Anyone who writes on a computer–as almost everyone does these days–is subject to two kinds of dangers.
One is auto-correct. This feature, which I frankly loathe, will take a minor spelling error made in haste and substitute completely different language that changes the meaning of what you wrote.
The other is that if you make a mistake and leave out a letter, the word may make sense yet be embarrassingly wrong.
The most common spelling error for anyone who writes often about education is to type the word “public” as in “public school” and leave out the letter L.
If you don’t proofread carefully, you are likely to be embarrassed.
That is an appropriate punishment for failure to proofread.
Since I have made many inadvertent spelling errors on this blog, due to haste, I am careful not to sneer at others who do the same. My excuse, such as it is, is that I have no editorial staff, no assistant, no one to check out what I wrote before I post.
When you do have a professional staff, it is truly embarrassing when a big error goes by unnoticed.
Look at this ad in a Tacoma, Washington, newspaper for a “pubic charter school.”
This perhaps calls attention to the fact that many people consider charter schools to be a form of privatization.
Maybe someone deleted that L on purpose.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I dunno, call me cynical, but I wonder if it wasn’t deliberate. Without the typo, it’s an utterly forgettable ad that most people probably wouldn’t look at twice. The typo is certainly eye-catching.
I’m reminded of a story a while back about an “exotic” travel agency whose ad “inadvertently” said “erotic” travel. In the news reports they were allegedly so distraught about the error that they were talking about suing the ad agency and the magazine it appeared in because they were supposedly getting all kinds of calls from perverts. Turns out later that – you guessed it – they did it deliberately and that it worked – business boomed.
Making a typo while responding to a blog is one thing, but spending public dollars and not proofreading? Makes one wonder also why NYS will no longer have an editing passage on their state assessments. I guess with the new Common Core we could be seeing more “pubics”?
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/university-texas-apologizes-pubic-affairs-commencement-typo-183616371.html
Hysterical! My most embarrassing typo was in writing the name, Cynthia. It had to do with the letter ‘y’. It was in a blast email thanking Cynthia for a kind deed. Thankfully, Cynthia has a great sense of humor!
Sandy Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 11:01:50 +0000 To: sjhume@msn.com
I take it she is a good friend.
As editor of the KEA News some years go, my assistant a spinster keystone the paper to 30,000 teachers in Kentucky and yes, the “l” was left out. I didn’t catch this in proofing and poor Florence was shocked. No serious consequences for either of us, thank goodness. But I have told the story many times over the years.
I ALWAYS am very careful about typing the word “public.” It’s not unlike the word “therapist” if you put in spaces instead of running all of the letters together. Spellcheck doesn’t do everything.
very good. keep on smiling.
Of course, I am now doomed to make that mistake somewhere…
Something for Jay Leno and “The Tonight Show!” I once attended a workshop given by a well-known gifted ed. expert. The mailed registration form said, “Ms. Gifted will give a presentation that is sure to illicit many thought-provoking and creative comments.”
You guessed it–Spell Check!
Your post on proofreading reminds me of Taylor Mali’s poem “The the Impotence of Proofreading”: http://taylormali.com/poems-online/the-the-impotence-of-proofreading/
Note: Taylor Mali’s best known poem “What Teachers Make” often appears in teachers’ in-boxes amended and without proper citation. It can also be found at his official website:
http://taylormali.com/poems-online/what-teachers-make/