In columnist Jerry McGovern’s interpretation, the 16 lines of “My Papa’s Waltz” are about a loving father who brings some intoxicated energy home after a day of hard labor.

How students do on standardized examinations doesn't tell us everything we need to know about a teacher's effectiveness and whether the teacher should be granted tenure, says columnist Jerry McGovern. But the scores do offer data that can help improve performance of both teachers and pupils.

With 50 million children in America's public schools and 3.5 million adults working in those buildings, public education is a huge financial and cultural presence this nation, says columnist Jerry McGovern. So it's therefore distressing that education isn't a major topic as the media talks with the presidential hopefuls.

It's shocking now, to see the segregation that existed on the basketball court in days gone by, says columnist Jerry McGovern; now, a new generation raises the issue of transgender discrimination.

Not only does the purchasing power of soldiers' benefits continue to diminish, says columnist Jerry McGovern, National Guard and Reserve members lose out because theirs are based on single-longest activation "" multiple tours don't add up.

Long before the scandal that brought New York's governor down, says columnist Jerry McGovern, the man demonstrated ineptitude in office.

Good teachers have the instinct to share knowledge, says columnist Jerry McGovern, and they embrace new vehicles -- such as YouTube -- that let them do so.

In speech classes, columnist Jerry McGovern points to Barack Obama to make the case for the power of public speaking.

Sitting in St. Patrick's Church in Port Henry at the funeral of Dodger great Johnny Podres, hearing stories of his quality, his humanness, columnist Jerry McGovern found it impossible not to make comparisons with baseball today.