A sampling of NYC school humor

Posted by Philissa at 10:55 AM

In honor of April Fools' Day, I'd like to direct your attention toward some of the high quality satire of New York City schools that's out there on the web. But be careful: as with much satire, these links are so close to reality that they almost aren't funny.

• Billionaires for Education Reform describes Smellington Worthington III's attempts to uncover "the best ways to train the great unwashed." Smellington seems to be on hiatus right now as he explores ways to profit off of the city's schools, but his past entries -- and those of his wife, Muffy -- are worth a read.

• For more than a year, Gary Babad has been contributing satirical news stories to the NYC Public School Parents blog. Nothing, from the cell phone ban to ARIS to school pizza parties, escapes Babad's cutting wit.

• And children's musician Tom Chapin, a graduate of the city's schools, has just released a video for his newest song, "Not on the Test." Sample lyric: "Each box that you mark on each test that you take/Remember your teachers, their jobs are at stake/Your score is their score, but don't get all stressed/They'd never teach anything not on the test." Ha ha!