AFL-CIO NOW BLOG | ‘Young Workers: A Lost Decade’

AFL-CIO NOW BLOG ‘Young Workers: A Lost Decade’:


"These are the findings of a new report, “Young Workers: A Lost Decade.” Conducted in July 2009 by Peter D. Hart Research Associates for the AFL-CIO and our community affiliate Working America, the nationwide survey of 1,156 people follows up on a similar survey the AFL-CIO conducted in 1999. The deterioration of young workers’ economic situation in those 10 years is alarming."

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/10628967/“Young-Workers-A-Lost-Decade”-AFL-CIO--Working-America

President Addresses American Students 9-8-09

President Addresses American Students 9-8-09:

PRESIDENT OBAMA TO DELIVER NATIONALLY BROADCAST ADDRESS TO STUDENTS ON SEPT. 8

The President will deliver a speech about the importance of persisting and succeeding in school on Sept. 8, the first day of school for many children across America.

The Department of Education is encouraging educators, students and parents to use this opportunity to help students get focused and begin the school year strong. The speech will be broadcast live on www.whitehouse.gov at 1 p.m. EDT.

The Department of Education has also asked a group of U.S. Department of Education Teaching Ambassador Fellows to develop some suggested classroom activities around the speech to help engage students and stimulate discussion on the importance of education in their lives.

The suggested classroom activities will be available on http://www.ed.gov/.

Here's how the President described the speech in a recent interview with 11 year-old reporter Damon Weaver yesterday: "On Sept. 8, when young people across the country will have just started or are about to go back to school, I'm going to be making a big speech to young people all across the country about the importance of education, the importance of staying in school, how we want to improve our education system, and why it's so important for the country.
And so I hope everybody tunes in.

"WHO:President Obama

WHAT:Presidential Address To Students

WHEN:1 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009

WHERE:Broadcast live at www.whitehouse.gov

President Addresses American Students 9-8-09

President Addresses American Students 9-8-09:

"President Addresses American Students 9-8-09"

President Obama to Deliver Nationally Broadcast Address to Students Sept. 8
U.S. Department of EducationOffice of Communications & Outreach, Press Office400 Maryland Ave., S.W.Washington, D.C. 20202

MEDIA ADVISORYEVENT DATE:1 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009Contact: Sandra Abrevaya(202) 401-1576 or sandra.abrevaya@ed.gov

PRESIDENT OBAMA TO DELIVER NATIONALLY BROADCAST ADDRESS TO STUDENTS ON SEPT. 8

The President will deliver a speech about the importance of persisting and succeeding in school on Sept. 8, the first day of school for many children across America. The Department of Education is encouraging educators, students and parents to use this opportunity to help students get focused and begin the school year strong. The speech will be broadcast live on www.whitehouse.gov at 1 p.m. EDT.

The Department of Education has also asked a group of U.S. Department of Education Teaching Ambassador Fellows to develop some suggested classroom activities around the speech to help engage students and stimulate discussion on the importance of education in their lives. The suggested classroom activities will be available on http://www.ed.gov/.

Here's how the President described the speech in a recent interview with 11 year-old reporter Damon Weaver yesterday: "On Sept. 8, when young people across the country will have just started or are about to go back to school, I'm going to be making a big speech to young people all across the country about the importance of education, the importance of staying in school, how we want to improve our education system, and why it's so important for the country. And so I hope everybody tunes in.

"WHO:President Obama
WHAT:Presidential Address To Students
WHEN:1 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009
WHERE:Broadcast live at www.whitehouse.gov

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to Visit Sacramento

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to Visit Sacramento

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to Visit Sacramento


On Thursday, September 3rd United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is coming to Sacramento. I admired Arne Duncan’s leadership before he was appointed Secretary of Education. A former Chicago superintendent, Duncan’s district was one of the first to push mutual consent in teacher hiring, ensuring that every school was staffed with high quality teachers. His Renaissance 2010 initiative closed down vacant schools to reopen them with strong options for young people.

Secretary Duncan is now bringing those same ideals and strategies to schools and districts across the nation. He wants to make sure that we are a country that has a common set of rigorous standards, strong data systems linking student and teacher performance, performance and merit pay, and intervention for failing schools.
What does this mean for Sacramento? I firmly believe that if you have great schools, you will have a great city. As Mayor, my commitment is to make sure that the City of Sacramento, our county and our region are known for great public schools.

Sacramento can be one of the leaders in education reform. As the capitol of California, we should be the hotbed of reform and innovation.

We have created an education “white paper” for Sacramento that aligns with Secretary of Education Duncan’s plan for national reform. I encourage you to read the "white paper" and learn more about Secretary of Education Duncan’s visit to Sacramento.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/10382430/Education-That-Works-Ideas-for-Sacramento

ALTERNATIVE CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS: MEETING THE DEMAND FOR TEACHERS

ALTERNATIVE CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS: MEETING THE DEMAND FOR TEACHERS:

"In recent years, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have established alternative certification programs to help meet this challenge of finding and retaining teachers. But have these programs been successful?

School districts must constantly recruit new teachers due to turnover. According to a nationwide study by the Nebraska State Education Association:
Six percent of teachers leave the profession each year.

One-fifth of new hires quit teaching within three years.

In urban areas, 50 percent of educators quit after five years.

Education researchers Paul E. Peterson and Daniel Nadler found that many states' alternative certification programs require just as many college-level education courses as regular certification. As a result, these programs produce few new teachers. By contrast, less restrictive programs require fewer hours of instruction and produce more teachers.

According to the National Center for Alternative Education, the oldest and most established state programs -- in California, New Jersey and Texas -- produce the most new teachers.

Texas and California report that about one-third of their new teachers come from alternative programs. In New Jersey, it is about 40 percent."

Making the grade

Making the grade:

"The question that's been discussed by school administrators, city officials and concerned citizens is whether the rate of out of school suspensions (OSS) has grown to a point where it is impeding the ability of many students, particularly African Americans, to receive the education to which every student is entitled.

At the August 5 School Board meeting, Dr. Quentina Miller-Fields made a presentation outlining two of the biggest issues with students, truancy and discipline, and discussing the actions being taken by the Board of Education. The BOE's goal is 'to reduce the number of infractions that give rise to referrals for suspension and expulsion,' according to the Dr. Miller-Fields report.

The BOE wants to proactively reduce the students' truancy rate - the number of students with more than five unexcused absences - from 14%, the level during school year 07-08, to less than 10.2% by 2012, and to reduce the number of disciplinary infractions almost 30%, from a total of 18,892 in SY 07-08 to less than 13,000 by 2012.

To help achieve their goal, the school system has installed a variety of new programs, including Response to Intervention (RTI), Positive Behavior Support (PBS), and new counseling programs, including a partnership with Gateway Behavioral Health to better evaluate issues students may be facing, whether it's a learning disability or personal problems"

Teacher comments on grade-changing :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Education

Teacher comments on grade-changing :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Education:

"As part of a Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Teachers Union survey, teachers were given the option of adding 'brief comments about the issue of grade-changing.' Here are some responses:

'Grade-Changing:'
-- 'The principal wanted me to go back to IMPACT [the student information system] to falsify grades.'
-- 'I had students fail, yet they were passed! Who pays the price, next year's teacher and the student who is already frustrated.'
-- 'I was asked to change the grade of a student...[to] maintain their rank in the senior class.'
-- 'Grade changing is a problem. The pressure can come from the administration, dept. chair, parents and sometimes the students.'
-- 'It is certainly a pressing issue in CPS and is as big of an issue as attendance forgery.'
--- 'Every year it takes place w/ Gen. Ed. students!'
-- 'Every school is doing this.'"

Budget crisis looms in teacher contract negotiations - San Jose Mercury News

Budget crisis looms in teacher contract negotiations - San Jose Mercury News:

"When teachers' union negotiators sit down with Sequoia Union High School District administrators today to begin hashing out a new contract, both sides will be thinking about the state budget.

District officials say the latest version of the state budget cut $1.9 million from schools in the new fiscal year that began June 30, on top of $2.5 million in reductions trustees already approved in June.

Union and district officials have contrasting ideas for weathering the latest round of cuts.

The district wants union leaders to agree to concessions, possibly including furlough days and an end to free health benefits, according to the district's initial proposal.
But the union's president says the district should dip into its $11 million reserve fund instead of cutting further from the district's $100 million budget. The state requires school districts to keep a 3 percent reserve.

Greg Gruszynski, president of the Sequoia District Teachers Association, said there 'probably is a need to curtail some spending,' but added that the district could 'go through this whole year without making any cuts' by relying on its reserves. Top district officials say they need to preserve an ample reserve fund to prepare for mid-year state cuts and an anticipated $3.4 million hit in the 2010-11 fiscal year."

Education Week: Obama Education Views Can Sway Public, Poll Says

The Education Next-PEPG poll shows the gap between rank-and-file Democratic voters, who are more likely to be swayed by presidential opinion, and education practitioners, who have been slower to adopt changes such as charter schools, said Charles Barone, a longtime Capitol Hill education staff member and director of federal policy for Democrats for Education Reform, a political action committee in New York City.

“I think because the advent of strong accountability is associated with [Mr.] Bush, for a lot of people on the left, it was easier for them to hate it,” Mr. Barone said, even though efforts were championed by Democrats such as Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., who is the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, and the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who later was the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee in the Senate.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/10624106/2009-Education-Next-PEPG-Survey-of-Public-Opinion

Mayor, please explain this school reform thing - Bill Boyarsky

Mayor, please explain this school reform thing - Bill Boyarsky

If wants parents to support his plan to convert 250 Los Angeles schools into charter schools, he needs to explain why he thinks this would be an improvement.

I sort of understand charter schools. Basically, private organizations—Green Dot is the best known—take over public schools and, using public funds and donations, run them free of many of the LAUSD rules and restrictions. But I can't tell you how they work and I have a lot of questions about them. More important, most parents do too.

The mayor has to answer these questions. He got the school board to approve the scheme. Here are some questions parents—or grandparents like me—want answered:

Why are charter schools better? Education scholar Diane Ravitch wrote in the Times that "Charter schools vary in quality from excellent to abysmal." You told Patt Morrison on KPCC that the schools would "meet a metrics driven plan" on making improvements. That's no answer.

Will parents have anything say in running the schools? Be specific, without all the clichés about consultation.

Chris Prevatt: Schwarzenegger Sets Trap for Obama's "Race to the Top" Education Initiative

In the 1985 action film, Commando, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays John Matrix, a commando who uses a little humor when taking revenge on the bad guys, "Remember when I said I'd kill you last... I lied!" Though this is a forgettable little line, President Obama should pay attention to it because he is about to be played by someone who really believes he is an action hero.

I first wrote about Arnold Schwarzenegger's plans for education in California in my August 16, 2009 article "The Shock Doctrine hits Public Education". On August 20, Governor Schwarzenegger called on California's legislators to adopt sweeping education reforms that would dramatically reshape the beleaguered public education system and qualify the state for billions of one time monies which President Obama, has dubbed "Race to the Top." A smiling governor, flanked by jubilant education advisors said, "I want to congratulate President Obama for standing up for education reform. I absolutely agree with the four basic education principles he outlined today, including the need for data systems that allow us to measure student and teacher success by the results they achieve."

How To Help Kids With Homework - Education News Story - WEWS Cleveland

As the school year begins, so does the homework season. But homework doesn't just involve students -- parents also should play a role.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, parents should assist their children in daily homework by making sure they have a quiet, well-lit place to complete their assignments.

Parents should also make sure their child has all of the materials he or she needs to complete their homework and they should also help them manage their time to make sure assignments get completed on time.

The U.S. Department of Education also tells parents to know when to help and when to watch. It recommends that parents guide their child without giving them the answers. It also says that when a child brings home an assignment that requires parental involvement, make sure you participate.

It's also important to encourage your child while they do their homework, the U.S. Department of Education says. It suggests to praise your child for good work and to also be aware of their frustration level or when they are struggling to understand an assignment. The U.S. Department of Education also recommends staying in touch with your child's teacher so you know what the assignments are and what they are meant to teach.

Bobb wants mayor to run Detroit schools | detnews.com | The Detroit News

Key to his vision is achieving radical reforms in the teachers union contract that would challenge cherished provisions, such as seniority.

"It's the Holy Grail for the union," Bobb said. "For us, it is a monumental problem."

Great teachers with less than 10 years of experience are losing their jobs while some longtime, but ineffective, teachers are retained, he said. Principals need to be able to keep the best teachers, he said.

Using the teachers' contract in New York City as a model, Bobb wants to create a special "chancellor's district" for the lowest performing schools -- an estimated 50-54 schools out of the district's 172. The schools would operate under new rules: no seniority for teachers, extended school days and prescribed teaching techniques.

Performance-based bonuses would be instituted for schools that achieve goals. Everyone, including custodians and cafeteria workers, would be eligible, based on a formula.

The Answer Sheet - New Rules for Back- to-School Night

The Answer Sheet - New Rules for Back- to-School Night:

"This really happened:

An administrator at a school in Montgomery County welcomed several hundred parents at back-to-school night by relating his extensive experience as an educator and as a soldier.
Then he said, “So you can see I am very qualified. So, do I know more than you do about the curriculum? Yes I do. Do I know more about [student] placement? Yes I do. Do I want your opinion? No I don’t.”

The crowd was effectively cowed.

This, admittedly, is not the best way to start off a back- to-school night--but it points to two problems that too often ruin the evening when parents and teachers get together at the start of the near year. The two problems: the parents and the teachers."

Newark school offers alternative path to learning - NJ.com

Newark school offers alternative path to learning - NJ.com:

"'I like hands-on. That's how you learn,' McNeil said. 'They are offering something I cannot get out of regular high school.'

Urban Academy is one of five alternative high schools the Newark school district, in partnership with several nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, will open Thursday.
The five are in addition to two alternative programs that started last year. Plans are in the works to open three more next fall.

This year, the five new high school programs, which will be run at district facilities around the city, will accommodate 875 students who have dropped out or are at-risk of leaving school. The models replace the decade-old Twilight program, which offered night courses for dropouts."

Innovation proposals aim to transform Michigan education | Detroit Free Press | Freep.com

Innovation proposals aim to transform Michigan education Detroit Free Press Freep.com:

"This reimagine process has the potential to radically transform education in Michigan, where a quarter of students fail to graduate high school on time. Student achievement has seen only modest gains in some subjects, and has actually worsened in others. A troubling 40% of high school students failed the reading portion of the Michigan Merit Exam the last two years.

The reimagine plans could help Michigan win a slice of more than $4 billion in federal funds pledged for states with promising plans to innovate education."