck in the closet for another year.

My issues with school accountability continued to simmer as the release date for report cards (Friday) crept closer and closer.

I began to feel sick last Saturday evening as I watched my Tigers fritter away another football game in a lost season. My sickness over this pathetic football season manifested itself into a full-blown cold by the time the school board met this week.

It was all I could do on Wednesday afternoon to make it through a school board accreditation review meeting without coughing. I gutted out the rest of the work day and stopped by my favorite barbecue place before heading home for some rest.

Lying in a feverish state, my mind grappled with the following question about state report cards while waiting on the next dose of cough syrup to kick in.

The burning question, "How can a school be rated below average on a report card and get an excellent improvement rating?"

I dozed off before I could come up with a brilliant answer to this question.

I almost had a decent story put together on report cards Thursday morning when I checked my e-mail.

The state Department of Education had delayed the release of the school report cards due to incorrect information provided by a testing company.

This gives me another couple of weeks to think about this report card mess. All columns should end on some type of optimistic note so here's a couple of good things before the weekend.

I have never used a gun and have no interest in owning one. I am almost over my cold so I will be able to make the trip to see Clemson play Duke on Saturday.

If I have any problems sleeping tonight, I will just have some cough syrup and think about report cards again. This should make me pass out.

Scott Powell (spowell@gaffneyledger.com) covers education issues for The Gaffney Ledger.