Hi there Redhook,
First off thanks for the note about my efforts in slaying slews, it started out as a fun thing but after several hundred it has become rather tiresome. I will finish in a few months (I hope!), but I still have several hundred to go.
I'm actually writing regarding your notes on the criticism section of the Blue Ribbon Schools Award. I started researching the award after seeing this award used to hype various high and middle schools in AfD debates. I personally feel that very few schools are 'notable' in an encyclopedia, as I feel notabilty is more than just having been the subject of any printed notice. Truthfully, I have the same view of notability as it applies to many other things here in Wikipedia but that's another matter.
The source I used for the criticism section may not be the best, but it does give another view of this award. I have since found a better source for a critique here (It is from the Brown Center of the Brookings Institute as I mentioned in my post on the talk page), but I have not found the time to distill its rather lengthy analysis to a size suitable for the article. It points out in great detail the shortcomings of the methods used by the DOE in this program, but does note some improvements that have been made under the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind program. Perhaps you would like to read the report at the above website and offer some guidance as to how a summary could be incorperated into the article and let me know your thoughts.
I must admit I take a dim view of our public school system and sent my daughter through 12 years of private education for that reason, although I know there are good schools and many very good teachers in the public system. As an educator, perhaps your input on the Brown report would be more balanced than mine. I do feel that this report shows some rather glaring problems in the way this award is used but I would appreciate your views on this.
I am going to be travelling to Saint Paul Island, Alaska and will be only minimally on Wikipedia for the next few days but look forward to your thoughts on this. Thanks!--killing sparrows (chirp!) 05:21, 6 June 2007 (UTC)